Larry C
Dive Con

Just got my Sea & Sea housing for the D300. It's big and heavy, but it's very intuitive. Most stuff is right where it is on the camera. Got it used, originally posted but not sold on e-bay, eventually purchased locally from a professional wildlife photographer. Almost bought a Seatool out of Taiwan, but when the used one came up at a price I could deal with, I had to jump on it.

Hi Eleanor, I haven't got one yet. I'm kind of torn between the two as well, but we're bleeding money right now remodeling the house and my wife doesn't like the idea of my $3K worth of camera and lens going underwater in $5K worth of housing and related stuff. Hopefully, by the time I can get one, there will still be housings out there. I'm leaning toward the Seatool. They're both really nice, but I like the fact that you can use either an electric or fiberoptic strobe sync if you order it with a type "N" port. I like the compact size as well and the fact that you can adapt about 4 different port systems. There are some really nice write ups on both if you check older posts. Just use the search feature. Sorry I took so long to respond, I don't go to my profile page much. Usually, I just use PM's.

Hi Larry, I'm pretty late on board with the D300. just bought one. I'm tossing up between the sea and sea and the seatool ousings. Just wondering what you opted for... and how do you find it?

thanks Eleanor

Continued:
If you're down on a weekend, you can usually catch Carol and I and a bunch of our dive buddies in the Breakwater parking lot. (Coast guard pier, where most of the shore diving and private boat launches happen. The commercial boats leave out of "K-Dock" at Fisherman's Wharf.)
Look for the red Expedition with the 19' Apex rib on the trailer. We're usually there either Sat or Sun by about 8am and drop the boat in about 9-9:30. There's generally room for a couple more divers.

Sorry to take so long.
There are several ops you can use in Monterey. The ones that run most regularly are the Monterey Express, the Beach Hopper, The Cypress Sea and the Escapade.
The Cypress Sea and the Escapade are tech friendly, as is the Double Down, a smaller six-pack boat. Lobos diving is by reservation with the park. I don't know if the commercial ops can reserve or not. Check with them. Most of the boats will head for Carmel for their first dive when conditions are good. The Cypress Sea has been known to go even farther south, doing the tougher but rewarding dives at places like Lobos Rocks, where heavy current is the norm but spectacular interaction with Sea Lions occurs. For shore diving, Monterey Bay Dive Co. right across Cannery row from the Coast Guard pier and Glenn's Aquarius II, which is right in the Breakwater parking lot. Point Lobos reservations can be phoned in and usually weekdays are no problem, but you need a dive buddy. They don't allow solos.

Larry,

Can you suggest any dive ops in the Monterey area? I'll be out the week of Aug. 23-29. I would like to get some diving in from the 26th-28th. Does anybody run commercial trips to Pt. Lobos?


John Gertty
gertyjm@yahoo.com