Catalina Weather Frequently Differs from Mainland

Well, for all you mainland (or "Big Island" as I call it) divers who decided NOT to come out to dive Catalina this weekend, our weather was quite nice thank you. Yes, I had a report from an ex GF that it was pouring in Claremont, but the weather here was sunny.

Important to realize that Catalina frequently does not get the rains forecast for LA. The highest elevation here is only 2,100 ft so clouds pass right over us and stall up against the mountains surrounding the LA Basin. We get sunshine (or a bit of overcast). Keep that in mind when you cancel a trip out here because the weather is bad there.

Vis actually was decent below 40' out here Fri-Sun. Above 25 ft the surge, strong current and swell posed some problems for newbies, but it was generally worth the effort. Filmed an abalone I discoverd crawling on cobbles for about 15 min. yesterday and a cluster of 14 juvenile lobster in a single hole on both dives today.

Y'all missed out! By the way, this is "southern" California so y'all is appropriate!

Dr. Bill

Yeah, yeah, rub it in!

Yeah, I was pleasantly surprised by conditions above and below water today around Catalina! After our last few boat dives yielded only about 15' vis up around Anacapa, and hearing much of the same for Catalina, I wasn't expecting much - AND the weather forecast was for a cloudy afternoon, bleah. But we had sunny (if slightly windy and cool) skies, and visibility from 30-50 feet.

It was even warmer than I'd feared; I did a dive last weekend at Laguna where it was 51 degrees on the surface, so Catalina's 56 degrees seemed downright balmy.

Just want you "Big Islanders" to realize it can be fantastic out here when it is pouring over there. You can always call 310-510-1520 (our Visitor's Bureau) for a current weather report.

Dr. Bill

We had glassy seas and 40-50 feet vis in Santa Monica Bay this weekend. Best conditions I've seen on that side of the hill in...ever!