Posted by kelphead on December 12, 1999 at 15:33:28:
In Reply to: California Waters posted by Matt Tonkin on December 12, 1999 at 10:59:42:
yeah, i actually would echo what max bottomtime
said about the great white. i haven't been
diving nearly as long as the die-hards out here,
and i am aware that the great white does swim
by in these waters, but encounters or even sightings
are truly more rare than in northern california
where the shark's feeding grounds are. i live
in huntington beach, which is a MAJOR surf community,
and i've NEVER heard of a surfer being attacked
in the last 5 years we've lived here or in the
several years before that when i lived
elsewhere in this county.
if you do want shark diving, there is an op on catalina
isle that will take you blue(??) shark cage diving right
off the coast of catalina. or else you may want
to trek it up to the farallone isles off san francisco.
now, when you get to l.a., you may want to pick up
a copy of 'california diving news' which will list
all boat ops from san diego to monterey and the
destinations and dates they have organized, as well
as dive shops and dive clubs in the southland.
there is also quite a bit of beach diving and you
may want to pick up a copy of the book "california's
best beach dives 2nd edition".
as far as which sites i would recommend to you,
it's basically the southern channel isles:
**san clemente
**santa catalina
**santa barbara
i personally haven't had much luck w/the northern
channel isles:
**san miguel
**santa rosa
**anacapa
**santa cruz
i personally think the better island dive spots are
the southern isles and not the northern ones, but
everyone has their own opinion.
there is also some oil rig diving which is becoming
more popular. you may want to keep an eye out for that,
though i hear the currents are really ripping off those
rigs.
in san diego, there are some wreck dives and you can
take a boat out to mexican waters and dive off the
coronado(??) islands there.
i don't know of any wreck dives off the l.a. coast
and there are a few of the ventura coast, but i've
never heard of anyone diving them, so i'm not
sure about the status of wreck diving north of san
diego.
monterey has some GREAT diving, though i did notice
it was different from southern california diving:
more colorful b/c of the greater abundance of invertebrates
in monterey than in socal, but fewer fish overall
than in socal; and the kelp is HUUUGE and very very
thick there. i swear it must be mutant kelp!!!
very nice diving in monterey overall, though i don't
think a 7mm will do it--i was wearing 14mm and felt
very cold in 45F water.
hope this helps. remember to check out the boat
op listing elsewhere on this website.
if you'd like a buddy, e-mail me when you get out
here.
have fun and best wishes.
kelphead.