question for cali divers

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caliko

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phoenix, az
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Hi im relatively new to diving and haven't been anywhere in cali. im just wondering if theres is a season for diving in cali or at least when it gets too cold for a 7mm? maybe a newby question but thats what i am. also where are some good spots to check out for a novice diver?
 
Welcome to Scubaboard!

All year diving is the rule around here. While the summer time can bring green water and bad visibility, that's not always the case. Some of the recent dives around the Channel Islands have been spectacular with blue water and extremely good visibility. It's never a dull moment and, I think, some of the world's best diving.

You can dive all year in a 7mm - many of us do it (though I am an admitted drysuit fanatic). Sometime around June, a lot of folks drop the gloves and the hood and even a few others drop to a 5mm. In my experience, water temps start to cool down around November and usually get to their lows around February. It's around April and May that things start warming up.

For a novice diver, I would highly recommend Casino Point over on Catalina. You can hire a local DM to show you around and give you the grand tour. It's where many classes are taught and is a lovely dive with just about everything - kelp, fish, etc. If you're not used to getting in and out of surf, it's an easy entry via stairs.
 
I dive year round in Southern California, mostly wet. NorCal is a different game.
In So Cal, Jan-March can get cool on the 3rd and/or 4th dive of the day and a D/S is nice, but at least 1/2 the divers on a typical boat are in 7MM.
The Channel Islands are world class diving.
 
Like a fool, this NorCal diver brought his big, heavy drysuit last weekend to dive the Channel Islands.

Big mistake. The weather was warm and the water was damned near tropical, at 65F. I had to be VERY careful to avoid overheating during SIs and ended up diving without my hood or gloves. Hour long dives were just fine that way, but I still felt sweaty and nasty in my drysuit. I should have brought my 7mm FJ and gone with the zipper half undone.

Two weeks ago, I NEEDED that big, heavy drysuit and the super-thick Otter Bay hood and 5 mm gloves, as I was diving in 46F on the Mendocino coast.

In short, the California coast is very long and has many different environments and conditions.

You'll get a lot more useful information if you specify what part of California you'll likely be visiting for your dives here.
 
Thanks for the info guys. Cali sounds like a great place to dive year round. I've just got a 3/2 right now so I'll definitely need to get a 7mm and check it out.
 
Just an FYI, we've had temps off Catalina in the low 50's at depth from December into August. Then it warmed up with a vengeance. Usually stays warm into October/November despite the surface temps.
 
In SoCal, typical winter water temp is around 53-55F. The outer islands like San Miguel, Santa Barbara, etc., you can expect to see temps go down to high 40sF. Catalina and San Clemente tend to be warmer and more like consistent mid-50s.

Wreck Alley in San Diego is consistently low 50s and possibly high 40s.

I dive wet year round with a one-piece 7mm suit, but others tend to wear farmer johns, inner vests, outer vests or drysuit during the winter and spring time.

As far as good spots go, it's hard to beat Casino Point at Avalon, Catalina Island for novice. Beautiful diving condition and no fighting surf & sand. Of course you have to take the ferry over and incur other ancillary costs.
 
The season in NorCal is 12 months a year with the charactors I dive with, however we don't see a lot of other divers in the winter. I actally enjoy the Winter diving because the viz is better if you catch it right between storms. Down side of winter is the SI can be cold, once spent it in the truck with the heater on in full wetsuit to get warm enough for the next dive.

I wear a 7mm farmer john, and as Akimbo mentioned, just leave the zipper down when diving the warm SoCal waters.



Bob
--------------------------------
I may be old, but I'm not dead yet.
 
Don't forget about Monterey.
Monterey is closer to the North Coast as far as water temps due to the underwater trench that comes right up to shore around Monestary Beach.
However the vis and conditions are usually a lot better in Monterey than up north.
But I have personally winessed 90 foot vis in Mendocino County a few years back in August.
Some of us grin and bear it diving the high 40's in a 7mm wetsuit.
I have a thicker suit I use occasionally when I want to do multiple dives when the water is in the 40's.
I just can't get past the price tag of drysuits/undergarments and the added maintenance costs required.
Socal is where we go when we want to do a quick cheap tropical vacation.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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