SoCal dive operators

[edoralive]

Hey all -

Recommendations on SoCal dive operators?

I have a week off between jobs, and am planning a trip to the area Feb 6-10ish. I have a drysuit and am hoping to dive as much as possible while there. I will have a rental car and don't yet know exactly where I'll be staying.

I've never been to the area before, so any and all advice is welcome. I love wrecks, but Catalina, kelp forests and oil rigs all look pretty interesting!

Did a cursory search and wasn't able to find any recent threads. Apologies if this is duplicative.

 

[merxlin]

Hey all -

Recommendations on SoCal dive operators?

I have a week off between jobs, and am planning a trip to the area Feb 6-10ish. I have a drysuit and am hoping to dive as much as possible while there. I will have a rental car and don't yet know exactly where I'll be staying.

I've never been to the area before, so any and all advice is welcome. I love wrecks, but Catalina, kelp forests and oil rigs all look pretty interesting!

Did a cursory search and wasn't able to find any recent threads. Apologies if this is duplicative.

First and foremast, where in So Cal will you be (general area)? That will make a difference in what is recommended as SO Cal is pretty spread out and travel times can be lengthy, espacially mid-week. Unless you can dive the 6th, most boat operations only run weekends. Sundiver Express runs a lot of Friday trips (would be the 11th) to Catalina or the rigs. Sundiver link. Shore diving is an option from North LA County to Orange County, but you'll need to find buddies that can dive mid week. If you are a tech diver check in with the local GUE groups, OCUE and LAUE as you might have some luck finding buddies there.

Conditions can be iffy in February, and you'll be happy diving dry as temps are usually in the mid-50's.

 

[Andrea VanEpps]

Hey all -

Recommendations on SoCal dive operators?

I have a week off between jobs, and am planning a trip to the area Feb 6-10ish. I have a drysuit and am hoping to dive as much as possible while there. I will have a rental car and don't yet know exactly where I'll be staying.

I've never been to the area before, so any and all advice is welcome. I love wrecks, but Catalina, kelp forests and oil rigs all look pretty interesting!

Did a cursory search and wasn't able to find any recent threads. Apologies if this is duplicative.

The struggle is that you're mostly weekdays.
Sunday, heck, any dive boat that's running. May I suggest going to Ventura and hoping aboard either the Spectre or the Peace boat and take a day to Anacapa... Always a pleasure!
Then, for the weekdays, maybe a day or 2 on Catalina Island at Casino Point. There's a fb group 'Casino Point Divers' to find a buddy or even hire a guide.
There are a few boats you can get to charter you on a weekday, but it'll cost ya'. You might get really lucky and find a group that has already chartered and has an open spot. But look up the boats all around Palos Verdes and long Beach and check their calendars and, if no ones going out, call to see what they would charter for.
You might be able to get a group of people to go and the boat will just go with enough people paying in advance. Rally the troops on some socal dive group pages. Big blue and Sundiver have smaller load boats that might not be hard to fill.
Beaches are hit or miss with wind and weather, but Laguna has a few sites that stay pretty protected, and, if you want to go further south, La Jolla in San Diego is pretty, too. If you get lucky with weather there are plenty of sites in the coast that are pretty great.

 

[edoralive]

First and foremast, where in So Cal will you be (general area)? That will make a difference in what is recommended as SO Cal is pretty spread out and travel times can be lengthy, espacially mid-week. Unless you can dive the 6th, most boat operations only run weekends. Sundiver Express runs a lot of Friday trips (would be the 11th) to Catalina or the rigs. Sundiver link. Shore diving is an option from North LA County to Orange County, but you'll need to find buddies that can dive mid week. If you are a tech diver check in with the local GUE groups, OCUE and LAUE as you might have some luck finding buddies there.

Conditions can be iffy in February, and you'll be happy diving dry as temps are usually in the mid-50's.

Awesome. Thank you for the tips!

Not sure about location yet. I have about a week off and haven't settled on anything. I suppose I'll find the dive trips and stay wherever makes them convenient.

 

[edoralive]

The struggle is that you're mostly weekdays.
Sunday, heck, any dive boat that's running. May I suggest going to Ventura and hoping aboard either the Spectre or the Peace boat and take a day to Anacapa... Always a pleasure!
Then, for the weekdays, maybe a day or 2 on Catalina Island at Casino Point. There's a fb group 'Casino Point Divers' to find a buddy or even hire a guide.
There are a few boats you can get to charter you on a weekday, but it'll cost ya'. You might get really lucky and find a group that has already chartered and has an open spot. But look up the boats all around Palos Verdes and long Beach and check their calendars and, if no ones going out, call to see what they would charter for.
You might be able to get a group of people to go and the boat will just go with enough people paying in advance. Rally the troops on some socal dive group pages. Big blue and Sundiver have smaller load boats that might not be hard to fill.
Beaches are hit or miss with wind and weather, but Laguna has a few sites that stay pretty protected, and, if you want to go further south, La Jolla in San Diego is pretty, too. If you get lucky with weather there are plenty of sites in the coast that are pretty great.

Awesome. Appreciate this. I'll start looking in to all these ideas to narrow it down!

 

[merxlin]

Awesome. Thank you for the tips!

Not sure about location yet. I have about a week off and haven't settled on anything. I suppose I'll find the dive trips and stay wherever makes them convenient.

I should have mentioned Casino Point - always an option- and the Dive Park is a great location. Easy in and out, and lots to see. When shore conditions prevent beach diving, it can be flat and clear there.

 

[wetrat]

+1 on the Avalon Dive Park during the week. The Catalina Express from Long Beach is super comfortable and convenient. Easy walk to the dive park (or pay a baggage handler) and you can rent tanks and weights right there. It's possible to do three dives if you're ambitious, but two and lunch at a local restaurant is pretty nice too. Let me know when you're in town and I might be able to buddy up with you!