Channel Islands Oct/Nov 2010...drysuit or semi-dry?

[ewaiea]

(I posted this in the SoCal forum but am not sure how often it gets read since the last post hasn't been for a while)...

I am a resident of Hawaii but am considering a short weekend dive trip with a friend (from Florida) to meet up in California this fall to dive the Channel Islands - it'll be a first time for me. I have gotten drysuit certified in the Pacific Northwest (Whidbey Island - which rocked!) but the water there was about 50 deg F at the time. I'm planning on going to southern California in the fall and I understand water temps will be around 60 or so....

I do not own a drysuit because I would almost never need it. But if I head up to California this fall I might be thinking about purchasing a semi-drysuit. Do alot of divers in southern California use semi-drysuits? Or is the real drysuit the only way to go??? I've always told myself I'll never cold water dive in a wetsuit again, but I think given that southern California is sort of on the border of being cold, but not too cold, maybe a 8/7mm semi-dry would be a good compromise. I think any colder than high 50s/low 60s and I'd definitely probably go dry. I haven't found a shop yet that rents drysuits out.

Your thoughts?

Plus, we'd be diving with Cal Boat Diving on either the Spectre, the Explorer, or the Peace.......assuming they're still in business, feel free to interject any thoughts on that as well.

 

[robint]

First - the Channel Islands, California is some of the best diving anywhere!

Second - be aware when you book your trip as to whether the boat is going out for diving or lobstering as lobster season starts in late Sept and many dive boats devote trips to the sport during Oct/nov timeframe. You don't want to be on a boat if they are going for lobster for several reasons - the dives tend to be on sites where they expect bugs, not anything else so less to see, and also because they tend to be shorter dives and since you are a non-resident you can't hunt without a license (expensive). Bug hunters tend to be a completely different group of divers, too. This is what I have been told, we try to avoid this time of year for that reason.

Third - water temps are usually in 60s for both northern and southern islands at that time, from what I am told. We are normally there in Aug-Sept timeframe, water temp 60-70 degrees and almost everyone is diving wet, 7mm suits with hooded vest, gloves. We have been told that water doesn't start dropping until late Oct. Water is clearest at this time but kelp tends to be worst as the warm water in Aug-Sept tends to kill much of it off.

Fourth - where to dive from. Spectre, Explorer, and Peace are all out of Ventura harbor and probably running day boats on weekends. The Spectre tends to run boat out daily and Peace usually runs group trips and multi-night trips. We have used both of those boats and liked them both for different reasons. (see my trip reports) In the "northern" channel islands you are going to see more nudibranchs and possibly more fish than the southern islands, but the water tends to be about 5-10 degrees cooler. Anacapa has a sea lion rookery so you can expect to see sea lions on your dives.

Farther south, out of LA area are several other boats we can recommend. The Great Escape (see my trip reports), Magician, SandDollar, and BottomScratcher all run day trips to Catalina or sometimes other southern islands. Santa Barbara island has a sea lion rookery so you will see them at any dive site on that island but the other southern islands you probably won't see any. Kelp forests are very thick on San Clemente and some areas of Catalina. Catalina also has some really amazing deep pinnacles (Farnsworth Bank, Little Farnsworth, etc) where you see amazing colors and tons of nudibranchs.

Farther north up the coast is Truth Aquatics in Santa Barbara. More expensive but they do almost exclusively overnight trips to multiple islands. Check them out.

I think all the boats allow you to sleep overnight on the boat, which saves $$ on hotel bills but they are just bunks in a large bunkroom. These are not the same type of accomodations as on a luxury liveaboard like the Aggressor! No private bathrooms either. Food is good to fantastic on most of these boats! Hot breakfasts, hot lunches, hot snacks, and hot dinners if you are on a multi-day trip. Most boats this is included in price, but not all, so take note when booking!

okay..... if you have any other questions, feel free to ask. We love the Channel Islands and all the fabulous diving there, love the dive boats and people.
www.truthaquatics.com
www.peaceboat.com
www.diveboat.com
all the dive boats: http://californiadiveboats.com/

another option - take the ferry over to Catalina and stay at a hotel there. You can shore dive at Avalon Casino park and boat dive with one of the two dive ops there:
http://www.scubaluv.biz/
http://www.catalinadiverssupply.com/
This way, you are avoiding the lobstering issue completely!

my Channel Islands videos: Scuba Diving in California, Channel Islands on Vimeo
my trip reports are in the link below my signature.

robin

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

The D/S is not needed as the water that time is year is lower to mid 60's. Most of the divers will be in 7mm/hood/gloves. The 8/7 suites are nice for this environment. Those who own a D/S will use them of course, but it is not critical like up north. A nice feature on many of the boats is a hot water hose to warm you up from the inside before you dive.

