Franko’s Map of San Diego County Coast

Side 1 of Franko’s Map of San Diego County Coast shows the viewer right away that San Diego is a World class dive destination, as nearly every noteworthy scuba and snorkeling in the Southern half of the county are shown and described. This includes several of the wrecks in famous Wreck Alley, such as the port-side-down Yukon, the strawberry anemone-covered Ruby E., the decaying El Rey, the toppled NOSC Tower, and the chunks of remains of the Ingraham St. Bridge, all of which are shown in a Mission Bay/Wreck Alley inset. Similarly, an inset of the La Jolla area shows a dozen dive sites there. The rapidly descending La Jolla Canyon, and the near-vertical Scripps Canyon are also shown in deepening blues, which were made with NOAA bathymetry data, plus data from Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Dive sites aplenty include Scripps Canyon, Marine Room, La Jolla Shores, La Jolla Canyon, Goldfish Point, La Jolla Cove, Boomer Beach, Quast Hole and others. The coast from Del Mar to Coronado is shown with major dive spots, and the major freeways and roads to get you there. The famous kelp beds area off Point Loma are detailed, with dive sites including Sunset Cliffs, Osprey Point, Rockslide, and the Point Loma Kelp Beds, which is and extensive area. This is also becoming a well-lover snorkeling spot as the “Dive Connections” ferry groups of snorkelers out to peer into the rich kelp forest.

Side 2 shows Franko’s Map of Greater San Diego Coast, which includes everything from Camp Pendleton to Coronado Islands, south of the border. This map has a major change for the 2007 version onward, and that is it’s unbelievably beautiful bathymetry. The underwater can be visualized by this data-driven artwork. Yours truly is an ocean engineer by major, and I just love the look of ocean bathymetry where data is available. The look of the underwater from San Diego to San Clemente Island, and on down to Islas De Los Corodados is just fabulous. Along with beautiful underwater photography to show you some of the sites of the undersea world, there is an array of San Diego’s kelp forest creatures. The local favorite Giant Sea Bass and several dozen more fish and invertebrates are shown amongst the thick kelp forest, which is what San Diego waters are famous for. 50 miles offshore sits San Clemente Island. It’s favorite dive sites and the surrounding ocean contours are depicted to give the diver an idea of where he or she really ought to want to go. I’ve heard divers report seeing every kind of kelp forest creature there, plus huge abalone, manta rays, sharks, electric rays, and even manta rays and green sea turtles. An inset zoom-in of Coronado Islands (Islas De Los Coronados) shows the nearby favorite dive spots which are actually in Mexico. The Coronado Islands are rich in sea life, typically feature great visibility, and are easily visited via San Diego dive boats. Divemaster/owner Rich Sillanpa of Dive Connections dive boats actually takes people to as many as 100 separate locations to dive in and around these fabulous Mexican islands. The most visited locations are shown on the map with an abridged description for each. However, future map editions will inevitably include more sites, proving that every map is a work in progress.