Diving in Northern Cal, but not Monterey

[ERP]

I just moved (am actually still moving) to the Eastbay area, and I noticed a lot of talk about Monterey, but little mention of other divesites in the area.

If I'm just looking to get wet (i.e. doesn't have to be the greatest dive site ever), and I don't want to drive the 2 hours+ to Monterey what are my options?

 

[Scubaroo]

You can head up north to Mendecino or Sonoma, but it might be just as far from Walnut Creek. There is also Santa Cruz to the south, but I have not heard good reports of diving there, and you might as well continue to Monterey.

Um, haven't heard much about diving in the bay... not much to see there, and I don't think it would be a healthy place to be.

 

[boomx5]

Scubaroo once bubbled...
Um, haven't heard much about diving in the bay... not much to see there, and I don't think it would be a healthy place to be.

 

[Scubaroo]

Just my general impressions from seeing the water around Pier 39, and some of the industries based up in the delta. If you know somewhere worth diving in the bay, I'm open to the idea though!

 

[boomx5]

I was just curious why the bay was not a good place to dive. Monterey is still nicer, even if it is a longer drive.

 

[Scubaroo]

Wanna come down anyway? We can go look for swimmers' lost rings and watches in the Aquatic Park near the Marina I think there's up to a foot of visibility on a good day!

 

[boomx5]

I talked to a local shop owner who likes to go diving in the American River up here. He says he finds all kinds of stuff from all the rafters that lose things from being in a drunkin stuper.

 

[ERP]

OK so let's assume the Bay is out... I'd like to see at least 6ft of vis if possible.

There is a lot of coast line between Monterey and Sonoma, I just figured some of it must be diveable.

What I'd really like is to be able to leave work early and get a dive in, or get a dive in early and get into work at a reasonable time. Monterey is just too far to be able to do that.

Personally I don't need stunning aquatic life to be able to have fun diving, as long as the vis is passable and the surface swim isn't too hideous it works for me.

 

[Scubaroo]

boomx5 once bubbled...
I talked to a local shop owner who likes to go diving in the American River up here. He says he finds all kinds of stuff from all the rafters that lose things from being in a drunkin stuper.

If he finds any North Face clothing, it might be my girlfriend's. She was thrown from a raft last year, broke her foot on a rock, and lost some stuff that wasn't stowed properly.

ERP, honestly don't know of anything between the two - I've looked at some of the state beaches like Bean Hollow south of San Francisco, but so much of the coastline is directly exposed to the Pacific swells that it would be undiveable. Point Reyes to the north may be the closest you can get.

I suppose that there are a number of "undiscovered" spots around the bay area that would be diveable if conditions were calm - somewhere I've wanted to dive is beneath the Cliff House - there is a historical photograph in a McDonalds restaurant in the Financial District showing a stell-hulled ship stranded on rocks there, and I'm betting that it's not the only one to have come to grief there. There is beach access from the northern end of Ocean Beach, just to the south. Here's a picture:

http://www.californiacoastline.org/cgi-bin/image.cgi?image=5764&mode=sequential&flags=0

Not much of the rocks offshore are shown, but it's the only place near the bay that I want to dive eventually. Shore diving it might be too dangerous though - Ocean Beach is renowned for killer rips.

 

[Scubaroo]

On an unrelated topic, does anyone know anything about the shipwreck purported to be in this photograph?

http://www.californiacoastline.org/cgi-bin/image.cgi?image=13125&mode=sequential&flags=0