Looking for seals-- all ideas welcome!

[acjwalters]

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Hello all, I'm new to this site and hoping for some honest advice from you pros. Hubby and I are planning to dive CA for the first time this summer (hoping to swim with the seals!), but the reports I've been reading are making me a little nervous. Is California diving really tricky? I've done pretty easy warm-water dives in Hawaii, Mexico and the Caribbean; no kelp). Can anyone share tips, best places to go (Anacapa vs. Catalina, or is there somewhere better?), pitfalls (diving in kelp, etc.), best dive shops w/best rates? (I do need to rent equipment, as we live in AZ so don't get the chance to get underwater too often.) Any advice greatly appreciated! (And I'm a wimp when it comes to cold water...) Thanks in advance...

 

[JMdiver]

Hi Walters,

If you go on the Spectre you can rent gear from them & it'll be on the boat waiting for you. They go to a spot called Sea Lion spot & they come out to play, you'll have 30 to 40 of them swimming with you. It's also a shorter ride to Anacapa.
The kelp is easy to swim in if you get caught in just don't twist in it like you're twisting spaghetti in a spoon. The water should be in the low 60's so a 7mm wetsuit well be okay.

John

 

[jlyle]

Do you want to dive with seals or sealions? We have harbor seals - tend to be solitary and often shy. We also have sealions, congregate in groups and are not shy at all. The best place to dive with the sealions is Santa Barbara Island, especially when the pups are young.

 

[SnorkelSanDiegoScuba]

Hi, It is not difficult to dive California. Definitely a guide can help with everything. Here is our lasted video from the sea lions. Below are the links to Scuba Diver Girls - they have so much fun with all the critters and diving with there girlfriends. Hope to see you in the ocean.
Scuba San Diego Scuba La Jolla Snorkeling San Diego

YouTube - www.snorkelsandiegoscuba.com Sea Lions Galore! snorkel san diego scuba

Scuba Diver Girls
YouTube - Scuba Diver Girls Meet Up Group Play With Sea Lions!

 

[SnorkelSanDiegoScuba]

One last thing...there is lots of great place and shops. Kelp is wonderful and not complicated. If you decide to do San Diego as that is where the videos are from then I can help you. The Lois Ann is our favorite for boat diving around California, yet there are few with great DMs and captains. Have fun wherever you end up. Happy Diving

 

[drbill]

Jim already preceded me in clarifying the difference between seals and sea lions and their behavior. Santa Barbara and Anacapa Islands are two of the better places to go unless you want to brave the great whites off San Nicolas or San Miguel!

 

[JMdiver]

What, Great Whites at San Miguel :shark: :dropmouth:

John

 

[acjwalters]

Thank you all for the great feedback! Much appreciated. I feel better about the kelp already ...

Anita

 

[acjwalters]

Thank you all for the great feedback; much appreciated. I feel better about the kelp already! Now, the hard part-- deciding where to go!

Anita

 

[diversteve]

I would suggest Los Coronados Islands south of San Diego. There are two colonies out there, the water is shallow, and there's not a lot of current anywhere. I did my o/w checkout dives there some years ago. I think it's typically done as an overnight or weekend trip.

Water's still going to be cold though. We did fine in a 7mil in the fall.

Another option from Arizona is San Carlos, MX. It's a sleepy little town next to Guaymas. About 7-8 hrs. driving from here - 4+ from the border. USAir also flies to Guaymas from here.

Some of the local diveops run regular trips from here - El Mar, Scuba Specialties do. If there's a big enough group they even provide a van/bus ride. Most of the boats from there will go out to San Pedro island, every time we hit the water there, the sea lions (seals?) were on us in a minute. The dive by the little lighthouse is where they live.

My first dive I had two swim up and admire themselves in my camera port, one blew me a bubble and was gone. A later dive I was shadowed by a couple, but never too close to see them. And I didn't go towards their rocks, I guess that can be quite the commotion if you do that.

El Mar has a sister operation in San Carlos and a newish 36' dive boat. We stayed at Marina Terra, it's probably the nicest resort in town and a few years ago was around $115/nt. The boats all leave from the Marina behind the hotel anyway. Another option is to rent a condo on-site there, it's cheaper than the hotel, but you still get to use the hotel amenities, you get a nicer, bigger place and there's a little market across the parking lot for food. Oceanview Realty rents them, their office is even in the Marina Terra lobby area. A 1BR condo overlooking the pool was $90 last time I checked. And they do daily/long weekend rentals also.

I can send you links to all this if you're interested.

The other optimal thing for you about San Carlos is that the water will be bathtub warm in the summer. I dove there in October and it was still t-shirt temperature at the surface and in the 60's below the thermocline. But it was still at about 80' then, I don't think the water gets colder until later in the year. So you see a lot of tropical fish, (Cortez Angelfish) eels, the occasional ray there. Almost every trip out or back the dolphins come to play in the bow wake also.

One tip about diving with sea lions, no snorkel attached to your mask. Brightly colored snorkels are a fun toy to grab and play with...as is shiny stuff.