Southern California Brain-storm'in...

[KathyV]

Hey drrich2, sounds like you have a good plan. You are right about the Sea of Cortez liveaboard, it was expensive. It was all drift diving from inflatables. When a buddy pair came up we would inflate a sausage and wait to be picked up. We were chased around by storms and the waves were pretty rough but we still got in a lot of dives. We spent a day looking for whale sharks - they had an ultralight flying around trying to spot them - but no luck. The only whale sharks I've ever seen IRL were in the Atlanta Aquarium!

Cabo would be a fun place for a family vacation but we didn't try land-based diving while we were there so I can't offer any advice. It didn't seem really organized like in Bonaire or other Caribbean areas. I am sure that there were some dedicated dive shops but I remember seeing boat captains advertising dive trips and/or deep sea fishing; not exactly what we would be interested in.

Have fun California diving wherever you decide to go, but it's too cold for me! You are absolutely correct about great lakes diving; we tried it when we were young and foolish and decided we didn't care for it. We are warm water sissy vacation divers!

 

[lee stroke]

I would say for your short time out here, would be to fly into LA sent the family to Disneyland. You head to a live aboard for the northern Islands. Diving in San Diego sucks so don’t go south. Catalina is a tourist trap. Try to find a reason to leave the family at home; you could do a second trip for diving; for what Disneyland is going to cost you. Plus I think you have to speak Japanese to go there. Don’t worry about being blown out for this area, most of the divers think a one foot wind wave is the end of the world. The dive boat operators are nice people out here, a little strange but nice and will direct you in what is best if you explain what you want to do and your expertise level. I would also join “Power Scuba” on “Meet Up” they do most of this type of diving at a discount. :cool2:

 

[jscan1]

I would say for your short time out here, would be to fly into LA sent the family to Disneyland. You head to a live aboard for the northern Islands. Diving in San Diego sucks so don’t go south. Catalina is a tourist trap. Try to find a reason to leave the family at home; you could do a second trip for diving; for what Disneyland is going to cost you. Plus I think you have to speak Japanese to go there. Don’t worry about being blown out for this area, most of the divers think a one foot wind wave is the end of the world. The dive boat operators are nice people out here, a little strange but nice and will direct you in what is best if you explain what you want to do and your expertise level. I would also join “Power Scuba” on “Meet Up” they do most of this type of diving at a discount. :cool2:

Odd post, diving in San Diego sucks? Then lower you suggest he join Powerscuba, which is a San Diego dive club, then make a statement that Catalina is a tourist trap, when in fact for diving, it can be a very very affordable day, whether on a three tank boat trip, or diving the dive park, and Farnsworth is simply one of the best spots in the Channel Islands period and is on the backside of Catalina

 

[drrich2]

I'd assumed (right or wrong) that he meant hotel prices on Catalina Island were over-priced; I checked on Trip Advisor & a lot's booked up for September this year, & I can't get figures for September next year, to judge. I get the sense it's expensive, but of course, that's relative to what.

My impressions of the San Diego dive scene were shaped by ScubaDada's thread 'San Diego,' which shows the diving has a number of fans, but people vary in how successful they are at getting to dive when they visit, though it seems targeting the right season can improve your odds.

Richard.

 

[Lopez116]

I disagree that Catalina is a tourist trap. There are "tourist trappy" places there like every other place, but not overly so. If you're going alone, you can get a cheap, "no frills" hotel, but for something I'd bring my wife and kids to, yes, those hotels are more expensive. In general, I would say that hotels in Catalina are overpriced for what you get. A lot of them also have two night minimums, but that probably won't be a problem for you.

