I have a friend who wants to get certified over spring break (his girlfriend would be getting her cert too). They had originally wanted to go to Panama because of the diving being tropical and the prices of the airfare, hotel, and cert class being so cheap. I cautioned him to really check the place out, since you can get bad dive instructors anywhere, but particularly outside the US. He's now thinking of doing it in San Diego since there's alot of non diving things to do, in addition to feeling he'll get better instruction. He said the cert class is like $300 and I think that sounds a little low, but not too bad. Can anyone elaborate how San Diego would be for beginners? I've only dove the Keys, Hawaii, and Tahiti- all reef environments. when I think of San Diego I think kelp and great whites haha...please fill me in.
San Diego Diving for beginners?
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It's cold, visibility isn't that great and there can be rough surf days.
I don't know about Panama, but diving in San Diego is more demanding than any tropical location I've been.
I would not recommend doing OW in San Diego to people who are not comfortable in the water or show apprehension. I think it's best for those to learn in more relaxing environments.
However, if your friend is comfortable snorkeling, swimming, and generally not afraid of water and in good shape, San Diego is a great location to learn. And starting with the somewhat rough stuff means he'll be comfortable anywhere after that.
Kelp forests are a wonder.
Edit: You might want to post in the SoCal forum for more answers.
I don't know about Panama, but diving in San Diego is more demanding than any tropical location I've been.
I would not recommend doing OW in San Diego to people who are not comfortable in the water or show apprehension. I think it's best for those to learn in more relaxing environments.
However, if your friend is comfortable snorkeling, swimming, and generally not afraid of water and in good shape, San Diego is a great location to learn. And starting with the somewhat rough stuff means he'll be comfortable anywhere after that.
Kelp forests are a wonder.
Edit: You might want to post in the SoCal forum for more answers.
fnfalman
Contributor
There are thousands of people that learned OW in SoCal water every year. Yeah, it ain't as warm as the tropics, but so what?
The $300 sounds about right. But that does not include boat trips to the islands. Beach diving is free but could be rough if the surf is up.
Anyway, I was certified in SoCal and so hooked on kelp diving that I feel no need to go on a "dive vacation" anywhere else in the world.
The $300 sounds about right. But that does not include boat trips to the islands. Beach diving is free but could be rough if the surf is up.
Anyway, I was certified in SoCal and so hooked on kelp diving that I feel no need to go on a "dive vacation" anywhere else in the world.
Blackwood
Contributor
San Diego has beautiful dives. La Jolla Cove (on a good day) will knock your socks off.
I was going to reccomend La Jolla because I've read it is a fairly easy entry and is a good beganner dive site. Most of the boat dives are to the wrecks which are prety deep dives and not really good first time dives.
Mattleycrue76
Contributor
Getting certified in a more challenging environment is a good thing. After battling surf/surge, low viz, and cold(ish) water a tropical boat dive will seem like a piece of cake. I would leap at the chance to get in some SoCal diving.
diver_doug
Contributor
I've done a number of dives at La Jolla Cove which is where your friend would likely get certified (assuming his certification would be based off of shore dives) as it is very easy access and typically fair-good diving conditions. Vis is usually around 10-15ft. But I've seen it 30+ at times. The diving isn't going to be anywhere near as good as the tropical locations you're used to, but as far as socal shore-diving goes, it's pretty good. There's eel grass, kelp, fish, lobsters, rays, leopard sharks and sea lions. It can get pretty surgy at times, but such is life diving in california. Again, as far as socal beach diving goes, I would say San Diego is a good place to get certified.
I live in La Jolla and I do love diving there, but it may not be the best experience for new divers on vacation. Cold, cold water, low viz, and possible rough surf. The only suitable shore diving for new divers is at the Cove and the Shores, but after the OW dives unless you have a guide you won't know where you're going at LJ Shores. Boat diving is not for beginners either, with the exception of the Coronados islands which is a good 90-120 minute boat ride.
$300 sounds about right but won't include the snorkel gear they'll have to buy. After certification renting gear is expensive, about $50 for a full set-up.
If your friend can figure out how to get certified and do the OW dives at Catalina Island then that would be worthwhile. There are plenty of affordable day boats out of Long Beach about 80 miles north of S.D.
Considering your friend's original destination maybe he should give some thought to Florida for his vacation and certification.
$300 sounds about right but won't include the snorkel gear they'll have to buy. After certification renting gear is expensive, about $50 for a full set-up.
If your friend can figure out how to get certified and do the OW dives at Catalina Island then that would be worthwhile. There are plenty of affordable day boats out of Long Beach about 80 miles north of S.D.
Considering your friend's original destination maybe he should give some thought to Florida for his vacation and certification.
