Scuba Diving in Southern California
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Destination Highlights
Scuba Dive Level
Advanced Diver
Visibility
10 to 50 feet (3 to 15 meters)
Average Water Temperature
62
Shark Encounters
Coldwater Diving
Author
Nirupam Nigam
Nirupam Nigam is the Editor-in-Chief of the Underwater Photography Guide and the President of Bluewater Photo & Video - the world's top underwater photo & video retailer. While growing up in Los Angeles he fell in love with the ocean and pursued underwater photography in the local Channel Islands. After receiving degrees in Aquatic and Fisheries Science and General Biology, as well as a minor in Arctic Studies, Nirupam worked as a fisheries observer on vessels in the Bering Sea and North Pacific. Since then, Nirupam has been a full time underwater photographer and photo gear head.
You can get in touch with him at nirupam@uwphotographyguide.com or through his website www.photosfromthesea.com.
Scuba Diving in Southern California Reviews
Nitroxjunkie
I live in SoCal and could write a book about diving here. I'll try to just hit the high points.The diversity includes shore diving, wreck diving, oil rig diving, offshore islands, kelp forests, and aquarium diving. Between San Diego and Santa Barbara there are at least 100 shore diving sites offering different topography, marine plants, and marine animals. Most are easily accessible and the local dive shops can give directions, conditions, and tips on diving individual sites. In the San Diego area, about 2 miles offshore from Mission Beach, is Wreck Alley. Several ships have been intentionally sunk in depths well within sport diving limits. The best of these is the Yukon, a 350+ foot Canadian naval destroyer.Farther north, offshore from Long Beach, there are 3 oil rigs that allow diving with prior consent. It's easiest to dive these on an arranged trip aboard a charter boat. It's a live drop off and pick up, since boats are not allowed to tie up on the rigs. You can expect to see large schools of bait fish, invertebrates like sea stars and strawberry anemones, sea lions, and a lot of other marine life. Whales are sometimes seen in this area. At any given time there are around 20 charter boats operating in southern California. They mostly take divers to the offshore Channel Islands.In the south these are comprised of Catalina, San Clemente, Santa Barbara, and San Nicolas. The northern islands are Anacapa, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, and San Miguel. All of these usually offer great viability, and excellent opportunities for photographers and hunter/gatherers. One example of marine life found around the islands is the Giant Black Sea Bass which can weigh hundreds of pounds. They are making a wonderful comeback after having been hunted to near extinction. They have been protected for many years now and scuba divers are spotting them more frequently.One of the highlights of diving SoCal is the kelp forests along the coast and around the islands. It's somewhat surreal diving amongst the fronds reaching from the bottom to the surface. Giant kelp is one of the fastest growing organisms on earth, up to 2 feet a day. The forests provide an excellent refuge for fish and invertebrates.Another novel dive is at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. For a fee, you can scuba dive in their largest tank surrounded by a myriad of sea creatures. It's a fun and thrilling experience. I have been a hunter/gatherer for many years and opportunities for game are plentiful: lobsters, crabs, scallops, mussels, clams, urchins, and many different types of edible fish. Abalone in Southern California have been under a moratorium for many years to allow rejuvenation of the species following a number of factors which severely depleted the population. The marine animals run the gamut from Blue and Grey whales to macro subjects like nudibranchs and seahorses.The topside attractions are nearly endless: gorgeous beaches, world-famous zoos, theme parks, concert venues, museums, movie studios, some of the country's best restaurants, over a dozen professional sports teams, theater, symphony, etc.Bottom line: Southern California is a diving vacation destination that rivals all others. This should really be considered a bucket list place that everyone should visit more than once.
