Going to SoCal, should we dive with locals?

[Sam Miller III]

I suspect the first dive through the surf in the great big cold pacific ocean will rapidly remove the majority of your arrogance and possibly some of your equipment and hopefully you will not pay with the experience with your life. (FYI I was one of the organizers of the OC UW S&R...Searched for an recovered more bodies than I care to remember --certified on Friday, dive on Saturday dead by Saturday afternoon--Then the S&R begins)

There is an option that has not been explored : The LA County UW Instructors association annual 3 Rs aka Rocks Reefs and Rips. It is conducted at local SoCal Beaches taught by local LA Co UW instructors who were diving and instructing when your local instructors were in diapers. And there is a considerable value in the knowledge and experience In busting through the So Cal surf,

It is a 2 day 8 hour a day event generally at two or more beaches which have different surf patterns - and there is a difference in surf patterns and how one enters and exits through the surf -- or over Rocks or when in the presence of a Rip.

But you don't need this training ! You had fuzzy faced late model tube sucking bubble blowing Instructors ! who have never dove in SoCal but have vicariously prepared you and yours to bust SoCal surf

Good Luck,

 

[socaljohn]

there is a group, South Coast Divers that dive Saturdays conditions permitting. They are very open to and then protective of newbs and ocean newbs. only drawback is they dive as group Saturday only. Google them.

 

[lamarpaulski]

feel free to pm

I was at the Catalina Dive park, Avalon yesterday. Ferries leave from Dana Pt, Newport Beach, Long Beach and San Pedro. Catalina Flyer and Catalina Express. Plus, its a beautiful little place with cool stuff to do dry. Went ziplining there last week.

Dive Park was awesome. slight surge Viz 40-50 feet. Almost always super calm (except strong offshore Santa Ana winds...ironical because that is when Laguna is sometimes great) with very very easy entry exit as faces away from prevailing waves/winds. Dive shop with tanks, fills, weights, wetsuits, right there...really super convenient. Surf there is a rare thing. Has a nice staircase and railings right into water and a dive shop right there so no schlepping tanks weights. Small wrecks add to the scenery.

Viz is almost always much better than local shore diving. Saw a dozen giant sea bass there. Viz was good. light surge only no surf. 61f at depth. GIANT SEA BASS convention right now.

 

[Bob DBF]

Going to SoCal, should we dive with locals?

Yes, going anywhere it helps to dive with locals in order to learn the area without having to find the ins and outs of the site yourself.

I have asked Scubaboard divers, that I have met in threads like these, to accompany me diving when I was in their area and have had a great dives and put a face with the name.
Aside from a good dive, I also got an education on diving in the area and reading conditions in case they were not available next time. Now I'm not you, but I dive with locals when out of my area and possible.

Shore diving in California can get complicated.

Any diving anywhere can get complicated.



Bob
-------------------------------------------
I may be old, but I'm not dead yet.

 

[Dizzi Lizzi]

I agree Catalina Dive Park (casino point) is an excellent spot. You can rent equip right at the casino point site. Entry is easy via some steps with rail right into the water. The costs come with the ferry (about $70 ish round trip), shore diving is cheaper (free) of course, but boy am I not good at getting out if there is any surf, and I hate sand in my gear. Occasionally I see Veterans Park in Redondo Beach looks like a lake, that's easy enough to get in and out, but in my opinion so much more classical So Calif sights to easily see in Catalina as shown so nicely by @lamarpaulski -thanks for that just beautiful!! Also for this old lady, the steps at shaws cove are daunting. Going down is one thing but coming back up... still haven't done it. If you decide you want to spend the night and dive again the next day you will need to find hotel rooms asap. From the ferry to the dive site is a very manageable bag drag or about $12 taxi. Many of the hotels have (as available) transport to the dive site also. Have fun, and always dive safe.

 

[lamarpaulski]

Catalina is pretty sweet. Some cost cutters:

Groupons for Flyer cuts cost 50% for that ferry.

Catalina Express has super generous free trip on your birthday plus a lunch.

Express also now has ferry plus hotel deal thats quite good.

Lots of options, esp off season. But will never be cheap.





QUOTE="Dizzi Lizzi, post: 7802900,
member: 470898"]I agree Catalina Dive Park (casino point) is an excellent spot. You can rent equip right at the casino point site. Entry is easy via some steps with rail right into the water. The costs come with the ferry (about $70 ish round trip), shore diving is cheaper (free) of course, but boy am I not good at getting out if there is any surf, and I hate sand in my gear. Occasionally I see Veterans Park in Redondo Beach looks like a lake, that's easy enough to get in and out, but in my opinion so much more classical So Calif sights to easily see in Catalina as shown so nicely by @lamarpaulski -thanks for that just beautiful!! Also for this old lady, the steps at shaws cove are daunting. Going down is one thing but coming back up... still haven't done it. If you decide you want to spend the night and dive again the next day you will need to find hotel rooms asap. From the ferry to the dive site is a very manageable bag drag or about $12 taxi. Many of the hotels have (as available) transport to the dive site also. Have fun, and always dive safe.[/QUOTE]

 

[Dizzi Lizzi]

Don't forget if you go to the scuba show in June, hermosa hotel booth always has a spin the wheel, I got a 25% off room for 2 nights! YAY!!

 

[geoff w]

An interesting followup to some of the comments here - yesterday I had lunch with a friend (So Cal local) who owns a Palau dive operator, and we were talking about local (So Cal) diving, in this case Channel Islands instead of beach. His partner / lead guide has over 6,000 dives, mostly in Palau. We were talking about plans for our upcoming trip to Palau starting this weekend. Basically, the first day is for acclimation - get comfortable in the conditions, figure out weighting, overcome jet lag, give the guides a chance to assess everyone's comfort and ability. We also talked about going diving locally. My buddy said the very experience Palau guide would be floundering his first few So Cal dives due to the different conditions (colder, low viz, surf). Maybe consider going out with someone to show you the ropes instead of venturing out on your own the first time. There's a lot of power even in the smaller waves, and if you don't know where the reefs are you're not going to see much

 

[drrich2]

The mention of Casino Point dive park off Catalina Island reminded me of a thread, so I did a quick Google to pull it up. Back in July, Dizzi Lizzi posted 'Let's do an easy dive' in Near Misses and Lessons Learned. This is not a criticism of the site, just a mention that someone probably expecting benign conditions could, at least on rare occasion, be surprised.

Richard.

 

[dytis-sm]

Why not get on a boat and make it easy on you.. A boat will take you to spots that are suitable for the particular day's conditions and your level experience (you should ask). I do not know any OC dive boats, but if you drive to Long Beach / San Pedro you can find several good outfits. Personally I find that a lot easier than killing yourself trying to find parking at the beach, walk around with gear to the site, then swim through surf to reach a reef which may be hard to see on the day you chose.

I would do the boat, preferably heading to Catalina and try to hook up with a group that is familiar with the site you visit just for pointing out highlights for the particular site.