Itinerary Review and Advice - Ventura Boat Diving

[topher10]

I have never been diving in SoCal and will be going solo, so I wanted to get advice from people who are familiar with the area. I have a business meeting in Ventura in late March. It’s a Monday to Friday conference at the Four Points Sheraton Ventura Harbor, which is right there where the Peace and Spectre Boats are. Here is my plan:

1. Fly into LAX the Friday before. Will probably land mid-morning.
2. Get to Ventura somehow and leave business luggage at the hotel
3. Rent necessary gear (thick wetsuit and hood, tank and maybe a little weight) from Ventura Dive and Sport which is right there at the Harbor. I will have my own gear otherwise.
4. Spend Friday night on the boat.
5. Dive Saturday
6. Spend Saturday night on the boat
7. Dive Sunday
8. Sunday return rental gear, check into hotel and be ready for the conference.


Questions that I have:
1. In general, does that sound like it will work or am I missing something?

2. What is the best way to get from LAX to Ventura? Cab, UBER, Lyft? Should I rent a car? I have considered renting and taking the scenic route up PCH. But I would only want the car for Friday and returning it seems like a hassle. There is also the Oxnard airport, but I can get a direct flight to LAX which is faster and less likely to lose luggage.

3. Is it feasible for me to walk from the Sheraton, around the harbor to the rental store, and then from rental to boat? I will be carrying all my gear and picking up a tank. I think I could do it if it weren’t for all the gear. I will call the hotel and ask about shuttles, but thought I would ask here too. A rental car would be nice to facilitate this but see above.

4. I am leaning to the Peace due to nitrox availability, but have not decided officially. I have already read a lot about both boats and I am sure I would have a great time either way. Not really a question but always appreciate advice.


Thanks as always.

 

[diversteve]

I can help with some of the on-the-ground details.

VDS is at 1559 Spinnaker Dr. in the harbor. The Peace office is at 1691 Spinnaker just to the north - google earth puts it at 500 yds.

It looks to be too far to walk from the hotel which is further north - you can see the same angled harbor area on the Four Points map near the bottom (2nd image).
See the red tiled roof straight down form the V in Village in the aerial view - that's Ventura Dive afaik.



I'd take an Uber so you don't have to leave the rental car all weekend. Pretty pricey though - it's a good distance - 68 miles - over an hour with traffic. Maybe SuperShuttle is an option from LAX to your hotel instead?

I have not been on the Peace but have seen it moored.

I had some trouble loading images tonite so LMK if you can't see them.

One thing to know is Peace likely only provides a dive platform - the crew stays on the boat. SoCal divers are generally firendly and willing to let you join them.

Also you don't mention dates - if it's the latter two weekends in March I think you have to book thru the chartering shop - either Eco Dive or PCH Scuba. Check with Peace but usually when it's an open boat and they're taking bookings - it will say so.

 

[Trailboss123]

Overall, your game plan is a solid one since it will allow you to save money on 2 hotel nights by staying on the Peace or Spectre Friday and Saturday nights. Ventura Dive and Sport is the place to get your gear needs taken care of. They also have a boat (Raptor) that goes out on Saturday and Sunday, but you cannot stay on it overnight. You have 3 options for where to fly into. LAX, Burbank and Santa Barbara. You may want to check prices for all 3 locations. Burbank and Santa Barbara are much easier airports to get into and out of and will get you to Ventura much quicker than LAX- due to traffic and/or distance. Typically, they are a bit more expensive or difficult to get to though- particularly Santa Barbara. I choose Burbank for almost all domestic flights and LAX for International.

It is a relatively short walk over to the Spectre or Peace from VDS, but with all of your gear, you will want to leave it at VDS and walk over to the boat and get one of their carts and walk back to VDS and put everything in the cart and pull it over to the boat. As for getting to Ventura from whichever airport you choose, I think I'd rent a car with Enterprise. They have a drop off location right off the 101 freeway and Victoria (off ramp for going to the harbor). You could either go straight there and coordinate with them to shuttle you to the Sheraton and then VDS or depending on time, you could drive the rental car to the Sheraton, drop off work stuff there and then over to VDS to sort out your gear and get everything settled on the boat and then return the rental car and have them shuttle you back to the boat. There are plenty of restaurants at the harbor for dinner on Friday and Saturday nights.

Avis also has a rental center in the general neighborhood. Either of them should be able to shuttle you to the harbor after dropping off the car, if you arrange for it ahead of time. Let me know if you have any other questions. It is not my day job, but I DM for VDS at their shop and out on the Raptor regularly and have been out on the Spectre plenty. All the best!

