Kelp forest
down to 17 m
Goal Posts (Point Loma)
Rocky reefs rising 15–20 ft from a 45–50 ft bottom inside one of Southern California's largest kelp forests.
- Open Water
San Diego & La Jolla
Diving in United States
11 documented dive sites, 5 of them for Open Water divers. Known for leopard (zebra) sharks, horn sharks and sea lions.
- Best months
- Jun–Nov
- Water
- 10–22 °C
- Levels
- Open Water, Advanced
- Nearest airport
- SAN
- One dive
- €87–166
When to go
Pick a month: the diving season, from published sources, and the typical weather.
Pick a month
- Best
- Good
- Possible
- Closed
- Not documented yet
San Diego & La Jolla in November
Best season- Sea
- 17 °C
- at the surface
- Air
- 21 °C
- 11 °C at night
- Rain
- 40 mm
- average for the year
- Wind
- 8 km/h
- on average
Exposure suit: 5 mm full suit · if you feel the cold: 7 mm full suit or 8/7 mm semi-dry. How we choose
Typical weather, not a forecast: averages for 2021–2025 (air, rain, wind) and 2023–2025 (sea), data from Open-Meteo (ERA5 / Copernicus, Météo-France). Covers an area of roughly 10 to 25 km around the destination.
Diving in all seasons; best Jun–Nov. Summer has the warmest water (65–72 °F), calmest conditions and best visibility, and fall the best overall conditions (SSI). Winter is colder (55–60 °F) but is squid-run and sevengill season; spring is variable with plankton blooms but great kelp diving.
Dive sites in San Diego & La Jolla
From the easiest to the most demanding. Levels with a dashed outline are estimates we are still verifying.
Open Water friendly
usual dive down to 18 m5 sitesKelp forest
down to 25 m
La Jolla Cove
- Open Water
- Horn sharks
For Advanced divers
usual dive down to 30 m6 sitesWreck
down to 31 m
Yukon (Wreck Alley)
A 366-ft Canadian destroyer escort lying on her port side at 60–102 ft, carpeted in Corynactis and Metridium anemones.
- Advanced
- Nudibranchs
Wreck
down to 26 m
Ruby E (Wreck Alley)
A 165-ft former Coast Guard cutter sitting nearly upright on an 85-ft bottom, small enough to explore in one dive.
- Advanced
- Nudibranchs
Marine life
When the big encounters happen, month by month.
| Species | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leopard (zebra) sharksSource: sandiego.org | ||||||||||||
| SquidSource: cadivingnews.com | ||||||||||||
| Sevengill sharksSource: divessi.com |
- Peak season
- Seen
Leopard (zebra) sharks: Jun–Dec. Squid: Nov–Mar. Sevengill sharks: Dec–Feb
Also reported here, season not documented yet:
- Horn sharks
- Sea lions
- Stingrays
- Rockfish
- Crustaceans
- Nudibranchs
- Scorpionfish
- Garibaldi
- Halibut
- Lingcod
- Moray eels
- Anemones
- Blue sharks
- Seals
- Guitarfish
- Mola mola (sunfish)
- Barracuda
- Giant sea bass
- Wolffish
What diving costs here
Here a dive costs between €87 and €166, a try dive €188 and an Open Water course between €407 and €671, depending on the dive centres we checked.
- One dive (certified diver)packages counted per dive
- €87–1663 centres
- Try dive
- €1881 centre
- Open Water course
- €407–6713 centres
The cheapest and the most expensive of the dive centres we checked, from the prices on their own websites in October 2026. Prices change: confirm with the centre before booking.
At some centres here, dives are charged on top of the boat trip fare, paid separately.
Some prices exclude local taxes or service charges.
Converted to euros at the ECB reference rate of 30 October 2026; for currencies the ECB does not publish, the official rate of the country's central bank.
Where is San Diego & La Jolla?
- Nearest airport
- SAN
San Diego & La Jolla: frequently asked questions
- When is the best time to dive San Diego & La Jolla?
- The best months to dive San Diego & La Jolla are Jun–Nov. Diving in all seasons; best Jun–Nov. Summer has the warmest water (65–72 °F), calmest conditions and best visibility, and fall the best overall conditions (SSI). Winter is colder (55–60 °F) but is squid-run and sevengill season; spring is variable with plankton blooms but great kelp diving.
- Is San Diego & La Jolla good for beginner divers?
- Yes, partly: 5 of the 11 dive sites we document are suited to Open Water divers, including Goal Posts (Point Loma), La Jolla Cove and Marine Room (La Jolla Shores). The others need more experience or a higher certification.
- What is the water temperature in San Diego & La Jolla?
- The water is usually between 10 °C and 22 °C over the year.
- What marine life can you see in San Diego & La Jolla?
- Divers regularly see leopard (zebra) sharks (Jun–Dec), squid (Nov–Mar), horn sharks, sea lions, stingrays and rockfish.
- How do you dive San Diego & La Jolla?
- The nearest airport is SAN.
About this page
Seasons and marine life come from the sources below. Site levels and depths marked as estimated come from our original catalogue and are being checked one by one. Conditions change: always confirm with a local dive centre.
Your next dive is somewhere out there.
Find my next dive tripPhoto credits
- Sunlight and bubbles in deep blue water, Sarah Lee, Unsplash License, on Unsplash