Here we go! It's time to dive into the 2023 diving season! We have so many events every year and we hope that you'll find time to join us as always.

Every year, the SoCal community comes together for events that range from fundraising to local environmental efforts. 

If you'd like to stay up-to-date on events in our area, join up with our Facebook groups Dive 714, Dive 949 or Dive 760. You can also tune in to our current events calendar to keep up with our upcoming fun!

In the meantime, check out these planned events! 

On 14 January 2023, the dive clubs will come together and explore Catalina Island on board the Magician Dive Boat! This trip is for club members only, so make sure you join up to the Facebook Groups to qualify and sign up!

On 28-29 January 2023, the technical divers will spend two days on the Scrambler dive boat exploring sites past the 130ft range at Catalina Island. This trip is reserved for technical divers and is limited to six divers only. For more information email david.mansfield@beachcitiesscuba.com. 

On 11 February 2023, the dive clubs will come together and explore the Oil Rigs on board the Magician Dive Boat! This trip is for club members only, so make sure you join up to the Facebook Groups to qualify and sign up!

From 23 March - 7 April, 2023, the Beach Cities Scuba crew heads out to the beautiful waters of Raja Ampat, Indonesia. This dive is a liveaboard adventure in one of the most diverse underwater environments on earth. For the explorer at heart, Raja is the place where nature dominates and human interaction is minimal. Join us for this amazing trip! 

On 25 February 2023, the Annual Avalon Harbor Clean Up will be held at Avalon harbor! A great day of hanging out and diving the island is at the ready for you. Join Dive 949 this year! Don't miss out on this great fundraising event that supports the Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber! RESCHEDULED APRIL 1,2023.

On 11 March 2023, the dive clubs will come together and explore the Blue Caverns on board the Magician Dive Boat! This trip is for club members only, so make sure you join up to the Facebook Groups to qualify and sign up!

On 25 March 2023, join the ladies of Beach Cities Scuba and fellow women throughout Sothern California for a boat trip dedicated just for them! Women only please. 

Rescheduled for 1 April 2023, the Annual Avalon Harbor Clean Up will be held at Avalon harbor! A great day of hanging out and diving the island is at the ready for you. Join Dive 949 this year! Don't miss out on this great fundraising event that supports the Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber!

On 8 April 2023, the dive clubs will come together and explore Farnsworth Banks on board the Magician Dive Boat! This trip is for club members only, so make sure you join up to the Facebook Groups to qualify and sign up!

On 22-23 April 2023, the technical divers will spend two days on the Scrambler dive boat exploring sites past the 130ft range at Catalina Island. This trip is reserved for technical divers and is limited to six divers only. For more information email david.mansfield@beachcitiescuba.com. 

On 3 May 2023, we have the Chamber Day / Chamber Eve. This is a fundraising event in Southern California that supports the USC Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber. A very important dive facility for our OC divers. That information will post here: https://dornsife.usc.edu/chamberday/     

On 13 May 2023, the dive clubs will come together and explore the west side of Catalina on board the Magician Dive Boat! This trip is for club members only, so make sure you join up to the Facebook Groups to qualify and sign up!

On 27 May 2023, the dive clubs will come together and explore the west side of Catalina on board the Magician Dive Boat! This trip is for club members only, so make sure you join up to the Facebook Groups to qualify and sign up!

On 3-4 June 2023, we have the Scuba Show held at the Long Beach Convention Center. This is the largest scuba convention west of the Mississippi. It is held every year and a large piece of our dive community in OC. That information is here: https://scubashow.com/ 

From 17 June - 24 June, 2023, Perry Boyer hosts a trip to Sunscape resort in Curacao. The group will enjoy some beautiful blue waters and resort pampering for a week. This trip is currently full with a waitlist. 

From 8 July - 15 July, 2023, Beach Cities Scuba heads to Beqa Lagoon, Fiji. Those attending will enjoy 4-5 dives a day, resort living and an awesome experience! There's still spots available for Fiji! Join here! 

On 16 July 2023, we will the celebrate PADI Women's Dive Day. This honors women divers every year with events focused on the lady divers of our OC community. This information is located here: https://www.padi.com/women. - Beach Cities Scuba will host a boat dive on the Riviera!   

On 22-23 July 2023, the technical divers will spend two days on the Scrambler dive boat exploring sites past the 130ft range at Catalina Island. This trip is reserved for technical divers and is limited to six divers only. For more information email david.mansfield@beachcitiescuba.com. 

On 29 July 2023, the dive clubs will come together and explore sites TBA on board the Magician Dive Boat! This trip is for club members only, so make sure you join up to the Facebook Groups to qualify and sign up!

From 5 September - 18 September, 2023, Beach Cities Scuba heads to Bikini Atoll. This is a walk through history. The Atoll is the site of two major nuclear tests and is enticing to technical divers who are looking to see wrecks that are super rare. The USS Saratoga is one of three aircraft carriers you can dive in the world. The ship that gave the order for Pearl Harbor is there and an elusive German warship lays on the bottom. For the technical diving explorer, Bikini Atoll ranks as top 5 experience. There's still spots available for Bikini Atoll! If you are a technical diver: Join here!

On 30 September 2023, the dive clubs will come together and explore sites TBA on board the Magician Dive Boat! This trip is for club members only, so make sure you join up to the Facebook Groups to qualify and sign up!

