La Jolla Ocean
Human Performance Center
A vision for research, competition, and training at the La Jolla Submarine Canyon — one of the only locations on the US mainland where world-class depth freediving, scientific research, and military water-competency training can converge in a single site.
The center's physical footprint is a single surface buoy. Its impact reaches from Camp Garibaldi's 8-year-old students to Naval Special Warfare candidates to AIDA athletes setting national depth records.
“Performance in the ocean starts from the inside out. Breath first. Calm first. Then the water.”
No other location in North America — and arguably no location in the world — offers this convergence.
Shore-accessible ocean depth exceeding 100 meters. The world's leading freediving research lab. The world's premier military special operations water-training facility. A major research hospital with 24/7 hyperbaric emergency capability. The world's most prestigious oceanographic institution. All within walking distance of each other.
Natural Infrastructure
- —La Jolla Submarine Canyon — rim at 35-50m, walls past 130m, true bottom exceeding 180m
- —La Jolla Shores beach — gentlest, safest ocean entry in San Diego
- —Fall season: 67-72°F water, visibility exceeding 40 feet
- —Canyon merges with Scripps Canyon, continues to 1,600 feet
Institutional Proximity
- —UCSD Division of Hyperbaric Medicine — one of the nation's leading diving medicine research and clinical programs. Faculty: Dr. Ian Grover (Medical Director), Dr. Charlotte Sadler (Fellowship Director), Dr. Elaine Yu (freediving lung ultrasound). Funded by DAN.
- —UCSD Hyperbaric Medicine Center — 24/7 dive emergency chamber, 15 min from site, operated by the UCSD Division of Hyperbaric Medicine
- —Scripps Institution of Oceanography — 500 yards from the dive site
- —Naval Special Warfare Center — BUD/S training 15 minutes away
- —UCSD Medical Center — MRI, ultrasound, CT within minutes of actual dives
Historical Significance
- —First freediving club in the US founded in La Jolla, 1939
- —Matlahuayl marine reserve protected since 1929
- —PADI lists La Jolla Canyon as a freediving training location
- —Kellogg Park bronze canyon map installed 2023
Community Foundation
- —LJFC weekly Saturday training at the canyon mooring (year-round)
- —Camp Garibaldi youth ocean program (ages 8-16)
- —Real-time ocean conditions platform from Scripps instruments
- —La Jolla Underwater Atlas — 10+ sites, 50+ species
We checked. Nobody else has this.
Any single factor in this convergence can be found elsewhere. Deeper water exists. Warmer water exists. Research labs exist. Military bases exist. What cannot be found anywhere else is all of them at the same location.
The nine-factor convergence
No other site on Earth checks all nine.
The tightest emergency response chain in world freediving.
Across the United States, hyperbaric chambers are increasingly turning away diving emergencies, with many of the nation's 1,500 facilities transitioning to wound care only. Divers in Florida, the country's most popular dive destination, sometimes face hour-long ambulance rides to reach an operational chamber.
This emergency infrastructure is not something that can be replicated at remote competition venues. At Dean's Blue Hole in the Bahamas, Vertical Blue operates on a small island with no hyperbaric chamber and limited hospital access. At international competition sites in Dahab, Egypt, or Dominica, emergency evacuation to a chamber can take hours. At the OHPC, the world's leading diving medicine research program and a 24/7 hyperbaric emergency facility are a single ambulance ride away — operated by the same team.
Emergency response chain
Additional facilities
Research. Competition. Training.
Scientific Research
- —Longitudinal studies on trained freedivers at a consistent site
- —Pre/post-dive assessment using UCSD Medical Center imaging
- —Real-time monitoring during competition dives to 60-100m+
- —Environmental data from Scripps for physiological correlation
- —SIPE, blackout, nitrogen narcosis investigation
Competition
- —First ocean-based AIDA depth competition in the US
- —100+ meter depth from sandy beach entry
- —CWT, CWTB, FIM, CNF disciplines
- —Embedded research during competition
- —NorCal/SoCal series with Fins and Foam Freediving
Training
- —Naval Special Warfare — BUD/S breath-hold, SIPE prevention
- —Marine Recon / MARSOC — amphibious operations
- —Coast Guard rescue swimmers — 80% attrition rate
- —Big wave surfers — hold-down survival
- —Camp Garibaldi youth — ages 8-16
Scientific Research — the UCSD connection.
