In Reply to: Best place to dive in california posted by Lena on February 13, 2007 at 00:57:27:

These both make for fantastic diving - world famous diving. BUT you need to be prepared for it as you'll want in the neighborhood of a 7 mm wetsuit, hood, gloves, booties. Visibility is not like in the Caribe - 15 foot vis may be considered 'good'; 40 foot is 'great'. Plus we have kelp...

Heavier gear can all be rented at a local dive shop and some of the boats like CalBoat Diving out of Ventura. But you also need some local water training to adjust your weighting and to prepare you for this type of diving (especially in kelp where you'll find unique life). Some boats can arrange for a DM or guide for an extra fee. Be sure to make this arrangement well in advance of your planned dive date. Boats do not provide a DM 'guide' like some of the Caribe boats.

Some of the diveing is very advanced - like an oil rig; again, don't try this without some local training first.

In the LA area, Catalina's Dive Park amy be what you'd like to try for a first visit. Consider taking a scuba refresher class / local orientation through a local dive shop even for this site, as you'll encounter kelp and deep diving there (many local accidents occur at the park).

Hope you enjoy your trip!