Newport Beach Center
California · Up to 21.9 m
A dive site in United States. The site reaches a maximum depth of about 22 m. The site is reached by boat.
IntermediateBoat entry
California, United States Dive Sites — Page 3
Showing 49–72 of 81
Continued from the California, United States dive sites guide, which covers seasonality and planning details.
NOSC Tower
California · 9–18 m
The NOSC Tower was a 100-foot steel research platform secured to the seafloor about a mile off Mission Beach in 1959 by the Naval Ocean Systems Center for oceanographic and acoustics experiments. A large winter storm toppled it in 1988, leaving a 40-foot-square base and a tangle of girders and beams in 30-60 feet of water - the only Wreck Alley structure not sunk intentionally. The open lattice is plastered with strawberry and yellow anemones, gorgonians, hydrocoral, sponges and mussels, making it one of the most life-dense and photogenic dives in San Diego.
IntermediateBoat entry
Oceanside 1 Center
California · Up to 30.5 m
Artificial reef built from Quarry Rock, Concrete Dock Floats
AdvancedBoat entry
Oceanside 2 Center
California · Up to 21.9 m
Artificial reef built from Quarry Rock
IntermediateBoat entry
Otter Cove
California · 3–18.3 m
A quiet cove on Ocean View Boulevard about a quarter mile up the coast from Lovers Point in Pacific Grove, named for the sea otters that frequent its kelp beds. A broad shallow shelf of kelp- and coralline-covered rock in 10-15 feet extends offshore before the bottom slopes gradually to around 60 feet. Far less crowded than the Monterey classics, but the rocky shallows make it a high-tide dive.
Shore entry
Pacific Beach Center
California · Up to 21.9 m
Artificial reef built from Quarry Rock
IntermediateBoat entry
Palawan
California · 27–37 m
The USS Palawan (ARG-10) was a 441-foot Liberty-hull internal combustion engine repair ship that served at the end of World War II. Substantially dismantled - superstructure and engines removed - she was scuttled in 1977 about two miles off Redondo Beach as part of California's artificial reef program and sits upright in roughly 120 feet of water, a 10-minute boat ride from King Harbor. The hull is now a vibrant reef draped in anemones and gorgonians; depth, currents and variable visibility make it a solid advanced dive.
AdvancedBoat entry
Palos Verdes Reef
California · Up to 21 m
A dive site in United States. The site reaches a maximum depth of about 21 m. The site is reached by boat.
IntermediateBoat entry
Point Loma Kelp Beds
California · 12.2–30.5 m
One of the largest and healthiest giant kelp forests in Southern California, stretching along roughly six miles of the Point Loma peninsula's outer coast and reachable only by boat (about 25 minutes from Mission Bay marinas). More than 20 named spots - including New Hope Rock, Six Fathoms and Horsehead Reef - feature boulder reefs, ledges and overhangs in 40-70 ft, with the deeper 'ancient cliffs' zone dropping to about 100 ft beyond the kelp line.
IntermediateBoat entry
Point Pinos
California · 6.1–36.6 m
The rocky northern tip of the Monterey Peninsula, where Monterey Bay meets the open Pacific. Rock ridges, kelp beds and depths from 20 to 120 feet reward divers with dense invertebrate life, but the boulder-covered beaches, breakers and currents make it an advanced shore dive that is only safe in ideal conditions. Several pullouts along the shoreline serve different entries; many divers prefer to dive it by boat.
AdvancedShore + boat
Redondo Beach Center
California · Up to 21.9 m
Artificial reef built from Quarry Rock, Augmentations
IntermediateBoat entry
Rubicon Wall (D.L. Bliss State Park)
California · 3–39.6 m
Rubicon Wall, just south of Calawee Cove in D.L. Bliss State Park on Tahoe's southwest shore, is widely regarded as the most breathtaking dive in the Sierra: a near-vertical fractured granite precipice studded with quartz that plunges from a rim at about 40-50 ft to 800-1,000+ ft. Divers reach it by a ~900 ft surface swim from Calawee Cove (or by boat) and drop over the edge into exceptionally clear blue water — visibility of 70-100 ft is common — passing crawfish on the cliff face and huge schools of fingerling trout and Lahontan redside shiners in the 30-35 ft shallows. At 6,229 ft elevation the altitude penalty is severe (130 ft measures like ~162 ft physiologically), making this a disciplined advanced dive despite the easy beginner terrain inside the cove.
