Will be in San Diego from the 2nd Oct onwards, any good recommendations for a dive?

Hi,

As the title states, I would love to be able to get a few dives in and around San Diego area. I'm there on business from the 2nd Oct onwards and it's my first time there, sooooo I have absolutely no idea what to expect.

I was hoping some kind soul can point me in the right direction?

Thanks in advance!

oops wrong forum. mod please delete this topic

Actually this is the right forum to put it in. I've deleted your other one.

Well the first thing you can expect is cold water! The summer's been pretty chilly down here at the beach and the water never really warmed up as usual. Right now, surface temp is 59F according to the lifeguard station near my house. That means low 50's (maybe even high 40's!) at depth. Bring your 7mm and hood or better yet a dry suit.

I'm no expert, as I am too much of a wimp to dive much around here (see above). Off the top of my head, I'd say the off shore islands are the best. The Coronados are an easy boat ride from San Diego, Catalina and San Clemente more of a ride, maybe even an over-nighter from here, a day trip if you're willing to drive to Long Beach or further north. If you make the drive, the oil rigs up there are cool as well. For real local stuff, the Yukon, a recently sunk, decommissioned Canadian warship, is very popular along with the other artificial wrecks on that stretch (affectionately dubbed, "Wreck Alley"). The La Jolla Preserve and Pt. Loma kelp beds are also good. Another popular place is La Jolla Shores, and easy beach entry (surf depending) where most classes do their open water certs. Lots of good stuff comes up from the canyon and there's some interesting macro depending on the day.

I'm sure others with more experience will chime in, but that should get you started.

Welcome to San Diego!

Phil

Hi, James -

I saw Phil last night at our local UPS meeting, and he told me about this post. I also live in SD and do probably 200 local dives/year - I'm more than happy to try to point you in the right (and specific) direction for local dives, but I will tell you that (as Phil mentioned) the water here is cold...I wear a drysuit, and when it's in the shop, I wear...my backup drysuit! Water temps now are between 50-52 F at depth - this is cold for this time of year, but only by about 5 degrees - as Phil said, it has been a freaky year!!!

(Hell, you may have more cold water dives than me and all my dive buddies put together, but I just want to be sure that you're aware - I think people figure San Diego has warm, blue water - I even got a comment from a Bay Area diver the other day about how it must be nice to dive year-round in warm water - but - um - no. Please forgive me if I am underestimating your experience - but the only time I didn't do this, someone showed up w/ a 3 mm suit and full-foot fins and was pretty unhappy. I see "Singapore" and am making an assumption that could be terribly unfair!!!!)

My recommendation for someone unaccustomed to the murky green water we often have here is generally either a day trip to Catalina or a day trip to Los Coronados... If this is your first cold-water experience, those will give you a taste and are are great choices - I'd not recommend you introduce yourself to San Diego diving with wreck alley or a bottomless dive like the rigs right out of the box - kelp is great, but you can dive it in much prettier water in Catalina. La Jolla Shores can be awesome and is one of my favorite macro sites worldwide - but I have to say that in my opinion, it is not always an easy entry (through the surf in full gear), and the surface swim is pretty long - it is best to do this with someone experienced at it.

I'll try to check back - or you can PM me for an email address - and I can give you specific recommendations on boats, sites, etc. I am in and out of town in October, so putting together a small charter is a possibility...

Best -

Allison

Hi Phil/Allison,

Thank you for the short introduction to SD diving! Really grateful for the advice given as it surely gave me a lot more to consider. I have no prior experience in cold waters and i certainly didn't anticipate that! I've only clocked about 50 dives so far and therefore am not an experienced diver =)

Having said that, if i can find a good and reliable setup who can show me these places, i'm willing to give it a go! I'm hoping to do a day trip, maybe 2-4 dives if possible. Something not too challenging, as i do not want to pose problems for the operator.

Will be sending you a PM allison!