Is there any diving off LA?

[Aussie Diver]

Hi all,

A friend's asked me if i'd like to go with him to LA this Summer (winter for you lot, about janurary), and am seriously considering it. But is there any diving nearby? And is it any good? And will i freeze my arse off? (I'm now only just realising that we will be there in winter :ice: brrr). Any info would be much appreciated. And my appologies if i've posted in the wrong area.

Ryan.

 

[JustinW]

I am assuming LA as in L.A. or Los Angeles and not LA as in Louisiana. The water temps will be quite different in these two areas of the country at that time.

 

[socaldiver]

There are plenty of diving sites within a short driving distance of L.A. (Los Angeles). We would need to kow what part of the city you will be staying in order to give you a more definitive answer.

Winter here (January) you will experience varied air temps, again depending on where you are staying. By the beaches normally low to mid 60s, downtown a few degrees warmer and the valley and inland empire 5 to 10 degrees warmer during the day. At night cooler temps anywhere from mid 40s to mid 50s. Also, that is during our "rainy" season so that could cause temps to be a little cooler on wet days.

As far as water temps, well, they should be in the mid 50s up and down the coast.

I hope this helps, I am sure other socal people will chide in their own observations.

 

[raposarose]

I am assuming LA as in L.A. or Los Angeles and not LA as in Louisiana. The water temps will be quite different in these two areas of the country at that time.

Well this is the SoCal section of the California Kelp Divers forum...

Anyway, you can go out to Catalina Island or drive down to San Diego (2 hours) for some nice diving on occasion too. In San Diego (I used to live there) you can shore dive and boat dive. There are some wrecks down there too. And there is an underwater canyon accessible for shore diving.

 

[Mr Carcharodon]

Hi all,

A friend's asked me if i'd like to go with him to LA this Summer (winter for you lot, about janurary), and am seriously considering it. But is there any diving nearby? And is it any good? And will i freeze my arse off? (I'm now only just realising that we will be there in winter :ice: brrr). Any info would be much appreciated. And my appologies if i've posted in the wrong area.

Ryan.

Well there is shore diving in LA, and boat diving. Shore diving is easy and quick but the visibility of the water will not generally be as good as at the offshore islands. www.sandeaters.org has descriptions of shore diving sites in the LA area. In January in LA the ocean temperature will generally be in the upper 50's F, so most people will dive with a 7 mm wetsuit or drysuit. Visibility for shorediving will generally be 10 to 20 feet, and perhaps 60 feet at the offshore islands. Catalina Island is the most visited boat diving location in the LA area. You can get links to various dive boats through www.diver.net.

 

[kelpmermaid]

to check:

www.ladiver.com
www.saintbrendan.com
http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/dsdt/cwtg/spac.html

In short, yes, there is diving here in winter, and barring storm activity, it can be quite good.

 

[ChrisA]

Hi all,

A friend's asked me if i'd like to go with him to LA this Summer (winter for you lot, about janurary), and am seriously considering it. But is there any diving nearby? And is it any good? And will i freeze my arse off? (I'm now only just realising that we will be there in winter :ice: brrr). Any info would be much appreciated. And my appologies if i've posted in the wrong area.

Ryan.

Is there any diving near by? I live in the Los Angeles area and dive at least two days a
week, something three and I don't think I could exhaust all the possable dive sites in years
of frequent diving. If you concider the "greater LA Area" to include Ventura, Los Angeles,
Orange and San Deigo counties there are over a hundred places to dive from the shore
and dozens of charter boat operators. And then there is catalina Island and if you have more
time there are the northern Channel Islands. I doubt even the divers who've bee at it 20 years have seen half of what's here

Is it any good? It's not tropical clear, warm water and the DMs on the boats don't give guided tours but the sea life is dense and as you learn about the local environment you will learn to see things that beginers miss. For example many of the critters are colored so as to blend in or they hide in the sand. There are a number of wrecks up and down the coast and some oil platforms
Some days it's very good and others vis was so bad I could not the end of my arm.

Temps in winter at depth are going to be in the low 50's. This is not "cold water" diving because regs don't freeze up and free flow but it is certianly "chilly water" diving. Most divers use a 7mm full suit with a hooded vest under it and good boots and gloves. I minority will use drysuits.

We don't have ice here. In January it cools down but snow and ice just does not happen here.
It might rain but that's it. Leave you winter cloths at home

There is a _very_ active diver comunity here and you will have no trouble finding dive budies

If you could let me know exactly where you will be staying I might be able to suggest some diver groups to contact. So Cal is a big place with hundres of miles of shoreline and diving on
much of it. and then some offshore island that add collectively another hundred miles of shoreline.

 

[pasley]

Diving. People fly here from Europe to dive our kelp forrest ( I dove with a German gentleman who had come just for the kelp forrest).

 

[jetfixer]

I've flown to Germany to see the black forest....ours is better!

Come on out AussieDiver! There will be no shortage of people willing to buddy up with you or great dive sites to explore.

 

[Aussie Diver]

Thanks guys. Not sure where my mate's looking at staying, he's not a diver though, so I'm sure that's not his first priority (his seems to be picking up american ladies). Have heard good things about your kelp forrests and about Catalina Island, I'm sure i've got a book around here with some details on them. I'd def be cold though, here winter temps are around 68F min., and my 5mm wettie does me fine. Shall keep you posted, and with a bit of luck, I'll be making a visit to your country early next year.