California has long been known for its ambiance of ongoing fun and party atmosphere. The beaches are filled with revelers playing volleyball, bathing beauties sunbathing, children building sand castles, skimboarders riding receding waters and surfers hanging ten on the Pacific curls. Jet skis accelerate to and fro, catamarans race the wind, coastal cruisers travel with full sails and many just soak in the cool brine.

California saw the beginning of recreational scuba diving in America, hosted the first dive shops and diving has become a passion for many and a family activity that permanently bonds the participants. Diving along the California coast and at the offshore islands offers divers a diversity of habitat and a multitude of marine life. Although the water is cold the year around, California has one of the largest populations of divers in the country.

San Diego has an endless variety of dive sites with towering kelp forests, plunging canyons and graveyards of shipwrecks. Charter dive boats set out from San Diego for the Channel Islands and destinations in Mexican waters. Underwater hunters and bluewater spearfishermen harvest sea bass, tuna, lobsters, clams, abalone and scallops from the rich coastal waters for family feasts and clam bakes.