Read MoreNitroxjunkie
I live in SoCal and could write a book about diving here. I'll try to just hit the high points.The diversity includes shore diving, wreck diving, oil rig diving, offshore islands, kelp forests, and aquarium diving. Between San Diego and Santa Barbara there are at least 100 shore diving sites offering different topography, marine plants, and marine animals. Most are easily accessible and the local dive shops can give directions, conditions, and tips on diving individual sites. In the San Diego area, about 2 miles offshore from Mission Beach, is Wreck Alley. Several ships have been intentionally sunk in depths well within sport diving limits. The best of these is the Yukon, a 350+ foot Canadian naval destroyer.Farther north, offshore from Long Beach, there are 3 oil rigs that allow diving with prior consent. It's easiest to dive these on an arranged trip aboard a charter boat. It's a live drop off and pick up, since boats are not allowed to tie up on the rigs. You can expect to see large schools of bait fish, invertebrates like sea stars and strawberry anemones, sea lions, and a lot of other marine life. Whales are sometimes seen in this area. At any given time there are around 20 charter boats operating in southern California. They mostly take divers to the offshore Channel Islands.In the south these are comprised of Catalina, San Clemente, Santa Barbara, and San Nicolas. The northern islands are Anacapa, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, and San Miguel. All of these usually offer great viability, and excellent opportunities for photographers and hunter/gatherers. One example of marine life found around the islands is the Giant Black Sea Bass which can weigh hundreds of pounds. They are making a wonderful comeback after having been hunted to near extinction. They have been protected for many years now and scuba divers are spotting them more frequently.One of the highlights of diving SoCal is the kelp forests along the coast and around the islands. It's somewhat surreal diving amongst the fronds reaching from the bottom to the surface. Giant kelp is one of the fastest growing organisms on earth, up to 2 feet a day. The forests provide an excellent refuge for fish and invertebrates.Another novel dive is at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. For a fee, you can scuba dive in their largest tank surrounded by a myriad of sea creatures. It's a fun and thrilling experience. I have been a hunter/gatherer for many years and opportunities for game are plentiful: lobsters, crabs, scallops, mussels, clams, urchins, and many different types of edible fish. Abalone in Southern California have been under a moratorium for many years to allow rejuvenation of the species following a number of factors which severely depleted the population. The marine animals run the gamut from Blue and Grey whales to macro subjects like nudibranchs and seahorses.The topside attractions are nearly endless: gorgeous beaches, world-famous zoos, theme parks, concert venues, museums, movie studios, some of the country's best restaurants, over a dozen professional sports teams, theater, symphony, etc.Bottom line: Southern California is a diving vacation destination that rivals all others. This should really be considered a bucket list place that everyone should visit more than once.
Read MoreNirupam Nigam
Having grown up in Southern California and dived in over a dozen countries around the world, I can say with confidence that Southern California is still my favorite place to dive. The dive community is tight knit, encouraging, and kind. The diving is second to none. No where else in the world can you find beautiful blue water, good visibility, sun, and towering kelp forests quite like you can in SoCal. Diving at Anacapa on a good day can be like diving through natural cathedrals where golden light pierces through the kelp canopy. The diversity of marine life in Southern California is special due to the cold California current coming from the north and a warm California countercurrent coming from the south. Bright orange garibaldi, huge sunflower sea stars, seals, sea lions, and countless species of fish all live under the same kelpy roof. There are a lot of great dive boat operations that do day trips out to the Channel Islands. For the price, it's a great deal. There are also some beach diving spots, but you have to be careful about surf and the occasional current. Conditions can be excellent in California or rough. You have to be aware of storms, wind, swell, current, and visibility. But some dives, particularly the oil rig dives and catalina, you can see viz past 100 ft! A lot of local knowledge goes into diving in southern california, so I recommend contacting a shop, boat, or bluewater before you get in the water for your first time here.
Read MoreNirupam Nigam
Having grown up in Southern California and dived in over a dozen countries around the world, I can say with confidence that Southern California is still my favorite place to dive. The dive community is tight knit, encouraging, and kind. The diving is second to none. No where else in the world can you find beautiful blue water, good visibility, sun, and towering kelp forests quite like you can in SoCal. Diving at Anacapa on a good day can be like diving through natural cathedrals where golden light pierces through the kelp canopy. The diversity of marine life in Southern California is special due to the cold California current coming from the north and a warm California countercurrent coming from the south. Bright orange garibaldi, huge sunflower sea stars, seals, sea lions, and countless species of fish all live under the same kelpy roof. There are a lot of great dive boat operations that do day trips out to the Channel Islands. For the price, it's a great deal. There are also some beach diving spots, but you have to be careful about surf and the occasional current. Conditions can be excellent in California or rough. You have to be aware of storms, wind, swell, current, and visibility. But some dives, particularly the oil rig dives and catalina, you can see viz past 100 ft! A lot of local knowledge goes into diving in southern california, so I recommend contacting a shop, boat, or bluewater before you get in the water for your first time here.