AdvancedShore + boat
Ruby E Wreck (Wreck Alley)
California · 15.2–25.9 m
A 165-ft former US Coast Guard cutter (originally the Cyane, built 1934) intentionally sunk in 1989 as part of San Diego's Wreck Alley artificial reef, about two miles off the Mission Beach jetty. She sits upright and largely intact on sand at about 85 ft, with the superstructure starting near 50 ft, and is carpeted in pink and purple strawberry (corynactis) anemones. Most areas of the wreck except the bilge are accessible to trained divers, and the site is usually marked with a buoy.
AdvancedBoat entry
San Carlos Beach / Breakwater Wall
California · 3–18.3 m
The most popular shore dive in Monterey, located beside the 1,700-foot Coast Guard breakwater built in the 1930s. A gently sloping sandy beach gives one of the most protected entries in the area, leading to a boulder wall encrusted with strawberry anemones, sponges, tunicates and nudibranchs, with a resident sea lion colony at the breakwater tip. Heavily used by training classes; weekend visibility suffers and parking fills early.
Shore entry
San Clemente
California · —
San Clemente is a dive site in United States. The site is reached by boat.
Boat entry
San Luis Obispo
California · Up to 15.8 m
A dive site in United States. The site reaches a maximum depth of about 16 m. The site is reached by boat.
Boat entry
Santa Monica Bay Center
California · 12.8–21.9 m
Artificial reef built from Quarry Rock
IntermediateBoat entry
Santa Monica Center
California · Up to 18.3 m
Artificial reef built from Quarry Rock, Concrete Shelter, Car Bodies, Streetcar
IntermediateBoat entry
Scorpion Anchorage (Santa Cruz Island)
California · 6.1–19.8 m
The main landing and most-dived area on eastern Santa Cruz Island in Channel Islands National Park, with rebounding giant kelp forest wrapping from the anchorage around Cavern Point. Popular spots include Scorpion's Rock (20-50 ft of kelp, gorgonians and invertebrates) and the wreck of the Spirit of America sitting upright on sand at about 65 ft outside the anchorage. The area is inside the no-take Scorpion State Marine Reserve.
Boat entry
Scripps Canyon
California · 21.3–30.5 m
A narrow, sheer-walled branch of the La Jolla canyon system near the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, with vertical rock walls plunging toward roughly 1,600-foot depths. A popular site for scientific and recreational diving thanks to the high density of marine life on its walls, usually dived by boat. Coordinates estimated at the canyon head offshore of Scripps Pier.
AdvancedShore + boat
Sea Fan Grotto (White Rocks, Catalina Island)
California · 3–18.3 m
A classic Catalina boat dive just east of Blue Cavern Point where massive rock slabs form a wide-mouthed cavern in about 25 ft of water, famous for 'hanging gardens' of golden gorgonian sea fans on its ceiling and walls. The cavern extends roughly 20 ft back with a chimney exit rising to 10 ft, and natural light is always visible; kelp reef outside slopes deeper for a longer dive. Lies along the Blue Cavern Onshore SMCA shoreline, so take is prohibited.
Boat entry
Shaws Cove
California · 3–15.2 m
Shaw's Cove is arguably the most popular shore dive in Orange County: a small, swell-protected sandy cove in north Laguna Beach reached by a 58-step staircase off Cliff Drive. The best diving is along the rocky reef on the west side, where a channel called the Crevice cuts through a rock arch toward Crescent Bay, with kelp, gorgonians and abundant fish in 15-40 ft of water (about 50 ft maximum). Calm conditions and an easy sandy entry make it a standing venue for weekend training classes, and it lies within Laguna Beach's marine protected waters, so no take is allowed.
Shore entry