First time on the west coast

[SeaPlusPlus]

Looks like I'll be going to a conference in Vegas for the first week of December. I'm probably going to fly out a few days early and explore around a bit, and was considering heading over to CA and maybe even getting a dive or two in.

Any suggestions? (Looking for anything from "You're out of your mind..." to "Here's where you start...")

I'd be flying into Vegas, renting a car from there, and the plan was to drive over to CA anyway. I'd have to rent gear, since there's no way I'm hauling all my stuff over there.

Additional information:
- prefer scuba, freedive ok (not that good at it), just want to get in the water
- used to warm water, shallow dives (Gulf of Mexico), with 10-20' vis, but interested in doing something different while I'm out there
- AOW/Nitrox
- do have deep-diving (by gulf standards) experience (110 fsw max so far, many dives at 80+ fsw), so I would prefer 130 fsw max



Thanks,
Wil

 

[Nay]

Catalina Island has an underwater dive park that would give you a really great idea of our waters. The park ranges from 0-100+ with great diving.

You can take a boat over using Catalina Express and rent from scuba luv or the other shop on the island which I forget. Do a search here on the board and/or ask Dr Bill. He lives on the island and knows the best places to go to.

It's one of my favorite places to dive.

 

[ryanarcher]

If you want to try San Diego take the 15 south to 163 south to the 52 west and it will take you right to La Jolla. The Shores has depth and the Cove has ease of getting in and out. Check out www.divebums.com and take a look at the dive sites and decided what you want to do. If you end up in SD post on here and people will show up to dive with most likely.

 

[SoCalOffshore]

Catalina would be great or take a dive boat out to the Channel Islands. We are going out Wednesday night to Anacapa Island for 2 night lobster dives. You can get a day trip out to the Islands for around $80, which includes 3 dives, food and air. See www.calboatdiving.com Good luck.

 

[ScubaSeanMaui]

I'd go to Anacapa on the Peace if you can. Great diving up there. Maybe do some shore dives in the Malibu area. You could always go to Catalina or San Clemente island from Long Beach, or even head down to San Diego and Dive Wreck Alley or Los Coronados which has 40 feet plus vis. My best CA dive so far has been Anacapa.
Have fun!

 

[Mo2vation]

Looks like I'll be going to a conference in Vegas for the first week of December. I'm probably going to fly out a few days early and explore around a bit, and was considering heading over to CA and maybe even getting a dive or two in.

Any suggestions? (Looking for anything from "You're out of your mind..." to "Here's where you start...")

I'd be flying into Vegas, renting a car from there, and the plan was to drive over to CA anyway. I'd have to rent gear, since there's no way I'm hauling all my stuff over there.

Additional information:
- prefer scuba, freedive ok (not that good at it), just want to get in the water
- used to warm water, shallow dives (Gulf of Mexico), with 10-20' vis, but interested in doing something different while I'm out there
- AOW/Nitrox
- do have deep-diving (by gulf standards) experience (110 fsw max so far, many dives at 80+ fsw), so I would prefer 130 fsw max



Thanks,
Wil

A few things:

* You know its quite a haul from Vegas to SoCal, right? Its not like an hour or two. Just so you know. You can get flights cheap, cheap.

* SoCal has more divable coast line than just about anyplace, and seeing as we're at the doorstep of the largest ocean on the planet, there's lots of places to go and things to see:

- You can dive the wrecks in San Diego (boat dive) as that's only a half day time investment, very reasonable $$ for boat diving.

- You can go to LA, get on the Cat Express and go to the Dive Park. Mellow entries (stairs!) in a protected cove. Very low stakes diving, with lots of accomodating fishies and some structure to see. Full day time investment. About $45 to get there, then you got fills and lunch and gear rental.

- You can go North of LA to catch a dive boat and head to the channel islands. Clear-clear water, lots to see. More rugged, and just amazing. Plan on a day to a day and a half time investment. More expensive $$ wise, but the vistas are magnificent.

- Shore diving all along the coast. From LowCal (San Diego / La Jolla area) to OCal (Orange County) to SoCal (LA Area) we have reasonable shore diving. Not usually the clear viz of the islands, but its cheap and its a minimal time investment.

You can rent gear all over the place. We certify more divers in Southern California than anywhere else on the planet, I believe. You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a dive shop in LA, Orange county or San Diego.

