Cali divers take things for granted, methinks

[fnfalman]

You don't know what a pain it is to go diving when you're outside of SoCal.

Here you can hop on any boat every weekend, maybe even Wednesday. Or schlepp your gears down to the various beaches.

It's like pulling teeth trying to find sweet diving spots in the East Coast.

I had zero dives when I was in Houston because the Gulf weather kept getting bad and the trips got cancelled. Finally got out to Maryland and the North Carolina boat charters are closed for the year. Local diving means muck diving for a handful of oysters.

California dreamin'...

Anyway, many local divers - especially newbies, complain about the "cold" and lack of visibility. Know what's worse? Can't get any dives in even though you're next to the water.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I'll bet Vet's is even starting to look good.
Oh wait, Vet's is one of the best dives on earth, just ask anybody who dives it. They even have a forum dedicated entirely to diving it....at least they used to.

 

[Reku]

Florida pan handle is kind of like SoCal in that way. There is literally a dive boat going out almost 24/7 and if you don't want to use a boat we have TONS of beach and quite a few neat areas between Pensacola and PCB. The only other place I dive is Port Huron, Michigan - which even in the winter has dives happening all the time. I guess I got lucky.

 

[thez_yo]

Well, I've gotten all of ~20 dives in this year because whenever I'm not at work (the weekends) there is either a random torrential downpour (what's with all the rain this year?), a hurricane blustering up from MX, or 8ft swells being sent down from up North. In comparison, last year I'm pretty sure I got in ~60 dives.

 

[OldNSalty]

I agree about the NE, I use to work in Maryland and was so shocked to discover that I had to drive inland about an hour to go dive in some hole in the ground when I was working right next to water everyday.

Florida Panhandle is pretty good for diving.

 

[muzikbiz22]

Florida

 

[kelemvor]

Florida > California.

 

[Keith.M]

Socal, Norcal, whatever... The diving is great right now. Winter diving is the best!

 

[Chugwhump]

Here in SoFla....
We are going through one of our rare once every 5-7 year events of crap weather....
On weekends....
For the past two months.
Certainly the El Niño effect.
But it will settle out by the end of December.

Chug
Has no interest in cold water and crap viz.
To each...
their own.

 

[Kevrumbo]

. . .Los Angeles County: where you can snowboard/ski in Winter Mountain Wilderness; then turn back around to swim, surf & night dive in Kelp Forests at Mainland Beaches; and finally come home to Suburbia with a perfect Mediterranean Climate --all can be done within either a span of 12 hrs, or a leisurely paced Weekend. . . !:cool2: