Revision 8/21/2009 8:47 PM
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Moss Street Point
 Laguna, CA |
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Another out-of-the-way dive spot to beat the crowds is at Moss Street Point. Although usually well protected throughout the year, this area offers a good challenge to the seasoned diver.
Make a right on Moss Street about 1.6 miles South of Broadway and Pacific Coast Highway in Laguna. The entrance is at the end of Moss.
Great dive, conditions permitting. Easy evaluation from top of stairs. Great tide pooling for non-divers or bad dive days. Good reefs for exploring. It CAN be surgy; NOT a dive on big surf days, but when it’s good, a VERY rewarding dive. Watch for rocks in surf zone.
This site has no facilities, a long stair case to the beach from the street parking with a fairly easy shore entry. There are lots of small submerged rocks so be careful if there is much wave action. We had about 2-4’ waves breaking when I dove this site but spaced a good time apart. We swam out and around the point of rocks in the picture and then straight out from there hitting bottom in about 30fsw. The reefs were full of life, even had a good sized bat ray visit us for a while we hunted. The surge was manageable until the bigger wave sets went through, then you had better be holding on to something or ready to fend of urchin covered rocks. Lot’s of sea urchins! my buddy ended up with 5 nasty punctures in his knee while being thrown around by the surge, right through his dry suit. Vis was 5-8’ not great but just fine for us Oregonians used to 0-3’ vis. Fun dive, lots to see, great reef structure, lots of animals
I wouldn’t suggest to anyone unless experienced in rough water entries and exits. This place can be calm or can have 4-6 surf in rapid strong patterns. Most of what people want to see is between 10-20ft. On a bad day the surf and surge can kick up sand and debris making visibility 5ft at best and the surge will knock you around like a heavy weight boxer. The overall enjoyment is good if you want to see plant life, but the fish tend to hide every time I have been there. If you can dive this locations on a bad day without incident (getting knocked over, losing equipment, etc) then you are doing great.
http://www.shorediving.com/Earth/USA_West/CalS/Moss_Street/index.htm