Eel Cove (Catalina)

There is an area at the North-West end of Catalina called Emerald Bay that is renown for its clear water and great diving. I had been at Whites cove for a while and decided to try it out. It was about an hour North of were I was and there was no wind so I motored slowly up the coast. As I was going past the Isthmus at 2 harbors I decided to look around to see if there are in fact any places you can anchor there as it seems all the good places are taken with mooring balls. The wind was howling thro the Isthmus as it often does in the afternoons and all the places with no mooring balls were in 100ft+ of water making it a risky proposition. I continued up the coast towards Emerald Bay and noticed a great secluded bay big enough for one boat just after the Isthmus around the Eel Cove area.

Anchored in my own bay surrounded by a kelp forest.

Emerald bay was just around the corner so I took the dinghy to take a look. It has some unusual rock formations and very clear water.

Emerald bay rocks

good water visibility

Back at my private cove I was reveling in how perfect it was, I had the place to myself, the water was so clear I could see both anchors in the sand and it was reasonably calm. I snorkeled around a little, made dinner and got ready for a good nites rest.

Calm, clear water in my own cove, but it changed later that night!

Unfortunately the weather was changing and a new front was bring more wind and bigger swell to the area. Because of my location it got rolly quite quickly, then to make it much worse I found out my cove was the hot area for commercial fisherman during the night. About 1/2 mile offshore a dozen large trawlers with bright lights start churning up the water and firing cannons to scare off the birds from all the fish scraps. It was miserable with the boat rocking violently from side to side and all the lights flashing on and off. Anyway, by the morning I had had enough and sailed 30nm east over to Newport Beach on the mainland.