San Diego area

[xtarheel]

I'm taking my wife, a newly certified OW diver, to San Diego in late October. I was wondering if anyone could reccomend a good dive operator in that area for her first Salt Water dive. I would kind of like to see some kelp myself. Thanks

 

[Scubaroo]

I've dived with Blue Escape before (www.blueescape.com) - they run two tank kelp tours. You could also try the Lois Ann as well. Do a search on ScubaBoard for San Diego - there are a number of reviews on both of these charters.

 

[guerosd]

Lois Ann is very good. (http://www.loisann.com) The capt and boat are top notch. The thing I like most about it is that they supply steel 80s (less weight on the belt) and they do all the fills right on the boat (air and 32% EAN). No need to change tanks.. they just top you off between dives.

Depending on the timing try and do the 3-tank Yukon/RubyE/Kelp. 2 great wrecks and 1 kelp dive all in 1 shot. Tons of fun.

 

[guerosd]

Wuups... forgot you're wife is a new diver. Yukon is typically an advanced cert required dive. No problem... the kelp trips and the Coronado islands trips are also tons of fun.

 

[Veon Ake]

Dont know of a good dive operator but just about anywhere you go in San Diego you will see kelp. A good spot for an easy ocean entry, lots of kelp, and good sea life is La Jolla Cove. You can also go on a boat out in the waters outside of Point Loma where there is plenty of kelp forests.

 

[divernva]

For a new diver, try the Coronado Island day-trip. Not too challenging, but nice sea life to see.

The two boats that Blue Escape operate are both pretty stable. Which helps infinitely if this is the first boat dive. The larger boat generally goes to the Coronados. The smaller boat does the local trip (Yukon, Ruby E, kelp).

On the local trip, we ran into the Lois Ann on the Yukon. We were moored about 100' from each other. The stability of the two boats were night and day. Luckily the Lois Ann had a group of tech students because it was being tossed around pretty badly. The Blue Escape boat surprisingly was much more stable due to some outrigger contraptions... the boat was smaller too.

Anyway, just something to keep in mind. Have fun!
Ken

 

[sactomags]

I just did the Coronodos Island trip in mid-August. It is a little over an hour to get there via boat and it was quite surgey that day (one unfortunate soul was chumming the entire trip). Water temps had dropped from the prior week (when they were pushing 70) and it was 53 at depth.

We didn't do any deep dives, but I am not sure that a beginner would feel comfortable with all the surge as it pushed me around quite a bit and at one point I felt like I was struggling in a losing battle -- conditions change, but just wanted you to be aware of that. The day we went we saw tons of Garibaldi and rock fish and urchins, and not much else.

The dive op, Blue Escape, is a good one. The captain and DM were great -- just remember, the dives are on your own, so you'd best be up on your navigation skills. As an aside, the hot soup was delicious and the fresh brownies a nice surprise treat!

You may also wish to check out diver.net/bbs. There is a listing there of most dive ops and boats in southern Cal. Plus, you can post questions for people who dive there routinely.

Enjoy,
Margaret
Counting the days to return to Saba
(Oct. 30 - Nov. 8)