Mendocino Coast Dive Shops?

[Fundive123]

My dive partner and I scuba dive mainly in Monterey, but we want to start diving more of Northern California. We have done a couple dives further North at Gerstle Cove and loved it. We are thinking about planning and doing a dive or two along the Mendocino Coast at the Russian Gultch State Park. We have all our own gear, except a drysuit(partner won't dive wet anymore after going dry.) Does anyone have any shops that they would recommend along the Mendocino Coast for a drysuit rental? We called Sub-surface progression dive shop(Employees were very friendly), but we were told they don't offer drysuit rentals at this time. Also, are there any other dive sites that you guys would recommend that we should check-out along the North Coast? Thanks!

 

[fisheater]

Don't know of any other shops on the Mendocino coast, let alone one that'll rent drysuits. If there were one, I'm confident that the SubSurface folks would have told you.

There are two Sonoma county LDSs that might rent drysuits. Sonoma Coast Divers in Rohnert Park and Pinnacles in Santa Rosa. Give them a call.

North Coast has lots of dive sites to check out. Much will depend upon conditions at the time. Near Ft. Bragg, there's Russian Gulch, Van Damme, Caspar, Glass Beach, McKerricher. For more details, check out www.northcoastdivers.org

 

[Fundive123]

Thank you Fisheater. Just registered at Northcoastdivers.org, looks like a great way to meet and dive the North Coast with others who know the dive sites. Looks like there are some organized dives that are coming up in the future that look like fun!

 

[fisheater]

Excellent! Please come and join us.

 

[UWPhotoKeith]

If you are passing through Marin (San Rafael) on your way North Marin Dive Center is a great shop and should be able to hook you up with a dry suit. IF you end up exploring the Sonoma Coast some more, I would highly recommend Still Water Cove for a shore dive. The topography at the mouth of the cove is strewn with large car sized boulders with a great variety of marine life.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Sonoma County actually has more shore diving options than Mendocino County. But Mendocino County generally offers better vis and more interesting typography, (and better abalone diving).
The problem is getting to the good spots in Mendo wilst shore diving. Shore diving can be done in Mendo but there are some very long surface swims involved. Many of the more pristine spots are all private access with no way to get to the water.
Kayaks seem to be about the best overall option as far as economy, ease of launching, ease of hauling, ease of prep and clean up - maintenance, etc.
Many of us tank dive off kayaks and they give us the desired range to get to some terrific diving.
I used to have a boat, but after all the fuel to tow it up, launch, retrieve, clean up, maintenance, fuel, just for a couple dives didn't seem worth it to me, so I streamlined and got a used kayak for $400 complete and have been happily using it for over 12 years.

 

[Fundive123]

Thank you guys for the advice/tips, I greatly appreciate it. My dive partner and I will have to check out the Marin Dive Center on our way up the coast. My dive partner use to go abalone diving at/near Stillwater Cove with her father when she was younger, but I have yet to dive there. Checking out those boulder sized rocks and all the nooks and crannies would be interesting...

I can now see kayaks added to my list of "must have" I have been tossing around the idea of diving off of a kayak for a while... Just seems like it would be a lot more fun than long surface swims and would open up the possibilities of more dive sites.... Plus fishing from them sounds like a blast! When we were at Gerstle Cove, several kayakers came in with huge lingcod that they had caught further out of the cove.