Flat Rock

Flat Rock, Palos Verde Peninsula

673 Paseo del Mar

TGNO: 792F4 GPS: 33.47.97N 118.24.59W or 33.795747N 118.407742W

WARNING: THIS IS AN ADVANCE DIVE SITE! The Entry, Exit and path to the site are all dangerous! Dive only in CALM conditions! This is a shallow dive in a rocky environment with wash rocks. The surge is beyond painful in waves as small as 3 feet!

Type of beach: Rocky

Facilities: None

Average Depth: 25 Feet (40 if you go way out) Lots of shallow waters here.

Parking: On Paseo Del Mar on the ocean side and on Via Almar. No parking on Paseo Del Mar after 9:00 PM! Watch the Parking/No Parking signs and their time limits if posted as parking is strictly enforced.

Directions. From Palo Verde Drive West and Via Almar take Via Almar to the intersection of Via Almar, Via Arroyo (road Malaga Cove) and Via Medina. Bear left (Via Medina will get you there too) on Via Almar West for 0.6 mile to Paseo del Mar. Turn left on Via del Mar and go up the hill for 78 yards. The large vacant field on the right at the curve in the road is the site. There is No Parking on Paseo del Mar after 9:00 PM. If you are going to be there after 9:00 PM park on Via Almar. Alternate Directions: Go to Haggarties or Malaga Cove and follow Paseo del Mar around to the south 78 yards past Via Almar.

Getting to the dive site: Start down the wide and maintained trail to the metal railing (See photo below) at the head of the trail out to Flat Rock. Here you will be turning off the main trail and taking the narrow and very steep trail down the 180 foot cliff. The trail is steeper at the bottom than the top, so if it looks bad at the top, it gets worse! This is a real cardio workout on the way back up after the dive too. In places you will be using what hand and toe holds you can find. On one side of the trail down the approximately 180 foot cliff there is a vertical drop (see photo above) on one side of the trail and the other side is not much better. The trail is subject to erosion and is not maintained. This trail is not for the faint of heart and requires a good degree of physical fitness to negotiate particularly after the dive. Alternate entry, you can continue on down the wide trail to the point visible in the right of the picture above and use the shorter trails there if surf conditions are good.

View of Flat Rock Trail from the top of the bluff. Note the abundance of rocks just under the surface in the shallow water.

Entry: After carefully working your way down the trail you have a choice of two entries. You can work your way to the north (really west) side of the point and "thread the needle" by making the narrow channel in the rocks. Do NOT attempt this entry at low tide. Note the rocks just at or under the surface in the picture below. The other entry is marked above as South entry/exit offers a little wider channel and a small fist size rock beach. On either entrance, carefully time your entrance into the very shallow water. You will have to move quickly to get past the surf zone and the water stays shallow for a ways. Note the coast line is protected by a series of wash rocks (see below photo) running parallel to the coast. Be careful to thread your way between them. In the photograph below you can see the narrow channel you are trying to negotiate. This dive requires lots of experience beach diving in rocky environments and should not be attempted without an experienced guide to show you the way. This dive site is a real good place to get hurt if the surf is up, or if you mistimed your entry or any of a dozen other things. The exit, like the entry requires excellent timing of the waves and exit site selection. Use caution to avoid getting slammed into the rocks. Advanced divers only.

For more photographs of the coast line see: http://www.californiacoastline.org/cgi-bin/image.cgi?image=4384&mode=sequential&flags=0

The Dive: Now that you have survived the climb down and the entry you will be rewarded with lots of broken rock reef structure separated by a sand bottom stretching out to the North west all the way to Haggarties and to the south east quite a ways. The nautical map below shows the shallow shelf and the rocky area. Be careful not to get too close to shore and get caught by the waves in shallow water. You may also find pockets of kelp here and lots of marine life.

The north channel entry is absolutely impossible at low tide You can also dive Northwards as the reef continues uninterrupted to Haggerties - as a shuttle dive - it is extremely pretty there. An alternate approach is to take the road down to the other rock outcropping (See Alternate site in picture above) and follow the much shorter trails to the shore there. On flattish days you can exit here and walk up the road rather than the trail. USE CAUTION and surface well away from the Rock itself as you can easily get washed into it! Soupfin sharks have been often spotted here in as little as 5 feet of water, and there are often sea lions on the wash rocks who will play with you. It is a lot of work but the dive will reward you.

DISCLAIMER: Dive site descriptions, while believed to be accurate are not guaranteed and should not be relied upon for making your dive decisions. Dive site conditions can and do change and each diver is responsible for making their own site survey to determine present conditions and the suitability of the site for diving. Every diver is responsible for their own diving decisions. This site is for the Advanced Beach Diver Only and should be considered dangerous.

Special Thanks to Dr. Don Sheppard and Ross Overstreet for their assistance with the dive site description.

Webpage designed by Melvin Pasley of Pasley Realty http://www.pasleyrealty.com/ March 23, 2004.