Fort Bragg/Mendocino

[Bob DBF]

Wrong Fort Bragg, she is in Fort Bragg, California.

Both started as US Army garrisons, named after the same person, so I guess it is an understandable mistake.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Welcome to scubaboard!
Nice to have another Norcal local join up.
The nearest dive shop that I know of is Seal’s Watersports in Santa Rosa on Armory Drive right off the freeway. There might be one in Ukiah but I can’t vouch for it’s relevance. Too bad Sub Surface closed up, it was one of my favorite shops to visit.
There is great diving up in Mendocino County!
I have many offshore pinnacles marked on GPS between Albion and Vandamme. Arena Rock as mentioned earlier is a world class dive. I’ve dived it about 6 times and one of the times we had about 80’ vis!
Absolutely spectacular!
I did a dive once on Bull Rock out of Albion and we had about 90’ vis. I was in 100’ and could see my boat clearly from below. Normally the vis as about 10’ - 20’ but when those cold water currents come up from deep there is about a 3-4 hour window when the vis will soar before it blooms out and we just happened to be there right at the perfect time (extremely rare).
seal’s water sports does fun dives up at Caspar Cove to smash urchins and or just have fun. Go to their website and see when the next one is happening. Other than that, if you have a kayak it opens up a ton more possibilities for diving up there. Van Damme is a great beach to launch from as is Russian Gulch State Park. The huge ling in my avatar picture came from Russian Gulch.
There are also a lot of possibilities for beach diving, it’s just a lot more surface swimming is all.
I’m jealous you get to live in one of my all time favorite places on Earth.

 

[Av8jen]

Hello. I only made it out to California once, years ago, and really enjoyed diving the Channel Islands. The operator I dove with went out of business, and there've been changes in the local dive scene (both for the same reason - the Conception boat fire disaster that claimed over 30 lives), but some of the research I compiled and the trip report from back then might still be of some use.

My Notes For Researching My California Dive Trip - My Notes for Researching My California Dive Trip
Truth Aquatics Vision Trip Aug. 2016 - Truth Aquatics Aug. 2016 Trip Report - California

On the issue of dive trips, I think the biggest 'brand name' U.S. and Caribbean regional destinations are probably Cozumel, Roatan, Belize, Bonaire, the Cayman Islands and Key Largo/Florida Keys. I'll post you some resources:

Key Largo with Rainbow Reef Dive Center 2013 - http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/fl...iving-key-largo-rainbow-reef-dive-center.html
Tres Pelicanos & Casa Mexicana, Cozumel Sept. 2018 Report - Tres Pelicanos/Casa Mexican Trip Report Sept. 2018
My Research Notes from Planning Cozumel Trip - My Research Notes from Planning Cozumel Trip
CocoView Trip Report May 2021 - Trip Report - CocoView Resort May 8-15, 2021
My Research Notes from planning a Roatan Trip - My Research Notes from Planning Roatan Trip
My Research Notes for Bonaire - My Research Note For Bonaire
8 Day Trip Report: Sand Dollar, Dive Friends
2022 Trip Report Bonaire Trip Report - V.I.P. Divers/Aqua Viva Suites

I dove in the Caymans and Belize by liveaboard; if you're ready to commit to a week on a boat, I have trip reports for those. If not, there are plenty of trip reports for resorts at those destinations.

Awesome! Thanks!

 

[Ted Judah]

Hey, my wife and I will be going up to Van Damme SP as part of a dive meet-up through Pinnacles Dive out of Novato on Sunday the 21st starting at 8 am. I have no idea how many people will show up but I'm guessing you could meet some potential dive buddies there...