Another beautiful day here in La Jolla Shores!! Not a single cloud was spotted in the sky today and as temperatures hit high 80's I had trouble keeping my participants out of the water. Somehow we managed to do slightly over two miles of paddling past leapord sharks, soup fin sharks, garibaldi, and tons and tons of sea lions before finally allowing ourselves the luxury of a swim. We paddled all the way out to the kelp forest and dove among the 70 foot tall plants! We managed to make it into the cave today as well even with some pretty big waves. Luckily this intrepid group of paddlers was up for any challenge. Conditions look set to stay perfect and I hope to see you all out here in La Jolla before this perfect summer comes to an end!

-Gabe

Today was an absolutely wonderful day for kayaking here in La Jolla. I have been working as a guide with La Jolla Sea Cave Kayaks for about three months now, and today had some of the best conditions I have seen so far! As we paddled over the breaking waves at the kayak launch, we were able to look down and see tons of leopard sharks swimming around on the shallow sandy bottom. From there, we cruised over to the sea caves with minimal headwinds and calm glassy waters mimicking the conditions of a lake. Approaching the caves, we were able to see down to the rocky reef as if we were paddling in an aquarium among the Garibaldi and many other types of reef fish. The water was so calm at the caves, that it allowed us to paddle through Emerald Cove and enter into the famous Clam Cave via the "backdoor" entrance. On the way back from our cave excursion, we watched Sea Lions playing, Brown Pelicans and Brandt's Cormorants diving for fish, and even facilitated a couple special challenges for the guests to test their paddling and balancing skills. Landing back at the kayak launch was a breeze and our guests surfed the waves into shore like professionals. Cheers to all those who were fortunate enough to experience kayaking in La Jolla on a day like today, as it was one for the record books!

I hope to have you all join me on our next tour,
Austin Catevenis

No cave entry, but dolphins all day

Today due to the surf, we were not able to enter the Clam cave, but all tours saw Sea Lions and Dolphins which is pretty rare. We usually see them randomly, but today they cruised the beach! .
The take off  and landing at the Shores was very smooth and easy, no waves there.

Stand Up Paddleboards

NEW this season, we have 4 SUP in our rental fleet!
They are Jimmy Styks Ironhide 330 SUP, ideal for up to 225 lbs (recommended weight limit based on a beginner skill level).
Come and rent one, it is a great way to exercise while having a lot of fun!
Leg leash, paddle and life jacket provided.

Summer is back!

After a week of grey sky and big waves at the caves, finally today we are seeing sharks and rays, and we are able to enter the Clam Cave again! Today it feels like summer, and getting in the water feels really good :-)

Fantastic wildlife viewing today!

Today all tours so far got to see dozens of Soup Fin sharks, Leopard Sharks, a school of Bat Rays, and as usual plenty of Sea Lions, Garibaldis, Cormorants,... on the 1:20 PM they even saw a Green Sea Turtle!!! The visibility is really good, the sun finally appeared late morning, amazing.

June 1st: first SUMMER day!

The water is getting warmer, the sun is bright, the Leopard Sharks are easy to spot, the cave is accessible, the conditions are perfect, it is a great day to start a new month!  

Tons of sharks at the slide

The 1:20 PM tour saw lots of Leopard Sharks at the slide today.
It is overcast, a little bit windy, but they saw the sharks :-)  and they were able to enter the Clam Cave.

Kayak Stand Up!

If you are "up" to it, try to stand up in your kayak and paddle as if it was a stand up paddle board!
That's what the group did yesterday morning. The water is warm, 64 already, the air temp is about 70/72, summer is coming!
Guides: Daryl & Gabe
Pictures: Gabe

Clouds, Sun, Caves and a few sharks today!

Overall a bit windy today, but all tours were able to enter the Clam cave, a lot of Sea Lions are on the rocks, and the 9:20 AM tour had the chance to see a few Leopard sharks.
Early afternoon a Grey Whale was spotted about a mile off the Shores!  Bellow are a few pictures from the 9:20 AM tour with Cyril as a guide and Max to assist the take off. Photos by Gabe.

Cyril giving his paddle instraction

Max assisting the take off...

Prop for the picture! 

At the Slide looking for the Leopard Sharks

Paddling along the 7 sea caves.

The weather does not stop us

Rainy morning,  sunny mid-day, cloudy/sunny/windy afternoon, we got it all today, but all our paddlers on all tours had fun going to the caves. No cave entry though due to the waves, but a lot of Sea Lions on the rocks (some basking in the elusive sun, and some swimming around). Still a day worth kayaking and enjoy the Pacific Ocean!

Ziggy in training

This afternoon Ziggy our mascot got to join for a little while the 2:40 pm tour with Megan and Sean!
I must say that he was more excited playing with his ball in the sand than go kayaking. But he did pretty well for about 15 minutes, which is an improvement already. Caleb our youngest passenger enjoyed having him around :-) The group went into the Clam cave, but still didn't see any sharks even though the sun came out during the trip.

Not a good listener... too distracted by his ball.

Playing fetch after kayaking with Tanner

Earth Day or Ocean Day?

Today's "Earth Day", wait a minute, 71% of the earth surface is water covered, and the Oceans hold about 96% of all the Earth's water... so today should be OCEAN DAY!

A bit overcast on this special day, but Tanner on the 11:20 AM tour was able to go into the Clam cave with his tour and check the Sea Lions around it. 
Despite the good visibility (15 feet) and the calm winds at the Shores and the slide, they were not able to see the Leopard sharks unfortunately. But we know that they are around, and we can see them anytime!

Happy Birthday Tour

For Bob's birthday, his wife Alice and daughter Rachel treated him with a private kayaking tour to the caves with the option of having a photographer tagging along. Take off and landing were very easy, but the waves at the caves were pretty big, fun to watch though :-) We were able to see a few sharks in the shallow water at the slide and went to the kelp bed where we saw 2 dolphins from far away.

Happy Birthday Bob! Here with daughter Rachel.

Take off from La Jolla Shores

Looking for the Leopard Sharks are the Slide.

Leopard Shark.

Along the caves

In front of the Clam cave!!!

Kelp

Sea Lions and Dolphins

Last Thursday we saw Sea Lions (as usual) around  the caves and a couple of dolphins on our way back to the Shores. Though we couldn't enter the Clam cave due to the waves, we  raced and stood up in our kayaks, the water being about 62 degree Fahrenheit, it was a lot of fun with a great group!
Thank you Hans, Annette, Eva, Steve, Lorrie, and Ann Mathias Jonathan Erica.

Gabe demonstrating the paddle holding

Sea Lions at the Clam entrance

The Clam cave entrance, too shallow and rocky for a safe entry

Steve and Lorrie cruising by the Sea Lions and Cormorants

Sea Lions

Eva showing us how to stand up in a single kayak, well done Eva :-) !

First Leopard Sharks "encounter" for the 2015 season!

We opened April 1st for the 2015 season, and after a week of waves and wind, today on Cyril and Megan's tour at 2:40 pm, the group was able to see 7 Leopard Sharks, about 5 feet long, probably the first females coming in the shallow waters to give birth late May.
Though still a little bit windy, the conditions since yesterday improved a lot as all day today the tours were able to entry the cave, and there were a lot of Sea Lions on the rocks.