Laguna dive shops and buddies needed 6/9-12

[ScubaSteve85]

Hey all you SoCal divers, I'm looking for suggestions for a shop near Laguna Beach where I can rent tanks and weights from. Hopefully something nearby for easy air fills. I'm fortunate to be staying with family in town for a couple days and really want to take advantage of some famous southern california shore diving! I'm bringing everything else with me.

Also, is anybody planning on diving that weekend that wouldn't mind me tagging along? Otherwise my plan is to hang by the beach entrances in the mornings and solicit people by lifting the leg of my drysuit.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Laguna Sea Sports is a block from the beach. I don't know if they still do this, but they used drive to all the local sites and pick up empty tanks, fill them at the shop and return them to the divers at the beach.

 

[shucksun]

Here is the link to Beach Cities SCUBA who run the store Phil referenced above. They can set you up for diving out of the Laguna Beach store.

Beach Cities Scuba Centers - Store Locator

Southcoast Divers offer "pickup diving" every Sat morning, conditions permitting. Today they are diving Heisler Park, (my favorite). Scuba Diving with South Coast Divers

Look on the Pacific Wilderness FB page for their "pickup" options under "Events", they dive Redondo Beach and Laguna every weekend. Home

I dive Laguna 2-3 weekends a month, and you are welcome to join me, but that weekend is iffy right now on my schedule. J. Reeb (@dark_thirty_divers) • Instagram photos and videos

 

[ScubaSteve85]

Laguna Sea Sports is a block from the beach. I don't know if they still do this, but they used drive to all the local sites and pick up empty tanks, fill them at the shop and return them to the divers at the beach.

Oh perfect! Thanks!

 

[ScubaSteve85]

Here is the link to Beach Cities SCUBA who run the store Phil referenced above. They can set you up for diving out of the Laguna Beach store.

Beach Cities Scuba Centers - Store Locator

Southcoast Divers offer "pickup diving" every Sat morning, conditions permitting. Today they are diving Heisler Park, (my favorite). Scuba Diving with South Coast Divers

Look on the Pacific Wilderness FB page for their "pickup" options under "Events", they dive Redondo Beach and Laguna every weekend. Home

I dive Laguna 2-3 weekends a month, and you are welcome to join me, but that weekend is iffy right now on my schedule. J. Reeb (@dark_thirty_divers) • Instagram photos and videos

Thanks for the great info! Just signed up for the South Coast Divers email list. I'll borrow my wife's Facebook to check out Pacific wilderness. If you end up diving that weekend, please let me know. I'd love to join.

 

[JamesBon92007]

In addition, Laguna Sea Sports is a moderate walk to Shaw's Cove which is a decent dive spot. They also have a fairly up-to-date water report on their web site:

Dive Site - Shaw's Cove - Current Conditions

If you can get them to deliver your tanks for you then what more could you ask for? Parking? Oh yea, get there early for parking. It looks like they changed their name to Beach Cities Scuba. Huh.

 

[ScubaSteve85]

Hey, I'm a New Yorker, so I'm definitely not used to that level of service!

If you guys were me, would it be worth taking a drive to dive La Jolla one morning? Or is there nothing there that I can't get in Laguna?

 

[JamesBon92007]

I'm afraid someone else is going to have to answer that question. When I was 13-14 I was a fixture at La Jolla Cove but have never been scuba diving there. They get kinda goofy there--at one point they said only sea lions were allowed on the beach, at least at Children's Pool. Then they decided that children should be able to go to Children's Pool, which was why they built it. I might be staying in San Clemente next fall so maybe I'll wander down there and see what's up. If you make it there please share your experiences.

I've never had the pleasure of having LSS deliver tanks for me, I'm just going by what MaxBottomtime said. My ex got certified there and they were my only dive shop when I was doing a lot of shore diving down that way, and their Costa Mesa store was too good to be true when I got a boat on a trailer. They were on the way home to Orange and I just pulled over and got my tanks filled.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

The only similarities are the parking. La Jolla Cove offers great kelp diving with Giant Sea Bass, large sharks and the occasional turtle when conditions are good. La Jolla Shores is a sandy beach with a looooonnnnnggg swim to reach the canyon, but well worth the swim. Crabs, bat rays, fish, moray and wolf-eels and jellies. Laguna Beach is more laid back with rocky reefs near shore, some reachable with a decent swim and some thin kelp. You will see the usual nearshore animals at every site with sea lions added near Seal Rock/Deadman's Reef.

In the summer you need to get there before sunrise or happen to luck out if someone is pulling away from a prime parking spot. Fresh water showers and restrooms are plentiful in La Jolla, not so in Laguna Beach. If I was diving coves other than Picnic Beach/Divers Cove I always brought a couple of gallons of fresh water on my dashboard for a warm rinse after diving.




Scuba Diving La Jolla



Deadman's Reef 12/30/2017. Laguna Beach scuba diving with the Sole Searchers Dive Club

 

[ScubaSteve85]

They get kinda goofy there--at one point they said only sea lions were allowed on the beach

Luckily I plan on traveling with my sea lion costume. Great for getting up close with the water puppies...not so great if the landlord decides to make an appearance.

La Jolla Cove offers great kelp diving with Giant Sea Bass, large sharks and the occasional turtle when conditions are good.

I think you convinced me to make the drive. I found a company down there that offers guided shore dives. La Jolla Scuba Diving .Probably not necessary, but I wouldn't want to miss all the good stuff. Maybe I'll try to hook up with them.