San Diego - La Jolla cove - shop / guide?

[tep]

As others have mentioned, Meetup is your friend. I've dove with both of these:

Power SCUBA
Power Scuba: San Diego Scuba Diving (and Beyond)

Bottom Bunch
Bottom Bunch Dive Club

I've never gone to any of their meetups and been the only person. Someone *will* there, usually 4-12 someones. Unless you get skunked by high surf in the Cove, someone's getting wet

It's VERY common for visiting divers to come to the meetups and get paired with a local who knows what's around. NOT guided, but friendly buddies who like to help visitors.

If you go on your own, plan to be in either of the parking lots by 7:30am - I usually arrive around 6:30am.

These folks are one of the local shops - I like them because they're 5 min from my office. They do a lot of tech diving, but seem to be OW/AOW friendly.

San Diego Divers | Sharing Your Passion For SCUBA Diving Tel. 858-458-1348

I just visited this store for the first time last weekend. Also very friendly - I know they do guided dives. I met them through one of the meetups.

Shop Scuba Equipment, Scuba Gear, San Diego Scuba Diving Lessons, Wetsuits, Snorkel Equipment - House of Scuba

Ocean Enterprises is the largest and oldest shop in the area at this point.

Come on down!

 

[Srax]

Thanks for all the great information everyone. We ended up booking a trip on the Lois Ann.

I'll let you know how it goes!

S.

 

[Hoag]

If you are taking a break, and you find yourself wandering around downtown La Jolla, check out the Peter Lik Gallery. Peter Lik is an amazing landscape photographer and his work is simply breathtaking.

 

[SoCalRich]

"Ocean Enterprises" is an A+ dive shop. And very active in the community as well.
"Power Scuba" is a good place to hook up with a group of divers.
Boat Diving will almost guarantee a days diving. Shore diving can be a crap shoot, depending on the surf.
Three well run boats to choose from in San Diego:
The Marissa, The WaterHorse, The Louis Ann.
Good Divin
SoCalRich