Avalon Sucks

[drbill]

Geez... I guess I need to move from here after 42 years. I had no idea life was so bad in Avalon or at the dive park. Over 2,000 dives in the park and I should probably be maimed or dead by now. Perhaps the OP should read the Catalina sticky for some options on how to alleviate his pain... or try the surface swims off La Jolla or the many steps at some of the Orange County beach dive sites. I would think anyone with over 2,500 dives wouldn't have much of a problem diving Catalina... most open water students don't.

 

[VooDooGasMan]

Flew in to long beach, $30 cab ride to helicopter, no gear, hotel has free shuttle, dove with scubaluv all boat dives, never dove park, did not see why, except on dive boat, Dr Bill told us how to dive the park, we will save it for another time, $30 ferry ride back, $1.80 bus ride to long beach airport. Could have saved $30 on cab if I would have known to walk around the corner to the bus stop.

 

[calicant]

I had my first California dive on a quiet sunny day at the dive park. The only things I didn't like was the 7mm wet suit and the two missing steps at the bottom of the stairs. Meeting Dr Bill was the highlight of the trip!

 

[muddiver]

30 foot vis is frigging awesome, if that is a sucky dive, try the standard 5 foot vis off Laguna.

 

[Thiad]

I am hopeful people will take the bad review to heart and head to Redondo instead. Go, please!!

And then, we can have the park all to ourselves. Yay!!!

I didn't like my first dive at Casino Point. Now, I have had some of my best dives at Casino Point. I'm hopelessly happy with diving there.

 

[snowdog]

Firewarker says it sucks, but it looks like they have been going there fo 40 years... must not have been that bad.

 

[fnfalman]

Yes, it's not as convenient as a dive boat. Yes, sometimes it's more expensive than a dive boat.

No, it's not that bad if you go in the off season. One of my best dives to date was with my favorite buddy on New Year's Eve at Casino Point. There were eight divers total that day and they came in doubles by around noonish. We had the whole morning to ourselves.

Also, I had a great time diving there in late spring/early summer where there are some students but not a lot. You don't have to fight the line yet you still get to see the eyes wide open students after their first ocean dip.

 

[mdax]

I always enjoyed the park and staying on the island is a fun experience...However the costs, time and hauling of gear caused me to stop diving catalina that way and instead i started using the Sand Dollar.
Now i'd just drive to san pedro, put gear on the boat and go to sleep, wake up at an awesome site off the island and dive. Less expense, hauling of gear or risk of theft.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

The boats out of San Pedro are my favorite too, but the Express to Catalina works nice for weekdays when most of the boats are not running. No crowds at the dive park, renting the tanks and lead at the trailer eliminates most of the gear hauling issues. Seriously good food after the dive...

 

[Firewalker]

I was trying to have a little fun with Avalon, since it seems to be the Holy Grail of this generation of divers ( I love the responses, I'm just too lazy to dive Avalon, is that all you got?). I will admit to only having a couple hundred working dives there (not as many as Dr. Bill, but I don't live there). I guess what I was trying to say is that there are better dives in socal then Avalon (cheaper, safer, easier to access). You can go out on almost any of our local dive boats and they are safer, cheaper, and easier to access. On a good day you can dive our local beaches and they are a safer, cheaper, and easier to access then Avalon (to be truthful I would rather dive at Divers Cove on a good day then dive at Avalon of a great day). Avalon has always been a marginal dive site. The park is a really small area to dive, it gets deep quick, it has lots of obstructions, it silts up easily and with a little swell the entry and exits can be dangerous( they really should make the divers have reservation to dive there and limit the number of divers in the park at one time, and check certification) . It's a good place for experienced west coast divers and Advance classes. It's not a good place for new divers, warm water divers or entry level classes.
Avalon is what it is, for me it was always the last option.