Leejnd
Contributor
Personally, if I was here on business and only had a day or two that I could sneak away, I'd book a trip or two on one of our local dive boats. Some of them are affiliated with dive shops and you can get your rentals right through them, and you are also assured of a great day of diving, and not quite as vulnerable to bad conditions (as you would be if you were going to try to get in some beach dives).
My personal fave is Peace out of Ventura Harbor (if you're going to be in this northern part of SoCal). Really comfortable boat, GREAT food (best dive boat food I've ever had!), you can rent your gear through them, onboard hot tub, nitrox. Peace just got out of drydock for a refurb, so it's probably looking pretty good right now! They have a couple of mid-week trips to Anacapa within the dates you mentioned. If your time is more limited, you could do the Raptor (also out of Ventura) - it's a more minimalist experience, but it's a faster boat so you get back to the dock way earlier.
I've been on several of the dive boats out of Long Beach/San Pedro, and they are also a good option. You can get info about all the SoCal dive boats here: California Dive Boats : The Official Page
My personal fave is Peace out of Ventura Harbor (if you're going to be in this northern part of SoCal). Really comfortable boat, GREAT food (best dive boat food I've ever had!), you can rent your gear through them, onboard hot tub, nitrox. Peace just got out of drydock for a refurb, so it's probably looking pretty good right now! They have a couple of mid-week trips to Anacapa within the dates you mentioned. If your time is more limited, you could do the Raptor (also out of Ventura) - it's a more minimalist experience, but it's a faster boat so you get back to the dock way earlier.
I've been on several of the dive boats out of Long Beach/San Pedro, and they are also a good option. You can get info about all the SoCal dive boats here: California Dive Boats : The Official Page