Diving Possibilities Near Anaheim?

[Fyshebait]

Hey all.

I'm going to be travelling from Prince Edward Island, Canada, to California, staying in Anaheim, from Friday, April 17- Tuesday, April 21. I'll be flying home on the 21st, leaving at around noon-ish. Most of the time I'm there will be tied up with a conference, but I'll be free both Saturday and Sunday evenings, and all day on Monday.

I'm probably dreaming big, but having never even seen the Pacific Ocean before, I'd love the chance to get out and do a dive or two. So, what I'm looking for are suggestions and if possible contact information on any dive centers, clubs, or individuals in the area who might be a good bet for making arrangements with. I recognize that it just might not be possible to arrange anything around my schedule, but if there's any chance at all, I'd like to take advantage of it...I just need to know if it's worth packing my Ikelite and camcorder.

Thanks! I will greatly appreciate any assistance!

 

[ligersandtions]

Being in Anaheim actually puts you in a pretty good place....you've got options! You could either go down to Laguna Beach and try out some of the diving there, or you could make your way up to the Palos Verdes area and try some diving there. Seeing that you have both Saturday and Sunday evenings available to dive, you may be able to get in some nice night dives. Vet's, the local mudhole, is a fantastic place for a night dive (and almost always has good diving conditions!).

Watch the Beach Crabs subforum for anyone planning a dive that weekend. I'd probably be available to go out as well, but being a fairly new diver with less than stellar navigation skills, I can't promise the best Vet's dive....but if someone else is interested in going out one night, I will definitely join.

The Pacific is definitely worth exploring, and if you were going to be available during the day, there are some fantastic sites in PV, but aren't necessarily easy to do at night (rocky entry/exit)....and then, of course, a boat trip out to the Channel Islands is always a treat!

Hopefully we can get you out for a dive or two

 

[scjoe]

Unfortunately, most dive opportunities in Laguna will be on Saturday morning. You will be hard pressed to find night divers on Saturday or Sunday and Monday during the day will be tough. Your best bet may be to contact the Laguna Sea Sports store of Beach Cities Scuba to see if they can hook you up with one of their DM's for a tour of Shaws Cove on Monday. I don't know what they charge.

If your plans change, South Coast Divers meets on Saturdays at 7:30 am in the Laguna Hills Mall and drives to Laguna Beach from there. South Orange County Dive Club meets at 8 am at the Pavilions in Laguna Beach, and Laguna Sea Dwellers meets at 9 am at Heisler Park in Laguna Beach.

LSD also usually has some divers going out as a group on Sundays during the day as well, but it isn't as formal. SCD doesn’t do a group dive on Sundays and I am not sure about SOCDC. All three groups have webpages and LSD also has a facebook page.

 

[Fyshebait]

Thanks for the info. I'll try contacting Laguna Sea Sports store, and the webpages as you suggested. My preference would be for Monday, earlier in the day if possible, although an evening dive on Saturday or Sunday would be great, too. The schedule ends up being pretty tight with the flight out at noon on Tuesday. Still hoping to make this happen, though!

Ligersandtions...if I do manage to get anything set up, I'll post the plans here...I'd be happy to have you join in!

And, if anyone else has info that could be helpful, please pass it along...it is much appreciated!

 

[fnfalman]

Please check out this store Sea d Sea Scuba Diving Center -- 1911 Catalina Ave, Redondo Beach, CA 90277 -- (310) 373-6355

It's located at Redondo Beach which is close to Veteran's Park (Vets in the local parlance) or Palos Verdes (PV). There's a kid named Jake that works at Sea D Sea and he doesn't work on Mondays and he's always game to take people out to Palos Verdes area. Be forewarned though, PV is a beautiful place to dive with many spots and coves, but if you're not in very good shape, it could be rough. You have to lug your gears up and down some hills, or walk for some distances depending on which dive site.

You can rent gears at Sea D Sea as well. They rent everything to include mask, fins, snorkels, boots, gloves, hoods, etc. They usually don't like to rent out the basics like masks, fins and such but they do for people who are from out of town and didn't bring any dive gears with them.

