Hey California, here I come!!

[Norris]

So hello people.

We should be moving to a Suburb of LA in October or November, I am currently looking at houses.

I am an avid diver and by avid I mean I dive no less then once a week. I have been diving solid for three years up here in the Northwest. I take an annual trip to Sitka every winter and do some diving up there. So as you can probably tell I am accustomed to cold water, and wearing lots of gear. I sling a pony pretty regularily. I also have made a trip to Jamaica and got to feel what its like to dive with a rash shirt, shorts, harness, fins and mask. Pretty suhweet. So that is my story in a nutshell.

So I have a couple questions should anyone have the time to answer.

I have been watching shark week. I assume divers are well versed with feeding times and locations. Is there much problem with aggressive sharks and attacks?

Are there an abundance of shore dives there?

I understand that shore entrance can be a little hectic with swells. Do you put fins on before entering the water, and then enter backwards? We put on our fins in the water, but that would be difficult with swells it seems.

If you could tell a new diver, or new to the area diver what your favorite thing to see in the California waters is, what would that be?

Thanks,
Rick

 

[Rainer]

An early welcome! I moved to LA after three years diving in MA. Much prefer SoCal.

To address your questions:

(1) Most of the sharks you will see locally are small. They aren't aggressive and even if they were, they couldn't cause you problems. We do have some bigger species (yes, including GWS), but you're either unlikely to ever see one or have an encounter that lasts much longer than them seeing you and leaving. I do not know of a single *diver* death locally due to shark attack. I can't even think of a single attack on a diver, nevermind fatal.

(2) TONS of shore dives from San Diego to Ventura.

(3) I always put fins on in the water. There's a lot of technique involved. Go out with some experience local shore divers to get a sense of how we manage the entries/exits. And check these guys out: 3Rs

(4) Favorite thing to see? That's hard. Here are some:

Sea lions
[vimeo]20507429[/vimeo]


Giant sea bass
[vimeo]26304407[/vimeo]


Amazing reefs
[vimeo]26303665[/vimeo]


Wrecks
[vimeo]16380441[/vimeo]


Huge schools of fish
[vimeo]26306744[/vimeo]

The diving really is good here.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

You are in for a treat - other than the cost of housing around LA. I grew up there and also lived in your neck of the woods for a while.

Purchase some spring straps. It makes donning and doffing your fins in the water much easier. When the waves are modest, its not a big deal. When the waves are big, the diving is not so great anyway. You will learn to watch the surf report to pick the best days. There are both south facing and west facing beaches, choosing the right one can be weather dependent. If a big storm hits, take a few days off diving and learn to surf.

If you have the money for boat dives, the Channel Islands are spectacular.

 

[ligersandtions]

Well, looks like Rainer pretty much nailed it!

Though I do have to say, "I HATE SHARK WEEK!!!" To instill such fear in people just gets on my last nerve. There are probably great whites on every dive we do, but they're about 12' away, and we can only see 10'

Seriously, though, the only sharks we see regularly around here are horn sharks (which are usually little and the cutest sharks in the world!), leopard sharks, and the occasional soupfin (which I've only seen the tail end of once in 300+ local dives).

There are tons of great shore dives in the area. Where do you plan to move? That'll help us point you to the best, most local shore diving.

And my favorite things are nudibranchs....little brightly colored sea slugs

 

[scubadobadoo]

Good info above as usual! The SoCal group is very helpful and friendly.

I'll second spring straps and the 3R's classes. Both are a must IMHO and the classes are free and monthly and various shore diving spots around the LA area. The hardest thing about shore diving in Socal is finding a good day with small surf when you also happen to be off work. When the stars aline it's hard to beat.

Good luck with your move and welcome! I just came from NYC last year!

A visit to ShoreDiving.com - Your Shore Diving and Snorkeling Web Community! will make it clear that Socal has TONS of shore diving possibilities.

 

[TSandM]

Oh, Norris, you're going to love it . . . until you try to get in in the surf. Get somebody local to go out with you the first few times, and show you the ropes; I'm about 2 for 4 on surf entries, and when you get rolled, you can lose EVERYTHING. We Puget Sounders simply aren't accustomed to water that moves, and SoCal water MOVES.

On the other hand, the boat diving is awesome -- Chris has hit some highlights with his videos. I have been doing a yearly trip to the Channel Islands on the Peace (fantastic boat) and I never get tired of the light coming down through the kelp, or the hydrocoral and corynactic anemones at San Miguel. You'll get to discover the oil rigs, too, and the amazing Catalina Dive Park. So much fun ahead of you!

There are a lot of SoCal divers on this forum, and if you want some personal recommendations for folks to contact, PM me on NWDC.

 

[Rainer]

You'll get to discover the oil rigs, too, and the amazing Catalina Dive Park.

Yes, those both are excellent as well.

Oil rig, Eureka
[vimeo]13112346[/vimeo]


Catalina Dive Park
[vimeo]12352787[/vimeo]

 

[Tunaman68]

I have not found the surf entries to be that big of a problem - if you can watch the pattern of the swells and then time your entry, you will be fine. Walk/scamper through the surf air in you BC with your fins gripped well and then float and put on the fins once you're past the break. Spring straps are a big help. We shore dive Laguna mostly, and if the surf is up, the viz is GONE and most times the lifeguards will close the beaches to diving anyhow. We also have lots of great boats and they are affordable and go to some great sites from San Clemente to Santa Cruz!

While I prefer warm water and great viz, the videos posted above definitely give you the highlights of what we have to offer. The sub is VERY deep (deco only) and not anything I plan on seeing, but the rest are killer dives and easy if the conditions are agreeable. Since you are used to diving in the green soup known as the Puget Sound (I grew up in Kent so I can say that), you'll be thrilled with most of the diving around here!

With very few exceptions, I also have found that So Cal divers are kind and courteous folks that are a blast to share a boat with. I got hooked up with a group on divebuddy.com and I have had mucho fun every time I've been out with them.

Good luck and enjoy!!

 

[drbill]

Welcome in advance. Of course after you buy a home here in the Lost Angeles area, you may not be able to afford air fills!

Some of the best diving in Socal is out on the Channel Islands. Catalina, where I live, is the easiest to get to because so many dive boats come here and there are the commercial passenger boats like the Catalina Express and Newport boats to bring you and your dive gear to the island.

Most of our sharks are long gone due to gill nets and long line fishing over the decades (a practice now stopped in State waters). Great whites are present but unless you look a lot like a sea lion or giant sea bass, they are unlikely to be interested... especially if you are blowing bubbles.

 

[Norris]

Thanks alot for the replies and videos. I cannot wait to dive there. Yeah spring straps have been an important part of my gear for some time, thanks for the suggestion, and I certainly understand it. I pretty much dive Hogarthian accept that I like my Dive Rite Transpac. I have entered in some sketchy water before so I should be ok. I definetely will be trying to hook up with some local divers to get down some of the local knowledge. Although I really like this forum group it is a little cumbersome. Are there some good LA area diver forum groups that any of you all like?