Five days in LA ....

[Venus]

Hi Everyone

I'll be in LA [Pasadena] for five days mid Aug and would like to do some diving

Can you please give me a pointer or two of what I could do?

1) kelp forests out of Catalina Island
I found this on the web by googleing around and it costs 280$ for a day [150$ for the diving and guide + 130$ for the boat]
This seems really costly, is this the going rate

2) Seals out of Santa Barbara
I'd really like to do this, do I need to go up to Santa Barbara or is there anywhere nearer LA

3) La Jolla/ San Deigo
also found an organisation in SD who offers diving/ swimming with Mako, gray whale migration, leopard sharks
do you know if I would see any of these mid August or am I going off season [my dates are fixed 2nd/ 3rd week of Aug]

... and other direction would be great, I'm open to suggestions

Thanks

Venus

 

[MaxBottomtime]

The whale are here now. The spend the summer in Alaska. Sea lions can be seen anywhere in SoCal, but especially at Santa Barbara Island and Anacapa Island. You won't need a guide if you dive from a charter boat or at Casino Point on Catalina. Leopard sharks come in shallow, less than two feet at La Jolla Shores during August. You can see them while snorkeling or stand in the water and they will swim around your legs. For Mako and Blue shark dives you need to go on a charter out of Avalon or San Diego. It's an all-day excursion and there is no guarantee of seeing any.

 

[lamarpaulski]

You can take one of the ferrys back and forth to Catalina and enjoy easy, nice, shore dives at the Catalina Casino Dive Park for much less $280. For that much you could probably throw in a hotel room. Leopard sharks are often in the shallows at La Jolla/La Jolla Shores in August for snorkeling & diving. Giant Sea Bass congregate in La Jolla and Catalina in August. I saw some last August at the Catalina Casino Dive Park and also the occasional sea lion. Sea Lions..?..do you mean Santa Barbara Island (which is between Catalina Island and Santa Cruz Island...approx) that has a colony which practically guarantees divers some encounters ? Anacapa island has leopard sharks, giant sea bass and sea lions and its a short boat ride out of Ventura. I would search this site on each of these places and you will get untold information. Good Luck.

 

[Venus]

Thanks Guys, this is very useful
Ah, Santa Barbara Island .... not Santa Barbara!!! silly me
So, actually this may work really well, now how long should I spend down there .....

 

[diversteve]

If you're going to head down to/near San Diego two resources are: Divebums - A San Diego Dive Website and Power Scuba - Power Scuba

 

[blue steal]

I'll be in LA [Pasadena] for five days mid Aug and would like to do some diving
Can you please give me a pointer or two of what I could do?
... and other direction would be great, I'm open to suggestion
Venus

How many days of diving did you have in mind?
If you are interested in shore diving, Laguna Beach has several sites.
For Catalina Island there are several charter boats. In San Pedro, Magician, Great Escape, Sandollar, Pacific Star, Cee-Ray to name a few.
In Long Beach/Los alamitos area Sundiver. They all should have trips running in August.
Catalina Express to Avalon and dive out at the casino point park is always nice, stay overnight or day trip.
Keep us informed and many will give out more specific tips for you.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Dive boats will give the the most dives/day, there are lots to choose from. I would look at their schedules, Sat and Sun is well covered, week days a bit less so.

California Dive Boats : The Official Page

If you need to be cheap there is nice shore diving, but less vis. The number of places and options is endless, you could spend 5 weeks hitting just the good spots. The traffic is bad, so you need to use some sense about driving form say Ventura (for Anacapa Island) to San Diego (for Wreck Alley). It is always traffic hour there.

 

[Venus]

Thanks for your posts

I do prefer boat dives than shore so the boats Blue Steal listed will be helpful
when you say the traffic is bad, do you mean on the roads to/ from the area?

I just put together my end to end trip - from London to Churchill to swim with the Beluga and see polar bears then down to LA and back to London
I may only have three days to dive and as I'm staying with my friend who does dive [but it may be too cold for her, I have a dry suit], I need to work around her too

My dates in LA will be arriving on a Sunday and flying out the following Saturday, so I'll be there during the working week

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Thanks for your posts

I do prefer boat dives than shore so the boats Blue Steal listed will be helpful
when you say the traffic is bad, do you mean on the roads to/ from the area?

I just put together my end to end trip - from London to Churchill to swim with the Beluga and see polar bears then down to LA and back to London
I may only have three days to dive and as I'm staying with my friend who does dive [but it may be too cold for her, I have a dry suit], I need to work around her too

My dates in LA will be arriving on a Sunday and flying out the following Saturday, so I'll be there during the working week

I mean the traffic on the roads just about everywhere. Not an endearing trait, you can spend a couple of hours driving what looks like a 30 minute trip.

The timing is rough for boat dives as many are idle during the week. I believe Calboatdiving (Spectre or Peace) run on Wed and Thur from Ventura (north of LA) to Anacapa Island. Either would be awesome (or both) and you can sleep on the night before (saving you a hotel night). Friday is no problem as Sundiver runs to Catalina from Long Beach, as long as you SI is enough for your flight on Sat. There are very few bad dive boats in LA, there is enough competition that all of them are pretty good. Everyone has their favorite, but being on a weekday you cannot be picky.

Mon / Tuesday are just plain tough to find a boat on and you will be stuck shore diving. If the weather cooperates, you hit the Laguna Beach area. Easy diving, easy access during the week. I tend to arrive morning so you are not competing with beach goers for the parking. Rain or high surf messes the vis though so be careful There is a local dive shop for tanks/weights or you can visit Sport Chalet (big evil sporting goods chain) for a thrifty rental.

The other option would be to take the ferry over to Catalina, you can rent tanks/weights there. The vis there will be either good or great, it almost never sucks. You are stuck on one large site (Casino Point Dive Park) but you will not be bored. The only issue I have with Catalina is the ferry is pricy and lodging on the island is also (in the summer), so the cost per dive is higher than the boat. It is however, a very fun place to visit, lots of good food, small town flavor.

I skipped San Diego, most of the dive boats there are weekends. Every year is a little different, I would check with the dive boats as you get closer. If you want to meet up with divers there, check out Power Divers, its a loose club with lots of planned dives on the shore and some decent discounted boat trips in the San Diego area.

 

[Steve_C]

As an east coaster on a couple trips to San Diego and LA

-made 4 tries to dive LaJolla cove. 2 got blown out. 1 turned into Lajolla Shores due to surf. Ok dive but a lot of swimming. 1 at Lajolla cove. Nice dive.

Was in LA in November and dove Catalina Island at Casino Point. Great pair of dives. Among my favorites. This is not at all like the other shore dives. You get off the ferry and there is a shuttle service that takes you gear to the point. There are tanks and weights at the point. You suit up on a park bench, walk down a few steps and you are in the kelp. There is no surface swim if you don't want one. It was about as easy as doing boat dives in calm seas.

Note that that part of the island is on what is usually the leeward side of the island. Unlike the coast of CA which is often on the windward.

I hope to dive Catalina again later this year.