 

[scjoe]

One other option on Monday would be to go to Catalina. You can take either the Catalina Express out of Long Beach or the Catalina Flyer from Newport. You could get two or three dives in. Newport would be easier for you to get to than Long Beach.

The Flyer only makes one trip a day leaving Newport at 9 am and Avalon at 4:30 pm. The Express has more options leaving Long Beach as early as 6:15 am and Avalon at 3:45 and 7:30 pm. They are between $66 and $68 a piece. Parking in Newport is around $7 for the day and in Long Beach around $14 for the day.

The boats can fill up days in advance for weekend travel, but I suspect you could book tickets on Monday morning on site.

The trip is a little over an hour each way. There are two dive shops in Avalon, Catalina Divers Supply and Scuba Luv. The first is on the Green Pier that you will see when you pull into port. It is a short walk from the docking terminal. The second is about a block inland from the pier. Both give guided tours of the Casino Dive Park which you can walk to. Catalina Divers also runs the air station at the dive park where you can get tanks, weights and fills.

There are a handful of lockers at the Point that require quarters, but most people just live with the honor system. There are no free public showers, but there is a fee based shower facility on the left hand side of the street as you get out towards the Point.

Avalon is very small. You can walk everywhere you need to go. There are lots of restaurants including one out at the Point which should be open now. It is closed during the winter months.

 

[muddiver]

I second the trip to Catalina Island. Look up Catalina Express online and make your reservations to get to the island now.

Any other diving along the coast will pale in comparison to diving from the island. Your other choice is to browse LAdiver.com: Southern California Diving Resources and see if you can book a boat dive out of the LA or Long Beach harbors. Be prepared because most boat trips are an all day affair. There are no small, fast six pack charters like in Hawaii.

Visability at Laguna was 10' to 15' today. Catalina is consitantly 20' to as good as 100' in the middle of winter. There is also a lot more kelt and marine animals to check out over there. The shore diving has really gotten silted out.

 

[Fyshebait]

OK, so it sounds like Catalina Island is a good bet. I'm ok with making it a full-day affair, no problem at all...that's actually kind of what I'm looking for. My only concern would be ensuring that I don't do anything that would interfere with my flight on Tuesday. I don't know what the typical depths for diving are in the area, but shallower dives should be fine. What I'm most interested in is marine life, and the opportunity to shoot some video in the Pacific.

I could easily get up early and head to long beach to catch the 6:15 AM boat to Avalon...hopefully that would give me time to get the diving in and catch the afternoon boat back. Doing one or two dives in the morning, then having the afternoon to shop around a bit, eat at a local restaurant and check out some local shops...that sounds like a perfect way to spend a day to me.

Do either of the dive shops in Avalon rent gear...I'm hoping to travel fairly light, the only gear I'd be taking is my camcorder. Also, to they have a website that I could look up to get an e-mail and make contact ahead of time? I'd like to get as much of the arrangements made as possible ahead of time...it would be ideal to have everything set up, and then just worry about getting myself where I need to be!

All the information is very helpful! Thanks so much...and keep it coming!

 

[muddiver]

Because you appear to be internet challanged, here are links to the web sites you requested:

Catalina Express // Daily Trips To Catalina Island

Catalina Island Scuba Diving and Snorkeling from Catalina Divers Supply on Catalina Island in Avalon CA

Welcome to Catalina Scuba Luv

 

[ligersandtions]

Diving out at Avalon is fantastic! You've got a wide range of diving opportunities out there. You can be in anywhere from 10 feet of water to 100 feet of water within the park. Since your flight on Tuesday is at noon, if you can get over early in the morning, I would think you should be able to make two dives. I'd recommend avoiding a reverse profile, and go with your deeper dive first and do a shallower second dive, with an extended safety stop at the end.

I don't know if you're set up to do a solo dive, or if you want to hire a guide or find a local buddy, but that's something to consider as well. Unfortunately, going on a Monday means the majority of us will be at work.