Farnsworth Bank (Catalina)
Catalina Island (offshore, west end) · near Avalon / Two Harbors · Los Angeles / SoCal
Scuba & Snorkel
At a glance
- Difficulty
- technical
- Depth
- 120
- Water temperature
- 55–68°F · 7mm or drysuit
- Best season
- Summer/fall on calm days only (exposed offshore)
Permits and booking
- Permit required
- No
- How the permit works
- No permit, but an ADVANCED/TECHNICAL offshore pinnacle on Catalina's exposed windward side — boat-access only, deep (60–120+ ft), often with current and swell. A no-take Marine Protected Area protecting the rare purple hydrocoral. Charter with experienced Catalina operators; not for novices.
What is here
- Marine life
- Rare purple hydrocoral · Giant black sea bass · Schooling pelagics · Deep pinnacle ecosystem
- Features
- California's famous purple hydrocoral · Deep offshore pinnacle · Advanced/technical conditions · Big-animal encounters
Worth knowing
- Certification required
- Yes
- Dogs
- Not permitted
- Good for a first timer
- No
Scuba & Snorkel detail
- Dive type
- scuba
- Entry
- boat
- Viz
- 40–100 ft
- Intl tip
- Boat-only, exposed, and deep — charter with an experienced Catalina operator and only on calm days. Advanced/technical certification and comfort with current strongly recommended. The purple hydrocoral is protected — look, don't touch. Combine with a Catalina liveaboard hitting multiple offshore sites. A trophy dive for experienced divers.
The guide
Farnsworth Bank is Catalina's legendary advanced dive — a series of offshore pinnacles on the island's exposed windward side, f…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Farnsworth Bank (Catalina) — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 33.345, -118.515