Annual Picnic Beach Dive/BBQ

Saturday September 22. 9:00 AM.



Picnic Beach offers something for everyone. Easy sandy beach entry, reefs to the East, reefs straight out, and the reefs over to the west at divers cove. This area is perfect for a family outing. The picnic area has many permanent picnic tables and B.B.Q. grill for us to use. There’s plenty of lawn area to lay down and relax, and several toilet facilities are available. Meet at the picnic area around 9 am. We will do a dive in the morning, followed by burgers and hotdogs, and then just relax. You can do a second dive if you and your dive buddy feel up to it, or you can drive a few blocks over to downtown Laguan Beach and check out the shopping. The club will provide the burgers, hot dogs, buns, and condiments. Please bring your own beverages and a side dish to share.


Please e-mail me Kaz for the type of side dish you will be bringing, and I'll create a list so we can avoid everyone bringing the same side dish.

Direction: I usually take I-5 South, then take the 133 South. Don’t take the 133 North, which comes up first. It’s also a toll road. 133 South is the one you want, and it will turn into Broadway eventually, and ends up on PCH. Take a right on PCH heading North, then take a left at Cliff Drive. (You'll see the Laguna Art Museum on your left, and Aster St. will be to your right). Dive few blocks until you get to the area where Myrtle and Cliff meet. Park in this area. If you're coming south on PCH, take a right on Myrtle Street & take your first left which will put you on Cliff Drive. You’ll see a sign for “Heisler Park.” Park anywhere near this area. Oh yes, bring quarters for the meters! 25 cents/ 15 minutes.


Dive access and Entry: There is a paved path to the protected cove with sandy beach.

Skill level: Beginner when calm; intermediate around the point with navigation skills.
Depth: average 30 ft.
Visibility: Good, averaging 20-25 feet.
Photography: Very good wide angle with good light, interesting rock features, gorgonians, Garibaldi, and more. Fair for macro with some small fish and invertebrates. Plenty of Christmas tree worms.
Hunting: Too close to border of Vedder Ecological Reserve.

Parking & Facilities: all metered parking, .25 cents/15minutes, so bring lot’s of quarters.
This is a popular picnic site especially during the summer, so show up early to find good parking. I recommend dropping off your dive gear first at the picnic site, and then go park your car. There is a change machine nearby, a fresh water shower is located at the bottom of the paved path leading to the beach.

Benches and picnic tables with B.B.Q. pits. No portable B.B.Q. grill is permitted. No canopy type shade is allowed, but individual beach umbrella with stand is ok in the picnic area.

Contact person: Kaz Aizawa

USC's Dr Jim Haw at this Monday's meeting: The Rebirth of the USC Science Diving Program

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hay dive club speaker fans-

Been busy working here & there this summer, and one of my gigs landed me at USC.
One thing lead to another, and I found a way to at least get a guest speaker out of the place!

 

Dr. Jim Haw is the Director of the USC Dornsife Environmental Studies Program and Irani Professor of Chemistry. Environmental Studies has become one of the fastest growing majors at USC, in large measure due to a series of experiential field courses beginning with an archeological and cultural study of Southern Belize launched nearly six years ago. 

 

Working with USC ENST Assistant Professor David Ginsburg, Jim developed a second course around an expedition to Guam and Palau four years ago. Undergraduate students in the Guam and Palau Program, starting with no prior diving experience, progress as American Academy of Underwater Sciences scientific divers (as well as NAUI master divers) and investigate marine and coastal issues in Micronesia.  These include dives assessing a flawed environmental study for the Navy's plan to dredge corals reefs on Guam for berthing an aircraft carrier and long term monitoring of a marine protected area in the Rock Islands of Palau.  

 

Other related activities include in-ocean engineering testing for a robot submarine, and dive support on recovery missions.  These efforts, while supporting the teaching and research missions of USC, have also significantly increased the strength of the science diving program and added a number of young divers to the SoCal community.  

 

Jim is also an underwater photographer, and his talk will be illustrated with shots ranging from sharks at Blue Corner to a submarine recovery off of Catalina.

 

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