| At the southern-most tip of the USA is beautiful San | | | | The latest addition is the 366-foot Canadian |
| Diego, California -- my home town and a playground | | | | destroyer Yukon, which was intentionally sunk here in |
| for every water sport from skiing, sailing and surfing | | | | about 100 feet of water during the year 2000. The |
| to fishing, snorkeling and scuba diving. | | | | Yukon still has years to go before it can compete |
| As a scuba diver you'll find an exciting variety of | | | | with its older companions as a showpiece of densely |
| marine life in Wreck Alley, in various kelp forests and | | | | populated cover. |
| in La Jolla's massive underwater park. | | | | The Ruby E, a 170-foot Coast Guard cutter resting in |
| The park combines La Jolla Submarine Canyon and | | | | about 70 feet of water, was covered bow to stern |
| Scripps Canyon, an underwater treasure of marine | | | | with brilliantly colored Corynactis Californica anemones |
| life including some of the more bizarre creatures | | | | only a few years ago. But being one of the most |
| among us. | | | | beautiful sights for scuba divers' eyes brought so |
| The valley of this huge canyon system is about 1600 | | | | much scuba diving traffic that some of the life has |
| feet down. Its steep walls rise into two branches | | | | disappeared. Yet you can still drift through the |
| just made for convenient scuba diving access from | | | | wheelhouse and be absolutely dazzled by thick |
| the beach at either the La Jolla Cove or La Jolla | | | | growths in a stunning array of colors. Be sure to bring |
| Shores. | | | | a light. |
| At the La Jolla Shores side you can start at the foot | | | | Then there's the kelp cutter Del Rey and several |
| of Valicitos Street and swim to the buoys that mark | | | | smaller wrecks, all with much more growth than the |
| the canyon's upper reaches. Better be pretty skilled | | | | others because of lighter scuba diving traffic. |
| at swimming in surf. Otherwise, take a scuba diving | | | | Now if you want to feel like you're on an underwater |
| charter boat out of Mission Bay. | | | | highway, be sure to visit the Ingraham Street Bridge |
| By the time you've descended to about 30 feet you'll | | | | at about 60 feet down. It was demolished and |
| be at the Scripps Canyon rim and its precipitous, | | | | dumped here in the '50s or '60s to make way for a |
| narrow walls that plunge ever deeper toward the | | | | new bridge in Mission Bay Aquatic Park. Now with |
| abyss. Be very careful here because the dropoff is | | | | some 50 years of cover it has become more like a |
| nearly vertical at some points, often involving | | | | natural reef with abundant growths of kelp, fans and |
| overhanging walls. | | | | algae, great colonies of filter feeders and all the |
| Visibility is good but variable due to upwellings and | | | | marine life that comes to nibble. |
| occasional strong currents. Winter water temperature | | | | Finally, there's NOSC Tower, thanks to a 20-foot |
| is in the 50s; summer water gets up to the high 60s | | | | wave that dealt a fatal blow in the dark of one 1988 |
| and sometimes low 70s. | | | | winter night. For three decades the NOSC Tower had |
| Scuba divers and scientists alike have made the La | | | | served as a research platform off Mission Beach for |
| Jolla and Scripps Canyons one of the most-studied | | | | the Naval Electronics Lab and the Naval Ocean |
| undersea environments in the world. You can see the | | | | Systems Center. Now it's a twisted mass of steel |
| prestigious Scripps Institution of Oceanography and | | | | covered with anemones, mussels and star for |
| pier from any point along the La Jolla coastline. La | | | | fabulous scuba diving in a world of stunning color. |
| Jolla Canyon's fan valley was the site of the world's | | | | Bring a light for the show and a sharp knife for the |
| first deep oceanic drillings, where core samples were | | | | fishing line and rope that you're likely to find. |
| retrieved from thousands of feet below the sea | | | | Bring your camera too, of course, for a great |
| floor in 1961. | | | | photography dive. Visibility averages 15-25 feet and |
| 15 minutes south of La Jolla is Wreck Alley, about a | | | | by the way, hunting is not wanted here. |
| mile off Mission Beach. Here you can explore artificial | | | | You can reach this great scuba location on such |
| reefs created by eight sunken ships and a couple of | | | | Mission Bay charter boats as Blue Escape |
| unlikely structures that got there by both accident | | | | (619-223-3483), Dive Connection (619-523-9282) and |
| and intent. | | | | DiveQuest (800-303-3483). |