Annual Snorkeling Trip to La Jolla Cove

Having grown up in Southern California, I fell in love with snorkeling when I was a kid.  I probably snorkeled for the first time in Hawaii, but I didn’t fall in love with it until later when I was older and we went snorkeling at La Jolla Cove in San Diego.  La Jolla Cove is a protected marine reserve, so there are lots of fish to see.  The water is of course much colder than Hawaiian waters, but during the summer it is fine.

Snorkeling at the cove is what made me want to learn to SCUBA dive, and it has become a tradition to celebrate my birthday at the cove every year.  Since my birthday falls in July, the weather and water is perfect for snorkeling at that time.  This year for our trip, the water was nice, the visibility was good, the company was great, and we saw new animals.

I purchased a underwater camera that I found on sale at Amazon, and it worked great for our snorkeling trip.  The things that you see under water in southern California are much different from what you will see in tropical waters.  There is no coral here, but in its place you have kelp forests that are home to lots of animals.

This trip we saw an octopus in the rocks of the tidal area which was a first for my kids.  There were many Garibaldi (the bright orange fish) and other fish, and I saw a sting ray.  There was also a family of sea lions that were in and out of the water.  One year I saw a shark (not a big one), which was very cool.

My daughter is in love with snorkeling too, and now wants to learn to SCUBA dive, and this is the year that my son finally fell in love with it.  He went snorkeling for the first time in Hawaii when he was 5, and has not liked it ever since.  The year, at 11, he finally likes it.  His new found love of snorkeling made it the best birthday snorkeling trip ever (that and the octopus. I have been wanting to see an octopus there for years).