Just wanted to give people a heads up! I departed from the Long Beach landing this morning and they brought a scale to every scuba diver to weigh the gear bag or anything that appeared to be heavy (except tanks). They are trying to get the bags to about 50 lbs or so (even if they never handle it).
I had a dolly with doubles, drysuit bag, and gear bag. My gear bag was the only thing measured and it was 75 lbs. I had to open it up and place individual items on the scale until it reached about 15 lbs for them to accept it. Some of it I was able to distribute but one such became a fourth carry-on... terribly inconvenient. The weight belt was not a part of the weight.
My dive buddy exceeded 50 lbs but they let it slide, so it appears to be discretionary somewhat. Even after all this, I still had to place all gear on the ferry (both trips) without assistance so this new rule doesn't make any sense, and they did not measure the luggage daparting from Avalon. In addition, the boat was nearly empty so load had nothing to do with it.
All SCUBA divers were weighed but light-looking carry-ons were not (such as back packs and so on) of non SCUBA divers.
I asked when they started this policy and it is new since a few weeks ago. If gear has to be broken into lighter payloads then they will allow multiple trips to bring it on-board.
Just a heads up to anyone that plans to be heading there and has a lot to haul.
Edit: The policy of Catalina Express explicitly states that luggage should be 50# or less. I think the only difference here is they are now actually inforcing it.
I had a dolly with doubles, drysuit bag, and gear bag. My gear bag was the only thing measured and it was 75 lbs. I had to open it up and place individual items on the scale until it reached about 15 lbs for them to accept it. Some of it I was able to distribute but one such became a fourth carry-on... terribly inconvenient. The weight belt was not a part of the weight.
My dive buddy exceeded 50 lbs but they let it slide, so it appears to be discretionary somewhat. Even after all this, I still had to place all gear on the ferry (both trips) without assistance so this new rule doesn't make any sense, and they did not measure the luggage daparting from Avalon. In addition, the boat was nearly empty so load had nothing to do with it.
All SCUBA divers were weighed but light-looking carry-ons were not (such as back packs and so on) of non SCUBA divers.
I asked when they started this policy and it is new since a few weeks ago. If gear has to be broken into lighter payloads then they will allow multiple trips to bring it on-board.
Just a heads up to anyone that plans to be heading there and has a lot to haul.
Edit: The policy of Catalina Express explicitly states that luggage should be 50# or less. I think the only difference here is they are now actually inforcing it.
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