#SUBMARINE CANYON PLUS#

Here the rocks drop off quickly to 20 feet and then moderately to 45 feet at the tip of the jetty where they make contact with the submarine canyon slope of sand and mud. The choice is yours.įor many divers the main event is the rocky jetty that extends outward along the mouth of the harbor at Port Hueneme. But this is illegal and divers have been cited even arrested. The third choice for entry is into the calm waters inside the jetty.

#SUBMARINE CANYON PLUS#

The cove faces directly into the prevailing surf and the water is shallow, so surf can be just as much as a problem here as off the rocks, plus it is a long swim to the canyon. A second choice is to enter the small cove created by the La Jennelle extension of the jetty. Once there, check it out carefully before donning your gear and heading for the water. Always check out the surf report online before heading for the beach. Surf has to be small to make this rock entry and exit. The first and most commonly used is directly off the northwest side of the jetty. You have three choices for water entry, but one is illegal. Without a 4-wheel drive, you have to hoof it from the parking lot but it is a short walk. This will take you right down to the entry point. If you have a 4-wheel drive, you can continue across the sand parallel to the fence that divides the public beach area from the Navy CB (Sea Bee) base. The rocky jetty is to the south of the parking lot. Gate to the parking lot closes promptly at sunset. Sometimes the short road to the parking lot and the parking lot is closed due to blowing sand so you may have to park on the street and walk further. There is a small parking lot at the beach park but no facilities.

Any underwater features of the wreck are in shallow churning waters and not worth exploring. Only a small portion of the wreck is visible today and most of that from the surface. Impossible to remove from the beach, the superstructure was removed and the hull filled in with rocks extending the jetty to the northwest. The park gets its name from passenger liner La Jennelle that ran around in 1970 and floundered. Entrance to the park is at the intersection of Sawtelle and Ocean Drive. While not as interesting as the La Jolla, Redondo and Point Dume Submarine Canyons, the deep drop at Port Hueneme definitely has its strengths as a dive site, mainly the nearby reef and pismo clam beds.įor your beach entry you will be heading to La Jennelle Park at the north jetty of Port Hueneme. They are located at, from south to north, La Jolla, Newport, Redondo, Point Dume and Hueneme. Upwelling brings cold nutrient rich waters close to shore that in turn support unique ecosystems quite different than the typical Southern California reef and kelp forest.Īlong the Southern California coastline, there are a total of five submarine canyons that are close enough to the mainland to make them easy beach dives. For us underwater explorers, they make excellent dives for the interesting animals and excellent deepwater training. They serve mainly to act as transport corridors for sand and sediment to find its way down the continental shelf as longshore currents push the sand along the beaches. Submarine canyons are fascinating geological structures that are gashes in the continental shelf that bring deep water and its creatures close to shore.