Mike Boswell
Contributor
It's true that cold water diving is more difficult to learn because of the needed thermal protection and the attendant buoyancy issues involved. My wife and I are in our 60's and went through the cert class in San Diego (La Jolla) two years ago. People of all ages and physical conditions manage to get through the classes here, so it really isn't all that demanding. The toughest parts for me were pulling on the 7-mil wetsuit, and walking from the beach out to the surf line carrying 80 pounds of gear.
With that said, I think you should get your training in the same conditions that you will be doing your diving. If your friends will be doing warm-water vacation diving, then it would be okay to get the training in warm water. But if they will be diving in cold water, they absolutely should get their training in cold water.
With that said, I think you should get your training in the same conditions that you will be doing your diving. If your friends will be doing warm-water vacation diving, then it would be okay to get the training in warm water. But if they will be diving in cold water, they absolutely should get their training in cold water.
Bubbletrubble
Contributor
It's fun to do Spring Break in a place that's warm and sunny. There are a lot of fantastic things to do here: hanging out at Pacific Beach/Mission Beach, catamaran sailing on Mission Bay, Temecula wine-tasting, the Wild Animal Park, the San Diego Zoo, Sea World, bar-hopping in the Gaslamp, fish tacos, and more sushi restaurants than you can shake a stick at.
Oh, yeah. There's also snorkeling and diving in La Jolla.
As others have mentioned, the water is cold (mid to high 50s at depth with no thermocline). 7 mm wetsuits are required. The rocky, sandy wall at La Jolla Shores is not colorful at all...but there is a lot of life if you know where to look. Open Water students generally don't see much on their check-out dives due to the short bottom times and the fact that they're concentrating on operating their gear. After certification, La Jolla Shores (certification site) would be the place to do a couple more dives. If you join the Divebums.com email list-serv, you can ask whether any locals would be willing to give a couple of newbie divers a tour of the canyon.
If your friend is willing to look at it as a vacation in San Diego with getting scuba certified on the side, then I think he and his girlfriend would have a great time. Getting certified in cold water isn't as difficult as people say it is. Once he's certified, he can consider making a trip out to Catalina. I can highly recommend going diving in Catalina, but I don't think that spending an entire week on the island would be as fun as hanging out in SD.
With respect to dive instruction, Ocean Enterprises is currently running a 50% off special on OW certification. As others have mentioned, students are expected to buy their own mask, snorkel, gloves, booties, and fins. Your friend could purchase these things ahead of time and save a few bucks. FYI, I believe that OE gives a nominal discount for enrolled students. Another dive shop that does scuba instruction is Sport Chalet (two locations: UTC Shopping Mall and Point Loma; PL location has a swimming tank on site for confined water training). Sport Chalet is probably the best place to purchase any dive gear since the store has the lowest prices on everything.
One other thing to keep in mind is that a rental car is mandatory. Plan for it. Public transportation is just not that convenient here.
Hope this helps your friend make up his mind about his Spring Break destination...
Oh, yeah. There's also snorkeling and diving in La Jolla.
As others have mentioned, the water is cold (mid to high 50s at depth with no thermocline). 7 mm wetsuits are required. The rocky, sandy wall at La Jolla Shores is not colorful at all...but there is a lot of life if you know where to look. Open Water students generally don't see much on their check-out dives due to the short bottom times and the fact that they're concentrating on operating their gear. After certification, La Jolla Shores (certification site) would be the place to do a couple more dives. If you join the Divebums.com email list-serv, you can ask whether any locals would be willing to give a couple of newbie divers a tour of the canyon.
If your friend is willing to look at it as a vacation in San Diego with getting scuba certified on the side, then I think he and his girlfriend would have a great time. Getting certified in cold water isn't as difficult as people say it is. Once he's certified, he can consider making a trip out to Catalina. I can highly recommend going diving in Catalina, but I don't think that spending an entire week on the island would be as fun as hanging out in SD.
With respect to dive instruction, Ocean Enterprises is currently running a 50% off special on OW certification. As others have mentioned, students are expected to buy their own mask, snorkel, gloves, booties, and fins. Your friend could purchase these things ahead of time and save a few bucks. FYI, I believe that OE gives a nominal discount for enrolled students. Another dive shop that does scuba instruction is Sport Chalet (two locations: UTC Shopping Mall and Point Loma; PL location has a swimming tank on site for confined water training). Sport Chalet is probably the best place to purchase any dive gear since the store has the lowest prices on everything.
One other thing to keep in mind is that a rental car is mandatory. Plan for it. Public transportation is just not that convenient here.
Hope this helps your friend make up his mind about his Spring Break destination...
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