Staying Home Sucks, home
La Jolla Coast
La Jolla Canyon. Photo: Kevin Gill from Los Angeles, CA, United States, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

La Jolla Canyon

Dive site · United States

Experienced divers only

Is it worth the trip?

66Good out of 100 for your dates

Home sucks

2 days tie for best

Each day of your trip, out of 100

Tue 3 · 65 out of 100

Sea
0.6 m
Wind
1 kn
Gusts
6kn
Air
22°C

Wed 4 · 64 out of 100

Sea
0.7 m
Wind
4 kn
Gusts
8kn
Air
21°C

Thu 5 · 65 out of 100

Sea
0.6 m
Wind
2 kn
Gusts
5kn
Air
22°C

Fri 6 · 66 out of 100

Sea
0.5 m
Wind
2 kn
Gusts
6kn
Air
22°C

Sat 7 · 66 out of 100

Sea
0.5 m
Wind
3 kn
Gusts
8kn
Air
23°C

Sun 8 · 67 out of 100

Sea
0.4 m
Wind
2 kn
Gusts
8kn
Air
24°C

Mon 9 · 67 out of 100

Sea
0.4 m
Wind
2 kn
Gusts
7kn
Air
24°C

Tap a day for sea, wind and water. Full forecast

Forecast: next 10 days

Full forecast
  1. Mon 265, good
  2. Tue 365, good
  3. Wed 464, good
  4. Thu 565, good
  5. Fri 666, good
  6. Sat 766, good
  7. Sun 867, good
  8. Mon 967, good
  9. Tue 1066, good
  10. Wed 1165, good

The site in five facts

  • Down to 30 mits deepest
  • From the shorehow you get in
  • Experienced / deepexperienced divers only
  • Water 18 °C7 mm wetsuit and hood
  • Faces NWswell from there reaches it

Full forecast

every day, every number

The score doesn't know currents, the visibility on the day or your certification.

Suits experienced divers only, as a dive guide states it. Scored for experienced divers.

Sea and wind forecast and score for each day at La Jolla Canyon
DayScoreSeaWindGustsAir
Mon 2Nov65, good0.7 m1 kn6kn21°C
Tue 3Nov65, good0.6 m1 kn6kn22°C
Wed 4Nov64, good0.7 m4 kn8kn21°C
Thu 5Nov65, good0.6 m2 kn5kn22°C
Fri 6Nov66, good0.5 m2 kn6kn22°C
Sat 7Nov66, good0.5 m3 kn8kn23°C
Sun 8Nov67, good0.4 m2 kn8kn24°C
Mon 9Nov67, good0.4 m2 kn7kn24°C
Tue 10Nov66, good0.5 m3 kn6kn24°C
Wed 11Nov65, good0.6 m5 kn14kn22°C

Sea is the waves near the site, in metres; wind and gusts in knots. "Boats in": gusts that keep dive boats in. More

Tide

  • Mon 2 NovHigh 04:26 +0.4 mLow 09:38 −0.1 mHigh 15:17 +0.6 mLow 22:19 −0.8 m
  • Tue 3 NovHigh 05:07 +0.6 mLow 10:56 −0.3 mHigh 16:39 +0.5 mLow 23:09 −0.8 m
  • Wed 4 NovHigh 05:42 +0.7 mLow 11:53 −0.5 mHigh 17:46 +0.5 mLow 23:52 −0.7 m

Local clock times; heights about mean sea level. On open coasts the times are usually within a quarter of an hour; in bays, estuaries and on the Gulf of Mexico they can be an hour or more out. Slack water, the safest time to dive where there is current, is about half an hour either side of each high and low. Tide: EOT20 global ocean tide model, Hart-Davis et al. 2021, DGFI-TUM (doi:10.17882/79489), CC BY 4.0. Times and heights computed by us. A model, not a tide table: check a local table before you go.

Forecast updated . It refreshes every three hours. Forecast data: ECMWF, DWD, Météo-France and NOAA, served by Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0). Changed by us. Generated using E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information.

Map

the site, its town, photos

Each place wears its best day on these dates: green good, amber fair, pale red poor, as the key says.

The map needs JavaScript. Every place on it is listed on this page, and each place's page links to Google Maps.

One finger scrolls the page; two fingers move the map. Pins are our own positions. Map OpenFreeMap, © OpenMapTiles, data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Photos of La Jolla Canyon

Symphurus atricauda 15454945
Photo: Michael Bear, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Chilara taylori
Photo: Helge Weissig, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Seals Focas
Near La Jolla Canyon. Photo: Leandro Neumann Ciuffo, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

More diving near here

2 places

About

the place in full, sources, credits

About La Jolla Canyon

A wall dive. It goes down to 30 m. You get in from the shore. It suits experienced divers only, as a dive guide states it. The coast faces NW: swell from the NW reaches it, and wind from the SE blows out to sea. No dive centre within 10 km, the nearest 11 km away. The sea is about 15°C in February, its coldest month (7 mm semi-dry or a drysuit), and 22°C in August, its warmest (5 mm wetsuit). The town to stay in is Del Mar. Within 5 km we also list 20 surf spots, 1 wind sports spot and 2 dive sites.

