Riviera Dive boat (Dana Point)

Has anyone been on the Riviera dive boat out of Dana Point? I understand they visit sites along the coast from San Clemente to Newport, but are these the same sites you can visit on a shore dive? At $110 (same cost as some boats to Catalina), I'm wondering whether it's worth the money...The one thing that does appeal to me is that you are back in a few hours vs all day. But again, does it go anywhere you couldn't just go from shore.

Wondering what everyone's experience has been.

Thanks

One of the sites they hit is the wreck of the A.C.E.

I went out one time on the Riviera about a year or two ago. I would only go back on it if it was going the wreck of the A.C.E. I live in LA so it definitely didn't make sense to drive all the way down there, past Laguna, then motor back up the coast to dive a couple reefs just off the coast of Laguna. It would have been faster to just stop in Laguna and do shore dives. We dived Deadman's reef, which was good for me since I've never made the swim to dive it, and another site further out than Woods Cove. Each site was nicer than than the closer in shore sites but not greatly so. The guys on the boat were real nice and helpful but the boat was way too small for me. I think we had something like 9 students, 3 instructors and then three of us. There was gear all over the deck, sort of a cluster with the students. Maybe if I lived down near Dana Point I'd think about doing it for a half day trip versus the whole day to Catalina, but for the money I'd probably just shore dive Laguna instead.

Hey Hombre,

The reef at Woods Cove was named by the locals after me. I suggest that you read Sheckler's book on shore diving, it is referred to as "Miller's Reef" in the book and by the local pioneer OC divers. I made the mistake of discussing it with Dale one day, next thing I knew my private hunting ground was in his book. According to Sheckler I is simply too far to swim from shore.

I discovered the reef structures in the 1950s by simple search pattern of swimming from shore monitoring the SPG & compass to locate then unknown reef structures. This is one of many I located, and the only one that has been made public.

It was my private hunting grounds for well over 20 years which I swam from shore to dive. Now is still "too far to swim from shore" but has been turned into grand central station of the underwater world by modern late model tube sucking bubble blowing boat divers.

I wouldn't waste your time and money on that boat unless it dove on the A.C.E.

When you have a little more experience and dive conditioning look me up and I will give you the coordinates to the reef.

SDM

Thanks guys for the candid responses. That was kinda the direction I was leaning. Sam, I will take you up on that!