 

[topher10]

Thank you both for the thoughtful responses. I think collectively you confirm that I am on the right path. To answer a couple questions:

1. I agree that it looks like too far to walk between the hotel and dive shop, so I will need to figure out a shuttle of some sort (see below). I appreciate your effort at attaching pictures.

2. It would be March 24 and 25. I have already called Eco Dive to confirm that I can book with them and sleep on the boat, but I want to talk with the boat as well to make sure. But yes, I will be hooked up with a stranger as my buddy but I am used to it. I also need to call the hotel and confirm that they can hold my luggage, because if they cannot I will have to store it on the boat or maybe at the dive shop.

3. My interest in LAX is that I can get a direct flight from New Orleans. Its much quicker and I always feel like the risk of lost luggage is lower on a direct flight. For instance, there is an early flight that lands at LAX at 9AM, which would give me all day to get to the boat. Flights into Burbank or currently a bit more expensive and require onr or more connections. But I will definitely continue to check prices. I need to book around Feb 1.

4. So that leaves transport. I will price out UBER and Super Shuttle, but I am now leaning towards getting a rental car. The plan would be: Pick up car at LAX (9:30AM). Cruise PCH to ventura (3-4hrs). Drop luggage at hotel, rent gear, and put stuff on the boat in afternoon using the car. Drop car off at enterprise by 5, Catch shuttle or UBER back to the harbor. Eat and then sleep on boat. I like that plan I think.


Thank you again. Very helpful to get local perspectives.

 

[mbrownsen]

lots of shuttles. Init and many more...

Maybe a rollie bag or folding luggage hand truck if you don't rent a car. it can take a min to get uber or lyft out at the harbor so plan for that.


With all the thermal junk you will want a steel tank and not a 72/80 unless you are a smaller person. That dive shop is a great shop but kinda focused on a casual/new diver. I dove with them on the raptor and had smaller tanks with lower than spec fills but your mileage may vary. If you call ahead they may hook you up. If you do rent from them ask to jump into their pool to get your buoyancy good. There are 2-3 shops within 20 min of LAX that could rent you a steel 100 which is kinda typical of the type of dives folks do (it sucks to be the guy with an al80 who turns the dive early when you're buddied up with a new person). The peace may rent gear if you call ahead... I'd talk to them...Peace is a solid boat...

Really do talk to the boats ... the point above about dive shops/groups chartering is really true. Saturday may be a photo group and Sunday a spearfishing group and the price may be different. Worse case you get on a boat that is all OW classes and you have a hard time finding a buddy ... Eco dive and Malibu divers are between Ventura and LAX so they could be a good option to rent from... particularly if it's their charter one of the days?


good luck!

 

[Trailboss123]

Thank you both for the thoughtful responses. I think collectively you confirm that I am on the right path. To answer a couple questions:

1. I agree that it looks like too far to walk between the hotel and dive shop, so I will need to figure out a shuttle of some sort (see below). I appreciate your effort at attaching pictures.

2. It would be March 24 and 25. I have already called Eco Dive to confirm that I can book with them and sleep on the boat, but I want to talk with the boat as well to make sure. But yes, I will be hooked up with a stranger as my buddy but I am used to it. I also need to call the hotel and confirm that they can hold my luggage, because if they cannot I will have to store it on the boat or maybe at the dive shop.

3. My interest in LAX is that I can get a direct flight from New Orleans. Its much quicker and I always feel like the risk of lost luggage is lower on a direct flight. For instance, there is an early flight that lands at LAX at 9AM, which would give me all day to get to the boat. Flights into Burbank or currently a bit more expensive and require onr or more connections. But I will definitely continue to check prices. I need to book around Feb 1.

4. So that leaves transport. I will price out UBER and Super Shuttle, but I am now leaning towards getting a rental car. The plan would be: Pick up car at LAX (9:30AM). Cruise PCH to ventura (3-4hrs). Drop luggage at hotel, rent gear, and put stuff on the boat in afternoon using the car. Drop car off at enterprise by 5, Catch shuttle or UBER back to the harbor. Eat and then sleep on boat. I like that plan I think.


Thank you again. Very helpful to get local perspectives.

Good plan. 3-4 hours should be more than enough time for the cruise from LAX to Ventura along PCH at that time of day.

 

[Trailboss123]

lots of shuttles. Init and many more...

Maybe a rollie bag or folding luggage hand truck if you don't rent a car. it can take a min to get uber or lyft out at the harbor so plan for that.


