Diving from Malibu Beaches

Cliffs and beach on the east side of Pt. Dume, called Big Dume Beach, accessible from adjacent beaches or by trail from the cliff top. The reefs in the water are excellent for free or scuba diving.

Diving is available from Malibu's beaches as a year round activity. Both free diving and Scuba are enjoyed by many divers who like the Malibu area for its relaxed, almost rural atmosphere, and many opportunities for after-dive entertainment.

There is one dive shop in Malibu and other shops that carry some dive gear. Malibu Divers was founded in 1969 by Mike Bright, a now legendary Southern California waterman and Olympic athlete, and is still in its original location, 21231 Pacific Coast Hwy. In 1974, Mike hired Lynn Freeman to teach scuba classes at Malibu Divers. Lynn purchased the store from Mike in 1979. In 1992, Lynn sold Malibu Divers to its current owner (and then Director of Training) Carter Crary.

While access to the shore line can be a problem in some areas (due to homeowner's restrictions) generally you can get to your objective. Latigo Point, just south of Paradise Cove, is reputed to have some of the best diving in the Malibu area.

What's in the water off Malibu?

Malibu's waters deepen slowly and have much in common with the rest of the California coast, cool to cold temperatures and an astonishing variety of life. There tend to be reefs and rocks galore as well as exceptional sights such as the wintertime migration of the humpback and California gray whales between their Baja calving lagoons to the Bering Sea.

You will generally encounter some combination of sea otters, rays, small sharks, and multiple varieties of fish of all sizes including schools of iridescent bait fish, as you move through the sea grass and kelp beds and over the rock ledges covered with algae, sea urchins, sea anemones, sea cucumbers, snails and a variety of other marine organisms.

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