Torrey Pines area diving?

[waytooslow]

anyone use Waterhorse Charters - San Diego Scuba Dive Boat Charters ?

marissa dive charters is not running that day

Thinking coronado trip on Feb 1.

[ScubaG]

Yep, I'm on the Humboldt for both charters on 2/1. Feel free to join me. Coronados Islands in the morning and Point Loma kelps in the afternoon. It's one of our best boats out of San Diego, along with the Marissa.

[Rainer]

The Shores are a lot better than the Cove. It is, however, really a much better spot at night. Squid should be coming into the Shores soon, so that's also something to consider.

If you have a DS, there's absolutely no reason to dive wet.

For boats, I'd stick with the Marissa (yes, not running) or the Lois Ann.

[bubbletrubble]

Originally Posted by waytooslow

Heading to a conference at Torrey Pines - Jan 31 to Feb 4, Sat and Sunday are play days - any diving? water temps? Outfitters?

Scott,

Considering your experience, I would recommend 1 or 2 easy shore dives at La Jolla Shores first. The gently sloping sand from the shore to the canyon is an ideal place to make weight/buoyancy adjustments. Lots of OW classes use the site for instruction. You can try out your drysuit, weights, and any other rented equipment there. If you are so inclined, you can hire a DM to give you a tour. OEX has DMs for hire. A couple of my friends are also DMs (affiliated with Ocean Enterprises or UCSD), and they occasionally give guided tours of the area. If you're interested, PM me for their contact info.

I highly recommend finding some locals to dive with. I'd offer to take you out myself but my current schedule precludes it. Get hooked up with the SD diving community by perusing the Divebums website mentioned by sarcher1. Sign up for the Email List and enjoy reading all of the recent dive posts. On a typical day, the list-serv will send out 5-7 emails. Along with their dive reports, some people will include links to web galleries of their critter pics. Check out the Field ID section to preview what you might see on your dive. Fun stuff. Divebums also posts detailed line-ups for finding the various sites at LJ Shores, although I think it would be much better to be led by a local.

For rental gear, Sport Chalet at the UTC shopping mall (5 miles from LJ Shores) has the best prices over a weekend. You can rent the stuff on a Friday evening, return it on Sunday, and pay for only one day's rental. Check this policy with a store employee beforehand, though. Ocean Enterprises is one of the largest scuba shops in the area, but it's located in Clairemont Mesa (about 10 miles from LJ Shores). OEX is the most convenient place to get air fills while doing dives at LJ Shores or the Cove. The OEX shop is located 2.5 blocks away from LJ Shores. If you want nitrox, you'll have to drive to San Diego Underwater Adventures in Clairemont Mesa.

I've been on a number of commercial dive boats in the SD area. The Marissa is tops for safety, friendly/knowledgeable crew, food, and on-board air fills. Captains Carl and Anita are just so gosh-darn likeable. :-) The Lois Ann is the only other local dive-op that I would pay to go diving with. I've been on the Humboldt (Waterhorse Charters, which is affiliated with OEX). The Humboldt is faster and the crew is friendly, but in my opinion they charge too much for their services.

If you want to dive the Marissa and the boat doesn't appear to be going out on a given day or is sold out, feel free to call them up. If there's enough interest locally, they may add a trip that works with your schedule.

I found the Coronados Islands pretty desolate -- the inevitable result of non-sustainable, unrestricted fishing practices. If you like sea urchins and brittle stars, then you'll love the place. Oh, yeah, and watch out for the swarm of black flies that will greet you. Frankly, I think it's just too far to go (2 hrs from SD) to play with sea lions. Heck. If you like pinniped action, just do a shore dive at La Jolla Cove or Children's Pool (if you can get past the seal "protectors"). On the way to the Coronados Islands, near the US-Mexico border, is the wreck of the USS Hogan -- an advanced dive to 125 fsw. Wolf eels live in and among the wreckage. I've only done one dive there, but it was spectacular. We saw several large ling cod, lots of nudibranchs, 5 wolf eels, and one large mola mola!

The Yukon is a good nearby wreck to see. Fields of white-plumed metridia and strawberry corynactus blanket the ship. I wouldn't recommend trying out any new gear while diving the Yukon, though. It can be a fairly deep dive. The sandy bottom is at a depth of about 100 fsw. It's best done on a 32% mix. Typically, dive ops will do another more colorful wreck (Ruby E) for dive #2.

Other good sites in the Point Loma kelp beds are the Lazy Daze and Train Wheels (both bottom out at about 100 fsw). Recently there have been a number of reports of a curious 8-10 ft long seven gill shark that's patrolling the area around the Lazy Daze.

One of my favorite local dive sites is Scripps Canyon located a couple miles south of Torrey Pines beach. On a good vis day, the walls can be breath-taking. I always see at least 10 different species of nudibranchs and a few swell sharks there. Unfortunately, it's quite a hike to do it from shore. Occasionally, dive ops will go out there, but it's farther north than they normally like to go.

I just looked at dives in my logbook from last year at the end of January/beginning of February. Water temps were consistently 56-57 degrees F at the surface and 54-55 degrees F at 60 fsw. In the summer, many divers use a 7mm one-piece wetsuit. I highly recommend a drysuit for "winter" diving.

