The Casino Point Underwater Park is located next to the world-famous Casino Building. First established in 1962, this park is the first nonprofit underwater park in the country (and maybe the world), and offers the best shore diving in California! To make entry and exit in and out of the water as easy as possible, there are cement stairs with handrails. The Park is about 2.5 acres in size, which means it is large enough to do several dives without traversing over the same areas. The Park’s boundaries are clearly marked with a line of buoys to keep boats and divers away from one another. The diverse under-sea world at the Underwater Park offers both beginner and expert divers a dive experience like no other area

Scuba diving and snorkeling enthusiasts who come to enjoy clear waters and abundant sea life find it free of mainland pollution and surf. The depth ranges from the rocky shoreline to 95 feet deep. Primarily the park consists of the fastest growing plant in the world, Giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera).

Casino Point Dive Park Catalina Island

• Download royalty-free Avalon Bay Catalina Casino Point. Catalina, Avalon Bay on Santa Catalina Island off the coast of California. Stock photo 428427916 from Depositphotos collection of millions of premium high-resolution stock photos, vector images and illustrations.
• Casino Point on Catalina Island is one of the most-loved shore dives in Southern California. It offers many conveniences for divers including a nearby cafe, benches, bathrooms, and stairs for easy entry and exit. The water temps are some of the warmest in Southern California, around 13°C/55°F in winter and 23°C/74°F in September and October.
• If you have friends visiting from out of town that would enjoy a quick look at what Southern California diving has to offer, consider a trip to Catalina’s Avalon Underwater Park. You’ll find a lush kelp forest, mini-walls, pinnacles, sand flats, even a few small wrecks, and an abundance of marine life. It’ a “sampler platter” of California Channel Islands diving.

The Casino Point Dive Park, off Casino Point, is a justly popular dive spot; look for spiny lobsters and harmless horn sharks. For a fun alternative that’s great for adventurous kids ages eight and up, head to Avalon’s Descanso Beach to check out the watery world with a guided SNUBA tour.

The park's bottom contour reveals rock walls and outcroppings, boulders, pinnacles and a sandy seafloor on its outer edges, which is truly representative of Catalina Island's different characteristics.

Catalina Island Weather

Water temperature ranges from 70-74 degrees in the summer to 55-59 degrees in winter, with September to mid-October being the warmest. It’s not uncommon to enjoy 100’ visibility in the late summer to early fall.

Because of strict local laws prohibiting taking of game or salvaging artifacts, the park has become a home for a large variety of marine life. Plant life of all colors abounds, from the Giant kelp to the smallest algae. Living within the rocky reef are lobsters, abalone, octopus, small fish and moray eels, including our friendly 'Fang'. Numerous mollusks and nudibranchs also make their homes on the reef.

Swimming freely in the kelp forest are Kelp bass, Senorita fish, Sheephead, Opaleye, Blacksmith and our state marine fish, the Garibaldi. Where the rocky reef ends, the sandy bottom begins. Scuba divers may find angel sharks, bat rays, banded guitar fish and halibut. Numerous wrecks are also found in the sandy areas, which have become home to many types of marine life.

Casino Point has become a mecca to scuba divers and snorkelers worldwide.