Malibu - Leo Carrillo

Leo Carrillo is one of my favorite beaches in the LA area. It is beautiful, natural, has facilities, and isn't as crowded as other beaches I imagine partly due to the $12 state park fee to enter. You can also park almost on the beach, suit up and walk down a small slope to the sand and walk across the beck to the water making it one of the easiest shore dives to access in the LA area. The kelp beds are also very close to the shore. The kelp is thick and the rocky reef areas are in shallow water so this is a good place for new divers to learn Cally shore diving. Surf can be a problem here though and the viz is usually not as good as other spots. But who needs more than five feet of viz when the kelp starts in about 13fsw? We usually park close to the lifeguard tower on the north beach by the bathroom and enter there. All the usual critters and sometime larger stuff like sharks and seals. I always see pods of dolphin without fail on the surface beyond the kelp beds here. Watch your ankles on the small slope leading to the beach. A recent storm has eroded it a bit so it isn't as friendly as it was. It is also a great spot for bubble watchers, kids, and the north beach allows dogs as well. Our last dive on the 4th of July we had 69f, 20ft max, and surf from 1-3 ft breaking pretty shallow. Enjoy!

I enjoyed the dive very much. The entry was straight forward (we had a shore break sloping bottom) and the swim offered a near shore kelp bed or a bit farther out to a second kelp bed. Viz was modest to low in some spots. Animal life in addition to the other review included octopus, sea hares, senoritas, small kelp bass and plentiful anemone. The kelp was lovely, the rocky reef was expansive and included gorgonians. We found depths from the mid 40s up to the mid 20s.

Drive right up. Easy walk to the waters edge. There's loads of grass, starfish, sea cucumbers, a seal, some fish, waves, surfers, some rock, and a lifeguard. Malibu Dive Shop is right down the road.