To dive in Long Beach & La Jolla, CA - Advice Needed

Hello,

I’m going to be in Long Beach, CA on the 16th and La Jolla on the 20th with my two sons, 18 & 20. We plan to do some beach diving on those days. We have been diving Northern California for many years and are looking forward to the warm water of Southern California.

I have been reading some of the posts here on SB. The consensus seems to be that the only diving in Long Beach is from a boat. Does anyone know of any good beach dive spots near Long Beach? Advice on parking, entry, dive plan, etc. is also appreciated.

Now La Jolla seems to be another story. There seems to be no shortage of beach diving in La Jolla. I have been thinking about diving at La Jolla Cove on Monday the 20th. I saw that the Sand Eaters are going to be there Sunday the 19th. I’m considering a night dive on the 19th with my oldest son; however I’m nervous about making my first dive in an area at night. Is La Jolla Cove a good choice for our diving or does anyone have any better suggestions? Where should we enter? Any other advice?

Thank you in advance for any information.

Tom Sharp

i have no clue about diving there, but i recomend you do atleast a dusk/day dive before the night dive, especially if you have never dove there.

:dazzler1:

White point and long point in Palos Verdes are not too far from Long Beach, depending on where in Long Beach you are. they are to the west. Laguna Beach and Corona del mar are to the south east, and are also not too far. You can read about them on sandeaters.org, click on dive sites.

From what I've read, La Jolla Cove and La Jolla Shores (marine room) are both excellent diving spots with easy entry. (I've snorkeled at both spots). I'm sure the locals at each location will have much more to say.

Scott

I live in the Lakewood/Long Beach area. Long Beach does not offer any diving due to the harbor and breakwater. The water inside the harbor is, well, you don’t want to go there. The outside of the breakwater is a nice dive, but you would need a boat.

A short drive of 1 to 1.5 hours or so will get you from Long Beach to Malibu, Redondo Beach, Palos Verde and Laguna Beach. All of which have excellent beach dives. With the exception of Leo Carrillo, Malibu Road, Escondido Creek, Point Dume and Corral Beach, Malibu and Palos Verde dive sites will require a hike on trails or worse. Good diving, but you should be in shape to climb some steep hills and goat trails. Laguna Beach offers stairs and paved ramps down to the dive sites.

http://www.sandeaters.org and then click on dive sites for a description and directions to the majority of dive sites in SoCal.

Depending upon your skill level and physical conditioning, I would suggest in Laguna Beach Crescent Bay (Seal Rock or Deadmans Reef), Shaws Cove. Palos Verde would be Malaga Cove or Long Point (old marine land) with entry off the pebble beach. Malibu would be Corral Beach, Escondido Creek, Malibu Road or Leo Carrillo. These sites offer the shortest walk with the best roads or trails to get to them.

La Jolla Cove is an excellent choice and one of my favorites if the swell is out of the South. Parking is tight there. See the Sandeaters site for dive information on this location. I would recommend a day dive there first. The Sandeaters dive on the 19th is scheduled for 08:00 A.M. they are a good group to go with.

I would be happy to talk diving with you if you like. 562-421-3094

(see next post.....merged threads)

tnsharp:

>> Sorry about the double post.
>> I think I posted to the wrong thread.

Hello,

I’m going to be in Long Beach, CA on the 16th and La Jolla on the 20th with my two sons, 18 & 20. We plan to do some beach diving on those days. We have been diving Northern California for many years and are looking forward to the warm water of Southern California.

I have been reading some of the posts here on SB. The consensus seems to be that the only diving in Long Beach is from a boat. Does anyone know of any good beach dive spots near Long Beach? Advice on parking, entry, dive plan, etc. is also appreciated.

Now La Jolla seems to be another story. There seems to be no shortage of beach diving in La Jolla. I have been thinking about diving at La Jolla Cove on Monday the 20th. I saw that the Sand Eaters are going to be there Sunday the 19th. I’m considering a night dive on the 19th with my oldest son; however I’m nervous about making my first dive in an area at night. Is La Jolla Cove a good choice for our diving or does anyone have any better suggestions? Where should we enter? Any other advice?

Thank you in advance for any information.

Tom Sharp

Click to expand...

Tom,

Here's my opinion.

I'm not an expert on La Jolla, but we have done almost all of our dives there since certifying in July. I wouldn't suggest a night dive from the cove if you aren't already familiar with the layout. There can be a pretty good surge, and the underwater terrain can be tricky. I don't know how easy it would be trying to return to the cove at the end of the dive,either. The cove mouth is not all that large, and being off to either side can get you into some pretty treacherous rocks when the waves/surge are going.

Now, La Jolla Shores is a different story. I think that would be pretty safe. The bottom falls off gradually, and it takes some time to get out to the canyon. It would be helpful for you to be somewhat familiar with the canyon before diving there. Try Divebums.com at the following address for some very specific information on La Jolla and other San Diego dive spots.

http://www.divebums.com/main.html

Best of luck, and let us know how the diving went.

I'd recommend La Jolla Cove for the night dive. It's a shallow dive and easy to nav. Worstcase, you can always come up and take a bearing. Lots more to see there at night........

For a night dive I would recommend La Jolla Shores, or Marine Room (not to far from the Shores, in front of the Marine Room restaurant -- you can get information from Divebums.com). I have only been diving for a year, but pretty early on I felt comfortable enough to try diving the Shores at night.

At La Jolla Shores you can park on a street called Vallecitos, right up near the beach. From the shore you should be able to see a white buoy. Swim out to that buoy and descend. You'll be near the canyon and at about 40 feet or so.

La Jolla Cove is much better than La Jolla Shores for snorkeling, however. Diving La Jolla Shores is nothing like diving Monterey (if that's where you dive in Northern California). In Monterey I saw a lot more fish and other wildlife...still you can run into an interesting set of wildlife at the Shores, and the diving the canyon is a nice experience.

C'mon guys, can't believe you guys are telling this dewd to take his son the Shores where we have 100ft+ drop-offs. There is just a lot of sand unless you know what to look for............Go to the cove my friend, that place is max 40ft, and the night live is abundant.