I much prefer diving warm, clear water, but I think diving in a thick kelp forest on a day with good viz and blue water is something every diver should experience. With the right conditions, SoCal diving can be as good or better than any destination. It is very beautiful and a very different experience. And, IMO, during the time of year you're looking to go, the cold isn't that big of a factor.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Speaking from a visiting diver's point of view, my wife and I loved Catalina. I was certified in San Diego but hardly dived there when I lived there. It was just too cold and the vis too poor for my liking back then. And the kelp spooked me--you'd hear stories about divers getting tangled and dying. What appealed to me as a new diver was coral reefs. But that was a long time ago. Like you, I started expanding my diving horizons at some point beyond tropical resort destinations. Morehead City. The east coast of Florida. Back home to San Diego. I gradually came to see what the attraction was to more temperate-water diving. And just a few years ago, when my wife and I were visiting family in Los Angeles, we took a side trip to Catalina for a couple of days of diving. I have to admit we were chilled to the bone in 7 mm suits after 30 minutes. We only dived at Casino Point, so I can't speak to the boat diving. We had planned to go boat diving, but the boat we had signed up for decided at the last minute that not enough people had signed up to justify the trip. We saw some interesting stuff, including a giant sea bass. I can't say I prefer Southern California diving over a tropical reef, but it has its own charm. If we had had drysuits, I'd have liked it that much more. As for Catalina itself, we loved the place. When I lived in San Diego, I never did manage to make a trip up to Catalina. It seemed so genuine, unlike Los Angeles, which can feel artificial at times. Avalon has a rustic, small-town feel, which is weird considering how close it is to Los Angeles. We took an excursion out to see the bison, etc. There are a few things to do other than diving, but it's all very low key, maybe even more so than Morehead City. It's just a laid back place. The movie stars are long gone, but Catalina thrives on the nostalgia. It's fun to think about what it was like back in its heyday. We would love to go back and do some boat diving.

 

[SoCalRich]

I agree with Jscan1. Dive boats from the mainland are your best bet for an almost guaranteed day of diving.
tart in San Diego with maybe the Marissa. then in the afternoon depending conditions. You can do a beach dive or two if your up to it. Then head to LA/Long Beach/ San Pedro area for a second day of boat diving. you can head north to Ventura and catch the Raptor. For a couple more boat dives. and plenty of shore diving in the north LA area as well. If ventura is too far. then just dive multiple days on SD & LA boats.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Don't discount the traffic if you're considering traveling between San Diego, the LA area and/or Ventura. Freeway driving is not my idea of a relaxing vacation, but that's just me.

 

[DiveNav]

My few cents:

1) If you plan to do more than 1 dive x day (and want to enjoy dive 2, 3 .. 4), you need to dive dry.

2) dive sites on the islands have much better visibility than mainland 's dive sites.

3) Casino point is worth a day trip. You can do 3 dives and different depths and see cool stuff: sujack ~100ft, Kismet ~60ft, dive platform ~50ft. We have the virtual Casino Point eDiving.

4) If you are into wrecks the Yukon in San Diego is worth it. We have it too in eDiving.

5) You can do day trips (3 dives) to either Catalina or the Channel islands. They are all worth it.

In summary:
Day 1: get Drysuit certified and do a couple of dives in Laguna (family visits Orange County - Disneyland)

Day 2: day trip to Catalina to dive Casino Point (family visits Avalon)

Day 3: boat dives to Catalina (from LA area) (Family visits Hollywood / Beverly Hills / Santa Monica)

Day 4: dive the Yukon and the wreck alley (family visits Sand Diego)

Day 5: rest and drive up Ventura / Santa Barbara

Day 6: Gran Finale: dive channel islands

Alberto (aka eDiver)

 

[merxlin]

I couldn't disagree with lee stroke more. If you go midweek and don't need anything fancy- several hotels on Catalina cater to divers and can be reasonably priced. Many have shuttle service to the dive park and from the ferry terminal, some include breakfast. There is also some very fine diving in San Diego. In fact, if you want kelp diving that is a better choice as most of the kelp is gone in Avalon and around Catalina with a few exceptions, and with the warm water this year it may not be back by next year. I also disagree that you'll need to dive dry that time of year unless you do the Northern Islands (San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, Anacapa) for multiple days, but we may be coming out of an El Nino year again so who knows. This year water temps are as high as I've ever seen them for this time of year.

Late September early Oct is typically a very good time to dive for clarity (exceptional again this year due to el Nino so may carry over to next year), and you avoid the summer crowds.