About Who's Been Here Photos Revisions Santa Cruz Wharf Santa Cruz, CA 95060 More Info Max Depth: 36-40ft/11-12m Average Viz: 5-10ft/2-3m Entry Type: Shore Bottom Composition: Sand Aquatic Life: Big Animals Rating: 2.67 by 3 divers 8/22/2009 4:48 PM

Santa Cruz Wharf is a shore accessible salt water dive site, located in Santa Cruz, CA 95060. This dive site has an average rating of 2.67 out of 5 from 3 scuba divers. The maximum depth is 36-40ft/11-12m. The average visibility is 5-10ft/2-3m.

Location: Santa Cruz, CA, near the Beach Boardwalk
Parking: Pay parking, rates vary by season.
Restrictions: Platform closed during winter.
Experience Level: Advanced due to limited visibility
Depth: 20-30 feet
Entry: Platform with ladder exit
Santa Cruz Wharf is one of those sites you have to visit regularly in order to be lucky enough to get good visibility. Visibility at the wharf is often less than 5 feet, but on calm days the visibility opens up to as much as 20 feet. This is rare, and 5-10 feet is the typical good day. Fortunately, you don’t need great visibility to see a lot here. Get right up to a piling, and you’ll see nudibranchs, stars, anemones, tunicates, chitons, and sponges. There’s also a lot of fish here, and on some dives you’ll be surrounded by huge schools of perch.
This is also a great spot for sea lions, although most here are large males. Be cautious about surface swimming under the wharf, as males are easily spooked of their resting spaces and into the water. Night dives can be spectacular here. Crabs, octopus, and loads of fish are plentiful at night. You’re also likely to draw a crowd of tourists as you prepare to make your dive.
Entries and exits are simple at this site. Near the end of the wharf and across from Stagnaro’s restaurant and fish market is a set of stairs leading to a boat landing. This landing has two ladders from which you can make a giant stride, and later your exit. This platform is closed during the winter when strong surf is present in the area.
My experience here has shown that the best dive is to begin at the boat landing and head towards the end of the wharf. Avoid the fishing line by staying under the wharf, but avoid diving too far into the wharf as light and visibility reduces as you travel farther into the wharf.
You’ll need to consult the tide tables to ensure the best possible conditions at this site. Santa Cruz is known for its very fine sand that stirs up easily, and tidal changes are usually enough to reduce visibility significantly. I’ve found that the best diving is just before high tide, and better yet, a high tide that follows a relatively high low tide.
http://trainingspectrum.com/scuba/sites/scwharf.htm

Comments

GryphonArgent - 8/21/2016 9:13 PM Rating Added: 2 The stairs across from stagnaro’s were chained up when we went, so we went down across from the boat rental/jewelry place, who will keep your key if it’s not underwater friendly if you ask nicely enough. The boat launch tends to be populated by a few sea lions, who can be shoo’ed away with some noise and a fin, and weren’t aggressive (there is a sign allowing shoo-ing of sea lions for personal safety/boat launch). There is a local security/police guy who usually wants to know what you’re up to, but it’s just to make sure you’re all right and someone’s checking in on you. Vis when we went was abysmal, but we had had a few gear check hiccups so ended up in the water around 6:30 pm. previous poster wasn’t kidding, the tourist presence is strong and avid. Saw some spanish shawls, a few small fish, and various interesting debris from the pier, but not much of anything else, given that we could only see about six inches to a foot. In said vis, if you’re not used to navigating in low visibility with a compass, it might get interesting (and oh MAN was I glad to be comfortable with that). That said, I would LOVE to do this with vis of even 5 ft, I think it could be really interesting.

Otis24 - 4/02/2014 7:38 AM Rating Added: 2 For me Santa Cruz is closer to where I live than Monterey. There’s loads of sea life under the wharf. During the summer entry exit is pretty easy. The downside is the visibility isn’t always the best and make sure you check the water quality. This can be one of the most polluted beaches in CA after a heavy rain. Bring a light as it can be like a night dive under the wharf.