Catalina, California, United States

Farnsworth Banks

Farnsworth Banks is a series of offshore pinnacles about three nautical miles off the windward (south-west) coast of Catalina Island. The high points of the pinnacles rise to around 18 metres, while the bases sit at 40 metres or more on the open San Pedro Channel. The site is famous as one of the only places in California where the rare California hydrocoral (Stylaster californicus), a calcified pink-and-purple branching coral, grows in abundance; large stands carpet the pinnacle tops and walls. The colony is fragile and good buoyancy is essential. Other species include schooling jack mackerel and barracuda, giant black sea bass in summer, blue sharks and mako sharks in the open water around the pinnacles, and the occasional ocean sunfish. Currents are reliably strong because the site is in open ocean exposed to channel flow. Visibility is the best in the Catalina region, frequently above 25 metres. Advanced certification, redundant air or doubles, and surface marker buoys are mandatory.