  • What it is Wall.
  • How deep Down to 30 m.
  • Getting in From the shore.
  • Who it suits Suits experienced divers only, as a dive guide states it.
  • Dive centres No dive centre within 10 km, the nearest 11 km away.

Water about 18°C: 7 mm wetsuit and hood. Typical sea temperature for the time of year, not a forecast.

Visibility under 5 m. Typical for the time of year, estimated from ten years of NASA satellite water clarity, not a forecast. Clearest in Jun, Jul, Sep, Oct and Dec (about 8 m).

The score is the conditions only: the journey, the price and the partners never change it (how we score, how we earn).

Rough cost (estimate): about US$926–US$1,720 each

about US$926–US$1,720 each · 6 nights, 2 sharing: flights, taxi, stay, food.

Our estimate from typical public prices, not a quote: check the real prices before you book (where they come from). Prices are about, in US Dollar (USD): our pound figures at the European Central Bank's rate of 2 November 2026.

How we worked it out 
Rough cost per person for this trip
WhatHow we worked it outEach
Flightsreturn MDW to SAN, estimated from distance and season, 1 airline on the route, with a hold bagabout US$248–US$517
Taxiairport and back, sharedabout US$34–US$60
Stay6 nights, a mid-range double, sharedabout US$302–US$503
Food7 days eating outabout US$342–US$637
Totalabout US$926–US$1,720

Guided dives are not priced yet: we have no sourced price, so it is not in it. Prices from public sources, checked in 2026.

Where to stay: Del Mar

Ad Links marked Ad may pay us if you book. You pay the same, and they never change a score. How we earn

Closest

Del Mar

about 20 min by car · 10 places to stay

about US$114/nightcountry average

See 10 places to stay in Del Mar · Booking.com

About Del Mar its beds, food and every spot near it

About US$114 a night is our estimate of the country's average 2-star double room that month: not each town's price, and not a quote. Drives are estimates. Prices are about, in US Dollar (USD): our pound figures at the European Central Bank's rate of 2 November 2026.

Getting there: about 6h 40m

About 6h 40m door to door from Chicago

Fly MDW → SAN, direct, then 35 min by road

An estimate, one way; the journey never changes the score.

In the water

Dive centres nearby

  • Ocean Enterprises 11 km

  • Spear Shack 12 km

  • North County Scuba Center 22 km

The nearest named dive centres and shops within 25 km, in a straight line; training agencies where the map states them. Listings, not a recommendation. Dive centres: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Credits

What you might see

Animals divers and surveys have recorded within 2 km of this site in the last 15 years. A record says someone saw it here, not that you will.

  • Zalophus californianusSeal or sea lion

    Seen in 8 records.

  • Austraeolis stearnsiNudibranch

    Seen in 4 records.

  • Sea bass Paralabrax clathratus

    Seen in 625 records, mostly Aug to Oct.

  • Rock wrasse Halichoeres semicinctus

    Seen in 445 records, mostly Aug to Sep.

  • California Spiny Lobster Panulirus interruptus

    Seen in 400 records, mostly Oct to Nov.

  • Bodianus pulcher

    Seen in 392 records, mostly Aug.

  • Oxyjulis californica

    Seen in 372 records, mostly Aug to Oct.

  • Garibaldi damselfish Hypsypops rubicundus

    Seen in 282 records, mostly Aug to Oct.

  • Red sea urchin Mesocentrotus franciscanus

    Seen in 226 records, mostly Oct to Nov.

  • Blacksmith Chromis punctipinnis

    Seen in 214 records, mostly Aug to Oct.

  • Purple sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus

    Seen in 169 records, mostly Oct to Nov.

  • Embiotoca jacksoni

    Seen in 128 records, mostly Aug to Oct.

Records: OBIS (Ocean Biodiversity Information System, IOC-UNESCO), from the datasets named here, CC0 and CC BY records only. Names: WoRMS, through OBIS; common names from Wikidata. Largest datasets here: PISCO swath transects; cfceb150-bbe2-4efb-8682-14cfc7167e7c; A photographically-vouchered global citizen science dataset of sea slugs (Mollusca: Heterobranchia) from the SEASLUG.WORLD platform since 2015; SOCAL KB04, FZN1, FZN2 Marine Mammal Aerial Monitoring 2011-2012; SOCAL FZN4 Marine Mammal Aerial Monitoring 2013. Credits

This week's visibility and the current no free forecast gives. Ask a dive centre before you book.

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