HBDiveGirl
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Here's a post I made over on Dive Matrix in response to an excellent question from a local diver asking when was the best time to dive particular shore sites in Los Angeles.
[Click HERE to link to the complete thread.]
Currents, Tides, and Swell.
Each site has a unique combination of limiting factors:
Tide:
Sites with Loooooong boulder fields between the shore and the dive site are best dived on high tide. Low tides expose the slippery pumpkin patch of rocks, boulders, and ankle busters. White's Point and Malaga Cove are easiest at high tide. Marineland: The high tide puts you up on the more manageable rocks, whereas low tide has you stumbling over very irregular rocks.
Tidal Exchanges:
Sites that are often swept by large currents (Pt. Dume) are best dived when the tidal exchange is small. The difference between the high tide and the low tide is "the exchange." 2 foot exchange is small. 8 foot exchange is NOT. The bigger the tidal exchange, the more water is moving which could potentially turn into massive currents.
WOTADs (Weird One Tide A Day) mean the water is barely moving during the exchange. The slope on the tide graph is very shallow. Check out November 3, 2008, on www.tidelines.com. THAT is a WOTAD.
If your dive day has a big exchange, try to dive just before the highest tide (pushing tide), so there is less water moving.
Try NOT to dive on the steepest slopes of the tide graph.
The Lowest tide often creates murkier water due to debris being dragged out into the water as it recedes.. but not always.
Swell:
Diving and surf just don't go together. Sometime you CAN get in when the surf is big... but my experience has been than conditions are often poor. If you just want to get wet, fine. If you want to get a good dive and see many things, you might want to pass.
Some sites are just dangerous when the surf is more than 2 feet.
Marineland is classic. You've heard/read of a bunch of us braving measurable surf to get in at Marineland, but I've backed way off on this. The risk of injury is significant, and larger swells produce rotten dive conditions. My call? It's not worth it. The next generation of new divers will likely have to learn as I did. The water movement at Marineland is vicious.
Pt. Dume is a sandy beach, so surf there won't pummel your dome into a hunk of granite, but.... it's a ferocious shore break. Straight up and then it comes slamming down like a hammer on an anvil. I won't dive it with surf greater than 2 feet.... and I'm very comfortable with surf entries.
Vet's Park? It depends. I have to actually look at it. Sometimes 2-3 foot surf breaks in place. The waves are tall but soft, and don't move the water around much. Other times, 3 foot waves are explosive and will haul your sorry carcass up and down the beach until you see the error of your ways. Watch them and listen.
Swell Direction:
Find a swell prediction site that shows maps, and know the location of the dive sites you want to dive. If a swell is hammering Old Marineland, Vets is likely protected.
If Malaga is getting hammered, Marineland may be calmer.
Best advice:
Dive safely and Have FUN!
What information do YOU use to decide when to shore dive?
~~~~
Claudette
[Click HERE to link to the complete thread.]
Currents, Tides, and Swell.
Each site has a unique combination of limiting factors:
Tide:
Sites with Loooooong boulder fields between the shore and the dive site are best dived on high tide. Low tides expose the slippery pumpkin patch of rocks, boulders, and ankle busters. White's Point and Malaga Cove are easiest at high tide. Marineland: The high tide puts you up on the more manageable rocks, whereas low tide has you stumbling over very irregular rocks.
Tidal Exchanges:
Sites that are often swept by large currents (Pt. Dume) are best dived when the tidal exchange is small. The difference between the high tide and the low tide is "the exchange." 2 foot exchange is small. 8 foot exchange is NOT. The bigger the tidal exchange, the more water is moving which could potentially turn into massive currents.
WOTADs (Weird One Tide A Day) mean the water is barely moving during the exchange. The slope on the tide graph is very shallow. Check out November 3, 2008, on www.tidelines.com. THAT is a WOTAD.
If your dive day has a big exchange, try to dive just before the highest tide (pushing tide), so there is less water moving.
Try NOT to dive on the steepest slopes of the tide graph.
The Lowest tide often creates murkier water due to debris being dragged out into the water as it recedes.. but not always.
Swell:
Diving and surf just don't go together. Sometime you CAN get in when the surf is big... but my experience has been than conditions are often poor. If you just want to get wet, fine. If you want to get a good dive and see many things, you might want to pass.
Some sites are just dangerous when the surf is more than 2 feet.
Marineland is classic. You've heard/read of a bunch of us braving measurable surf to get in at Marineland, but I've backed way off on this. The risk of injury is significant, and larger swells produce rotten dive conditions. My call? It's not worth it. The next generation of new divers will likely have to learn as I did. The water movement at Marineland is vicious.
Pt. Dume is a sandy beach, so surf there won't pummel your dome into a hunk of granite, but.... it's a ferocious shore break. Straight up and then it comes slamming down like a hammer on an anvil. I won't dive it with surf greater than 2 feet.... and I'm very comfortable with surf entries.
Vet's Park? It depends. I have to actually look at it. Sometimes 2-3 foot surf breaks in place. The waves are tall but soft, and don't move the water around much. Other times, 3 foot waves are explosive and will haul your sorry carcass up and down the beach until you see the error of your ways. Watch them and listen.
Swell Direction:
Find a swell prediction site that shows maps, and know the location of the dive sites you want to dive. If a swell is hammering Old Marineland, Vets is likely protected.
If Malaga is getting hammered, Marineland may be calmer.
Best advice:
- Go look. You can always cancel once you see it. If you cancel from home, you may miss diving good conditions because the predictions were wrong.
- Have a back-up plan...or better, two back-up plans.
- Go with someone who is familiar with the site the first time
- Get a book with good advice
- Plot out the site on a swell prediction website and learn how to read it.
- Thumb the dive if anyone on the team is anxious. Period.
Dive safely and Have FUN!
What information do YOU use to decide when to shore dive?
~~~~
Claudette