LA - Casino Point

There are plenty of boats that go out of Catalina, but we chose to dive in this protected and roped off marine park which couldn't have been much easier. Just suit up and head down the steps into the water. Catalina Divers Supply has an air fill van right at the Casino that is open most days during the in-season and only weekends during the off season. They also have some gear rental and snacks for purchase. We had all our own gear except for tanks and weights, so we never needed more than the van had to offer. Their web page has specifics on hours of operation and prices, which you should be sure to check, as it is and island and island time applies here, too. There are bathrooms on site, however, there are no showers and no rinsing facilities (unless you are rinsing their rental gear). I highly suggest buying a map of the dive park from Franko's Maps either before you go, or from CDS at the Casino. We found it very helpful and useful for dive planning. We had surprisingly good visibility given surge and surf that met us at the bottom of the steps. This was our first dive in Southern California and we were instantly awed by the amount and variety of life and the abundance of kelp (this sentence works best when spoken with a Cousteau accent ;-). Interestingly enough, our main objective on this dive was to find the Jacques Cousteau commemorative plaque in 35 feet of water. Highlights on this dive included: a very large bat ray and our first look at Garibaldi's and of course, kelp, which can best be described as ethereal and surreal (again, with the Cousteau accent). What can we say? Kelp, kelp, kelp, Garibaldi, kelp, Garibaldi, kelp bass, kelp, Garibaldi and a whole herd of blue banded goby. Starfish, kelp bass, opal eye, half moon, lingcod, sheephead, Garibaldi and sargo were present on almost every dive. Kelp forest diving must be experienced to appreciate it, but it felt to us as if the Northeast and the Caribbean conspired to create this truly unique environment. 61 degrees in January at depth, 67ft, 35 ft vis, light current. It was a good day to be diving dry as the surface interval proved to be breezy and chilly.