On 28-29 October 2023, the technical divers will spend two days on the Scrambler dive boat exploring sites past the 130ft range at Catalina Island. This trip is reserved for technical divers and is limited to six divers only. For more information email david.mansfield@beachcitiescuba.com. 

From 1 November - 31 December 2023, the 5th Annual 30 Dive Challenge will be underway. This event has tons of prizes from multiple manufacturers. You have two months to complete 30 dives. Upon completion, you enter the winner's circle where you will then be entered into a drawing for prizes and a grand prize! Don't forget about this great event! 

For those of you in the industry, 14-17 November 2023, DEMA (Dive Equipment Manufacturer's Association) will hold their event in New Orleans, Louisiana. 

24 November 2023 is our favorite time of the year. Black Friday is a special event and will have ton of equipment and class specials! 

On 16 December 2023, the dive clubs will come together and explore sites TBA on board the Magician Dive Boat! This trip is for club members only, so make sure you join up to the Facebook Groups to qualify and sign up!               

ACE WRECK

One of our favorite dive sites is the ACE wreck. This boat went down in a storm and has provided an excellent dive site for years in Southern California. If you are an advanced diver or above looking to do a cool dive in Orange County, the ACE is one to explore! Our dates for 2023 are here.

Did you know Beach Cities Scuba is a 100% AWARE partner? We are committed to supporting our ocean partners and creating a protected environment for sea life that includes responsible fishing practices and minimal human interaction. See how you can get involved today!

As humans, we often find ourselves drawn to activities, ideas, objects and places greater than ourselves. A beautiful sunset, getting a spaceship to Mars, finding ways to live a good life are all fulfilling characteristics of the human existence. Diving in California is no different. With the landscapes drastically changing from tip to tip, California offers divers an amazing view of the ocean in all of its wonder. A large number of divers find themselves drawn back into the cool waters time and again.

If there was something greater than ourselves, it would be the Pacific Ocean.  The largest and deepest ocean on the earth, the Pacific consists of 60 million square miles and averages a depth of 13,000 feet; covering more than 30% of earth.¹ More amazing is the fact that humans have spent millions of years on earth and have yet to breakthrough the entirety of its exploration. With the extreme depth of the Mariana trench (7 miles deep by 1500 miles wide) and its overall vastness, there are many areas of our ocean that remain unexplored and fully understood by humans. As of 2015, there were 228,450 known species in the ocean with as many as 2 million more remaining a total mystery.² Scientists are still discovering species every single day! Greater than ourselves indeed. 

The most common comment we find is "diversity". The protected waters found throughout Southern California create a region of diving that is so biodiverse that most divers are amazed at the amount of life found in the smallest areas. From a healthy nudibranch population to vast kelp beds, Southern California's aquatic life find abundant areas offer food sources and protection for thousands of species. These waters are teeming with life! On a single boat trip, you'll see tons of beautiful fish and fauna followed by schools of dolphins and flocks of birds hunting out in the ocean while on a surface interval.   

Getting here - Southern California has some of the busiest airports in the world. From San Diego to Los Angeles, one may find a cheap flight at these international hubs to arrive and explore. Those divers interested in San Diego can visit such sites as Wreck Alley or the Point Loma Kelp beds for amazing shots and exploration of wrecks. Those arriving in Los Angeles can explore Catalina through the port of San Pedro/Long Beach/Dana Point or check out lobster diving favorites like Anaheim's breakwall! If you are looking to get closer to the action, the Santa Ana and Long Beach airports are smaller hubs that have direct flights throughout the region. From there, it's a quick jaunt to some of the most amazing diving Southern California has to offer. Dive sites like Diver's Cove, Heisler Park, Deadman's Reef litter the entire coastline and yearn for diver attention every single day! 

If you are looking to truly explore, there are many untouched realms in Southern California. Technical divers are still finding deeper wrecks on a regular basis and trying to identify them for further exploration. For those not looking to go deep, the islands of San Clemente, Catalina, Coronados and much more are still under exploration. We've even got oil rigs that divers visit on a regular basis to discover new species and take amazing shots of the rigs and the abundance of life.

If you are looking for a truly amazing experience both top and bottom, Southern California needs to take its place on your bucket list. Hop on a plane, train or automobile and come on out! 

The divers of Southern California would love to host you and your family on the next diving adventure! 

Did you know Beach Cities Scuba is a 100% AWARE partner? We are committed to supporting our ocean partners and creating a protected environment for sea life that includes responsible fishing practices and minimal human interaction. See how you can get involved today!

¹ “How Big Is the Pacific Ocean?: Ocean Exploration Facts: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research.” NOAA, NOAA, oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/facts/pacific-size.html#:%7E:text=The%20Pacific%20Ocean%20is%20the,4%2C000%20meters%20(13%2C000%20feet).&text=Covering%20more%20than%2030%20percent,water%20mass%20on%20the%20planet. Accessed 19 Feb. 2021.

² Doyle, Alister. “There Are 228,450 Known Species in the Ocean — and as Many as 2 Million More That Remain a Total Mystery.” Business Insider, Reuters, 17 Mar. 2015, www.businessinsider.com/r-oceans-yield-1500-new-creatures-many-others-lurk-unknown-2015-3?international=true&r=US&IR=T#:%7E:text=There%20are%20228%2C450%20known%20species,that%20remain%20a%20total%20mystery.