Hello from Los Angeles

[venbox]

Hello folks! New diver here, I've been lurking on the forums for a few months absorbing knowledge whilst diving into this new hobby and figured it's time to say hello.

I did my first few dives spontaneously whilst visiting Okinawa in May -- saw Mantas and fell in love! Started the OW course there and finished it up at home in LA a few weeks later. Since then I have dived Catalina, Anacapa, and last week in Formentera / Ibiza whilst on summer holidays.

Been keeping my eye out for some solid used gear and got hold of an OMS backplate / wing, Atomic B2 reg set with SS1, and Faber steel tank for a good price. Will be picking them up after servicing when back home, hopefully all now in great working order.

Also got a Suunto Ocean which I'm loving -- started with a Shearwater Teric which was awesome but I decided to change for something with broader applicability; really enjoying the freedive and sports modes and the underwater route recording is pretty sweet. Have an insta360 Ace Pro with dive case too which has been fun to play with (though the import process and timestamp mangling is )

Learned a ton thanks to everyone's discussions here, I have a tendency to fall down rabbit holes around new hobbies with both research and gear so very happy to discover diving has plenty of opportunities for that

Next up Nitrox cert, some beach / night dives and then I assume on to Advanced OW..

Glad to be here!


[Jellyfish from Formentera.. not the same one that stung my wife but looked similar -- that hurt!!]

 

[venbox]

Would love suggestions on dive options to look into outside of the boats to Anacapa / Catalina!

 

[drrich2]

Welcome (not that you're new) to ScubaBoard. Glad to hear you've gotten some diverse diving experiences. My one trip to California to dive was years ago; I'm not up on which boats are doing what. I recall the Peace was highly reputable; are you open to multi-day liveaboard trips (assuming those are still on offer)? My trip was a 5-day southern Channel Islands trip (we visited 3 of the 4 southern and 1 northern, but why split hairs). Good times!

Richard.

 

[bshmerlie]

Hi I'm from the San Diego area. There are some nice dive spots down here and of course there is always Lobster diving. Lobster season just started.

 

[amfibia]

Hi @venbox, have you explored local shore diving spots? Personally always enjoy a Saturday morning trip down to Laguna.

 

[Ez E]

Welcome to the board!

 

[grantwiscour]

Welcome aboard...

 

[BabyLitigator]

There are a number of good dive shops in the LA Area (depending on where you live), and joining the local dive club is a strong plus. I lived here for close to 20 years before realizing that - it's a useful entree into local diving.

Other than Catalina/Anacapa, there are boats (less often) to the oil rigs, Farnsworth Bank, Santa Barbara Island, PV. And if you are willing to drive to San Diego, there is Wreck Alley and trips to the Coronados to see the sea lion rookery.

 

[The Chairman]

Welcome. If you like to travel, ScubaBoard does at least one Invasion every year, usually to much warmer waters than you're used to. Our prices are usually wholesale.

 

[Bingo13]

Welcome from a fellow newbie to both diving and the forum!