Boat vs Beach Diving

Hi everyone,

I just returned from DM'ing my first boat! I must say, it was alot of fun. Not only that, but my ds age 13 got certified as well.

Anyway, on to the purpose of this thread: Boat vs Beach Diving.

We went out to Catalina today. Had two so-so dives, and one beautiful dive through a mass kelp forest and deep/steep walls.

As many times I have been on boats to the various spots, whether it be Catalina, Santa Barbara, or San Clemente Islands, I am finding that I perfer (crazy at it seems) beach diving over boat diving.

When I dive at our locations here in Laguna Beach, I see way more marine life than I do when I am on a boat from fish, to invertebrates, ect.

Also, the time and money factor comes into play. I can easily do three beach dives and be home by noon. Today, I was gone more than 14 hours, spent money on gas, had to drive to San Pedro and back, had to pay for food and air fills on the boat as well. I normally go on boats where this is all included, but the dive fee is alot higher as well, so it all averages out. Also, by the time you tip the crew (I usually tip $20), wow...it really adds up.

Just wondering if anyone thinks along the lines that I do? Also, where are some of your favorite beach sites???

Mine include Deadman's Reef @ North Creset Bay in North Laguna, and Cress St. in South Laguna. Shaw's was actually pretty cool the other night with all of the eels that my buddies and I saw.

Looking forward to your input.

I went to Pearl St. a couple of weeks ago. I thought it was fantastic. I saw my first Giant Black Sea Bass there....perhaps that is why I loved it. I'll have to check it out soon again, just to be sure.

Jan, you should read this thread from a couple weeks ago, especially the "3 W's" from pasley, its just hilarious.

http://www.scubaboard.com/t67409-why-not-a-boat-dive.html

Beach diving, you go when you want, its cheap, its great exercise, and I think the marine life is great. I haven't even done laguna/la jolla yet, (but they seem awesome, based on sean's pictures!), but PV and Malibu are great. Even with low vis, some of the dives in Malibu have been fantastic, with respect to the kelp. number of species of fish and invertebrates.

Scott

Besides, the research diving I do, where we take 22 ft boats around the Santa Barbara Channel and have some awesome dives, I love both beach and charter boat diving. I distinguish using a boat you own(or borrow as it is in our case) from a charter boat because I think its a completely different experience. I occasionally take the Truth Aquatics Boats out to the Channel Islands and I almost always see many more fish out there than I see from shore, there are exceptions though. I dove Shaw's Cove this weekend it was a BEAUTIFUL dive, it was like a nursery ground, little sheepshead and senoritas everywhere. To me beach dives and boat dives have their role, I just like to mix it up once in a while.

Thomas

I haven't done a beach dive since I was certified... The nice thing about the dive boats is you get your tank refilled while your waiting for the next dive spot, and you only need to bring one tank. The downside is you are diving with 15-30+ people, this is why it's a little harder to see wildlife. The fish know when 20 divers hit the water. I now dive off my own boat. It's a lot of work, little harder getting your gear on etc, but I love being able to pull into small coves and shallow spots the big dive boats ignore. Anchoring the boat right at the edge of the kelp is great.

Beachdiving is the only way to go,,,,,

I've been on a commercial boat twice this year, which is double the amount of times in the past nine years. My first choice is to dive the local wrecks from a private boat, 2nd choice is a beach dive, 3rd choice is a "special" trip, such as Farnsworth, oil rigs or the outer islands. My last choice is the same old sites that every boat hits on the front side of Catalina. Not that these sites are bad, just that after hundreds of dives on the same reef, I like a little variety. I went out on a private boat yesterday and had the best conditions I've seen in a couple of years. We had clear, blue water well below 100 feet. We didn't find what we were looking for, but we did see a Batray cruising along in mid water, about 120 feet off the bottom. Where he was going and how he knew which way to go was a mystery.

One thing about beach diving is that you can do things on your own terms or schedule.
You are your own master.
I only do boat dives to go to unaccessable areas or when committing to a group activity.

Jan, BTW...what boat were you on? I've never heard of a boat charging their DMs for air.

MaxBottomtime:

We didn't find what we were looking for, ......

Click to expand...

And just what, pray tell, were you looking for phil?