What is the best dive site in California?

[dsafanda]

I'm with Farty(Didn't think I'd ever be writing that on this forum). Butterfly house when conditions are right is the best diving I've had in California.

 

[marcus8]

Finally dove Farnsworth Banks last summer and it blew my doors off. I love Lobos and all of the the Channel Islands but nothing compares to Farnsworth for me. It's quite unique to my experience....bizarre, full of life, dramatic topography, gorgeous corals....man, would love to get down there again for that one.

 

[drbill]

I vote for Butterfly House. It's truly breathtaking during winter (when there is not much kelp)

Ahem, speaking as a kelp forest ecologist, what good is a dive site without kelp! Actually it is a site I'd like to dive since it is right next to my favorite poet, Robinson Jeffers' Tor House.

 

[dannobee]

Dr. Bill, with all due respect, the kelp canopy up here gets so thick in the summer that it's frequently hard to navigate around. And it gets tangled up in everything, including your boat's anchor line and propeller.

Come up here sometime, I'll round up the usual suspects and we'll do some boat diving.

Ahem, speaking as a kelp forest ecologist, what good is a dive site without kelp! Actually it is a site I'd like to dive since it is right next to my favorite poet, Robinson Jeffers' Tor House.

 

[NeopreneGirl]

I prefer boat diving over shore diving so most of my experience is from boat diving in the Monterey Bay and Carmel Bay. As Dan mentioned, from a boat you can access so many better sites than Point Lobos can give you from shore. Butterfly House is a great dive, Lobos Rocks is also a great site when the conditions are favorable. I also like The Pinnacle of Tremendous Proportion, East Pinnacle, Outer Inner and Outer Outer which are all around the Carmel Bay.

Being able to see the top of a kelp forrest canopy from 100 ft is an awesome experience. Add the Carmel Canyon and the life in the NorCal Pacific Ocean, and you will understand why we go through so much effort to dive in high 40 to low 50 degree waters.

 

[alibi 2]

We are so lucky here in Monterey/Carmel...lots of life, rocks and ledges and the deep water Canyon upwelling don't exist anywhere else...I have not found a horrible location to dive. I love boat and shore diving and do both...the deep canyon waters are reachable from the shore at the north end of Monastary beach and on a calm clear day the rocky ledges are breath taking, but so are the other pinnacles in the Bay..We are very lucky here and this winter we have more days of great visability than i can remember in a long time.

 

[ScubaBumps]

Catalina is great, Lobos unique, and don't forget the Oil Rigs off Long Beach, but this is an easy choice. It's Butterfly House without a doubt. It's the original Magic Land on any compass heading you decide to take. See 21 April 2010: Butterfly House | Cold Water Log Without Pictures

 

[CaliforniaDivingNews]

Thanks for all the input, look for our list in an upcoming issue!