An outdoors social network for the traveling & outdoors enthusiast - MyOutdoorAdventure.com

Casino Point Dive Park, Catalina Island

Posted on October 27, 2008 by: Tropigal

Best Time To Visit: year round
Closest City: Avalon
State: 7
Country: 209

Casino Point Dive Park, Catalina Island

Casino Point Underwater Dive Park is located off the southeast coast of Santa Catalina Island, less than a 10-minute walk from the Green Pier. This dive park is the country’s first city designated underwater park. It was established in 1962 by the owners of the Catalina Divers Supply.

Outfitters:

Catalina Divers Supply: www.catalinadiverssupply.com -located on the pier and at Casino Point.

Catalina Dive Shop:www.catalinadiveshop.com/index.cfm -located at Lover’s Cove.

SCUBA Luv: http://www.scubaluv.biz/

Snorkeling Catalina:www.snorkelingcatalina.com/

Experience: Novice to experienced divers will find Casino Point a relatively easy entry and exit. Extremely “Diver Friendly.”

Entry and Exit: The stairs and rail entry gets slippery so hang on! Enter on the right, exit on the left. The rocky entry is for advanced divers only. Upon entry, it is recommended to swim over to the buoy just off shore where a line is anchored to aid in descending. When exiting, stay underwater until you reach the stairs then walk backwards up the first few steps before taking fins off.

Depth: Depths at the Park ranges from 10 feet down to 90 feet in the park and drops to 130 feet (leaving the park is not recommended since boat traffic is heavy almost year round.)

Visibility: 10-65 feet

Attractions: Jacques Yves Cousteau Monument @ 60ft, old swim platform @ 55ft (the deck is about 30ft long and 20ft wide, rotted away exposing a large grid of steel and supports various sea life), glass bottom boat @ 65ft (it landed upside down so you can swim under it and look up through the glass bottom), Kismet Wreck @ 65ft (a small fiberglass sailboat that foundered in a storm, towed to the park and sank), small sailboat @ 85ft, Suejac Wreck (a 54ft long Ferro-cement sailboat that was shoved up on the rocks in 1980), remains of a wooden motor boat @ 35ft (only thing left are 2 engines), kelp forests, patch reefs @ 20ft, large rock @ 20ft, Little Casino reef @ 35ft, Big Casino reef @ 45ft, remains of an old pier @ 35-40ft (the pier was once used for a “diving bell” where tourists paid a fee to get a glimpse into the underwater wonderland), Deep Casino reef @ 135ft, remains of the pseudo-wreck La Crusado @ 40ft (dive promoters in the 1970’s wanted a new attraction for divers, so they created an underwater wooden replica of a Spanish Galleon complete with old anchor), Marine preserve with abundant marine life such as Garibaldi, Kelp fish, horn sharks, Bass, Sea urchin, Rock Scallops, sea Cucumbers, Spiny Lobster and more.

Facilities: Restrooms, lockers (bring quarters, each time you lock up, it’s 75 cents), Catalina Divers Supply air fill station; $6 tank refill as of 10/08 (during the winter this station is only open on the weekends, so call Catalina Divers Supply @ 800-353-0330 to be sure).

Back To Locations