Reef Point is the part of the area between Corona Del Mar and Laguna Beach. This area is part of the Crystal Cove State Park. Being a California State park, it has all the amenities of a State park, including showers, good beach access and various regulations on what can be "Taken" as game, know the rules!! Parking fees are handled at the gate and current pricing is $15 for the day. Park closes at dusk, so don't plan a night dive here. From time to time the State of California will OPEN this area for Lobster diving at night, so it is wise to either go to their web site or stop by the gate to find out when the next "Open night" will be.Also, if you come here via a boat, or are in "Really good" shape. There's a reef BEYOND the end of the Rocks from the "Step access area", it is called "Hatchet Reef". It gets it's name from the rock formations (In around 55-60 feet of water), the rocks "Look" as though someone has sliced them with a hatchet, big slices going on about a 30-45 degree angle from top to bottom. Each of these formations are 20-30 feet in height and the tops are in about 15-20 feet of water. This is a very good place during "Bug season" and photography is very good here. There is ONE word of caution though, "Weekend boaters". For some strange reason, boaters see the "Diver down" flag and drive their boats at "Full speed" right to where divers are. It is common to hear boats "Go over" your head while diving here. It is a VERY good idea to "Know" where your anchor is at and attempt to "Come up" your anchor line. It is very dangerous to surface more than 100 yards from your boat, because these "Weekend boaters" will NOT see you in the water. If this happens to you, consider having enough "Extra air" to take a "quick compass reading" and going back down and return to the boat u/w. Another "Word to the wise" here... |
Fast Facts: Parking: $15 for all day, closes at dusk, so be out of there by then. Structure: Rock with all different types of kelp. Precautions: Surf & surge. Avoid this area when surf is up. Experience levels: ALL levels, as conditions permit. After Diving spots: There is a small "Shake shack" going back towards Cororna Del Mar, but nothing near this area. Go to Laguna or CDM for eats/drink. Bring a camera for pictures.
|
|---|
| Here is a picture from the Ocean side showing the "Ramp" down to the water and that "Roof" on top of the hill is one of the restrooms. Up on top is the Parking area, there is also another Restroom area and some stairs near there. There are lifeguards on the beach from Spring through Fall and it is also a safe place to bring the kids. |
|
|---|
Diving here varies, and so does the SURF, make sure when you go there that the surf is low, because VIZ will be directly effected by the surf. The best entries are from the "Ramp" side where the surf zone is mainly sand with the occassional "Rock" rather than "Rock" with occassional sand, which is what the "Stairs" side is like. But when the surf is down and the VIZ is good, this place is an Underwater Photographer's Paradise. There is just SO much to see. After entering the water on the ramp side, head over to the RIGHT (Facing away from the beach) and stay in the 15-30 foot depth range. You wil see schooling fish, Bat Rays galore, Lobsters, Scallops (Protected here), all kinds of Sea Fans and Nudibranches. Also staying at these depths will get you some very good bottom time, 1 1/2 hours is not unusual. Generally, we usually start heading back to where we started at about 1000 lbs of air, but you might actually get bored by then because of all the things you've seen, or you could get cold being underwater so long, either way, dive within your limits.
AVOID Reef Point when there is surf, anything higher than 2-3 foot can be dangerous and the VIZ won't be worth it either. I dove here once and saw a 4-6 Mako Shark when the VIZ was 0-5 feet, so plan accordingly.
| While we were here on this day in a boat, we had some visitors, this first picture shows only one of a full pod of Dolphins, they must have been feeding, because they would "Tail Slap" the water from time to time. Check out the MPG of it, it lasts about 15 seconds, so it isn't too large. But what I find is really amazing is how close to shore they were. It was a "Great show" for all of us. |
|
|---|
|
And there were "Jelly's" all over also. We haven't seen Jelly's much in the last few years, it was good to see 'em back in our waters. |
|---|
     |
|---|