A 2025 review in the European Journal of Applied Physiology identified critical knowledge gaps across cardiovascular regulation, pulmonary injury, and neurological effects of deep apnea — concluding that meaningful progress requires study during actual dives, not simulated dry apnea. The OHPC eliminates this bottleneck entirely.
From 8-year-olds to special operators.
The common thread: breath control, equalization, water composure, and the ability to manage physiological stress in an aquatic environment.
The permanent buoy — a single point on the canyon rim.
A single permanent surface marker buoy at 32.856746°N, 117.262603°W — anchored at approximately 50 meters depth, 500 meters offshore from La Jolla Shores. The buoy marks an existing subsurface freediving mooring line.
What it enables
- —Visible fixed reference point for diver safety
- —Competition line rigging for AIDA depth events
- —Research observation site for UCSD studies
- —Navigation reference reducing vessel-diver conflict
Regulatory pathway
- —US Coast Guard — PATON authorization (33 CFR Part 66)
- —Army Corps of Engineers — Section 10 permit
- —CA State Lands Commission — Submerged lands lease
- —CA Coastal Commission — CDP or exemption
- —CDFW — Marine Protected Area compatibility
- —City of San Diego / Marine Safety — Local coordination
Institutional support sought
Four phases. Starting now.
Phase 1: Foundation
- Initiate regulatory conversations (USCG, Army Corps, State Lands, Coastal Commission, CDFW, City of SD)
- Contact UCSD Division of Hyperbaric Medicine (Dr. Charlotte Sadler, Dr. Ian Grover) to explore research partnership
- Connect with Fins and Foam Freediving for competition collaboration
- Establish SD Marine Safety relationship
- Formalize Scripps community partnership
- Run Camp Garibaldi first session — proof of concept
Phase 2: Proof of Concept
- Host first AIDA depth competition using temporary boat-based platform
- Embed research — pre/post-dive lung ultrasound with UCSD Division of Hyperbaric Medicine
- Collect media coverage and institutional documentation
- File permanent buoy permit applications
- Secure letters of support from UCSD, DAN, US Freediving, Marine Safety
Phase 3: Establishment
- Permanent buoy installation upon permit approval
- Annual AIDA depth competition established
- Formal research MOU with UCSD Dept. of Emergency Medicine
- Military training pilot program with NSW or Coast Guard
- Grant applications for Camp Garibaldi scholarships and adaptive freediving
Phase 4: Growth
- International competition hosting (AIDA Continental/World Championship bid)
- Expanded multi-institution research program
- Military training integration as recognized supplemental program
- OHPC recognition as permanent La Jolla institution
- Documentary project — La Jolla as the birthplace and future of American freediving
In 1939, the first freediving club in America was founded in La Jolla, California.
Eighty-seven years later, the great-grandson of an Azorean whaler who settled in San Diego for tuna fishing is building something at the same spot on the same coastline: a permanent site where the science of how humans perform underwater is studied, where the training that keeps people alive in the ocean is developed and delivered, and where the sport that tests the limits of a single breath is advanced.
The La Jolla Submarine Canyon drops from the sandy shallows of La Jolla Shores to depths that challenge the world's best freedivers — and it does so within walking distance of the world's leading freediving research lab, the world's most prestigious oceanographic institution, and the training grounds of the world's most elite military divers.
No one has connected these pieces before. The Ocean Human Performance Center does.
It starts from the inside out.
La Jolla Freedive Club
Founded by Joshua Beneventi. Third-generation La Jolla ocean family. UCSD alumnus. San Diego's only AIDA-certified freediving instructor for adults and youth.
Let's build this together.
Whether you're a researcher, a military training officer, a competition organizer, or an institution that believes La Jolla deserves a permanent ocean performance center — I'd like to talk.
Start a conversationlajollafreediveclub.com/conditions · lajollafreediveclub.com/programs