The best thing to do is post the days you're going to be here, and hook up with some of the locals. We're always diving and if you know the days you'll be out here you can probably get connected with someone. We can direct you to reasonable gear rental and likely point you to the best dive spots to fit your budget and time requirements.

K

 

[SeaPlusPlus]

Sorry about the delay in replying. My travel request was held up, but it's cleared now. The trip is on!

A few things:
* You know its quite a haul from Vegas to SoCal, right? Its not like an hour or two. Just so you know. You can get flights cheap, cheap.

I'm flying in Friday morning, and I've never been to the west coast, so I'm going to rent a car and take a nice leisurely drive out that way.

- You can go North of LA to catch a dive boat and head to the channel islands. Clear-clear water, lots to see. More rugged, and just amazing. Plan on a day to a day and a half time investment. More expensive $$ wise, but the vistas are magnificent.

This sounds like it's right up my alley.

The best thing to do is post the days you're going to be here, and hook up with some of the locals. We're always diving and if you know the days you'll be out here you can probably get connected with someone. We can direct you to reasonable gear rental and likely point you to the best dive spots to fit your budget and time requirements.

I'll be flying into Las Vegas around noon on 11/26 (Friday), and will drive out to CA that evening. I'll have Saturday to dive, then will spend Sunday exploring around and seeing the sights.

So, if anyone has plans to dive the channel islands north of LA on Saturday (11/27), I'm definately game. Barring that, I'll try to book a trip with a head boat (if there are any out of there.)

A couple of questions then:

1) Is there an address I can plug into Mapquest to get driving directions? It doesn't have to be exact, maybe just a dive shop in that area.

2) What quality can I expect with rental gear? Most of my gear is cave/tech oriented, so it's too heavy to haul. I have some lightweight travel gear, but since I'm going to have to rent some anyway, I'm considering just renting all of it. I'm not worried about price for the rentals, as I am getting a BC with a stuck power inflator, etc. Also, do they rent knives? With all the anti-terrorism crackdowns lately, I'm definately not going to try to fly with a dive knife.

3) My heaviest wetsuit is a 5/4mm one piece semidry. I've never dove it in anything colder than 63f, so I don't know if it will be sufficient.

4) Any cheap places to stay over there near the water? To me, a hotel is just a place to crash for a few hours, so I'm not too worried about getting into the Ritz.



Thanks,
Wil

 

[scottfiji]

Sorry about the delay in replying. My travel request was held up, but it's cleared now. The trip is on!

1) Is there an address I can plug into Mapquest to get driving directions? It doesn't have to be exact, maybe just a dive shop in that area.

2) What quality can I expect with rental gear? Most of my gear is cave/tech oriented, so it's too heavy to haul. I have some lightweight travel gear, but since I'm going to have to rent some anyway, I'm considering just renting all of it. I'm not worried about price for the rentals, as I am getting a BC with a stuck power inflator, etc. Also, do they rent knives? With all the anti-terrorism crackdowns lately, I'm definately not going to try to fly with a dive knife.

3) My heaviest wetsuit is a 5/4mm one piece semidry. I've never dove it in anything colder than 63f, so I don't know if it will be sufficient.

4) Any cheap places to stay over there near the water? To me, a hotel is just a place to crash for a few hours, so I'm not too worried about getting into the Ritz.



Thanks,
Wil

You should take the "Peace" or the "spectre" to anacapa out of ventura.

Here is their web site:
http://www.calboatdiving.com/about_calboatdiving.html

They will rent you all the gear and it on the boat for you. Much easier than dealing with a dive shop. The gear was fine when I used it.

For driving directions, look at their website.

A 7mm wet suit is the minimum, wearing a 3/5 hooded vest underneath it is preferable. I don't know if a 5mm semi-dry is warmer than a 7mm wet suit though.

 

[SeaPlusPlus]

You should take the "Peace" or the "spectre" to anacapa out of ventura.

Here is their web site:
http://www.calboatdiving.com/about_calboatdiving.html

They will rent you all the gear and it on the boat for you. Much easier than dealing with a dive shop. The gear was fine when I used it.

For driving directions, look at their website.

Cool, I'll take a look at it.

A 7mm wet suit is the minimum, wearing a 3/5 hooded vest underneath it is preferable. I don't know if a 5mm semi-dry is warmer than a 7mm wet suit though.

A 5/4 semi dry is about the same as a 6mm full suit, so it should be good for me then. I don't get cold very easily.



Thanks,
Wil