Diving Johnson's Rock and Farnsworth Bank off Catalina Island with the Vision liveaboard dive boat from Santa Barbara November 14, 2016

I'm just back from an excellent six day dive trip to the Channel Islands on the Vision live aboard dive boat ( http://www.truthaquatics.com/the-vision.html )
 out from Santa Barbara.  I'll be posting blogs for each day of our trip.  The Vision can accommodate up to 40 divers but this trip, organized and led by photographer and teacher, Richard Salas ( richardsalas.com ), was limited to 20 which meant we got double bunks for this extended trip which was wonderful.  The Vision crew were excellent in getting us on good dive sites and making diving as safe and enjoyable as possible.  Meals were very very good as well.  Hot breakfast every morning (and every meal) was wonderful.

We left Santa Barbara harbor at 10:30 pm as scheduled, had a bumpy crossing of the Santa Barbara Channel (I slept through most of it) and arrived at Santa Catalina Island about 7 am Monday morning the 14th.  Our first dive was on a pinnacle called Johnson's Rock, we had 30 ft visibility and 64 degrees (balmy compared to my normal 52 degree Monterey diving).  Below are a few pictures from this dive, you can see more at: https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipNMi0vhBE0rHPng00oxUC4ZXxyJnV63hjHvk56jxfhBnEezt-ggmPsFSGhI9eP7Qg?key=R3A5aV9vZnVLNU1vbHgtVld0S3FpNmRGTVh4cjVR

                                          Catalina Island from Johnson's Rock

                                          The Vision's diving deck.

                         I don't see Garibaldi s (California's State Fish) in Monterey so I took many pictures of this bold, curious, perky, bright colored fish.

                                Looking up at the top of Johnson's Rock and its stand of Giant Kelp.

     I love the beautiful Gorgonia s in the Channel Island, some are golden brown like this one, others are bright red.

             I love these persistent Garibaldi, wonder if she is seeing her reflection in my camera's dome?

Our next two dives were on the well known (for its beauty) Farnsworth Bank.  Beautiful purple Hydro Coral!  Below are some pictures from these two dives, many more are at:
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipO2RA8lVH8AMKhgIrF1TXAb8tXGRDFot42dbqzBTWvD8A04EHOcwnFLhdEy8npmLQ?key=VUVZakJxdHJTUW9tQnhLdE1GalFTbE5wVXdOTnBB

                               Farnsworth Bank has lots of beautiful purple hydro coral

                                Beautiful male California Sheepshead

                                           Scorpionfish

                                          Red Gorgonia and female Sheepshead

                                          Back to the Vision