As we approached the head land of Catalina Island the mist surrounded the island giving a look of mystery. As we approached the mist burnt off with the rising sun and gave us a beautiful view of the mountainous desert terrain.

The temperature started to warm up as we approached the island. The sweaters came off and the bathing suits, hats and sunscreen were put on.

The first order of business was to go swimming. The water was warm and inviting. We had to launch the dinghy first then Haley and I were first to dive in. Dad dove down to check the anchor. There was not much to check because you could see it from the deck and it was nicely dug into the sandy bottom. The water felt great, we floated around and dove off the dinghy.

On the shadow side of the boat there was over a 1000 small fish trying to get out of the suns heat. They were silvery looking and no longer than 5 inches. After the swim it was time to go exploring. We jumped in the dinghy and headed for Indian Rock. The reef was covered with coral and little fish darting in and out of the nooks and crannies of the coral. Then a real surprise came when we saw a Garibaldi. This is protected fish in California and it is bright orange. It is only found around the Channel Islands.

The sun was setting so we headed back to the boat to BBQ some chicken and settle down for the night.

We were up with the sun, got all of our schoolwork and chores done so we could go exploring. It was warm so bathing suits was the attire for the day and a load of sunscreen.

Mom and Haley got in the dinghy and Dad and I swam over to the island. It was beautiful snorkeling. Haley and Mom had a boat scope you could put into The water and see the bottom real clearly. They floated all around the island and saw the coral, anemones, garibaldi, and other fish we were not sure what they were. Gus in front of Indian Island It was a lot more fun to die down to the bottom and look at the fish and coral up close. I saw a bunch of turbins that were alive and had something living in them. If you watched them for a while you could see them move. The garibaldi were allover the place swimming in and out of the reef. To see them here you would not think they were endangered. We saw green fish and blue fish we had no idea what was. So it was back to the boat to look them up and figure out what they were.

The next morning a big ferryboat came into the cove with a load of kids, they were louder than us. We busied ourselves with homework and then serenaded the cove with a few violin songs. Everyone got their morning swim in, Gus fished for awhile but nothing would bite.

We pulled up anchor and headed for Two Harbors. It is very close to Emerald Bay so we thought we would check out a few other coves before we headed into Two Harbors.

To continue the adventure click on Two Harbors, Catalina