Have fun...

[waytooslow]

Originally Posted by bubbletrubble

Scott,

Considering your experience, I would recommend 1 or 2 easy shore dives at La Jolla Shores first. The gently sloping sand from the shore to the canyon is an ideal place to make weight/buoyancy adjustments. Lots of OW classes use the site for instruction. You can try out your drysuit, weights, and any other rented equipment there. If you are so inclined, you can hire a DM to give you a tour. OEX has DMs for hire. A couple of my friends are also DMs (affiliated with Ocean Enterprises or UCSD), and they occasionally give guided tours of the area. If you're interested, PM me for their contact info.

I highly recommend finding some locals to dive with. I'd offer to take you out myself but my current schedule precludes it. Get hooked up with the SD diving community by perusing the Divebums website mentioned by sarcher1. Sign up for the Email List and enjoy reading all of the recent dive posts. On a typical day, the list-serv will send out 5-7 emails. Along with their dive reports, some people will include links to web galleries of their critter pics. Check out the Field ID section to preview what you might see on your dive. Fun stuff. Divebums also posts detailed line-ups for finding the various sites at LJ Shores, although I think it would be much better to be led by a local.

For rental gear, Sport Chalet at the UTC shopping mall (5 miles from LJ Shores) has the best prices over a weekend. You can rent the stuff on a Friday evening, return it on Sunday, and pay for only one day's rental. Check this policy with a store employee beforehand, though. Ocean Enterprises is one of the largest scuba shops in the area, but it's located in Clairemont Mesa (about 10 miles from LJ Shores). OEX is the most convenient place to get air fills while doing dives at LJ Shores or the Cove. The OEX shop is located 2.5 blocks away from LJ Shores. If you want nitrox, you'll have to drive to San Diego Underwater Adventures in Clairemont Mesa.

I've been on a number of commercial dive boats in the SD area. The Marissa is tops for safety, friendly/knowledgeable crew, food, and on-board air fills. Captains Carl and Anita are just so gosh-darn likeable. :-) The Lois Ann is the only other local dive-op that I would pay to go diving with. I've been on the Humboldt (Waterhorse Charters, which is affiliated with OEX). The Humboldt is faster and the crew is friendly, but in my opinion they charge too much for their services.

If you want to dive the Marissa and the boat doesn't appear to be going out on a given day or is sold out, feel free to call them up. If there's enough interest locally, they may add a trip that works with your schedule.

I found the Coronados Islands pretty desolate -- the inevitable result of non-sustainable, unrestricted fishing practices. If you like sea urchins and brittle stars, then you'll love the place. Oh, yeah, and watch out for the swarm of black flies that will greet you. Frankly, I think it's just too far to go (2 hrs from SD) to play with sea lions. Heck. If you like pinniped action, just do a shore dive at La Jolla Cove or Children's Pool (if you can get past the seal "protectors"). On the way to the Coronados Islands, near the US-Mexico border, is the wreck of the USS Hogan -- an advanced dive to 125 fsw. Wolf eels live in and among the wreckage. I've only done one dive there, but it was spectacular. We saw several large ling cod, lots of nudibranchs, 5 wolf eels, and one large mola mola!

The Yukon is a good nearby wreck to see. Fields of white-plumed metridia and strawberry corynactus blanket the ship. I wouldn't recommend trying out any new gear while diving the Yukon, though. It can be a fairly deep dive. The sandy bottom is at a depth of about 100 fsw. It's best done on a 32% mix. Typically, dive ops will do another more colorful wreck (Ruby E) for dive #2.

Other good sites in the Point Loma kelp beds are the Lazy Daze and Train Wheels (both bottom out at about 100 fsw). Recently there have been a number of reports of a curious 8-10 ft long seven gill shark that's patrolling the area around the Lazy Daze.

One of my favorite local dive sites is Scripps Canyon located a couple miles south of Torrey Pines beach. On a good vis day, the walls can be breath-taking. I always see at least 10 different species of nudibranchs and a few swell sharks there. Unfortunately, it's quite a hike to do it from shore. Occasionally, dive ops will go out there, but it's farther north than they normally like to go.

I just looked at dives in my logbook from last year at the end of January/beginning of February. Water temps were consistently 56-57 degrees F at the surface and 54-55 degrees F at 60 fsw. In the summer, many divers use a 7mm one-piece wetsuit. I highly recommend a drysuit for "winter" diving.

Have fun...

Great info - Thanks - It justs seem a shame to be out there and not get a dive in. Will have to play by ear. - Thanks

[lund0485]

definitely a 7mm or drysuit

[waytooslow]

well after all the good information that was handed down, it looks like diving is out on my trip.

My wife has to have girl surgery, so it will be a get there, do the conference and leave kind of trip now.

But I have some friends there so I will use the info in the near future. thanks all

[Vercingetorix]

BubbleTrouble,

Thanks for that write-up. I'm diving in SoCal (timeshare in Carlsbad) in May. Last year, I was at Scripps overlooking the Cove and wished I brought my C-card and mask.

With the info you provided, I know what to do this year and where to do it.

Thanks

And Scott, sorry you won't be diving. We'll get together at CSSP in late April.