San Diego

[scubadada]

Why no posts from San Diego for such a long time? A favorite dive spot for me, visits nearly every year.

 

[Buoy_A]

Why no posts from San Diego for such a long time? A favorite dive spot for me, visits nearly every year.

Hmmm...good point. But you might also notice there haven't been many questions about San Diego, either.

We're always on patrol though.

 

[drrich2]

Okay, I'll bite. Florida seems to get the lions share of the central U.S. & even a lot of east coast-originating dive tourism, I believe. Ah, the Florida Keys… And then there are people diving out of North Carolina, and yes some other places.

But California has offerings, too (albeit colder water); I hear about Catalina Island, the Channel Islands, various shore dives, north vs. southern California, etc...

For the vacationing diver, for sake of argument let's say flying in from out-of-state but maybe a really long road trip would work, too, is San Diego a particularly good 'go to' place to dive? As opposed to San Francisco or wherever else? What draws scuba tourists to San Diego? Who are your favorite dive op.s?

Richard.

P.S.: Before going to Key Largo & Jupiter, Fl, I had the 'joy' of trying to learn & discriminate the varied main Florida dive destinations (e.g: Jupiter, WPB, Boynton Beach, Pompano/Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, Upper Keys, Key West - & that's just the east coast & Keys!), & I imagine I'd run into some of the same 'challenges' trying to comprehend the California dive scene.

 

[MarkH]

I've been hoping to post photos and video from San Diego over the years, but unfortunately it seems to be a difficult place to actually dive. I visit the city for work sometimes 2 or 3 times a year and every time I book dive charters. Over the last 7 tries, I've only been able to dive twice. maybe it's my bad luck, but the charters are usually cancelled because of the wind/swell/bad visibility. It's the same with the few shore dives. I've managed to dive La Jolla Cove once. I'm not sure how often the local divers get to dive. Like I said it might just be my bad luck when I show up. I had a Marissa charter booked for tomorrow, but it's cancelled (because of the swell). My last try 2 weekends ago were cancelled because of the swell/bad visibility. I'm holding out hope that the Waterhorse charter still goes out this Sunday. It may be my last chance to dive San Diego for a couple of years. I guess the problem is that it's a long, shallow, exposed coast facing the open ocean so it's rarely calm enough to walk into the water whenever you feel like it.

 

[drrich2]

Interesting. Wonder what months of the year are best to plan a trip? And just what one's odds are of a charter cancellation?

I had similar concerns about a planned trip to Morehead, North Carolina, but forum member (& charter boat operator in that area) Tortuga James (Tortuga Charters) had a really nice post laying out typical conditions for the months of the year, albeit with the caveat it's the Atlantic Ocean and there are no guarantees. Turns out an August trip ought to have good odds for success, for example.

So what's the San Diego, California equivalent? I'd hope mid. to late Summer or early Fall, in hopes of the warmest water temp.s. Although I understand warm water isn't the major selling point out there, you're pretty far south.

Richard.

 

[Steve_C]

I post some dive reports on local NC sites, RAD on facebook and NCDIvers.com. I never post dive reports on Scuba Board. I think of that as for information. The reports are for my local community.

Having said that I have been to San Diego several times. My score card si
La Jolla shores : swelled out once, dove once. Long swim by east coast standards. ok dive
La Jolla cove: blown out 3 times, dove once. Fun dive the one time it warked.
Waterhorse Charters: Did a Sunday morning dive trip to the kelp beds. Nice easy dive. Flat seas. Decent viz, short boat ride. Enjoyed it very much. They have an elaborate set up. You only gear up once. They refill their tanks from hoses along roof during the SI. Also the hot soup was nice on the SI. Would do them again if in the area. Did not want to mess with instabuddy so had a DM meet me at the boat.

Some Point Loma Kelp Bed pictures are on my facebook page at

https://www.facebook.com/steve.camp...0204127378539078.1073741832.1664066201&type=3

 

[Buoy_A]

Interesting. Wonder what months of the year are best to plan a trip? And just what one's odds are of a charter cancellation?

I had similar concerns about a planned trip to Morehead, North Carolina, but forum member (& charter boat operator in that area) Tortuga James (Tortuga Charters) had a really nice post laying out typical conditions for the months of the year, albeit with the caveat it's the Atlantic Ocean and there are no guarantees. Turns out an August trip ought to have good odds for success, for example.

