December/January Diving

Ok, here's the situation. I was born and raised and got my first cert in lovely Southern California. Havent been diving there in uhmmm almost 11 years at this point. I'll be back in December and January to do an open water course and a couple fun dives with the family. I'm trying to figure out where I want to go. Catalina? Head up to Monterey maybe (yes I know that's not socal)? Possibly San Diego? Honestly I have no idea what the vis, temp, etc is like in CA anymore so any advice, questions, comments are welcome.

Last December/January were some of the best conditions we had in a year around Palos Verdes.











If you get in some dives between Winter storms you will get some of the best diving SoCal has to offer. Cold water upwellings bring clear water closer to the surface. When we go weeks without a storm we tend to forget the algal blooms of Spring and Summer.