Visiting SD Area..Need Advise Please

[Chrisso]

My wife and I are going to be in San Diego for a long weekend and Would like to get some diving in on Friday November 8th and/or the 9th. We've never been diving in SD and are really interested in checking it out. We are vacation divers with between 50 and 100 dives each mostly in the last 3 years. Our last dive trip was in April to Cozumel where we have been many times. We both have AOW and Nitrox certifications. We are also in the middle of taking an intro to tech class. We have never dove cold water and needless to say used a dry suit. Is a 7mill wetsuit enough protection this time of year and can we rent? Is there diving and dive shops that suit our level of experience? Thanks in advance oh wise SB!

 

[Vegan Shark]

Tolerance to cold varies, but a lot of people dive 7mm with hood and gloves and are pretty comfy. Can always add a hooded vest, or just wear a farmer john, if need be.

 

[scubadada]

I dive in San Diego whenever I have to opporunity to visit, now 6 trips, 36 dives. The bottom water temp is 52 degrees +/-, I am comfortable in a full 7mm with a hooded vest, good booties and gloves. If I lived there I would be diving a drysuit. The kelp forests and Yukon/Ruby E in wreck alley are nice dives. I use Marissa Dive Charters and Waterhorse Charters. I've also been lucky enought to dive La Jolla Shores with locals.

Good luck, enjoy

 

[FM1520]

I live in San Diego. 7mm wet suit with gloves and hood is the standard for wet diving. Plenty of shops can rent you what ever you need, I like San Diego Divers or IB divers. The Marisa Dive boat is very good and pretty reasonable. Shore diving from La Jolla Shores or La Jolla Cove is also a good option.

 

[cdemith]

Marissa Charters has a boat scheduled to go out on Saturday (11/9) for 3 dives. Two wrecks (Yukon and Ruby E) plus another dive, likely a kelp dive. You can go to their website to see the schedule and sign up.

I have heard only extremely positive comments on Marissa. I have not gone yet, but am planning on going on this trip.

As for exposure protection, I have seen drysuits, or a 7mil with a hooded vest. However, it all depends on your tolerance to cold.

 

[diversteve]

A couple links you might find useful:

Divebums - A San Diego Dive Website
California Dive Boats : The Official Page - San Diego is near the bottom.

If you plan to shore dive the Cove, get there really early for parking. Like 6AM on weekends. Although it may not be so bad in Nov. If you can't find parking at the Cove, drive up the hill into La Jolla, there's a parking garage in the bank building "downtown". Drop your gear at the Cove and leave one to watch it. If it's still there, there's stairs/path beside the garage that lead down to the Cove.

La Jolla Shores has a larger parking lot. I personally don't think the dive is as good. They do a lot of training there. All the SD shops are listed on the DiveBums website for gear rentals - Sport Chalet in University Town Center should have everything you need. Near La Jolla, IBDivers La Jolla is a good option.

Unless you hire a private DM, they're going to stay on the boat. It's that way everywhere in SoCal.

 

[MrsGodfather]

Per recommendations in this thread, I tried to check out Marissa Dive Charters. The main website (marissacharters.com) is down (although the reservation site is not), and the telephone number from the main Google listing does not work. Anyone know whether this is a temporary thing or if I should just move on to the next outfit on my list?

 

[cdemith]

Per recommendations in this thread, I tried to check out Marissa Dive Charters. The main website (marissacharters.com) is down (although the reservation site is not), and the telephone number from the main Google listing does not work. Anyone know whether this is a temporary thing or if I should just move on to the next outfit on my list?

Site is back up.

When will you be in SD MrsGodfather?

 

[MrsGodfather]

Site is back up.

When will you be in SD MrsGodfather?

Thu., 11/7 - Sun., 11/11 We will be shore diving in La Jolla on Thursday afternoon, on the Marissa for Friday and Saturday, then flying out late Sunday. cdemith - Are you going to be on the Marissa on Saturday per your earlier post in this thread?

 

[SanDiegoSidemount]

Thu., 11/7 - Sun., 11/11 We will be shore diving in La Jolla on Thursday afternoon, on the Marissa for Friday and Saturday

Sounds like a great plan. Marissa is our favorite local boat too.

Check out http://www.meetup.com/Scuba-Diving-San-Diego for group dive opportunities. This is a great group of local divers who organize shore dives and very affordable boat trips all the time. You'd get a great introduction to local diving with this gang.

However, it looks like they don't have anything that coincides with your schedule this time around. Next time!