 

[robint]

The D/S is not needed as the water that time is year is lower to mid 60's. Most of the divers will be in 7mm/hood/gloves. The 8/7 suites are nice for this environment. Those who own a D/S will use them of course, but it is not critical like up north. A nice feature on many of the boats is a hot water hose to warm you up from the inside before you dive.

yup, and a couple of boats (Spectre and Peace) have a small hot tub on deck that has a bucket in it. You just scoop out some of the hot water and dump it down your wetsuit.

Oh, and I forgot to mention about tanks and weights.... most boats do NOT supply them. You have to show up at the boat with both, one tank and all the weight you will need. Some boats can arrange to have rental tanks/wts delivered to boat for you (Spectre) but others expect you to visit a local dive shop and pick them up yourself. The only boat I know of that supplies both for you is SandDollar. Over at Catalina though, the boats supply tanks and wts and there is a small rental station for the shore diving at Casino Park in Avalon.
There are dive shops that rent dry suits, but as Doug mentioned, many people are diving wetsuits. You can rent those at any dive shop in Calif. Bring your own hood and gloves or buy them there.




robin

 

[fisheater]

What they said. Plus one other big difference between Hawaii and California dive boats: Here, the DM will stay aboard the vessel. You're expected to plan and execute your own dive (based on DM's briefing). If you want an in-water DM to lead you, contact the boat ahead of time and they can arrange a private DM for you.

 

[robint]

thanks fisheater! I forgot to mention that. The DMs in Calif do roll call, dive briefings, fill tanks, and that is it. When you get back from your dive, they help you up the ladder and take your fins off for you. They do not get in water leading dives (although they sometimes get in water to dive). If you want an in water guide, you need to tell them ahead of time so they can make the arrangements. On the Great Escape last summer, one of the DMs (who is also an instructor) decided to get in and lead a dive with a group, but I am sure they paid him for the service.

robin

 

[CoralSeaMan]

Temperatures can vary widely. I did the Ruby E and the Yukon on October 17, 2009 out of San Diego. The water temperature was 55. On October 16 it was 62 in the Coronados Islands.

 

[ewaiea]

I wish I was going to California to do some diving. But as it turns out, my dive buddy woosed out and wants to stay doing the tropical thing. But as it turns out, my wife wants to do a family trip up to Whidbey Island, WA (which is where I got my drysuit cert last year) this October. Me personally, I think my temperature cutoff for a drysuit would be around 60 degrees or just under that. In the Puget Sound it's going to be around 50 or just under.

I do love the diving up there and though I'll only get a couple of shore dives in with the local dive shop, they are two dives I'll be looking forward to all summer. Whidbey Island dive center rents drysuits as well! One of these days I'll get up to California and do the Channel Islands, just not this year. But as a parting gift, I'll be heading to Papua New Guinea for a 10 night liveaboard next week (leaving Tuesday) - I guess that'll suffice Trip report and photos coming when I return!

 

[cricfanSD]

The D/S is not needed as the water that time is year is lower to mid 60's. Most of the divers will be in 7mm/hood/gloves. The 8/7 suites are nice for this environment. Those who own a D/S will use them of course, but it is not critical like up north. A nice feature on many of the boats is a hot water hose to warm you up from the inside before you dive.

I dove the Truth Aquatics boats (Truth in 2008 and Conception in 2009). In 2008, I dove with 7mm wetsuit and was comfortable whenever the sun was up. It was chilly during the early morning dives. In 2009, I was diving dry and hence carried my drysuit. One difference I noted that you tend to dive lot more and longer in drysuit. I had 17 dives over 3 days in 2009 compared to 10 in 2008. Also the advantage of the drysuit is you don't have to change when the boat moves from one dive site to another. It can be couple of hours depending on the swell.
But all said and done, you will be able to dive comfortably in a good 7mm wetsuit with hoods and gloves.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

^^ Ah, a key difference for you is you were on a longer trip, not they typical weekend / day boat in So Cal.
Most day boats are 3 dives a day with an hour or so between, so you do not get the long term thermal loss you see on a live-aboard where you have up to diving ops 12-15 hours a day, day after day with longer breaks. Same water, very different thermal loads.