crescent bay and shaws cove

[Travis Bourbeau]

Dove crescent bay yesterday ( first beach dive) with dolphins and sea lions a great experiance!!!

Any time of day advice or sites with more info on these spots? I dove around 4-6pm I would love to explore more.


Love this site and all the helpful divers

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Scuba Shore Diving Site Listing for: California South, USA West

Most divers choose to dive Laguna Beach early in the morning or at night due to parking.

 

[lamarpaulski]

Early am is best for new beach divers at either cove. Look for big halibut in sand shallows. Later in your diving career, Shaws is very nice on a calm nite dive. Get some dives under your belt and familiarize yourself with u/w geography. Go with veteran diver.

Dove crescent bay yesterday ( first beach dive) with dolphins and sea lions a great experiance!!!

Any time of day advice or sites with more info on these spots? I dove around 4-6pm I would love to explore more.


Love this site and all the helpful divers

 

[Travis Bourbeau]

Thanks for the feedback.

Looks like my girlfriend and I will head back down in a week or two. I'd like to check out a local shop or pay a guide to safely get familliar with the underwater geo as suggested.

 

[LAKelpDiver]

We always seem to have better dives from Cresent Bay North compared to the South side. A little deeper, always seems better sights. You can spend more than an hour at 30' with plenty to explore. Get a refill and do a second dive and see all new stuff. Swim the reef back in on your left and no safety stop required, you'll be 10' deep 30 yards from shore. Once you get a few dives in and are a bit familiar, try Deadman's Reef. From the North side, swim out until the house with the blue roof lines up between the big rocks and the stairs are at 30 degrees. Drop there to 40', reef runs pretty much WNW to ESE. 90' at the far side of the reef. It's a good kick to get out there, take your time, rest up on the surface, catch your breath then drop on down to a great dive spot.

You can hardly ever go wrong at Shaw's either, lots to see in in the crevice and trenches. Same thing, swim the reef back in on your left and your safety stop is covered.

I have a map for deadman's, I'll try to get it posted up but I only have it on my phone right now.

We go early morning, evening/night is good too. If conditions are going to be good that day, get there early to get a good parking spot.

Chris

 

[Travis Bourbeau]

Chris thanks the map, and directions are a big help. As it was our first beach dive on our own we were overly conservitive ...I'll avoid going to the reef until i've had lots of time in the water there. But maps and info like this is pricless Our first dive in we litrally only made it to the first rock near seals rock.

On the swim back in we had the luck of having a pod of dolphins, about 5, swim approx in front of the stairs.

Have you tried zuma point? I'm in LA so we may as its close but currents make it seem like a more challenging dive area for new divers. Seems crescent and shaws are more appealing to most.. We were about 30 feet from a baby whale there last march possibly humpback or gray ( bumps on nose and thick ridges underneath light in color though) was just off shore sitting in the same spot for 40 minutes.

 

[Hatul]

We always seem to have better dives from Cresent Bay North compared to the South side. A little deeper, always seems better sights. You can spend more than an hour at 30' with plenty to explore. Get a refill and do a second dive and see all new stuff. Swim the reef back in on your left and no safety stop required, you'll be 10' deep 30 yards from shore. Once you get a few dives in and are a bit familiar, try Deadman's Reef. From the North side, swim out until the house with the blue roof lines up between the big rocks and the stairs are at 30 degrees. Drop there to 40', reef runs pretty much WNW to ESE. 90' at the far side of the reef. It's a good kick to get out there, take your time, rest up on the surface, catch your breath then drop on down to a great dive spot.

You can hardly ever go wrong at Shaw's either, lots to see in in the crevice and trenches. Same thing, swim the reef back in on your left and your safety stop is covered.

I have a map for deadman's, I'll try to get it posted up but I only have it on my phone right now.

We go early morning, evening/night is good too. If conditions are going to be good that day, get there early to get a good parking spot.

Chris

I like Deadman Reef as well and only thing to add is because of the kelp I swim around it on the surface to the east and descend at 45 ft or so (I use a depth sounder) and swim east underwater to get to the reef.

Also because of the long swim back under water it's easy to be off following the compass, so after the safety stop at 10-15 ft I surface and take a bearing to exit point.

Usually the best entry and exit point is close to the rocky jetty at the north end of the beach. The jetty tends to break the waves (though not always).

 

[keithbt]

We always seem to have better dives from Cresent Bay North compared to the South side. A little deeper, always seems better sights. You can spend more than an hour at 30' with plenty to explore. Get a refill and do a second dive and see all new stuff. Swim the reef back in on your left and no safety stop required, you'll be 10' deep 30 yards from shore. Once you get a few dives in and are a bit familiar, try Deadman's Reef. From the North side, swim out until the house with the blue roof lines up between the big rocks and the stairs are at 30 degrees. Drop there to 40', reef runs pretty much WNW to ESE. 90' at the far side of the reef. It's a good kick to get out there, take your time, rest up on the surface, catch your breath then drop on down to a great dive spot.

You can hardly ever go wrong at Shaw's either, lots to see in in the crevice and trenches. Same thing, swim the reef back in on your left and your safety stop is covered.

I have a map for deadman's, I'll try to get it posted up but I only have it on my phone right now.

We go early morning, evening/night is good too. If conditions are going to be good that day, get there early to get a good parking spot.

Chris

90 feet....I've never hit more than 65 feet....the map above is not accurate for the shape of the reef....here is the actual!

 

[LAKelpDiver]

90 feet....I've never hit more than 65 feet....the map above is not accurate for the shape of the reef....here is the actual!

That's what you get when you trust the Internets for your mapping and guidance. Your pic is much clearer, thanks.

 

[scjoe]

I don't know who drew the map, but it will get you onto the reef, whereas photo will not. The map gives you a better orientation of where you are when diving the reef in the same way a subway map is better than an actual diagram of the subway lines. The 90 foot depth is way off. If you hit 50 feet over sand, you've probably missed the reef to the left and need to make a sharp right turn.