LA shore dives

[scjoe]

If you don’t hear from South Coast Divers, you can just show up at the Laguna Hills Mall in the parking are next to King’s Fish House at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday. They will be there. It is a very informal dive group. They head for Laguna at 7:45. You should be out of the water by 9:30.

I would skip Crystal Cove. In addition to the stairs, it is more exposed than the other locations being mentioned so the conditions can get a lot tougher. It is not what you would normally think of as a cove.

If you are thinking of Shaws, you might want to contact Laguna Sea Sports (now part of the Beach Cities chain) and ask about a guided tour. A couple of the instructors there do tours of the cove for divers new to the area. The shop is within walking distance of the cove.

 

[scottfiji]

definitely do shaw's cove or crescent cove in laguna beach. At both sites the main reef is on the right side of the cove. the reefs are very easy to find yourself if you were to go alone.

you can check conditions here first:
Dive Conditions in Laguna Beach California

Scott

 

[pasley]

So many sites, so little time. Crystal Cove, great dive, not I would not recommend it for novice divers with little to no shore diving experience due to entry there. There are lots of rocks and shallow water a long way off shore with lots of drop offs.

Recommended Dive Sites from South to North:
Laguna Beach
Crescent Cove (showers, bathroom, seal rock, pinnacles, easy entry, lots to see) you can swim between Crescent and Shaws if conditions are good.
Divers Cove, easy entry lots to see

Palo Verde - no novice sites here I would recommend.

Redondo Beach - Vets park, but not the best day dive.

Malibu
Malibu Road
Nicolas Canyon
Coral Canyon

Oh Duh!
Almost forgot Avalon Catalina, Casino Point. Stairs, Air fills right there, great ambiance and easy but good diving.

Shaws Cove (next to Crescent Cove)
sandeaters.org has descriptions of the sites.

I could be persuaded to going out with you one or two days. I dive Malibu to Laguna Beach and all points in between. PM me if you want to go diving with you.

 

[IE_Diver]

Check out this website.
Scuba Shore Diving Region: USA West

 

[gsk3]

Sorry about the long delay; been moving (so no Internet at home yet) and doing OW cert at the same time (so busy).

PMs sent to both of you who kindly offered to accompany us. Basically I think we'll try to cram in as much diving as we can. That means of the four days we have free (July 7,8,11,12th if we get out early), we could do:
-Catalina Casino Point one day (2 dives)
-Shore dives with SoCalAngel and/or Pasley 1-2 other days (Shaws/Crescent possibly twice or Divers Cove for the second one if there is one)
-Saturday morning with SoCal Divers

So conceivably we could do four days of diving (at least 5 dives) in four free days. Sweet

We're likely going to buy 7mm wetsuits in the next few days (OW cert dives are in a PA quarry). Would those be too hot for diving out there?

Thanks everyone!
Ari

 

[Beachlover]

Sorry about the long delay; been moving (so no Internet at home yet) and doing OW cert at the same time (so busy).

PMs sent to both of you who kindly offered to accompany us. Basically I think we'll try to cram in as much diving as we can. That means of the four days we have free (July 7,8,11,12th if we get out early), we could do:
-Catalina Casino Point one day (2 dives)
-Shore dives with SoCalAngel and/or Pasley 1-2 other days (Shaws/Crescent possibly twice or Divers Cove for the second one if there is one)
-Saturday morning with SoCal Divers

So conceivably we could do four days of diving (at least 5 dives) in four free days. Sweet

We're likely going to buy 7mm wetsuits in the next few days (OW cert dives are in a PA quarry). Would those be too hot for diving out there?

Thanks everyone!
Ari

7mm and drysuits are the norm for So. California diving.

 

[gsk3]

7mm and drysuits are the norm for So. California diving.

Perfect, thanks.

Ari