Samba and LMC are the warning signs that come before a freediver passes out. How to recognize them, what they mean, and what every spearfisher and buddy needs to know.

A boat anchor that drags during a dive ruins the day. A boat anchor that hooks rocks and refuses to come up ends the day. Here is the setup for each California bottom type.

If you tried to dive the Southern California coast in the last week of July, you already know: a run of big south swells stirred the bottom and blew the inshore visibility to pieces right when the summer bloom had finally started to settle. That's not bad luck — it's the season. Late summer is Eastern Pacific hurricane season, and distant tropical systems off Baja and mainland Mexico fire long-period south swells straight at our coast for weeks at a time. Here's the fix.

If you have spent any time diving the rocky reefs and kelp beds of California, you have almost certainly encountered a cabezon. With their massive heads, fleshy skin flaps, and mottled coloring that ranges from deep red to olive green, cabezon (Scorpaenichthys marmoratus) are not winning any beauty contests. But what they lack in looks, they more than make up for in table quality. Cabezon are one of the best-eating fish in California waters, with firm, sweet white meat that r

California's giant sea bass can top 500 pounds and live for decades, and this protected gentle giant is strictly look-don't-touch. Here's where to encounter one, how to behave, and how divers can help its remarkable comeback.

August is the warmest month of the year in California waters — and, in a normal year, the tail end of the peak plankton bloom. But 2026 has been anything but normal. After an early June bloom and a persistent marine heatwave that defined July, August arrives with the surface as warm as it will get all year and the coastal murk finally starting to ease.

If June 2026 was the month the bloom ambushed California six weeks early, July was the month divers learned to live with it. The plankton didn't vanish — but a persistent marine heatwave, a warm surface lens, and a reliable afternoon clearing pattern gave patient divers real windows. This is what actually happened in the water in July, region by region, grounded in dozens of in-water reports and the offshore intel that shaped the month.

Shore divers in California deal with surf zones every dive. Here is how to enter through breaking waves and exit without getting tumbled.