Good place to work on skills?

[quevola28]

Hello,

Freshly certified here. Wondering if anyone can suggest a safe place in SoCal where I can burn a few tanks and work on my buoyancy skills without putting other divers or myself in danger? Maybe even an underwater park or pool. Thanks for any help.

Paul

 

[Mo2vation]

Hello,

Freshly certified here. Wondering if anyone can suggest a safe place in SoCal where I can burn a few tanks and work on my buoyancy skills without putting other divers or myself in danger? Maybe even an underwater park or pool. Thanks for any help.

Paul

I love reading this. You gotta practice diving - just like every thing else.

For me, I go to the Cat Dive Park. There are usually people around, its protected, its shallow (in some places...) its easy entry and exit, and the fill is real close.

Whenever I get a new piece of gear (Drysuit, tank, BC, etc.) or whenever I want to work on weighting, or kicks or buoyancy control - that's the first place I go. Its mellow, and its safe.

Rock on. Practice is so impotant... you can't just "dive" all the time, sometimes you gotta drill.

That's where I go. In fact, I'll be there on Sunday.

Welcome to ScubaBoard. Be sure to check out the SoCal room.

---
Ken

 

[pasley]

Go diving, but not alone. When the rain stops, give me a shout and we will go. Nice easy dive sites. From Whittier you can be in Malibu in 1.5 hours or less and dive Malibu Road, Corral Beach, Leo Carrillo, or many other sites good for new divers.

Redondo Beach is also just about 1 to 1.25 hours away.

Malaga cove and Marineland on Palos Verde would also work well for you and are 1 hour away.

Laguna Beach offers crescent bay, shaws cove and a host of others all 1 to 1.5 hour away depending upon traffic.

So give a shout and go diving.

 

[Diver_Jan]

Hmmm...where in Whittier are you located? If you want a pool, I would go back to your LDS where you got certified and use their pool. As far as beach goes, I think for you, (Big) Corona Del Mar or Shaw's Cove in Laguna would be good. Both of these beaches are where most instructors take their OW students for their first beach dive to work on skills. In the LA area, I would suggest Redondo (Veteran's Park) to work on skills there as well. If you are fairly new to beach diving, check out http://www.Reefseekers.com They offer a free beach diving/ Navigation Class at Redondo Beach led by an instructor.

If you want an active club or buddies, check out http://www.southcoastdivers.com/SOCDC WE DIVE ALL THE TIME!!! Any other info or questions, just PM me. I will be glad to help if I can.

 

[scubadobadoo]

I love reading this. You gotta practice diving - just like every thing else.

For me, I go to the Cat Dive Park. There are usually people around, its protected, its shallow (in some places...) its easy entry and exit, and the fill is real close.

Whenever I get a new piece of gear (Drysuit, tank, BC, etc.) or whenever I want to work on weighting, or kicks or buoyancy control - that's the first place I go. Its mellow, and its safe.

Rock on. Practice is so impotant... you can't just "dive" all the time, sometimes you gotta drill.

That's where I go. In fact, I'll be there on Sunday.

Welcome to ScubaBoard. Be sure to check out the SoCal room.

---
Ken

Pardon my ignorance but what and where is the Cat Dive Park? Thanks!

 

[Mo2vation]

Pardon my ignorance but what and where is the Cat Dive Park? Thanks!

Catalina Island. 20-some miles west into the pacific from Los Angeles. In Avalon (the big town on this little island) there is, on one side of the main harbor, a dive park. Its a protected area, a preserve (read: clear water, accomodating fishies) has a stair entry (still working on the escalator entry, I guess) and a fill station a few steps away.

Its a very mellow place to drill, and one of my fav dive hangs.

www.catalina.com

---
Ken

 

[scubadobadoo]

Ah yes. Silly me! Just went there. For some reason "Cat Dive Park" didn't stick as I kept calling it "The Casino" all weekend I was there. SORRY and thanks for pointing out the obvious. It's 2:22am here in NYC. I'll blame it on that...

 

[hermosadive]

You should consider Veterans Park in Redondo. Sandy bottom with lots & lots of room to practice in the 20-35' range. The canyon starts droping after the 35' should you want to practice any deep skills. You can take the canyon to 100'+. This is were most of the Los Angeles classes do their check out dives. Easy to navigate as well, West to depth, East to shore.

Metered parking in the lot near Calalina Avenue and the Esplanade. Showers and bathrooms at the bottom of the steps. Don't let the big dredging pipe that runs along the beach scare you. There's a low section that makes stepping over it easy.

If you need fills, Dive N' Surf and Sea D Sea are nearby.

 

[headhunter]

The Catalina Dive Park is great because you have something interesting to look at.

If you want to work on some stuff in the ocean but want the lack of distraction from cool scenery, try Redondo during the day. It's a wasteland of sand at Veterans Park and a great place to work on skills. Cool dive at night when the critters come out to play though! I'm sure someone will disagree about this being a wasteland during the day, but it's just my opinion.

Christian

 

[scottfiji]

The Catalina Dive Park is great because you have something interesting to look at.

If you want to work on some stuff in the ocean but want the lack of distraction from cool scenery, try Redondo during the day. It's a wasteland of sand at Veterans Park and a great place to work on skills. Cool dive at night when the critters come out to play though! I'm sure someone will disagree about this being a wasteland during the day, but it's just my opinion.

Christian

Redondo Canyon is a wasteland if you dive with your eyes closed, or if you are lobster hunting. But if you are interested in Marine life, there is plenty to keep you busy during the day. During the night, you are just overwhelmed..

But seriously, anywhere in calm, shallow water will be fine. Redondo and corral beach in Malibu are 2 fine choices.

Malaga will also give your thighs a burning workout (on the way back up), and marineland will do that plus give you rocky pebble entry/exit practise.

Scott