It had been a long day. After two dives near Los Coronados islands, off the coast of California, we were having boat trouble. Meanwhile, the passengers were getting restless and ready to just call it quits, forgetting our third dive.

Finally, after an hour or two, the crew got the engine running again. Reluctantly, about half the boat decided to go for the third dive at a sea lion cove. Pulling around the smallish island, we see the cove, and about a 100 California Sea Lions all around it! As soon as we pulled up, the started splashing in the water by droves, leaving the babies up on the rocks, cheering their mothers on.

To say a sea lion is like an excited puppy is an understatement. These things absolutely love playing with scuba divers. Darting all around, even nipping at us a little, we were overwhelmed by their numbers. We barely submerged for the dive, since there wasn't much to see at the bottom, and playing with the sea lions at the surface had to be better than anything we'd see below.

This was truly a unique experience. We spent the whole time tucked in, scared of getting nipped by a zealous sea lion, but laughing our heads off. Here's a short video clip from that day to give you an idea: