Diving near Port Hueneme

[mikemill]

Just got back from a career fair and NavSea was there recruiting. I got a good response from them so it is a solid possibility. How is the diving in that area? Are there good sites within a short drive (say 30 mins)?

Stupid Navy having good civilian jobs. Now I can't decide if I want the NavAir china lake job to be offered or not (or perhaps I can ask them to send me to Point Mugu...)

 

[ligersandtions]

There's LOTS of great diving in that area (hehe, I had to google map it to figure out where it was!) from Santa Barbara to Laguna, being minutes to two hours away....and even more great diving a bit further north and south (though I've only heard about that diving, and haven't actually experienced it first-hand).

In addition, the Channel Islands are a blast....and that location gives you very good access to Anacapa and Santa Cruz Island, which happen to be my favorites!

Socal has a ton to offer and many active local divers. If you do end up in the area, check out the Beach Crabs....there's bound to be a dive or ten that you can join in on!

 

[fnfalman]

Yep. Zuma Beach, Leo Carillo Beach are just two that pops in my head for beach dive. And of course the upper Channel Islands are just an hour's boat ride away.

There's a book that's called California Beach Dives or something to that effect that shows all the good beach dives throughout the whole Cali coast.

 

[ligersandtions]

BTW, the book that's being referred to above is "Southern California's Best Beach Dives" by Dale Sheckler....it's a superb book and I recommend all local shore divers have it!

 

[Empty V]

Congrats on the possible move, I've worked at Port Hueneme and Mugu. There is also the 146th Airlift Wing - Channel Islands Air National in the area. There's lots of great diving in both directions of the coast, you'll have more than enough spots to choose from and there's tons of us in the area.

I've never heard of anyone diving Zuma though, that's more of a sunning, surfing and sponging beach.

Billy

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Scuba Shore Diving Site Page for: La Jennelle Park of California Mid, USA West

 

[mikemill]

Thanks all. Are any of these sites within the testing sea range? From the map it seems that the range pulls away from the beaches enough that it shouldn't affect shore diving.

 

[covediver]

Sea Range and other naval operations do not affect access except for the frontage around the bases (Pt Mugu & Huneneme) and the Navy-controlled islands at certain times in certain zones (San Nicolas and San Clemente).

 

[mikemill]

Sweet, thanks.

/me starts the prayer for the interview and job offer

 

[covediver]

When I worked at Channel Islands NP and afterwards, I did some work for the Navy out of Pt. Mugu (Naval Weapons Station, Pacific Missile Test Range, and China Lake in its various incarnations) and found them to be a great bunch of people. My time on San Nic was like going back in time to the 1950s when the California Islands were still "frontier". Hope you get the job. I do miss the Channel Islands and coastal Ventura County.