The Dive Bell · Bell No. 1 · Southern California

Laguna Beach dive conditions

As of Tuesday 6:00pm, the best window this week is Thu dawn, 5.4 of 10 - marginal, held back by swell.

A quiet week. Quiet since it was cast on August 11, 2026: 91 days without a ring.

Right now

Water, measured

75F

Newport Pier, 15.2 km away, this hour · the bell wants 62F or warmer

Turbidity, measured

0.3 NTU · very low

particles in the water at Newport Pier, 15.2 km away, this hour · the day's median 0.4 · a measurement, not a visibility promise

Buoy, right now

3.9 ft @ 13.0 s

from 268° · 24 min ago

Tide

0.5 ft rising

high 3.6 at 10:30pm

Satellite clarity

clear

Kd490 0.056, 14 days old · a witness, not a forecast

Dry spell

72 h+

the gate wants 72 hours without rain

Plankton

blue

chlorophyll 0.3 mg/m³ by satellite · green water is plankton

Plankton, measured

blue

chlorophyll 0.5 ug/L at Newport Pier · green water is plankton

Buoy vs model

0.93x

the buoy reads 7% lower than the model this week

Moon

new · 2%

full in 14 days · new in 28

The water index

Thu dawn - this bell's best window this week, scored on its own water.

The week, scored

Each window is scored 1 to 10 for this water alone; 7 is worth the drive. The bell rings only when every condition aligns and holds across two readings.

Wed dawn4.7

swell 2.7 ft @ 9.4 s from 277° · wind 2.2 kn · tide 4.1 ft ↑ · cloud 1% · first light 5:49am · sun up 6:19am

held back by swell · Fisherman's Cove

Wed dusk4.7

swell 2.7 ft @ 9.7 s from 278° · wind 6.4 kn · tide 0.6 ft ↓ · cloud 6% · sun down 4:50pm

held back by swell · Shaw's Cove

Thu dawn5.4

swell 2.4 ft @ 9.3 s from 277° · wind 2.1 kn · tide 3.8 ft ↑ · cloud 27% · first light 5:50am · sun up 6:20am

held back by swell · Fisherman's Cove

Thu dusk5.1

swell 2.5 ft @ 9.9 s from 279° · wind 7.8 kn · tide 1.3 ft ↓ · cloud 42% · sun down 4:50pm

held back by swell · Shaw's Cove

Fri dawn3.9

swell 3.3 ft @ 11.4 s from 279° · wind 8.6 kn · tide 3.5 ft ↑ · cloud 95% · first light 5:50am · sun up 6:20am

held back by swell · Fisherman's Cove

Fri dusk2.4

swell 3.5 ft @ 10.6 s from 277° · wind 9.5 kn · tide 2.2 ft ↓ · cloud 81% · sun down 4:49pm

held back by swell · Shaw's Cove

Sat dawn1.0

swell 3.9 ft @ 11.2 s from 278° · wind 10.4 kn · tide 3.4 ft ↑ · cloud 100% · first light 5:51am · sun up 6:21am

held back by rain · Fisherman's Cove

Sat dusk1.0

swell 6.4 ft @ 10.2 s from 275° · wind 9.7 kn · tide 2.9 ft ↓ · cloud 53% · sun down 4:48pm

held back by rain · Fisherman's Cove

Sun dawn1.0

swell 5.0 ft @ 10.5 s from 277° · wind 2.9 kn · tide 3.4 ft ↑ · cloud 100% · first light 5:52am · sun up 6:22am

held back by rain · Fisherman's Cove

Sun dusk1.0

swell 4.1 ft @ 10.3 s from 278° · wind 8.2 kn · tide 3.4 ft ↓ · cloud 77% · sun down 4:48pm

held back by rain · Fisherman's Cove

Mon dawn1.6

swell 3.1 ft @ 8.9 s from 277° · wind 3.7 kn · tide 3.5 ft ↓ · cloud 94% · first light 5:53am · sun up 6:23am

held back by rain · Fisherman's Cove

Mon dusk3.0

swell 3.3 ft @ 11.8 s from 284° · wind 8.5 kn · tide 3.8 ft ↓ · cloud 89% · sun down 4:47pm

held back by rain · Fisherman's Cove

Tue dawn1.0

swell 3.9 ft @ 5.7 s from 273° · wind 3.2 kn · tide 3.8 ft ↓ · cloud 5% · first light 5:54am · sun up 6:24am

held back by rain · Fisherman's Cove

Tue dusk1.0

swell 4.4 ft @ 9.3 s from 278° · wind 13.3 kn · tide 3.9 ft ↓ · cloud 0% · sun down 4:47pm

held back by rain · Fisherman's Cove

Lights, left to right: flat · glass · dry · sun · warm. All five, held across two readings, and the bell rings.

The tide

Three days, from the same predictions the forecast reads. Shaded: the dawn and dusk windows.

Water temperature

The weather model's sea-surface temperature: four days past, three ahead (dotted), today marked. Where a pier or NOAA station measures the water, that reading is the card under Right now.

The water, mapped

Gold: the coves the bell names this week. Filled: placed where USGS place names and OpenStreetMap agree; hollow: one source. Blue: the instruments this bell reads, with their distance. The arrow: the week's best swell, arriving from its direction. Not drawn, because no public source places them: Fisherman's Cove, Cleo Street barge.

The coves

Crescent Bay
30 ft · sand walk-in; deep channel mid-beach · Seal Rock reef on the north end; longest swim to structure
Shaw's Covenamed this week
20 ft · stairs to sand; easy walk-in · most protected cove; west reef crevice at mid-high tide
Divers Covenamed this week
25 ft · sand walk-in between reefs · short swim to kelp; garibaldi central
Fisherman's Covenamed this weekrang here September 16, 2026
20 ft · narrow sand channel between rock shelves · channel gets shallow and grabby at low tide · best at mid-high tide
Picnic Beach (Heisler)
15 ft · rocky shelf; ankle-twister at low tide · best structure close in; enter north of the point · best at high tide
Wood's Cove
25 ft · stairs; rock outcrops both sides · boulder field holds fish; watch the shorebreak slot · best at mid tide
Cleo Street barge
25 ft · sand entry, ~150 yd surface swim · barge wreck ~25 ft; calm days only, mind the swim

The instruments

buoy 46253, tide station 9410580, water 75F now (the bell wants 62F or warmer).

When it rings: December mornings, mostly, after the Santa Anas have swept the sea flat. In its casting against years of this water, 24% of mornings reached 7. Rings since casting: 0.

Join this bell

Text LAGUNA to 833-858-2355

You get a text the rare morning this water is perfect, and the week's forecast every Wednesday. Text BELL ONLY for the ring alone, FORECAST for the week any time. Msg&data rates may apply. Reply STOP to leave.

The ledger

0 rings - 1 taken back before the morning.

Rang	Window	Cove	Promised	The morning	Verdict	Divers reported
September 16, 2026	dawn	Fisherman's Cove	7.3 · 1.9 ft @ 14.2 s · 4.4 kn · 74F · from the log	buoy 2.6 ft @ 18.0 s, wind 4.2 kn (modeled), dry, cloud 47% (modeled)	taken back	no word back yet

A diary until five rings; a score after. Every bell's record →