Seeking San Diego Suggestions - First Week of June

[tt5five]

The family will be in San Diego the first week of June. Will only be able to set aside one day for a dive or two. Was looking at going to La Jolla. The kelp bed sounds interesting. Was wondering if the other dives there are as good. (Seems you can chose a two tank or one tank option.) We prefer seeing the larger things and opportunity to see sharks, sea lions and other larger things would be top of the list.

Not sure what the conditions are at this time and what critters are in the area. Obviously, there are never any guarantees.

We will need to rent all the tanks and equipment but masks, which we can pack. There will be 3 and possibly 4 divers. OW certified.

Interested in suggested dives, local DMs/shops and thoughts on a boat dive versus the shore dive. This may be my only dive ever in the area so looking to those with some experience for the best shot.

As always, thanks in advance. I have always gotten good advice here so I keep coming back.

 

[rsingler]

Take a boat dive out to Wreck Alley. There are a variety of boats and San Diego has at least 6 wrecks to choose from, and a variety of depths. The city/county put a lot of effort into deliberate selection of vessels for this attraction. They are purpose-sunk for scuba. Even if "wreck" isn't a particular interest, those areas make for great things to see, at whatever depth strikes your fancy. If it's only one time to San Diego, then Wreck Alley makes for a bucket list dive day. 7mm neoprene. 52F water common.

 

[diversteve]

I would also suggest a boat dive but to the Point Loma Kelp Beds instead. No guarantees but it seems better there than off LaJolla typically.

I'm personally underwhelmed by LaJolla. Parking is terrible, the Cove IMO sees too many divers - parts of it are pretty sparse. And the big attraction at the Shores is the canyon - sometimes larger pelagics cruise thru but the dive itself is pretty sandy and rocky - they teach a lot of classes there. Big parking lot however.

Check the schedule for Lois Ann or Humboldt - Waterhorse Charters. They can help you with gear also. Typically the DM stays on the boat so if you want one - they can help with that also.

In that area - IB Divers LaJolla can set you up for gear.

Some of this is dated - ex. Sports Authority's all closed a few years ago - but the dive info is accurate. divebums.com

There's usually leopard sharks at the Marine Room dive but I wouldn't make that a priority dive. You'll likely see horned sharks around LaJolla and sometimes bigger ones in the Kelp - Six Gills on occasion.

Or for Sea Lions - do a day trip to Los Coronados - they'll be waiting for you to hit the water. Sometimes there's light Kelp cover there also but the Mexican govt.allowed overfishing on their islands and some animal took over that liked the Kelp hold fasts so a lot of it blew away.

Boats are at the bottom here:
californiadiveboats.com