California Diving News - San Diego's "Sleeper" Dives for Scuba

The NOSC tower wreck is a fantastic environment of twisted metal.

San Diego's "Sleeper" Dives

San Diego has some fantastic boat diving, but it seems that only a handful of the spots get the heavy duty press coverage. Yes, the Yukon wreck is a great dive, as is New Hope Rock and the Ruby E wreck. By all means, you should see these dive sites. Some, such as the Yukon, will take many dives to fully explore. But there are other dive sites offshore from San Diego that are just as good, if not better, than these more heavily publicized and visited sites.

NOSC TOWER WRECK
The Yukon, Ruby E and El Rey wrecks were all intentionally sunk off Mission Beach as artificial reefs to create fish havens and spectacular diving. But the NOSC (Naval Ocean Systems Center) Tower did not. This small oil rig-like tower also off Mission Beach was toppled in a storm in 1988. The bottom is only 60 feet and the top 30 feet, with lots of depths in between, so it makes for an excellent second, third, and/or fourth dive after the deeper dives on the other wrecks.

The Tower wreck is an excellent photo dive. Much like a dive on an oil rig, the metal cross members, platforms, pipes and ‘I’ beams are covered with marine life. There are rock scallops, corynactus and other anemones in a dozen warm hues, nudibranchs, huge colorful sea stars, and thousands of fish. Of all the dives in “Wreck Alley,” this is by far the fishiest. In addition to the excellent marine life, photographers will enjoy the variety of camera angles available amongst the twisted wreckage. Bright water backgrounds are possible with macro shots and wide-angle photography around the steel platform, now pink with marine growth. Another advantage for photographers here is the shallower depths, giving you more bottom time, and allowing you to concentrate more on your photos and less on your air gauge.

The Sea Cliff dive site give you vertical rockfaces to explore.

SEA CLIFF
The Point Loma kelp beds are dived extensively. The large shallow rocky plateau that supports the prolific kelp bed extends as much as a mile offshore. But the plateau has to end somewhere—and this is called Sea Cliff.

Sea Cliff is an underwater drop off that extends along the entire length of the Point Loma peninsula. It is the remains of an ancient bluff when the sea level was much lower and waves crashed ashore carving out the dramatic drop-off. Now underwater, the drop begins in 60 to 90 feet of water and, depending on location, drops either vertically or in a steep ramble of large boulders to well beyond diving limits.

Just as interesting as the drop-off itself is some of the interesting geological features along the rock face. Some of sandstone is carved into odd and twisted shapes. There are deep crevices and overhangs. At one point at the extreme south end of the feature is a large gash known as the “Crevice.” It is 30 feet deep, very narrow at points, but also opens up into a good sized room in the back.

Sea Cliff is no sleeper when is comes to marine life. Lobster hunting in the boulders is excellent, although you will be hunting deep. The rocky crags along the upper lip hold gorgonians, rockfish, and brightly colored invertebrates.

Quast's Rock is covered with colorful marine life.

QUAST’S ROCK
The same natural forces that created the Sea Cliff—a lower sea level and rock-carving waves—are what created Quast’s Rock. But as you dive on this rock, it seems hardly natural. Its shape is so odd that you’d swear you are looking at some kind of modern sculpture that has been underwater a long time. The rock itself is not particularly large, about 20 X 40 feet across the top. The diving area around the rock, however, is larger. But you’ll be so fascinated by this rock structure you’ll probably spend the entire dive examining it alone.

Heavily undercut by waves eons ago, the rock sits on a pedestal. Many of the undercuts go 6 to 10 feet back. But that is not the kicker. What is really weird are the rocky fingers that extend forth. They seem almost to defy physics. If that is not enough, there is a nearly perfectly round hole through the top.

Found off Casa Cove (but to far to swim from the beach), in the La Jolla kelp bed area, the bottom around the rock is about 60 feet with the top at 40. The bottom drops off to the north into deeper water. A healthy growth of kelp is around and sometimes on top of the rock. Gorgonian sea fans, sheepheads, sponge growth and zoanthid and corynactus anemones are common. Not only is the structure oddly shaped but it is colorfully blanketed as well.

There are many other fascinating dive sites to explore offshore from San Diego that you just don’t hear much about. Have one of the several excellent dive charter boat services take you out to one or more of the more interesting, yet less frequently visited “sleeper” dive sites next time you are diving the San Diego area.