SUMMARY: A top-secret shore dive from a military base. LOCATION: I'll tell you, but I'll have to kill you. Ha! Ha!... Anyways... The dive is near the tip of Albert Head in Mechosin. Make friends with someone from the military's Aquarius Dive Club or sneak in commando-style (avoid the grenade range). If you don't know the secret handshake, you can dive this site from a boat. WHAT TO SEE: A wall drops down to about 60 feet. At the bottom of the wall there is a rubble and gravel area that is full of octopus, swimming scallops and, if you swim out far enough, old bottles (watch out for old ammunition - empty casings and some not so empty casings). On the wall itself, you can see plumose and other anemones, zoanthids, cup corals, nudibranchs and several species of sea stars. There are lots of copper and quillback rockfish, kelp greenlings and all kinds of hermit crabs. Strangely enough, this is the only place I've never seen lingcod. There are piles of big purple sea urchins everywhere and this is my favorite spot for sculpins: Irish lords, cabezon, buffalo sculpins, grunt sculpins, sailfin sculpins, etc. There are often seals and sea lions hanging about, but they usually keep their distance. CONDITIONS: Although I've never felt crazy current here, there's usually a bit unless you dive on slack. It's not too strong to swim against, but you might use up your air a little quicker. You won't get deeper than 60-70 feet unless you swim out pretty far from the base of the wall. Visibility is usually about 15-40 feet. If the weather is rough, this site takes a beating.
