Head towards La Jolla down Ardath Rd. ( Highway 5 northbound exit, or simply the west end of Highway 52). At the bottom of the hill, turn North (Right at the gas station) onto La Jolla Shores Drive.
The first light where you can turn left is Avenida De La Playa, which will lead you past coffee shops, Ocean Express dive shop, and finally to the designated launch area where you would only go if you want to launch a kayak or meet someone lauching the club boat.
For a shore dive, you would turn left off La Jolla Shores Drive at the next street, Vallecitos. Hopefully you can find parking there, and at the end of Vallecitos is a restroom building and diver's meeting place. If parking is all gone, go north to the big Shores Parking lot, suit up and walk back. If you try to enter the ocean by the parking lot, the lifeguards will yell at you.
If you show up on practically any morning you will find several groups of divers (sometimes hundreds!) heading out from the park to go on training dives in the wide, flat sandy areas nearby, or to go exploring the depths of the La Jolla Branch of the La Jolla Submarine Canyon further offshore (as shown). Many divers got their first ocean class dive at the Shores and never returned, having only seen sand.
To find the canyon:
From Vallecitos st., at the restrooms, walk straight west. As you swim out, keep lined up with Vallecitos st. At night, line up the street lamps. How far out? In the daytime, line up the end of the pier with the first tile roof house on the cliffs above it, or just swim until somebody says they are tired of swimming. Drop while looking at your depth guage. If you get to 60', stop descending, and go east until you hit the slope. More likely you will hit bottom at 30, or 40'. Collect your senses, and your buddies and swim due West until the sand begins to tilt quickly and you see about 50' depth. You should see an abrupt edge where the canyon starts. Follow it to the left. If you only see tilted sand, stay at 55' and swim South until you find the canyon lip.
The north canyon:
Angle northwest to come to in front of the big lifeguard tower. In front of that tower is a white bouy in about 35' of water. Drop there, and continue west to find the canyon edge. Follow the edge to the right. It might be 70' there.
Coming back:
A good breather can come completely back to shore underwater on 800 psi. That is because the majority of the swim back will be shallow. Look for rays scattering from in front of you. You may hit a field of sand dollars standing on edge. A seapen looks like a feather sticking out of the sand. A sea pansy looks like a dollop of spilled oatmeal, but if you swish the sand off of it, you see it is purple, with little strands all over it. A lucky diver might meet a pipe fish, which looks like a sea horse that got pulled out straight.
Surf entry:
The Shores can be so calm you just walk in, and put fins on at your leisure. If there is surf, there are 2 styles. Have very little air in your BC in any event, or be swept back to shore. A wave hitting your back will try to snatch your mask off. A wave from the front might push it down around your neck, at worst.
A. Some divers put their fins on on land and walk backwards like they teach you in class. That does not mean you don't keep an eye on the surf. As soon as you get swimably deep, flop around and start swimming on your tummy, looking up at the waves. When a wave comes at you, duck under it at the last moment and come right back up.
B. Some walk out until they can just about float, and put fins on while erect and looking at the surf. In the process, if surf comes at you, plant one foot in front of the other and bow down to the wave. It will pass over harmlessly. Get those fins on and start kicking.
Suddenly you are past the "surf zone" where waves no longer break. Now inflate, and swim on your back.
In our 1999 club photos, there are 4 pictures of critters from La Jolla Shores.