With all the thermal junk you will want a steel tank and not a 72/80 unless you are a smaller person. That dive shop is a great shop but kinda focused on a casual/new diver. I dove with them on the raptor and had smaller tanks with lower than spec fills but your mileage may vary. If you call ahead they may hook you up. If you do rent from them ask to jump into their pool to get your buoyancy good. There are 2-3 shops within 20 min of LAX that could rent you a steel 100 which is kinda typical of the type of dives folks do (it sucks to be the guy with an al80 who turns the dive early when you're buddied up with a new person). The peace may rent gear if you call ahead... I'd talk to them...Peace is a solid boat...

Really do talk to the boats ... the point above about dive shops/groups chartering is really true. Saturday may be a photo group and Sunday a spearfishing group and the price may be different. Worse case you get on a boat that is all OW classes and you have a hard time finding a buddy ... Eco dive and Malibu divers are between Ventura and LAX so they could be a good option to rent from... particularly if it's their charter one of the days?


good luck!

Ventura Dive and Sport has shorty Steel 70's which are High Pressure with fills to 3000 PSI. They have Steel 85's (most standard/abundant) that are low pressure and fills are to 2400 PSI. They also have a couple of Steel 100's that you could ask about renting. Also, The Spectre rents tanks and weights and this can all be added or requested when booking. I'd definitely get your exposure protection from VDS, so you can try everything on. As for VDS being "focused" on the casual/new diver, I would qualify that. They are certainly focused on dive training and train more students than anyone else north of Los Angeles and because of this, they have a pretty established schedule that has new Open Water students out on the boat every other weekend to complete their open water dive requirements. This may impact the decision by the boat captain as to where the diving will be done, but my experience, and its vast, is that dive sites are always selected based on safety first and accommodating the needs and desires of the clients on board.

 

[mbrownsen]

Ventura Dive and Sport has shorty Steel 70's which are High Pressure with fills to 3000 PSI. They have Steel 85's (most standard/abundant) that are low pressure and fills are to 2400 PSI. They also have a couple of Steel 100's that you could ask about renting. Also, The Spectre rents tanks and weights and this can all be added or requested when booking. I'd definitely get your exposure protection from VDS, so you can try everything on. As for VDS being "focused" on the casual/new diver, I would qualify that. They are certainly focused on dive training and train more students than anyone else north of Los Angeles and because of this, they have a pretty established schedule that has new Open Water students out on the boat every other weekend to complete their open water dive requirements. This may impact the decision by the boat captain as to where the diving will be done, but my experience, and its vast, is that dive sites are always selected based on safety first and accommodating the needs and desires of the clients on board.

!00% true! They are a solid shop. the Raptor is a great little boat loved the crew. My experience of getting booked on a boat where I was the only qualified diver was on a different boat through a different shop. My point is... call ahead and know what you are in for. If you are diving at a depth where nitrox is optimal you may want a bigger tank. If you have a lp you want your full 2400 and if you have a 3k or 3.4k tank you want to be sure the boat will be able to fill it. some top out at 2800 hot. on the Raptor I got 3 85's none above 2200 on the boat, which is perfect for a shallow 40 min or an OW cert dive. I didn't do enough asking, I own it... When I dive local boats I like LP steel with 95 or more so I can match up ok with most folks I run into. I now ask... who else is on the boat, is there a class, or a big group. lol

 

[Trailboss123]

!00% true! They are a solid shop. the Raptor is a great little boat loved the crew. My experience of getting booked on a boat where I was the only qualified diver was on a different boat through a different shop. My point is... call ahead and know what you are in for. If you are diving at a depth where nitrox is optimal you may want a bigger tank. If you have a lp you want your full 2400 and if you have a 3k or 3.4k tank you want to be sure the boat will be able to fill it. some top out at 2800 hot. on the Raptor I got 3 85's none above 2200 on the boat, which is perfect for a shallow 40 min or an OW cert dive. I didn't do enough asking, I own it... When I dive local boats I like LP steel with 95 or more so I can match up ok with most folks I run into. I now ask... who else is on the boat, is there a class, or a big group. lol

Points well taken!

 

[topher10]

I appreciate the advice to call ahead and make sure you know what you are getting into. I was hoping to rent a HP100, but ultimately I am not sure it matters. I am expecting my dives to be primarily limited by how long I can stand the cold. But who knows.

When I spoke with Eco Dive I asked if, since I would be booking through their shop, they could deliver my gear to the boat or at least take it back to the shop after the dives. But she did not budge on that and said I would have to personally return it, which is impossible. Plus I agree that it would be nice to try things on and make sure they work before renting, especially since VDS is right there. So that is choice #1 unless something doesn't work.

Thanks again. I feel pretty good about the plan and now know enough to ask the right questions when I call the various places.