Shore diving and PCH drive

[scubadobadoo]

Hey there! 2 quick questions...and thanks in advance for any info or advice!

1. My wife and I are taking a drive north up the PCH tomorrow with our 2 year old to enjoy the sites. We have never been north of Leo Carillo on the PCH. We plan on going as far as a few hours north of Leo Carillo but we don't have any specifics as of yet. Any cool things we should stop and do,see, explore from a local perspective?

2. Anyone wanna shore dive when the conditions improve? I am pretty flexible and available, even week days are sometimes good. Leo Carillo down to north OC. If it's a weekend then my wife can join us as well. The good news is I am a responsible diver with almost 10 years of "just an average diver" under my belt (see my profile for gear and experience), including cold water. I like to take it slow and generally keep it shallow. The bad news is you would be introducing me to the site as I am new to Socal. I have only done Catalina and Redondo (5 years ago.) I am looking to start diving frequently again now that we don't live in cold NYC anymore!

 

[surfinusa555]

The strawberry festival is this weekend in Oxnard. Look that up. The 1 just meets up with the 101 and doesn't become too scenic until after Ventura. Don't be discouraged while you pass through Oxnard/Ventura.

 

[geoff w]

Traffic on PCH through Malibu today was awful. Depending on where you're coming from, just getting to Leo Carrillo could be a whole day affair!

Tons of things all the way up PCH. It all depends on what you're interested in. Care to provide some parameters of what your likes or interests are?

 

[Craig Hoover]

Try out Deer Creek for an easy shore dive with a good reef. It is a few miles North of Leo. Kelp may be thick so reserve enough air and think about a compass heading to make it back to shore and avoid surfacing in it. Also check the surf report as this site is exposed to NW swells that are common in winter. You can check the surf report here.

SwellWatch 3D - Surf Report and Forecast

Try joining a dive club as this may be a great place to meet avid shore divers. Some clubs organize monthly beach dives. I dive with the Pacific Explorers.

Welcome

Good Luck!

 

[scubadobadoo]

Thanks all for the input! We had a lovely weekend!

We found the Strawberry Fest., Santa Barbara for a walk and lunch, Several State Parks and beaches along the way with our state park pass like Refugio and others, drove up to Painted Caves "Park," and of course we saw lots of lovely views along the PCH. We did get a bit confused around Oxnard then the road shifted back to the beach and life was good.

We spent a few hours at Refugio Beach on the way back and plan on going back there for a shore dive and some beach time soon. What a lovely beach for the family! Looks like Refugio is pretty much calm when many sites aren't. At a few of the beaches we went to we saw some big surf for sure. Leo Carillo was all but closed due to flooding. Luckily for us traffic was great (we left very early in the morning though) and came back late.

Today we went for a nice hike in Malibu Creek State Park to see the old Mash set. Nice easy hike with some lovely views.