San Diego Dive Questions

Hello, a group of us are going to San Diego and staying in Campland in August. I know that La Jolla cove is very popular to dive and chances are that that is most likely where we will end up. However I was looking around online and the Marine room looks awesome! Does anyone have experience with that site? Any suggestions? Where is the best place in San Diego to do a night dive? Is diving in Mission Bay any good? I read a thread from a couple years ago and most people did not recommend that site. Thanks!!

carolynaznv:

Hello, a group of us are going to San Diego and staying in Campland in August. I know that La Jolla cove is very popular to dive and chances are that that is most likely where we will end up. However I was looking around online and the Marine room looks awesome! Does anyone have experience with that site? Any suggestions? Where is the best place in San Diego to do a night dive? Is diving in Mission Bay any good? I read a thread from a couple years ago and most people did not recommend that site. Thanks!!

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Marine Room is really just a site that is wedged between La Jolla Shores and La Jolla Cove. It is a nice dive, and actually a mix of the heavy kelp and rock structure of the Cove and the sandy plains of the Shores. The Shores makes for a nice night dive as your light can cast a long beam across the sandy ocean floor. Whereas the Cove has a ton of kelp, structure, and variable topography that tends to limit your night visibility to what's directly in front of you.

I'd avoid Mission Bay. I've never been but the only ppl I've known to dive it are for reasons other than for pure diving enjoyment, ie chasing lobster or bay clean up efforts.

Be aware that parking can be really tough in the summer in all areas you mentioned- especially the Cove.

Divebums - A San Diego Dive Website for some other options.

Be aware that parking can be really tough in the summer in all areas you mentioned- especially the Cove.

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That's an understatement - get there early. If you can't park, drop all your gear at the top of the Cove and drive up the hill. Go left thru "downtown" - probably have to continue right then double back first - about a block away on your left there's a parking garage. If there's space there take the path beside it down - it exits right at the Cove. Sometimes there's a few spaces north of the Cove also, you have to go about 2 blocks north then double back as the street is one way. Driving down into the Cove from the south the road u-turns right in front of it and goes back up the hill.

For tanks etc. there's IB Divers LaJolla or the Sport Chalet in University Town Center.

Cool thanks for the info bopper and steve, I didnt know there's a parking garage there. Excellent to know. So yeah bopper I see now what you're saying about the marine room, im looking at dale and kim shecklers southern california best beach dives book (which I totally should have done before posting a new thread!) and there's a map of la jolla. So csn you walk from the cove to the marine room? Or maybe park on Spindrift street?

carolynaznv:

Cool thanks for the info bopper and steve, I didnt know there's a parking garage there. Excellent to know. So yeah bopper I see now what you're saying about the marine room, im looking at dale and kim shecklers southern california best beach dives book (which I totally should have done before posting a new thread!) and there's a map of la jolla. So csn you walk from the cove to the marine room? Or maybe park on Spindrift street?

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I've never seen anyone walk from the Cove to Marine Room in scuba gear. Besides looking odd walking down the street, that would be about at least a mile walk - in hilly terrain no less. I've never combined Marine Room then The Cove nor have I ever combined The Shores then Marine Room, but I guess each combo is possible if you're OK w. a very long surface swim. If it were me and I insisted on doing two of those dives then I'd also insist on driving my gear to the next site.

Most people who dive Marine Room do park on Spindrift or Roseland.

carolynaznv:

So can you walk from the cove to the marine room?

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With gear? It's a mile away (gotta love Google Earth) if you take the Coast Walk to Torrey Pines then back in on Spindrift. Here's a overview with it all marked.



Also the Parking Garage above the Cove.



And while I had it open, here's a view of what I tried to describe about parking near the Cove in my last post.



See the road coming in from the lower right corner. That's Prospect but right there it Y's off, drops lower and turns into Coast one way to the Cove. Just past the dive flag marker for the Cove is the U-turn, that road in front of the park is still Coast until it turns right at the end of the park and continues south.

The road feeding in from the left is Girard. What's not obvious is that there's a wall on Prospect that bisects Girard since Prospect is about 10' higher. So if you do need to drop gear, you'll have to go up Girard and double back left to get to either the garage or the 1-way part of Coast. You also have to be one block east of Cave St. or you run into a wall diverting you right on Prospect when you want to go left on Coast there.

Be prepared to do it more than once also. Weekends we've sometimes circled for 1/2 hr. or more.

It will help with all these images to open them in a new browser tab to zoom in. The .vbulletin forum s/w makes them smaller in a post.

Awesome! Thank you guys so much for all the great info, I really appreciate it.

I used to dive Marine Room alot. If you arrive very early, which you should for the best diving conditions, there is usually parking on the street.

After parking, the walkway to the shore is easy to miss: it is located right next to the Marine Room Restaurant parking lot on the left if one is facing the restaurant. Be prepared for about a 50-75 yard walk along the walkway and the shore to the entry point and a healthy swim past the shorebreak before descent.

Hope this is helpful.