Best Beach Diving in CA?

[MissyP]

would that be carried at most book stores or dive shops or is that an order online thing?

You can find it at most Sports Chalet stores...

 

[CaliforniaDivingNews]

The 4th edition of A Diver's Guide to Southern California's Best Beach Dives, by Dale & Kim Sheckler was just released in June.

It covers San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura & Santa Barbara Counties and covers 70 Dive Sites, many with maps.

You can find it at:
Beach Cities Scuba
Channel Islands Scuba
Malibu Divers
Pacific Wilderness
Peace Scuba Center
Pismo Beach Dive Shop
Sea d' Sea
Scuba.com
Scuba Haus
Scuba Schools of America
Ventura Dive & Sport

California Diving News

 

[runway1]

San Diego (La Jolla) vs Laguna:

La Jolla Shores--- free parking generally (if you want a spot be there prior to 7am)... no hills or stairs to climb with dive gear-- its flat.... many bathrooms & showers... grassy areas to set up on &/have a picnic... air fill station/but a less than impressive dive shop 2 blocks away... food places (Jeff's Burgers is good) also within 2 blocks... you will endure the infamous "are you leaving?" question asked by every car passing by you who is trying to find a parking spot... must walk through 5000 people to get from the car to the water.. get through the swimmers/body & boogie boarders, and surfers (depending on if the checkered flag is up or not)...surf is 'gentler' here usually because there really isn't a shore break-- its flat sand... enjoy your 20 minute surface swim to the canyon (ridge is about 45ft), unless you decide to drop down earlier and see lots of sand while you head 270 deg. to the canyon.. The canyon is great-- tons of life and drops down gradually in "levels"-- in other words, it's not a wall dive. You won't see kelp or reefy stuff though, unless you go over to the cove.. Now the cove--Good luck parking there and be wary of the surf-- the shore break is a little steeper and its easy to get tumbled, even by a small wave. This is a shallow dive also-- you'll be lucky to get to 30ft. Also toilet/shower facilities.. some grassy areas but you'll be like sardines with the other people there.. you do have a set of stairs there but if you're lucky you'll catch high tide and wont have the giant step up to the first step when coming out of the water. Both the shores and the cove are protected-- no hunting.

Whereas Laguna as you know-- pay to park, same crowded situation, fewer facilities, hills/stairs, also a dive shop/food place nearby, shore break, short surface swim, shallow reefs w/ some kelp, less beach & grassy areas to fit the 5000 people on..

Malibu.. never dived there .. so I can't compare.

I dove LJ several times and LB many, many times and I'm not sure I agree.

Crowds: You need to get to LJ before 7:00, I agree. LB, you can find parking at 8...9 and later. Sure, the "up-front" parking is before 8:00, realistically, but much parking is available throughout the morning that's very close to the access points. Also, many coves have no metered parking - free, FCFS

Crowds: Surprisingly, when we hit the LB water about 8:30 AM Saturdays, the beaches are almost deserted! I always wonder why. I think everybody's eating breakfast at those posh restaurants, I guess. The biggest crowd issues is with other divers, not beach goers.

Food: Plenty at both spots

Facilities: LB has plenty, e.g. Crescent, Heisler, etc have excellent facilities. Same at LJ

Access: I much prefer LB. Sure there are steps but you're much closer to the water and parking and they're only a nuisance in one direction . Surf also tends to be a bit smaller there.

Conditions: Generally, LB has far better viz and conditions.