Over President's Day weekend, I had a chance to dive Catalina Island for the first time. I'd snorkeled there before, years ago, but all of my local diving had been at the Northern Channel Islands (Santa Cruz to San Miguel). I expected slightly warmer water temperatures - well, it was 59F, so I'm not sure if that's much warmer 
- and a different blend of species - blue-banded gobies, angel sharks, and electric rays were encountered, so that fit the perception.
The most interesting dive was the first of the day, at an otherwise unremarkable dive spot just off a bluff in the island. The briefing was typical for California - kelp, plentiful garibaldi and sheephead, scattered rocks, sand 
, but what caught my attention was the briefest mention of a crashed plane at depth. Most of the divers on the boat were new students who would be practicing skills in 40ft, but I sought out a divemaster and asked about the wreck - "Straight north from the middle of that pile of rocks, a Piper that crashed about five years back and sunk...it's at 120ft."
I already had the Tokina 10-17mm fisheye on the camera - I had been on a few dives with the lens, and found it extremely useful, even if I did usually limit myself to 10mm - and figured an easily reached wreck in California shouldn't be neglected. I jumped in the water, and started down the slope. Around 80ft, I encountered a 4-5ft angel shark, lying in the sanding waiting for a meal to pass by.
I continued on, and around 100ft I saw it, twenty feet to my left. A small Piper, from what I could tell completely intact. After spending time with the angel shark, I only had a few minutes at 120ft, and quickly tried to cover the plane.
Steadying myself as I maneuvered the housing into the interior, my support suddenly gave away...and I realized that the chairs still tilted front and back. From what I could gather, the plane had been sliding slowly down the slope over the years, and I didn't have a chance to fully enter to get a close-up of the cockpit controls and readouts.
The plane had become an artificial reef, with small schools of perch, juvenile/intermediate sheephead, and plentiful invertebrate life taking over. My computer began to beep, and I started up the gradual slope again, taking a final photo of the engine compartment as I left. Very vaguely in the photo above, you can make out a shark/ray lying on the seafloor in ~140ft of water - it's the triangular shape w/ tail just below the tail-elevator on the right of the photo.
For all those on the fence about the Tokina 10-17, it's an excellent lens that I've really enjoyed using. I did some research when I got home, and found a short blurb from the NTSB about the crash of the Piper PA-32-260.
Sorry for the long post - thanks to those who stuck with itNTSB Identification: LAX02LA02214 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Saturday, November 03, 2001 in Avalon, CA
Aircraft: Piper PA-32-260, registration: N3516W
Injuries: 3 Uninjured.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed.
On November 3, 2001, at 1645 hours Pacific standard time, a Piper PA-32-260, N3516W, sustained a loss of engine power during departure climb and ditched into the Pacific ocean, about 4 miles south of Catalina Island, Avalon, California. The airplane was substantially damaged. The private rated pilot and two passengers were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal flight, operating under 14 CFR Part 91, and no flight plan was filed. The originating flight departed from runway 22, and was destined for Carlsbad, California.
The pilot reported that after takeoff the engine began making a "rattling" noise with a loss of engine power. He was unable to return to the runway and landed in the ocean. The Catalina Island airport manager stated that a pilot reported hearing the accident airplane prior to departure and that the engine sounded "terrible or strange" to him.
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