Redondo Canyon... looks pretty neat!

[Jessica Anderson]

Anybody on here scuba the Redondo Canyon? I'm here for a couple of weeks (never been diving in CA) so I was checking the charts for cool structures I might want to check out. THAT is a neat looking place... 72ft to almost 500... looks like a cliff.

Anybody tried it out? Hows the sea life? Structure? Visibility? What's the best way to get out there?
Thanks for your advice!

 

[Mr Carcharodon]

It is a sandy location. The bottom drops off very slowly for the first 100 yards or so and then starts to drop rapidly. Lot's to see. Crabs, pipe fish, scorpion fish the occasional sea lion, sometimes schooling squid or mackerel, etc... Waves have been pretty big lately which makes entries and exits hard, and drops the visibility. There is metered parking (bring lots of quarters) adjacent. There used to be a group dive Wednesday evening. It is certainly a popular night diving location.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

DiveVets, the local Redondo group meets in the parking lot every Saturday morning and Wednesday evening and are always willing to show new divers their local mudhole. It's a sandy beach with very little marine life compared to other sites around Palos Verdes, but there are some things to see and it's not a difficult dive. The dropoff begins around sixty feet but you won't see any walls. You can get deep but it would require a long swim and would be almost impossible to get all the way back to shore underwater on a single tank if you went deeper than 130 feet.
There are cold water showers at the foot of the stairs to rinse your gear and restrooms that are open until dusk.

Veteran s Park - Diving in Redondo Palos Verdes, United States of America - Wannadive.net - World dive site atlas

 

[fnfalman]

It's best dived at night where the really cool creatures would come out.

I did a couple of day dives at that site and didn't really see squat.

 

[ChrisM]

Well, don't ignore the diapers left there. Kidding. Kind of. Very good night dive but can get pretty deep as noted. Mediocre day dive, it's the primary local training site

 

[undrwater]

It can be a great day dive as well. Just gotta be willing to go SLOOOWWWW so you can see some of the macro life. If vis is good, you have a chance to see lots of schooling fish, bait balls, birds, and harbor seals.

Temps range from mid 60's down to mid 50's. On calm days, entry is easier than a pool, on sporty days it can be significantly more challenging than that. Exit is sometimes challenging on most days as there is a "step" that gets formed at the end of the surf zone. It's soft sand and can sometimes be hard to get up.

Personally, it's my favorite SoCal dive for various reasons.

I should add, people don't generally dive in the canyon proper...it's really the wash heading out to the canyon that gets dived.

 

[Hatul]

The other thing to add is it's one of the easiest sites to navigate.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Rick Coleman just uploaded this video showing some of the regular inhabitants plus a few visitors at night.