Dive Santa Barbara

For over three decades, Dive Santa Barbara has been the go-to dive shop for California divers exploring the Channel Islands. Founded more than 39 years ago as a local PADI Dive Center, this Santa Barbara institution sits right on the waterfront, next to the public boat ramp in Santa Barbara Harbor.

Courses, gear and local diving

With three PADI Instructors on hand, the centre offers PADI scuba diving and snorkelling instruction alongside a large inventory of scuba essentials. Services cover air fills, equipment sales, and rentals for scuba, kids' and travel gear, so divers can arrive with everything they need close at hand.

Local diving centres on Butterfly Beach, where the waters host an impressive spread of marine life — sharks and rays, whales, turtles, eels, molluscs and crustaceans, corals, anemones and plenty of ocean fish. A retail shop, dive boat, food and drinks, and on-site parking round out the facilities. English is spoken, making this a welcoming, all-in-one base for divers heading out to the Channel Islands.