Diving So Cal beginning Aug. 6

[wjsdive]

Diving So Cal beginning Aug. 6
My wife, stepson and I will be in San Diego Wednesday then driving up to Irvine for Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The itinerary is due to conferences and family concerns, but we should have time for between 3 and 6 shore dives during our stay. Does anyone have any ideas as to dive sites, good LDS for tank and weight rental. We were looking at La Jolla and Laguna Beach as 2 possibilities, but are there any better sites? A must dive. I would appreciate any input.
Thanks,

 

[Turtle Diver]

La Jolla Shores is the basic intro dive for San Diego, but it's mostly sand. I like La Jolla Cove better, since there's kelp.

From your itinerary, it seems like Laguna Beach would be more likely, since it's much closer to Irvine. I'll defer to Orange County folks for the LDS choice up there.

 

[nannymouse]

Laguna Beach has several good dive spots, the most popular of which is Shaw's Cove.
Heisler Park, Diver's Cove, Crescent Bay, and Reef Point are also good dive spots.
These locations should show up on Google Maps, and if you use the sattelite view, you can see the actual coastline.

The first three LDS that come to mind are:

All Things Scuba
24320 Swartz Drive, Lake Forest, CA - (949) 454-8872
On El Toro Road at I-5, southeast corner.

Sports Chalet
27080 Alicia Pkwy, Laguna Niguel, CA - (949) 362-0342‎
On Alicia just south of Pacific Park and Hwy 73, southeast corner.

Laguna Sea Sports
925 N Coast Hwy, Laguna Beach, CA - (949) 494-6965‎
one block south of Shaw's Cove on Coast Hwy. southwest corner.

Laguna Sea Sports is definately the closest place for fills.

Use caution on your entries and exits, watching for waves to avoid getting rolled.

Happy Diving!! -N

 

[wjsdive]

Thanks Turtle and nannymouse, I can't wait to get wet. Just the kind of info we need.

 

[nannymouse]

I went out for 2 dives in Crescent bay today, and had a good time. Vis was 6-10 ft and 8-15 ft (The areas where the sand meets the rocks had the lower vis, because of the surge. Over the rock, there was no sand to stir up, and over the sand, the water was all moving together.) Temp was in hogh 60s to low 70s. Waves knee to waist high. Bat rays, brittle star, sea hare,corbina, halibut and even a lobster!

I love diving!! -N