Catalina in Feb

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rjchandler

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What are condions like around Catalina in Feb? Is the park sheltered from inclement weather? Are the shops on the island open during the week for tank rentals.
 
Great time to go. Off season, few people. The Avalon Underwater Cleanup is in Feb, so either join in or avoid the weekend. Mid-week is best, but you will have to schlep tanks from the center of town as the air van is only open on weekend in the winter.
 
If there are no storms, it can be really great. If there is a storm, well, all bets are off. The water temp would be mid-high 50's. The shops should be open, but the Catalina Divers' Supply outpost at the Casino curtails its hours; not sure about mid-week. Dr. Bill would know more...
 
rjchandler:
When is the cleanup?

I think it's probably Saturday, 2/19/05. I'll have to check on that, though, because that's President's Day weekend as well.
 
with Kelpmermaid It is a crap shoot on what the weather will be like.

One year, according to my logbook, we had a lot of days of overcast skies and drizzle - air temps in the mid 50's and water temps between 55 and 59 fsw. The next year I am showing mostly sunny skies and warm with air temps between 65 and 70 (keep in mind that these are n the days we were over at Catalina diving) and the water temps were around 59 fsw even at depth.

The park is not sheltered from inclement weather, it is pretty much out in the open and can be downright brutle if it is windy with little or no sunshine.
 
jlyle:
That's what the Catalina Conservancy website shows, Saturday, February 19.

I should have looked there first, LOL! Well, it will now coincide with a 3 day weekend...hmmm.
 
Winters the best time to dive the Valiant.
Little to no boat traffic. Important since you need permission fom the Harbormaster to dive the wreck site.
Vis in the 80'+ range. I check the diving conditions in the LA Times, California back page almost every day.
Also a lot less divers and tourists.
My dive buddy and I dive on Fri. it's our day off. Love my city job!
Only problem is I'm down til at least x-mas due to recovery from back surgery. Spend more time on the computer lately than in the water.
Scuba Luv is open in the winter and yes you have to drag your tank down on weekdays. They also have nitrox.
Vons Jr is across the street good place to get munchies for your SI and frozen peas for the wildlife at the park. Or was that Vons 2 blocks back that had the peas?
My buddy and I have a special gear setup desingned especially for Casino Pointe. We have Rubbermaid tubs with fold up aluminum dollys. Very well balaced with full gear and tank. What also makes it nice is no wet gear in my truck . And I can go home stick a hose in it and let it soak over nite. Dollys come in handy for truckin tanks to Scubaluv and gear from the Express.
The dive shack at the Pointe opens at 10 or 11 am on the weekends.
Man can I ramble.

Hope this helps.

Jeff
 
Back on the Board after 2+ weeks in Florida with NO diving (thanks Ivan and friends). Casino Point air station is usually open Fri noon - 4:00 and Sat/Sun 8:00-4:00 but best to check with them before coming over. They have new management (although the manager is not "new"). Both CDS and SCUBALuv are open mid-week then.

Diving can be fantastic... or dismal depending on prevailing weather. Best visibility often occurs during this period, but a serious storm (especially a NE) can stir things up pretty badly and create "lots" of surge. Still it is one of the more protected shore dives in SoCal. I dive year-round when I'm in town.

You can also PM me in early Feb since it looks like I'll be (sniff) here and not in Belize this year.

Dr. Bill
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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