Scuba diving in Avalon

Avalon is the front door to Catalina Island diving, and it holds one of the easiest world-class dives anywhere: the Casino Point Dive Park, a marine protected area at the foot of Avalon's landmark Casino building. Giant kelp grows right off the steps, visibility regularly beats anything on the mainland, and the resident fish are so used to divers that bright-orange Garibaldi will meet you at the entry. Operators in town run everything from guided park dives to boat trips along Catalina's protected lee shore.

The signature dives

Casino Point itself is the anchor — a stairway entry into 20–95 ft of kelp forest, small wrecks, and swim-through rock reef, all inside a no-take reserve. The payoff species is the giant black sea bass: several-hundred-pound gentle giants that cruise the kelp in summer and early fall. Beyond the park, boat and guided trips work the island's lee — kelp walls, bat rays over sand flats, moray eels and two-spot octopus in the rock, and sea lions that buzz safety stops. Night dives in the park are a staple, when the lobster and octopus come out.

Conditions and season

Catalina is a year-round destination. Water runs from the high 50s °F in late winter to the low 70s in late summer; most divers wear a 7 mm suit, with locals in drysuits through winter. Visibility is the island's calling card — 40–60 ft is normal in the park and it can stretch further in fall, when conditions are typically at their best. Surge is modest inside Avalon's protected corner even when the outer coast is rough.

Good to know

The dive park is shore-accessible, so certified divers can dive it without a boat — local shops handle tanks, weights, and guided intros, and try-dives for the uncertified run right in the park. It is a reserve: take nothing, touch nothing, and mind the boat lanes at the surface. Summer weekends get busy on the stairs; early starts beat both the crowd and the afternoon cross-channel ferry rush.