Santa Barbara — Mesa Lane & the Reefs
Santa Barbara · near Santa Barbara · Central Coast
Scuba & Snorkel
At a glance
- Difficulty
- intermediate
- Depth
- 40
- Water temperature
- 56–68°F · 5–7mm wetsuit
- Best season
- Summer/fall calm days
Permits and booking
- Permit required
- No
- How the permit works
- No permit. Mesa Lane / Santa Barbara mainland reefs — street parking, stairs to the beach (Mesa Lane's famous 'Thousand Steps'). Rocky reef diving/snorkeling on calm days; the Santa Barbara Channel's protected south-facing coast is often calmer than points north. Check swell.
What is here
- Marine life
- Kelp reef & rocky ledges · Garibaldi, sheephead, bass · Lobster & octopus · Rays over the sand
- Features
- South-facing, often-calm channel coast · Kelp reef & ledges · Gateway to the Channel Islands · Beach-town convenience
Worth knowing
- Certification required
- No
- Dogs
- Not permitted
- Good for a first timer
- No
Scuba & Snorkel detail
- Dive type
- scuba · snorkel
- Entry
- shore
- Viz
- 10–30 ft
- Intl tip
- Mesa Lane's 'Thousand Steps' is the classic access (street parking, then stairs). The south-facing channel coast is often calmer than points north. Santa Barbara Harbor is the gateway for Channel Islands dive charters. Combine a mainland shore dive with an island boat trip. Best on calm summer/fall mornings.
The guide
Santa Barbara's mainland reefs offer accessible kelp-reef diving along one of California's few south-facing coastlines — a orie…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Santa Barbara — Mesa Lane & the Reefs — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 34.4, -119.72