Channel Islands Operator Recommendations

[covediver]

Sorry you find the comment unhelpful. I do not care to elaborate as I have done this in personal communications to individuals. It is not from a "one of" kind of experience. For many years I dove off their sister ship "Liberty" that was some time ago. Two totally different operations. I have been on lots of dive boats out of the Channel Islands harbors, Barbara Marie, Sea Ventures, Captain Midnight, Bold Contender, Peace, Spectre, Liberty, all the Truth boats, even Island Packers for a dive off the landing cove dock and a few more that have come and gone over the years. Dive boats are not a commodity. There are differences between them. The experiences of others are not the same as mine. Several offer different amenities. For me, a hot tub is unimportant, to others it is a great asset. Number of dives in a day is not a big consideration anymore, quality of the dive for me is more important. Didn't feel that way when I was starting to fill my log book though. Some are cattle boats, others are cattle boats with a little more room, still others are a bit better when it comes to room.

Trouble with these types of inquiries is that they either turn into popularity contests or " you don't know what you are talking about, let me tell you why you are wrong" discussions, so I chose not to elaborate. But to reiterate my main point...Truth Aquatics boats in my experience are the best, Peace is a great operation out of the Ventura area.

 

[Leejnd]

I hear you, and I agree with you that these types of questions usually result in people recommending their favorites. Although there certainly is value in seeing those responses - operations are usually popular because they deserve their popularity. Peace certainly came off well in this discussion, and IMO they are well deserving of their popularity!

I do hope you didn't think I was engaging in a "you don't know what you're talking about" type of thing, because that was not my intention at all. My sole point was that giving vague "I don't like them" responses doesn't provide any usable information without at least some sort of context. If we have no clue as to the reasons you don't like them, how do we know if those reasons would apply to us? For all we know, you don't like them because you don't like the owner...or you have a personal relationship with a competitor...or you think the bunks are too hard...or you are a vegetarian and they only served meat...or or or. The possibilities are endless, and we have no way of knowing if any of it would impact OUR experience.

There are a couple of dive operators that I flat-out refuse to dive with again, due to my own bad experience with them. (Fortunately none local - only in other parts of the world.) If I see a post from someone considering using that dive op, I will jump right in and warn them away...but I will make a point of telling them exactly why. Otherwise, what good is my warning? How does it help the person make their decision whether or not to use that op? Perhaps the reason I won't use them is unimportant to that diver...in which case he has the information he needs to decide how, or if, he should factor my opinion into his choice.

That's all I was saying. I certainly don't want to pressure you into revealing whatever your problem with them is, but if you want your opinion to have any credibility and offer any assistance to the OP, some context at least would be helpful. (And I find it necessary to point out that if you really can't or won't reveal it, the fact that you insist on secrecy lends an air of suspicion to your warning in and of itself.)

At this point, of course, the conversation is moot since the OP has made his choice. I just wanted to clarify that I was not attempting to enter into a debate or a "you're wrong and I'm right" thing...I just waned to explain why I found your comment unhelpful.

 

[SoCalRich]

Greetings Mike, Try "The Raptor dive boat' (805) 650-3477 out of Ventura, Ca.
Great boat, Great crew, They can set you up with Gear, and a DM.

Good Divin
SoCalRich