Diving: Irvine, San Diego, or elsewhere?

[Crush]

Good day, all,

I will likely be in and around Irvine CA in April or June. I will have one or two days to dive. Can you recommend any good dives, shops, or places to hook up with divers?

My diving preferences/equipment needs:

1. I will bring all my own gear, except for tanks and weight. I normally dive a single AL 80;
2. I am nitrox certified and hold these certs: AOW, SRD, MSD, GUE Fundies (rec pass);
3. I will bring my drysuit. Besides, I am from Canada and can handle the cold ; and
4. Shore diving or boat diving is fine - I have no real preference.

Here are my constraints:

1. I will be traveling with family (all non-divers). They will have to drop be off at the dive site so very early morning departures aren't possible unless I take a cab;
2. To take a cab I have to be in a hotel close to the debarkation point. Since everyone else is a non-diver there has to be interesting stuff for them to do within an easy drive of the hotel. This makes diving near large cities like San Diego attractive; and
3. There is a preference for the area between Los Angeles an San Diego.

Thanks!

Crush

 

[mathauck0814]

There is good shore diving in San Diego and also in Orange County on Palos Verdes. That might fit your schedule. Boat diving is readily available in either Long Beach or San Diego, but tends to be weekend only (think 8a-1p sort of two tank charters and you'll have the idea). If you're here midweek to dive, you're going shore diving; unless you get lucky or bring enough people to charter a boat. If you shore dive, you can rent tanks just about anywhere. If you boat dive, most of them have tanks you can use on the boats. Not having a car will make it expensive, southern California isn't very friendly in that regard - you might rethink your cab strategy.

There is plenty for your family to do if you stayed in Long Beach, Anaheim or San Diego areas while you're diving. That shouldn't be difficult.

Should you choose the southern route, PM me when it gets closer and if I'm around I'll be happy to show you some spots (I'm sure you can find other divers here that would be happy to do the same)

 

[USCScubaboy]

You should check out Laguna Beach, which is about 20 minutes away from Irvine.

The closest shop is this one: Laguna Sea Sports | Beach Cities Scuba Centers – Your premier Orange County Scuba Diving experience

It's very diver and non-diver friendly as there are many dive sites along the coast for divers and there is a lot to discover on land for non-divers.

 

[Crush]

Thanks for the replies so far. Three questions:

1. What time of year is better in terms of vis and sea life - April or June?
2. Is it generally easy to pick up an insta-buddy at a dive shop or club (e.g., Laguna Sea Sports), or am I likely to have to hire a dive guide if I need a buddy?
3. If I pick up an insta-buddy, what is the going rate for how many beers I will owe him/her?

Cheers

 

[mathauck0814]

Thanks for the replies so far. Three questions:

1. What time of year is better in terms of vis and sea life - April or June?
2. Is it generally easy to pick up an insta-buddy at a dive shop or club (e.g., Laguna Sea Sports), or am I likely to have to hire a dive guide if I need a buddy?
3. If I pick up an insta-buddy, what is the going rate for how many beers I will owe him/her?

Cheers

For San Diego, I'd say June - but it can be grey and gloomy... but honestly the ocean can pick up or calm down any time. The best viz is in the fall (August-October). If you're at one of the shore sites like the La Jolla Shores/Cove area, you can pretty much hang around for a few minutes and just join a group that's going in. I doubt you'd "owe" anyone a beer, but you might end up out having them afterwards as a matter of course.

Can't speak to the Laguna/PV area, anytime I've dove there I went with a crew of folks so I never thought much about it - there seem to always be lots of divers hanging around though, so I imagine your experience up north will be similar.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Another option would be to have your family drop you off at the Dana Point or Long Beach Catalina Express terminal for the early boat. They could either go with you and tour the island or go to Disneyland while you spend the entire day at Catalina.

 

[ligersandtions]

April can be very hit or miss for socal diving. June is probably a little safer bet. That said, as mentioned above, the best visibility usually comes around in the fall.

Depending on when you'll be here, there's a good chance that some of the local divers wouldn't mind getting together for a dive or two. I, personally, am not a fan of just picking up a buddy at a dive site, but would rather just have something planned in advance. If you're looking to dive with other GUE-trained divers, shoot me a PM and I'm sure we can work something out

Also, a number of us have cylinders and weights you'd be welcome to borrow (of course, those cylinders are all steel cylinders, and probably minimum of 100cf -- so if you're more comfortable in an Al80, it'd probably be easiest to rent).

Hope socal can manage some decent conditions while you come visit!

 

[on_two_wheels]

If you're in the LA area, there are a few summer boats that do weekday runs and for less money (Long Beach and San Pedro). Currently, visibility reports have been ridiculous. I haven't been recently enough to comment, just what I've read (60+ ft at casino point this week). If you take a boat dive, probably very easy to find a dive buddy. Better yet, post the date(s) you are planning and might even find someone to go with you. Hell, ya might even find someone nearby that can give you a ride. I did that a while ago with a guy posting from Greece!! Turned out to be a GREAT dive day and now have a friend in Greece.

 

[blue steal]

For shore diving and things to do with non diving family I'd go with Laguna Beach, probably Hiesler park/divers cove. Dive shop is close by.
Probably would not go to Palos Verdes, hard to find for someone who has not been there before, plus not a whole lot to do for non divers.
Catalina Express is a good option, either just you for the day or bring the family. Good diving at the park, air fills close by and rentals available.
There are a few boats that go out during the week days in Long Beach and San Pedro, example Magician goes out every Friday, and the sundiver Express goes out every Wednesday & Friday.
I dove with a guy a few months back that got droped off at the Sundiver in Long Beach in the morning and his family went to Disneyland for the day.
I don't think you would have any trouble finding a buddy on the boat dives and at the casino park either.
Take care

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Look at the bigger dive boats out of San Pedro / Long Beach area going to the Channel Islands as many divers sleep the night on the boat. This allows you and your family to spend the day doing something together, having dinner and dropping you off at the boat between 7 and 10PM and picking you up at 5PM the next day. This gives you a full day of good diving and no one has to get up at the crack of dawn. The boat dives to Catalina have a much better record weather wise than shore diving. In So Cal, a storm messes with vis for days due to the runoff and surge while the island diving only suffers slightly with vis dropping from maybe 50' to 30'.

If you want San Diego, look up Power Divers, a local club. Extremely active group of friendly divers, more than likely they will have a dive scheduled and plenty of buddies. Probably the best place to dive cheap. There are good dive boats there too, I have only used a couple and they don't have sleeping arrangement, however the location makes cabbing reasonable if arranged the day before.