I may be going to California sometime in the next two months for a family vacation. I want to get in a dive or two. Catalina Island seems like a good place to go or maybe La Jolla. Anyone have ideas on the best diving in Southern California? We may stay in Dana Point and it looks like there are diving boats that go to Catalina from there. There is even a possibility of staying on Catalina Island for a day or two. Is the shore diving in Catalina any good? Any advice on Southern California would be appreciated.
Where to dive in Southern California?
- Thread starter utediver
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
Mr Carcharodon
Contributor
Do read the sticky at the top of the Southern California form which will answer a lot of these questions in detail.
In short Catalina and the other channel islands offer more consistent good diving than shore diving along the coast. That said shore diving can offer the opportunity for a easy weeknight dive and can be very good. La Jolla cove, and shores, are certainly good options for shore dives. There is a dive park on Catalina, near the casino in Avalon, that has excellent shore diving for a day or two, and you have all the facilities of the town nearby. That said I prefer boats for the greater variety of sites that are available. See California Diving News for a list of boats.
In short Catalina and the other channel islands offer more consistent good diving than shore diving along the coast. That said shore diving can offer the opportunity for a easy weeknight dive and can be very good. La Jolla cove, and shores, are certainly good options for shore dives. There is a dive park on Catalina, near the casino in Avalon, that has excellent shore diving for a day or two, and you have all the facilities of the town nearby. That said I prefer boats for the greater variety of sites that are available. See California Diving News for a list of boats.
if you got to Catalina make sure to check out the Avalon Underwater Park (aka Casino Point).
Alberto (aka eDiver)
Alberto (aka eDiver)
howlinghooves
New
Hi Sandy, You have a lot of options. Yes you can take the Catalina Express to the Island and go to the Casino Point Dive Park which is an entry via stairs into a roped off area with multiple small wrecks abundant marine life and beautiful kelp forests. All your gear can be rented either from Catalina Divers Supply or Catalina Scuba Luv. If you want to boat dive and be taken to one of the many sites off shore The King Nepture operated by Scuba Luv would be a nice option too. If you want a guided tour of the Dive Park contact Ruth at Catalina Divers Supply and she will take very good care of you. While on Catalina they have a Zip Line and great Miniuture golf course. There are good sites in Laguna Beach called Shaws Cove, Cresent Cove, and Heisler Park. Go to Pacific Wilderness Dive Shop web page and they have detailed directions to all these sites.
Good luck and dive safe
Similar threads
