La Jolla Canyon is a staple of San Diego shore diving - it is easily accessibly by shore and makes a great day and night dive. In fact, most of the divers getting certified in San Diego complete their certification dives at La Jolla Shores. After this introduction, most divers will begin to explore the submarine canyon with its sandy slopes and vertical walls. However, during the winter storms of late 2006 and early 2007, there was significant shifts of the sands all along the San Diego coast line and this was very evident when visiting the San Diego beaches after these storms passed. These massive sand shifts also occurred underwater and dramatically changed the way La Jolla Canyon appears. These changes came with some signifcant damage and the power of these winter storms was clear by the relocation of the Cabezon Cruiser from 130 fsw to 165 fsw. Additionallly, very little life was observed after these storms, especially the invertebrates which usually cling to the hard clay and rock substrates for growth. Fortunately, marine life is very resilient and we expect that much growth will return quickly - and in more abundance due to the exposure of significantly more surface area of favorable growth medium, the hard rocks and clay. Dives in late January and February have already shown that the fish and some invertebrates have returned to claim parts of the canyon as their home.

To the right are two videos taken by Roger Bly of the LJ Canyon surveys which he conducted. The first video, taken in January 21, 2007, shows the canyon terrain from Vallecitos Point to the North Wall. The second video are highlights from a second survey done on February 4, 2007 of the canyon from the Main Life Guard Tower, heading south to Wheeler's Point. These videos have been adjusted to fit our website, but you can see the full version, shot in 1080i HDV at Roger's website.