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TERRAIN: Canyon Walls & Pinnacles

MAX DEPTH: ~300 fsw

The Pinnacles are located due west from the Marine Room Restaurant and is part of the South Wall in La Jolla Canyon and is named in honor of Steve Donathan, who with two of his students, marked the sheer walls and pinnacles with a float for everyone to dive. It was named after Steve by the Taopitek Members (Steve's Yahoo Group) after his passing on the Yukon; his death occured a few months after the area was marked. The float, as of July 2005, is still attached to this area in about 175 fsw; however, it appears to be shallower due to the movement of sediment in the area. Currently, the yellow float line appears to be coming out of the sediment with no apparent attachment point - a picture on the right shows a diver inspecting the condition of the line. This area has also been explored earlier by those involved in the Chimaera Project.

The walls start as shallow as 70 fsw and drops to a sandy base around 278 fsw (according to Steve Donathan). There are some ridges which jut out from these walls, and several of them have errosion on the side closest to the walls creating pillars which appear to stand straight up from the depths - some are as tall as 20 feet. This area is not populated with diverse marine populations; however, there is a good population of Rockfish, depending on the depth. There are also cables/lines which runs down the walls - the pictures of these cables on the right were taken on July 2005. The purposes of these lines/cables are unknown at this point.

There are two ways of reaching the Pinnacles region of the South Wall: (1) underwater, or (2) a surface swim to the dive float. A surface swim out to the float and descending along the line will lead you directly to the walls at ~165 fsw. However, getting there underwater is a very reasonable alternative and the change in terrain on the swim to the walls is interesting. To get there underwater, swim out from the Marine Room Restaurant so you are lined up between the flag pole and the restaurant before dropping into 20 fsw. Swim west and drop into the canyon to about 100 fsw, keeping the canyon slope on your left and you will eventually come across some smaller structures, caves, and walls - this will eventually turn into the larger walls. You can actually start deeper at around 160 fsw and you will find additional, albiet smaller, structures on the way to the Pinnacles. These walls continue westward. Be sure to look up as the walls will extend above as well as below. Decompression stops can be made on the wall, but once you hit ~40 fsw the ascent rate, if you following the bottom, is very slow so modify your deco schedule accordingly.

The Pinnacles are located due west from the Marine Room Restaurant and is part of the South Wall in La Jolla Canyon and is named in honor of Steve Donathan, who with two of his students, marked the sheer walls and pinnacles with a float for everyone to dive. It was named after Steve by the Taopitek Members (Steve's Yahoo Group) after his passing on the Yukon; his death occured a few months after the area was marked. The float, as of July 2005, is still attached to this area in about 175 fsw; however, it appears to be shallower due to the movement of sediment in the area. Currently, the yellow float line appears to be coming out of the sediment with no apparent attachment point - a picture on the right shows a diver inspecting the condition of the line. This area has also been explored earlier by those involved in the Chimaera Project.

The walls start as shallow as 70 fsw and drops to a sandy base around 278 fsw (according to Steve Donathan). There are some ridges which jut out from these walls, and several of them have errosion on the side closest to the walls creating pillars which appear to stand straight up from the depths - some are as tall as 20 feet. This area is not populated with diverse marine populations; however, there is a good population of Rockfish, depending on the depth. There are also cables/lines which runs down the walls - the pictures of these cables on the right were taken on July 2005. The purposes of these lines/cables are unknown at this point.

There are two ways of reaching the Pinnacles region of the South Wall: (1) underwater, or (2) a surface swim to the dive float. A surface swim out to the float and descending along the line will lead you directly to the walls at ~165 fsw. However, getting there underwater is a very reasonable alternative and the change in terrain on the swim to the walls is interesting. To get there underwater, swim out from the Marine Room Restaurant so you are lined up between the flag pole and the restaurant before dropping into 20 fsw. Swim west and drop into the canyon to about 100 fsw, keeping the canyon slope on your left and you will eventually come across some smaller structures, caves, and walls - this will eventually turn into the larger walls. You can actually start deeper at around 160 fsw and you will find additional, albiet smaller, structures on the way to the Pinnacles. These walls continue westward. Be sure to look up as the walls will extend above as well as below. Decompression stops can be made on the wall, but once you hit ~40 fsw the ascent rate, if you following the bottom, is very slow so modify your deco schedule accordingly.