Marine Room advice?

[TexasPancake]

I'm thinking about diving the Marine Room this friday morning and would love any advice. From what I've read here and on DiveBums, I'm planning on walking in on the south side by the stairs, and heading straight out.

Is the kickout to the drop area far (e.g., La Jolla shores is a healthy kick out the the white buoy)?

Any strange surf issues we should know about?

Should we be prepared with lights (we're shooting for an 8am divetime)?

I hear there are stingrays in abundance. Pardon the Irwin-esque question (may he rest is peace); is there anything we should be worried about?

Thanks for any advice y'all can give. I'm stoked to be a new San Diego diver and am looking forward to diving as much as possible

 

[MissyP]

I'm thinking about diving the Marine Room this friday morning and would love any advice. From what I've read here and on DiveBums, I'm planning on walking in on the south side by the stairs, and heading straight out.

Is the kickout to the drop area far (e.g., La Jolla shores is a healthy kick out the the white buoy)?

Any strange surf issues we should know about?

Should we be prepared with lights (we're shooting for an 8am divetime)?

I hear there are stingrays in abundance.

Marine Room is an excellent dive if you catch it on a good day.. If it's low tide,then it's usually an easier entry- high tide causes waves to crash on the stairs, and it's not pretty when you get knocked down or slammed into the cement wall. Sometimes, the waves seem to criss-cross around marine room, which can make entries tricky.. Just watch the cycle of the surf and you should be able to determine your best entry time..
Where do you plan on dropping down? If you want to go directly to the canyon, then expect a pretty healthy surface swim Or-- you can drop down shallow, and check out the sand dollar beds while you're following a 270 heading on your compass (which takes you to the canyon). Yes there are rays (along with guitarfish, leopard sharks, horn sharks, ets), but if you shuffle your feet you'll be fine.
Always carry a light when you dive... you may not need it to check stuff out, but it's a good idea to have one in case vis drops to nothing...

 

[TexasPancake]

Thanks for the info! Should we enter the surf straight on from the stairs, or angle towards the cove? I think our plan is to stay pretty shallow ~20'-40'. That being the case, we won't have to endure a long surface swim out, no?

Does the surf often get terribly difficult? If it's bad there, is it pretty likely we could head over to Vallecitos to find milder conditions? Sorry for all the questions, but me and my buddy are both new to diving La Jolla...

I'll be sure to pack a light too! Thanks for the info MissyP. Anyone else who can chime in please do so

 

[SharkDZ]

I've not made a dive at Marine Room yet, but have made many and entrance at Vallecitos. The surf is usually much smaller, or non-existant further down from Val. Either way it should be fun. Be sure to post a dive report!

 

[MissyP]

Thanks for the info! Should we enter the surf straight on from the stairs, or angle towards the cove? I think our plan is to stay pretty shallow ~20'-40'. That being the case, we won't have to endure a long surface swim out, no?

Does the surf often get terribly difficult? If it's bad there, is it pretty likely we could head over to Vallecitos to find milder conditions? Sorry for all the questions, but me and my buddy are both new to diving La Jolla...

I'll be sure to pack a light too! Thanks for the info MissyP. Anyone else who can chime in please do so

If conditions are good (small to moderate surf, and not high tide), just walk directly into the water from the stairs.. To get to 20 ft out, there's still a swim involved because LJ stays shallow for quite a ways out.. If it's not too surgy, just drop down at around 10 ft and head towards the canyon...
The surf varies... but it tends to be smaller in the early morning...
And yes if Marine Rm is too rough, you can head over to Vallecitos... You won't have to contend with the stairs...

 

[Roughwaterjohn]

Hi TP,

If you want to stay shallow, then you want to head to the reefs, not stay in front of the restaurant. If conditions allow an entry, which they usually do, head out to about 10' or so. If you can still see the bottom, look south towards the cliffs. If waves aren't breaking over the reefs to your south, then head on a 240 course towards the reef. Staying on 240 when you encounter the reefs will allow you to follow them as you encounter multiple reefs with sand channels between.

If visibility is below 10' - 15' in the shallows, then you will want to head down into the canyon and go deep. I wouldn't head straight west from the Marine Room, as there is a point that extends straight out from there, and it could take you days to reach the canyon edge. Take a 300 course to the canyon edge, go down to your desired depth, then head towards the right or left to do your dive.

Good luck and have fun!
John A.

 

[TexasPancake]

Thanks for all the great advice everyone! We actually went out for the dive but unfortunately we had to cut it short. Of all reasons... it was me getting seasick. That, compounded with the fact that we were looney enough to go out at 5am meant that this was me and my buddies first night dive in an area new to both of us, so we figured we'd take it easy and not risk anything.

Cool thing - we still saw some great life. 3-4' leopard sharks (no doubt wondering why on earth some annoying person is shining a light cannon at them), baby stingrays and some other random fish. Good experience for our next Marine Room dive.

Thanks again for everyone's help. If there's anything else I should keep in mind, please feel free to add to the post or PM me. Y'all rock.