Visiting San Diego Next Weekend

[ZAquaman]

Hi Guys,

I'm comming to San Diego next week on business and will stay over the weekend in hopes of getting some diving in. It'll be nice to get out of the Alaska deep freeze for a while.

Anyone have suggestions about diving in the San Diego area? I used to live and dive out of Ventura CA a lot but I've never dove around San Diego. I'm an avid freediver and scuba diver. I won't be hunting but I'd like to bring my camera gear.

Should I look at shore diving or boat diving?
Dry suit or wetsuit? (what are the water temps)
Any suggestions on good dive shops for renting weight and air?
Suggestions for a good boat outfit or area to visit this time of year?
I usually dive solo for photography but maybe someone would like a dive buddy? I like don't like to solo dive in unfamiliar waters.


Thanks guys!

Jeff

 

[Glycerin]

Hey Jeff,

A bunch of us are getting together for the monthy wrinkles dive. http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=121788
You are welcome to come along.

As far as renting gear goes, I'm not sure about a good place to rent it.

 

[wetrat]

Hi Jeff!

As Glycerin said, we'd love to have you join us at our monthly Wrinkles dive. :thumbs_up As far as gear rental goes, I'd rent from Ocean Enterprises:

http://www.oceanenterprises.com/rental.html

Operators that might fit your needs are Dive Connections International and Dive Bliss:

http://gottadive.com/

http://divebliss.com/

BTW, it was about 80F in So Cal today, bright hot sun and sea conditions are starting to look pretty sweet!

John

 

[Mantasscareme]

I second the Dive Bliss suggestion though I'm not sure if they run on weekdays. There's not as much rich kelp as further north. but it's still kind of pretty. The Coronados are a good place to see sea lions. The ultimate shore dive in San Diego is La Jolla Cove, it's kind of shallow (around 40 ft) but it's a good place to see many of California's "usual suspects". Here's a list of SoCal shore dives if you're interested http://www.shorediving.com/Earth/USA_West/CalS/index.htm, I personally haven't dove any of these, but I've spoken to divers who have. Water was 58 degrees a few days ago.

 

[dpbishop]

http://www.divebums.com has links to all of the dive shops in San Diego, although some of them are out of date. Diving Locker is closed during January while they move from PB to Clairemont. OEX is the closest to La Jolla Shores. http://www.oeexpress.com/

(619) 221-8824 is the surf & beach report; its accurate about 40% of the time but it gives you an idea. If the surf is going to be up your best bet is a boat trip to Los Coronados, or possibly the Yukon. We have our fingers crossed for LJ Shores on Saturday, so far it looks like it should be OK. It is a couple a hundred meter swim to the canyon but if you go deep enough you can usually get decent viz if the surf's not to big.

I dive a 7 mil year round here, some others use drysuits, but they're... well, we don't need to go there.

 

[super opus]

I dive a 7 mil year round here, some others use drysuits, but they're... well, we don't need to go there.

well i hate cold so i dive in a dry suit then agin if you worked in 100+ deg everday anywhere from 8-15 hrs a day u would get cold at 55 too
i like dry right now this time year i get to cold in water below 60

 

[Rickster]

I'm comming to San Diego next week on business and will stay over the weekend in hopes of getting some diving in. It'll be nice to get out of the Alaska deep freeze for a while.

Hope you join us at the Wrinkles La Jolla dives. They usually provide alot of fun times and lots of diving!

 

[ZAquaman]

Thanks for the quick feedback guys!!! I'm looking forward to getting wet with you at the "Wrinkles Dive" looks like a lot of fun! I'll be doing some freediving durring the week too if anyone wants to join me. I'm hoping to get a bit of time after the meetings are over.

Jeff

 

[ZAquaman]

Here's a picture so you might recognize my sister and I. She's comming along on this trip and I'm trying to convince her that doing a bit of diving is a good idea. So thank you for the encouraging comments!

See you all next week!

 

[Hollywoodivers]

Check the swell models, there has been big swells hitting the So Cal beaches for the last few weeks, right now we are seeing 6-10ft waves. Next weekend is up in the air but Mother Nature is playing havoc with local diving right now. We are jonesing to get wet right now, might have to settle for Palau next month. Check out www.diver.net/weather to see local swell models.