Traveling near Anaheim for work, where should I dive?

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Shvonne

Registered
Messages
9
Reaction score
3
Location
South Florida
# of dives
200 - 499
Hi,
I'll be traveling for work the second week of July. We will be staying in Garden Grove, CA which is near Anaheim. I'm not familiar with the area and have never been diving there. Can anyone recommend a charter? I'm a DM, but my boyfriend is OW so nothing too advanced. We will probably only be able to dive once or maybe twice so we will need to rent gear too. Any information will be really helpful! Thank you!
 
Hi,
I'll be traveling for work the second week of July. We will be staying in Garden Grove, CA which is near Anaheim. I'm not familiar with the area and have never been diving there. Can anyone recommend a charter? I'm a DM, but my boyfriend is OW so nothing too advanced. We will probably only be able to dive once or maybe twice so we will need to rent gear too. Any information will be really helpful! Thank you!
Assuming you won't have time to get over to Catalina Island, if I were you, I would shore dive at Shaw's Cove in Laguna Beach. You can contact Beach Cities Scuba, which is walking distance from the dive site. They can hook you up with what you need. Beach Cities Scuba Centers
 
@Shvonne

I totally agree with @Trailboss123
A Catalina trip is possible but would be difficult
Beach Cities is probably your best bet-- Shaw's cove ? -- there are better coves for diving

@Scuba Lawyer was born raised in OC and is possibly the best living expert on OC diving . He is familiar with OCs contributions to national and international dive history, has dove Laguna his entire life and is one heck of a diver, a NAUI Instructor & SSI Pro 5000, and all around good guy -

Please bear in mind most popular OC dive locations are south facing beaches and summer storms are generated in the south travel up Baja slamming into OC south facing beaches and coves playing havoc on diving. Therefore you might want to consider sheltered coves

Garden Grove is just west of Anaheim .. there are several routes to Laguna beach;
Staight down Brookhurst street to PCH to Laguna beach
Freeways -- can be fast or a parking lot

Some interesting historical diving facts about Orange county (the OC!) California extracted from one of my articles from long long ago-- in the geneses of recreational diving it was ground zero for diving and diving manufacturing
so
Orange County ...DID YOU KNOW....

Orange County....
A few little known facts about Orange County;

In the genesis....Orange County was the fountain head of recreational diving in California, the US and for the world.

It had the most manufactures -- US Divers, Voit, Sea Tec, Inflatable systems, JBL, Mares, Spearfisherman, Mark V, Newport divers, Sea Quest, Del Mar, Sea Suits, Water Wear, Kettenhofen Wet suits, Sampson world record spear gun , Samson (Hall) professional UW camera systems, Sea Pro, Riffe International spearguns, Alexander Spearguns, and many more lessor known and now forgotten manufactures

Divers cove/Pic nic cove was selected as the location for the world's first Competitive Spear fishing meet in 1950 and every year to the early 1960s.

Divers Cove was not named as a result of recreational diving activity

Two world record fish were speared off Orange county's coast; the white sea bass and the giant black sea bass

It's waters did contained a variety of shell fish; Mussels, Oysters, Pismo Clams, Scallops, & Lobsters

It has a train and several airplanes, an ocean going barge and several WW 11 landing craft sunk off it's coast.

It has an underwater canyon

It had the frist recreational diving ordnance in California. (Aka the Laguna beach dive ordinance)

It had one of the first California game reserves at Heisler park, named after Glen Vedder, the architect and driving force behind the Laguna beach diving ordinance.

It has a number of piers that are dive able.

PADI's first office was in Orange County.

In the genesis of instruction Orange County had more LA County Certified Underwater Instructors than LA County.

It had one of the first dive shops in California; Lyle Hoskins and sons

Three OC residents were honored as "Fathers of Spearfishing" at the 2000 Millennium Free Diving conference ( The late Ron Merker (Dr. Bill's Instructor.) Allan "Omar" Wood and Dr. Sam Miller,111).


Now you know!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Beach Cities is probably your best bet-- Shaw's cove ? -- there are better coves for diving
I will always defer to you @Sam Miller III when it comes to the best dive sites in So Cal! I suggested Shaw's due to it's easy entry and exit and close proximity to Beach Cities for their rental needs. Also, not knowing their shore diving experience, I thought it to be the safest suggestion, while also getting a very nice dive experience.
 
@Sam Miller III, you are, as usual, too kind.

Diving in Laguna has been hit and miss for a few months now. Big surf, dirty vis, etc... We have had a few really good days. While there are many excellent sites, Shaw's Cove is usually a good safe bet for an out-of-towner's first dive here, and it really is a protected, pretty dive. Tried to get out to the famous "Miller's Reef" the other day off the south end of Woods Cove but the swells were just too unpleasant and Red Tide was forming. We are going to try and get our RHIB out there next weekend.

To the OP - any dive shop can rent you tanks. Laguna is easy to get to from Garden Grove. Wherever in Laguna you end up just be sure to take some time to watch the wave sets and time your entry and exits for lulls. You may luck out and it will be a lagoon - those are the best days. Have fun. I'll probably be travelling to Texas and Tennessee on business that week but if I'm around love to go for a dive. Mark
 
If you did have time to get on a boat - many of them leave from Long Beach or San Pedro which is not too bad a drive in the early morning but stay off the mobile parking lots LA residents call freeways.

About 30 mins drive to either - they're adjacent. Midweek is the slower time and some boats do multi-day trips on the weekends. Th, F, Sa, Su are the best days to find a day trip.
California Dive Boats : The Official Page

some may be able to help you rent gear but in SoCal the DM stays on the boat. If you need a guide, contact the boat, tjey've probably got a list. Not all boats provide tanks either so ask when booking,

If conditions are good there should be a lot of divers at Shaw;s - esp. closer to the weekend,
 
Wow! Thanks for all the great info. What does a trip to Catalina Island involve? We will have 1 full day to dive, it will be a Friday. A shore dive would be nice too. Can we expect to see sea lions? We've never been diving in the Pacific before. Thanks again! Really appreciate your information.
 
Wow! Thanks for all the great info. What does a trip to Catalina Island involve? We will have 1 full day to dive, it will be a Friday. A shore dive would be nice too. Can we expect to see sea lions? We've never been diving in the Pacific before. Thanks again! Really appreciate your information.




You can find dive boats leaving from Long Beach/San Pedro on line but I only have old stale info on them.

What I like to do:

You can take ferries from Newport Beach, Dana Pt, Long Beach, San Pedro. Get there early. Earlier the better.

Catalina Flyer & Catalina Express ferries are what I use. (Usually Flyer out of Newport, cheaper) I rent gear on Catalina from Catalina Divers Supply.

I ‘shore dive’ right at the Dive Park at the Casino. There are stairs with railings and the water is usually calm and clear. Lots of life. Use dive light to explore mini caves, ledges, holes etc - you will see stuff. I often see Giant Sea Bass 50-75ft water near wreck of Su jac.

Dive Shop is right there in the shadow of the Casino. Showers nearby. Descanso Beach right there. I like The Lobster Trap restaurant on Catalina. Civilized. Lovely spot. Two dives are easy, three a bit tough in time to catch return. My 2 cents.
 
Can we expect to see sea lions?

Sea lions are where you find them in So. Cal. Here is a pic of me and a friend off the west end of Catalina back in the early 90's. M
WXe7zY.jpg
 
All these responses - all the pictures - al the time & effort responding

I question
Where will he chose to dive ?
With whom?
And will the OP respond with a report and a thank you ?

probably NOT

SDM
 

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