Cheap warmer destinations from SoCal

[k374]

What are the most affordable warmer water destinations in Baja from Los Angeles that don't involve taking a flight? By warm I mean water temp 70 or above so a hood and gloves is not necessary and it would be comfortable to dive with a 7mm. The flights to La Paz and Cabo are ridiculously expensive ($450 for a 1hr flight is not my idea of affordable since for that I may as well fly to Cozumel).

 

[fnfalman]

By the time you fly back and forth to some of these destinations, you can already save up for a drysuit.

I think that I'm going to break down and buy a drysuit in a few months. Ice diving time, baby!!!

 

[diversteve]

There's at least 3-4 diveops in Ensenada - 75 miles south of San Diego. But the water doesn't get much above 60'.

Links to a couple diveops - I've no experience with either one:
BajaPro Scuba Divers
http://www.bajabluediver.com/

 

[robint]

You're not going to find a place cheaper than Cozumel BUT if that is the only place you go, because it is cheap, you will be missing out. Please don't get in that rut, only going places that are "cheap". If you are on a budget, save up the money you would spend on 2 trips and put them into a trip going somewhere new. (when we first got certified, we only went to Cozumel because it seemed like the best deal. We finally started branching out, trying new places and discovered that $$ should not be the primary consideration in choosing a destination for a trip.)

Just my 2 cents.
robin

 

[drbill]

I did a lot of my Sea of Cortez diving based out of La Paz, but it is a boat trip out to the islands where the best diving can be found.

You could also try San Onofre since the wastewater from the nuclear power plant warms up the ocean... but watch out for all the "baby" great whites if you do.

 

[Leejnd]

If you're looking for warm water, you're not going to find it within driving distance from LA! Although I guess I should ask what you consider "driving distance". Even just getting to La Bufadora in Baja took us over 4 hours from LA...and that was some of the coldest water I've ever dived (my Suunto said it was 48F - and that was in July! BRRRR!)

I've done beach dives off Malibu in October that were in the high 60's, and I happily left off my hood - but that's the warmest I've ever seen it around here.

 

[DiverLS]

You could dive the Kona Coast in Hawaii. I don't know the flight costs to Hawaii but we dove it in a 3/2 wetsuit with no hood. We left the drysuits at home. Try a travel agent that specializes in Diving to get you the package deal. Your LDS could recommend one. I'd recommend Dive Makai for your diving. Even though I had been diving for 15 years when I went, I learned a lot from them.

 

[drbill]

Back in 2006 we had a surface temp of 79 F for about three weeks. Of course we didn't have any kelp. During the 1982-84 El Nino I didn't have a dive computer, but surface temps exceeded 80 F.

 

[k374]

@HT, I will probably do a dry suit dive as part of my AOW and see how I like it.
The temps lately have been 60F, I would've imagined at least 64 by now. It's been unusually cold.

@robinT, i've taken 5 dive trips to warmer locales this year, I think my budget is already hurting I was trying to see if there was a reasonably close place I could go with some regularity where the water was at least 70F. Unfortunately it seems the answer is no.