But there are two large lakes in this park (the other one is named Talbert Lake).  This is the lake located on the park's west side, near Lakeview Drive.

In the scene, Dex & Deb are driving northeast along the 6500 block of Lakeview Drive.

Their car goes out of control and plunges (east) into the lake off Lakeview Drive, between Upper Lake Circle & Shoreview Circle.

During the shoot, they used a ramp to send the car flying, and it actually did splash down in the lake.

Huntington Beach is in Orange County, and is farther south than Dexter has ever ventured before, for a scene.  It's about a 10 mile drive from Long Beach.

So at first, I wondered why they went all the way to Huntington Beach, when there are numerous large lakes in both L.A. and Long Beach - their usual territory.

But when I saw the scene, it became clear: they needed a lake with a road that runs right next to the lake, so Debra could easily drive them off the road and into the lake.  And that's exactly what they have here: the well-named Lakeview Drive runs right along the west edge of Huntington Lake.

If you were crazy enough to do it, it would indeed be possible to drive into this lake, if you managed to steer between the trees that line the road.  But without the benefit of that ramp, your car certainly wouldn't go airborne, and chances are that your car would end up in shallow water at the lake's edge.

A.  In the early seasons, I usually had to hunt down the locations after viewing the episodes, using clues from the various scenes.  By the now, though, I've developed a small group of fans, spies & tipsters who kept an eye out for Dexter filming in their neighborhoods, and let me know in advance when something is about to film there.

Between those reports, my own personal reconnaissance around town, and a few new resources I discovered, by the time the new first episode airs, I already know most (but not all) of the filming locations, and only need to watch the episodes and match up the scenes with the correct locations.

This group of helpful fans includes Rick, Ellen, Suzi, Elaine, Mia, Julie, Kerry, Joel, Eric, Jeff, & others. My thanks to all of them.

The initial tip came from Rick, that they would be filming at one of the lakes in Huntington Central Park.  Later, after the filming, a number of photos & videos of the filming surfaced online, and by using Google StreetView, I was able to pinpoint the exact location, on Lakeview Drive, at Huntington Lake.  Then I simply drove there to check it out and shoot the photos you see above.  (Thanks, Rick!)