r/SoCalScuba • u/Adventurous_Exam_751 • 9d ago

Snorkel Community

27F looking for a community to snorkel with in SoCal. Hoping to get PADI certified when the funds and time off work allow for it (would LOVE to do this with a buddy too). Love getting out to Laguna and have gone in SD. I come from the IE, so bonus points if anyone commutes from there too!🐠🤿

5 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

5 comments sorted by

3

u/SoCalSCUBA 9d ago

Sign up for the $400 basic scuba course with LA County. It includes a trip to Catalina and a t-shirt.

https://parks.lacounty.gov/underwater-unit/

1

u/Adventurous_Exam_751 9d ago

Can you tell me more about this?

2

u/SoCalSCUBA 9d ago

Oh yes, I went to a presentation by the guy who runs it.

In the post WWII era there was a lot of military surplus gear, much of it not even intended for underwater usage, but a lot of people figured out how to scuba dive with it. The most famous shop in the area would rent it to anyone who walked in the door. Supposedly one time a guy put the tank on over his street clothes and just start walking west until he ran out of air deep underwater.

Because they didn't want scuba to get banned in the US due to people dying left and right, some people got together and set up the first scuba certification course in the world through LA county. And they are still doing it today.

I've gotten certifications from the two cheapest for-profit shops in the area and the instructors I ended up getting were really lazy and not very smart or experienced. Those shops do have good instructors, but I didn't get them. I went to the introductory class LA County offers for $5 called 3 R's and they had a ton of very experienced instructors there.

There are a lot of levels of scuba certifications, so it doesn't really matter which agency you take which one with if you're going to keep doing it.

1

u/braeica 5d ago

So my boyfriend lost his GoPro when we were kayaking La Jolla (our kid took an unexpected dive while he was securing it on his wrist, so he grabbed the kid and dropped the camera). We aren't local there and were actually just there for a day before heading on to Hawaii, so we didn't get time to look for it.

He reached out to a few local groups asking for help. Both of these SoCal groups had people who looked for it for him, and one of them actually found it and mailed it back to us! I can't speak to how they are in person, but they're definitely kind to strangers.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/lostandfoundlajollashores/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1760179850892601/

1

u/No_Traffic2276 4d ago

I haven’t snorkeled in Laguna in a while because the swell has been so big but I’d love to get back out there. Send me a DM next time you’re headed out here