Favorite So Cal Shore Dive?

[CompuDude]

What Chris, and others, said. Old MarineLand, conditions permitting, Redondo at Vets Park for night dives, and I would add Malibu's Pt. Dume Pinnacles, if the conditions are good. That's the problem with shore diving... it's always going to be condition-dependent. There are no guarantees in life, and even fewer where shore diving is concerned.

Although if you can pop $54 for the Catalina Express, you can pretty much be assured of decent conditions almost all the time at Casino Point. Not quite the same as a "shore dive" in the traditional sense, but there you have it.

 

[Mo2vation]

I rarely dive "just to get wet", so I'm usually in the water with an objective. Photograph, practice & drilling, lobstering, etc. I'm fortunate to dive frequently enough that I don't get that dehydration jones these days.

What I've found:

If you want Lobster, Vets isn't the place.

If you want Nudis, Malibu road ain't the place

If you want to practice and drill with your Doubles, OML really isn't the place

If you want to actually see where you're diving, OCal isn't the place....



When I want Nudis, its OML. When I want Lobster, its ____________, When I want clear water tow work on my Wide Angle shooting, its Casino Point, when I want to practice and drill, its Vets, when I want to whine about the drive and the terrible viz, and hear about how it was an amazing dive just last night, I dive, well, you know....



---
Ken

 

[limeyx]

you should buy "so-cal's best beach dives" by dale sheckler.

la jolla shores are great, esp. at night

malibu is good when the SW swell is low (call 310-457-9701), like today
redondo is good for a night dive almost all the time (except for big NW swells)
marineland is good almost all the time, except for large direct south swells

scott

Seconded on the book -- I won it chamber day 2005 and really like it.

In Malibu:
Escondido creek - good dive (2 reefs) but shallow and it can suck if stirred up
Nicholas Cyn - cool dive. Never had a bad one here.
Leo Carillo -- when it's good, I really enjoy it. Can be stirred up
Had an OK dive at Deer Creek but I got it on a bad day. Looks awesome on a good day though.

Also Marineland, Point Vicente (Cardiac Hill) Malaga cove (basicaly anything in PV)

 

[MaxBottomtime]

I have 217 dives at Marineland and am still excited about every dive there. It is the nudibranch capitol of SoCal and every now and then something new appears. This Spring we had an invasion of Rainbow nudis. I've found a Barred Knifejaw from Japan, Pacific Snake Eel and a Finescale Triggerfish from Mexico, been attacked by a sea lion, dived a metridium covered wreck and had a whale pass over me there. There are rocks the size of a school bus covered in every color imaginable by nudis, algae, fish and invertebrates. If you look in the cracks and under the rocks you can find more than a dozen octopus on every dive. There are sandy plains with Mantis shrimp, sea pens, crabs, halibut and Batrays plus shallow reefs with kelp.
And for Ken, I have practiced skills with doubles there, but the real skill is getting back up the trail with 120 cu ft water heaters on your back.
If the conditions are good this weekend, I plan a two day dive marathon at Marineland. Gates open early.

 

[TrojanCatMan]

Shaws cove on a clear day... Big rock is wonderful too!

 

[shoupart]

Max, tell us about the whale at Marineland! When was that?! What kind was it? That's pretty sweet!

 

[Empty V]

I've got the smores, Ken start a campfire!

Billy

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Max, tell us about the whale at Marineland! When was that?! What kind was it? That's pretty sweet!

It was a couple weeks ago. Merry and I were doing our usual dive. Our eyes were buried in the rocks, looking for nudis. Suddenly the reef was covered by a large shadow. It was way too big to be a sea lion. There was no sound, so it wasn't a power boat. We were only about 25 feet from the beach, so it wasn't a sailboat. It passed over us in a couple seconds and we could see the shadow moving away. I first thought it was a boat and so I instinctively ducked onto the reef. I never even looked up. Afterwards I was kicking myself when I realized that it had to be a whale. I've seen them from the surface swimming in the same area but never underwater.

 

[Mo2vation]

<snip>I first thought it was a boat and so I instinctively ducked onto the reef. I never even looked up. Afterwards I was kicking myself when I realized that it had to be a whale. I've seen them from the surface swimming in the same area but never underwater.

Ya never know when a whale will have a couple of rods out, yo-yoing a scrambled egg Tady for yellowtail or a sheephead. I think you made the right move diving onto the reef. It sucks when you get snagged by a whale and dragged for about a quartermile until you can get to your knife and cut the 30# Izorline or Maxima these guys use.

Is that what happened to your other drysuit that caused the leak? Yo-yoing or trolling whale snag ya?

I hate that.

---
Ken

 

[MissyP]

Head south to La Jolla... There's a pretty massive canyon to sight see around, and some awesome sites to check out (Secret Gardens, Vallecitos Pt, North Wall, Marine Room, sand dollar beds, etc)...