SWAMIS

Swami's Beach , 1298 First Street, is known far and wide for it's awesome surfing.  Forever immortilized in the Beach Boys' "Surfin' USA,"Swami's is of course, surfer's heaven.  The girls that hang out on boards and on the beach are scuba diver's heaven, and so is the divesite.  On a good day the big rocks, home to an abundance of sea critters, make this one of the very best dives in the hood.
 
 

You can get to Swamis from San Diego either taking 5 North or cruise up old coastal highway 1, beautiful drive along the beaches.  Before you enter Cardiff, there's a little park on the left side of the road, before you pass the self realization center with the fancy turrets.  A little sign says Swamis.  Park your car there.

When you walk down the stairs to the beach you'll see surfers to your right (north).  Prepare for a long swim my friend, you have to get behind them; that's where the good scuba is.  You should be on the same level as the white stairs that lead down to the water north of the stairs you came down.  The diving is in shallow water, around rocks that form nice ledges where garibaldi, sheephead, nudibranchs and panulirus interruptus roam with many others and feather boa kelp sways in the surge.  Visibility totally depends on the surge/surf.  If you see big waves, the viz probably goes to shits; on a moderately calm day, sun shining from above, you have a beautiful photo spot.  The ledges form little tunnels in some places that you can dive through, cool stuff.  Enjoy!

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Holk  6/30/2000