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On Monday, Robyn and I went on our first official guided excursion off Catalina. We signed up for a 2 hour snorkeling trip, which would take up to 6 people in a boat to a strategic location and guide them on a snorkeling tour. We got lucky and were the only people who signed up for the early time slot. So it was just us and Captain Rob.

This turned out to be a great intro to the underwater life of the island, and taught us that the protected side of the island was quite safe to snorkel and swim on. But this trip was not the most exciting snorkeling we did – that came on Wednesday. However, on this trip we saw plenty of Garibaldi, which are the official saltwater fish of California, amazing kelp gardens, and a lobster hunting food from under a rock.

We bought a Kodak disposable underwater camera to take pictures, knowing full well that they would be trash compared to the digital camera pictures we’ve been snapping above-water. But we had no choice. Turns out, they really were crap, but after a bit of color-correction in Photoshop, I got them looking quite good, if a bit grainy.

Immediately after arriving at Catalina Island on Sunday, Robyn and I dropped our bags in the room, grabbed our wetsuits, bought some sandwiches to go, and ran down to the pier to rent a boat. After all the traveling, and the heat at the wedding, we needed to get into the water fast.

Boat rentals were actually pretty reasonable. $130 for 4 hours for a 10HP and $150 for 4 hours for a 15HP. On Sunday, we rented the 10HP – and it was just fine for putting around – but on Wednesday we wanted to explore more locations and I wasn’t thrilled with the 10HP’s inability to plane, so we upgraded.

In our rush to get out in the water, we neglected to rent any snorkeling gear. Since we weren’t familiar with the island or the safety of the waters around it at that point, we regretted that mistake. We would have liked to scan the bottom where we anchored to make sure there wasn’t anything that was going to eat or impale us. But it turned out there was nothing to worry about anyway. Regardless, we spent a bit of time with large zip-loc bags over our heads (a child-safety nightmare) trying to peer into the water. Yes we have pics of this, but we look too idiotic to put them online.

The water temp was about 68 degrees – chilly enough that our wetsuits made us quite comfortable, and allowed us to hop in and out of the water without dealing with temperature changes. We spent the hours swimming at a few sites along the island, eating lunch (actually more like dinner) on the boat, and generally winding down.

Check out all the pics here.

Here’s a video of us setting off from Avalon for the first time:

Last Saturday before we headed over to Catalina, we were able to spend a night with Jason and Doris, and Albert and Julia brought Eric over for his dinner date debut. I just couldn’t stop taking pictures, but I completely forgot to get a group shot of all of us.

Find the entire gallery here.

Robyn and I have escaped Long Island for a bit to have some fun on the west coast.

We flew into LAX on Wed and are out in Redlands now. The plan is to attend (Robyn’s mom)Kate & Gary’s wedding this Friday. Robyn and I are both in the wedding party! Then we head back into LA on Saturday and spend some quality time with Jason & Doris, Albert & Julia, and their newborn Eric.

On Sunday, we take the ferry over to Catalina Island for a week of kayaking, snorkeling and other random water activities.

Once we’re home, I’ll upload all the pics into the local photo album. But until then, I made a flickr stream with the tag vacation07, and will be uploading there as we go. I made a badge below that will update as well.

A beautiful outdoor wedding in Massachusetts on a perfect day. Go here to see all the pics.