Needing Some Info

[Sasquatch]

What a great title for this thread...NOT! "Needing Some Info", what the hell is that? :shakehead

Geez, my company has offered me a promotion but it involves moving to Sacramento from Seattle. One of my passions is diving and I live ten minutes from pretty good diving and maybe two hours from fantastic, world class diving.

I have no problem with the dry summer heat and am looking forward to the smaller population and proximity to SF and Tahoe. I read the American River thread and there was some pretty good chatter there. I need some more.

I'm hoping some of you divers will have some mercy on an Orca Bait diver and give me the lows and highs of living and diving in Sacramento.

I'll be monitoring the Nor Cal forum and try to pick up some tips about the area but if anyone wants to give a more direct dialogue this thread was created for that.

Also, if I can answer any questions about diving Puget Sound please let me know.

Sea ya!

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

In Sacto, you'll be three hours from world-class Monterey diving.

 

[Sasquatch]

Sounds like I'll be a weekend diver. I guess that's OK. What about north of the Bay? Any lakes diveable other than Tahoe? Is Tahoe pretty good?

 

[renpirate]

Welcome to California!

There is also some good diving along the North Coast. We dive every month and anyone is welcome to join us. You can check us out at www.northcoastdivers.org.

The distance is about the same between the North Coast and Monterey. Monterey generally has better conditions and is a bit less rugged, but it is more expensive to stay down there. You can dive several lakes, like lake Berryessa and Lake Sonoma, but there isn't a whole lot to see.

Where ever you dive there will be lots of good people to dive with. Chuck is probably the most knowledgeable of the Monterey area, so he is a good contact there. However, if you want to dive the North Coast, drop me a line.

 

[Sasquatch]

Thank you Chuck and Andy for the information. I haven't made my decision yet but it looks like I'm leaning towards the move. It certainly helps to know there is an active community of divers within a reasonable distance.

Sea ya!

 

[dannobee]

Also, there are quite a few people who brave the trek from Sacramento to Monterey on weekends. Perhaps you could carpool with someone. I know a few people who regularly drive it.

North Coast or Monterey/Carmel is where it's at. Tahoe is a boring dive, IMHO. Nothing but clear water and rocks, with an occasional crawdad or tree stump. What a waste of great visibility. North Coast isn't as reliable as Monterey/Carmel, and frequently the conditions are undivable. FWIW.

Let us know when you're here. I'll round up the usual suspects and throw out the welcome mat.

 

[IanK]

If you move to Sac, let me know. I live in Davis, on the way to Monterey. We could show you the sites/sights.
Ian

 

[bolantej]

I actually enjoy Lake Tahoe and if you know where to look, there are some cool sights to see. Monterey is still the #1 place near here, in my book. Well worth the drive when the conditions are right.

 

[SoCalAngel]

I just moved from So Cal to King City, about an hour from MOnterey. After diving in So Cal for almost 7 years and with about 450 dives there (I do have 4 dives from the Sound, too). Laguna diving, and all the dive boats there, only 20 minutes from the best shore diving around, and an hour or so from most dive boats, I can understand your concerns. Let me tell you in no uncertain terms, Monterey Diving is WAY better than any diving I have done anywhere, even better than Thailand, Costa Rica, and Baja!

There are some pretty cheap diver friendly hotels in Monterey. A lot actually. Also, once I get settled into my house in King City, I will have two guest rooms, that ANYONE from the board is welcome to crash at. I sooo can't wait to have visitors... just give me another three weeks, k? :10:

Then, we'll party at my place post dives! :blinking:

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Welcome to Norcal!

There is some great diving in Northern California. You'll be right in the middle of Monterey and the North Coast driving time wise anyway. I've heard 2 1/2 to 3 hours to either.

Monterey has charter boats, good shore diving, great top side attractions, and plenty of dive shops.

The North Coast has no charter boats, there are dive shops but quite a few miles away, no top side stuff like Monterey but more on the wild side with lots of campgrounds and beautiful scenery. The shore diving can be excellent but there are limited areas that are accessable because of the rugged terrain. The vis is generally lower than in Monterey and the coastline is more exposed so it's generally rougher but when you can get in it's second to none. There's a lot of very dramatic natural structure underwater with huge rocks, walls, and drop offs.
The North Coast also has abalone which you're allowed to freedive for but there are several strict regulations so if you wanted to try that you'd need to get a license and read up on the regulations.
The North Coast is a great place to get away from it all. There are not many people that dive up here and so the environment tends to be more pristine. Some of the fish life and criters you'll see are going to be more like what you're used to. We have giant pacific octopus, wolf eels, puget sound box crabs, dungenous crabs, rock crabs, lots of different stars, and lots of bull kelp and other things I'm sure you'd recognize. Monterey is a tad different, there are many of the same things but I've also seen things that are common in Socal like purple hydrocoral, sheephead, sheep crabs, and giant broadleaf kelp.

Check out http://northcoastdivers.org and join us.

Eric Sedletzky