Read Morelongshao200
Im a scuba dive instructor, I live in California, Catalina Island is the dive spot I go the most, it has very beautiful kelp forest, water is cold but you can see lots of seals and Giant Sea bass, the down side of the dive spot is the water temperature and strong current, little bit hard for beginners and people who want start to learn scuba dive, we wearing 7mm wetsuit in summer and dry suit in winter time, unfortunately I have never got a chance to dive overboard, I do want to try somewhere else especially with warm water and take some pictures, tell my experience to my students, hopefully I’m lucky enough to earn this chance.
Read Morelongshao200
Im a scuba dive instructor, I live in California, Catalina Island is the dive spot I go the most, it has very beautiful kelp forest, water is cold but you can see lots of seals and Giant Sea bass, the down side of the dive spot is the water temperature and strong current, little bit hard for beginners and people who want start to learn scuba dive, we wearing 7mm wetsuit in summer and dry suit in winter time, unfortunately I have never got a chance to dive overboard, I do want to try somewhere else especially with warm water and take some pictures, tell my experience to my students, hopefully I’m lucky enough to earn this chance.
Read Moredubblebee
My dive partner and I decided to head out to Catalina for a day of diving and libations. Getting there was easy, from the San Pedro ports we caught the Catalina Express ($70) at 7 a.m., in Catalina by 8. We went over to the dive shop to pick up some of the rental gear we needed. I needed everything, my buddy just needed a suit.The boat was pretty big and we thought it would be a full group, but surprisingly there was only about 10 of us, which made for a great, spacious couple of dives.Both dives were unguided, we directed our own dives, with a little advice from the crew.We did a couple of boat dives, one called Lava Rock and the other called Blue Car. The water temp was pretty nice, we dove in 5mm wet suits and wore hoods. Opted not to take gloves.The first dive was OK, lots of Garibaldi of course, some lobsters and other smaller fish, but we didn't see any of the big black sea bass we were hoping to find. The kelp forest is amazing. Being a novice diver it was cool to see the forest and it was a simple dive, but an experienced diver might be a little bored here.The second dive was further down and was pretty spectacular. The colors and water visibility were excellent, we saw more Garibaldi, more lobsters and even some small sharks that were up in the sandy area. Harmless, but cool to see.Topside was relaxed, standard things like sodas, sandwiches, cookies and chips were tasty and the crew was great.
Read Moredubblebee
My dive partner and I decided to head out to Catalina for a day of diving and libations. Getting there was easy, from the San Pedro ports we caught the Catalina Express ($70) at 7 a.m., in Catalina by 8. We went over to the dive shop to pick up some of the rental gear we needed. I needed everything, my buddy just needed a suit.The boat was pretty big and we thought it would be a full group, but surprisingly there was only about 10 of us, which made for a great, spacious couple of dives.Both dives were unguided, we directed our own dives, with a little advice from the crew.We did a couple of boat dives, one called Lava Rock and the other called Blue Car. The water temp was pretty nice, we dove in 5mm wet suits and wore hoods. Opted not to take gloves.The first dive was OK, lots of Garibaldi of course, some lobsters and other smaller fish, but we didn't see any of the big black sea bass we were hoping to find. The kelp forest is amazing. Being a novice diver it was cool to see the forest and it was a simple dive, but an experienced diver might be a little bored here.The second dive was further down and was pretty spectacular. The colors and water visibility were excellent, we saw more Garibaldi, more lobsters and even some small sharks that were up in the sandy area. Harmless, but cool to see.Topside was relaxed, standard things like sodas, sandwiches, cookies and chips were tasty and the crew was great.
Read More