Where do Californians travel to dive?

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

Lopez116

Contributor
Messages
777
Reaction score
204
Location
Orange County, CA
# of dives
1000 - 2499
Let me explain the topic: all of my dive travel has been to the Caribbean and it seems like most Americans I meet there are from the east coast or south- not many west coasters. I understand airfare and flight itineraries are generally better if traveling to the Caribbean from these locales.

Where do people from the west coast typically go to dive? I know CA is considered by many to have great diving and I'm in the minority here, but its too cold and the visibility too poor for my taste. Also, I haven't read that much good stuff about Hawaii diving. Am I missing something?
 
For the US, Hawaii isn't bad at all. While I personally would get to Asia for it's superior diving any time I could, I enjoy the diving in Southern Baja...combining the Socorros with some extra days diving around Cabo, or La Paz. The Caribbean isn't SO far...5 hour flight or so from LA to the Caribbean side of Mexico.
 
I've noticed the same in the Caribbean and Florida. I mean, I've met plenty of Californians in the Caribbean and Florida--just not nearly as many as Easterners and Southerners. I would keep in mind that as large a population as California may have (and you can even lump in neighboring more sparsely populated states if you wish), it might not be fair to compare the number of Californians we've met in the Caribbean with the number of Easterners and Southerners we've met in the Caribbean--"the East" and "the South" are huge regions with a combined huge population. So it would make sense that we always seem to meet more Easterners and Southerners in the Caribbean than Californians.

Decent airfares from LA and SF to Asia-Pacific destinations can be found and, speaking very generally of course, the Asia-Pacific region blows away the Caribbean in diving quality. For a long time I lived in and learned to dive in California, but I much prefer tropical waters. My first dives after OW cert were Australia. I was basically a vacation diver (and basically still am, though the Caribbean and Florida are now just a couple of hours away). When I was in California, it was my preference to save my money and dive the Pacific rather than do a couple of Caribbean trips a year, yet try to keep from getting too rusty by doing a local SoCal dive now and then.
 
CA is a really great place to be a diver. You have miles of Kelp forests, plus cheap flights to Hawaii and Asia Pacific is a whole lot cheaper for CA people then us folks on the East coast.
 
Don't get me wrong, the diving here can be beautiful. It's just cold. Yes, I know I'm being a wuss compared to the northwest and BC, but hey, to each his own.

I'm going back to grand cayman in April. The diving is so easy compared to a 7m wetsuit, boots, hood, and tons of weight.

Never been to Asia or the South Pacific, although I really want to. What would you all recommend as my first trip that direction?
 
Lopez:

You will probably get a little better feedback if you could be a little more specific about what you're seeking besides warmth and clarity. Do you want to do adventurous exploring, still photography, wrecks, caves, etc.? You can fly west out of John Wayne International to just about anything you could imagine. I'm heading to Aus and the GBR in a couple of weeks for the first time and will be happy to give you my impressions when I get back. Since I live about 100 miles north of you on the coast, I have a perspective quite similar to yours.

Carl
 
If I were lucky enough to live in CA, why travel anywhere to dive? :wink:

Having dived the kelp forests of Monterey and Anacapa, there is no other form of diving I enjoy more. I've dived the reefs and wrecks of FL and the Caribbean, the wrecks off of NC and the wrecks in the Great Lakes as well. I'd put the diversity and beautify of the west coast kelp forests at the top of my list.
 
OSBORN

I'm into photography, not really interested in wrecks, caves, etc. I'm not really too interested in diving deep. I'd prefer a nice coral reef over a wreck any day.

With regard to photography, I like wide angle shots of a reef and its structures over macro stuff.

I would classify myself as a vacation diver at this point even though I'm on this forum everyday, love any ocean-related tv, and love reading through all the dive magazines.

Some of those reefs in Fiji and Tahiti seem incredible. As do some of the reefs on parts of the GBR.

Please do report back with your experiences.

HOOSIER:

Maybe it's a matter of perspective.

Diving out here in the middle of summer is nice, but even then donning the 7mil is a pain! Forget about the winters for me.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

Back
Top Bottom