So what's the San Diego, California equivalent? I'd hope mid. to late Summer or early Fall, in hopes of the warmest water temp.s. Although I understand warm water isn't the major selling point out there, you're pretty far south.

Richard.

From my experience, San Diego's most predictable period in which a charter is least likely to be cancelled, is July - October. I've probably been on 20+ local charters and I've had only two cancelled. The warmest top water temps tend to occur in late summer/early fall (appx 70 degrees). However, temps at depth are consistently low 50s all year round (except this year which is an El Nino year).

San Diego's strong points include:

• One of the healthiest giant kelp beds in the world (Point Loma)
• Other giant kelp beds up and down the coastline, including La Jolla Cove
• Wreck Alley which includes sites such as The Yukon, The Ruby E, and NOS Tower
• La Jolla Shores, which is very diver friendly w. a grassy park right in front. There's a long stretch of instructor friendly "shallows" which is mostly just sand, but then opens up into a deep, deep canyon that constantly provides new creature subjects for those who dive it often.
• Los Coronados Islands (technically in Mexico) offer fun shallow dives w. better-than-usual visibility for the area. Lots of friendly sea lions here.

All that said, I don't think any local diver would ever argue that the crown jewel(s) of So Cal diving are the Channel Islands. If you want to experience the best of So Cal diving, this is where you need to go.

BTW - my personal favorite local operation is Waterhorse Charters.

 

[drrich2]

The warmest top water temps tend to occur in late summer/early fall (appx 70 degrees). However, temps at depth are consistently low 50s all year round (except this year which is an El Nino year).

This is useful to know. I dive shirt & trunks in the tropics, & in cool water wear a 5 mm full wet suit. If it's really cold, I add a hood & 5 mm gloves. So far, that's just been at the local quarry. Experience shows I can handle roughly 45 degree water around 90 - 100 feet there, but the reality if more nuanced.

I enter the water in summer, & warm high 70's/low 80's water floods my wet suit. I drop down to the 1st thermocline, maybe 15 - 20 feet deep, & cooler water (60's maybe?) but that infiltrates the wetsuit more slowly. Down aways farther, I hit the really cold water, mid. 40's, but again, it's going to seep in, not flood me. If you took me somewhere with 45 degree water top to bottom, I'd be scared to jump in! I don't want that filling my wetsuit all at once.

So, about how deep to hit the thermocline where the water drops to the low 50s?

Richard.

 

[muzikbiz22]

Water temps this past Monday at Catalina island, (night dive under a full Moon), were 63 degrees at surface, 62 degrees at 102 FSW. Amazing dive, and the waters been "warm" for the past year solid.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Thermoclines in the ocean are highly variable. I've found them as shallow as five feet. I've also come across three on the same dive. It doesn't get below the low 50s or high 40s in SoCal, but most boats do three dives. It's a cumulative effect and by the end of the day you get pretty chilled. Most of the divers I know dive dry year round, but many choose to dive wet with at least 6mm suit, hood and gloves.
I have bad luck when it comes to San Diego. I've had some great boat dives off Pt. Loma, Wreck Alley and the Coronados Islands and some nice beach dives from the cove and shores, but I've been shut out by surf as many times.
Laguna Beach has more benign conditions than La Jolla Cove but not as much life. It's still pretty nice and fairly consistent year round. Parking is hard to find during the summer, as it is at La Jolla Shores and Cove.
Palos Verdes has the most invertebrate life in SoCal, but great conditions are the exception rather than the rule. It's usually in the low 50s year round.
The Central Coast from Santa Barbara to Monterey has some World class diving, but you have to hit it when the conditions are optimal, which is hard to predict. I've been very lucky to have been able to dive Monastery Beach every time I tried. It gets deadly at times. Seriously.
NorCal has rugged, spectacular diving, but you need a boat to reach the best spots or be willing to fight rough entries/exits.
The Channel Islands offer fairly easy diving most of the year. During the winter and early fall some islands can't be reached but they offer life not found near shore. Catalina Island is pretty mellow most of the time. You can dive from shore at Casino Point or from several shore based boats in L.A/San Diego.
What draws scuba tourists to San Diego? There is plenty for the non divers in your group to do. The San Diego Zoo, Wild Animal Park, Sea World, LegoLand, museums, sports, shopping and some unique short trips such as the town of Julian during the Fall for their apple festival.