First Dive Experience in So Cal- Amazing!!

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KevinA

Registered
Messages
15
Reaction score
5
Location
Houston, TX
# of dives
25 - 49
Last weekend I had my chance to dive in Southern California for the first time. Based on the recommendations here on the board, I spent one day on a dive boat visiting the channel islands (Anacapa & Santa Cruz). The next day I went over to Catalina and dove the Casino Point park.

The dive boat trip aboard the Spectre out of Ventura was really great. They have a wonderful staff on the boat and they make an effort to ensure everyone enjoys the trip. I was a little concerned about the wet-suit decision as everyone said I needed to use a 7-mil suit there. Well after one dive, I was ditching the 7-mil and wore a 3-mil for the rest of the weekend. 72+ at the surface and even 70F at 60 feet was not the frigid conditions I was expecting! LOL (I understand that is not normal there). Diving around kelp for the first time was truly a special feeling. Also seeing things like The Underwater Island at Anacapa was really cool. At first, I thought I was swimming over some soft coral until my dive buddy went down and picked up a brittle starfish to show me what was really there. The entire area is covered with what seemed like millions of brittle stars.

The next day at Casino Point, I was even more impressed with all of the marine life in the park. I hired one of the ScubaLuv instructors (Tim) for a couple of guided tour dives. He was truly great at making it a memorable set of dives. Although, I didn't see even one sea lion at Anacapa I was treated to surprise visit by one large bull sea lion during the tour in Casino Point. The Garabaldi, kelpfish, and catalina gobies were everywhere I looked. I met the resident octopus and truly got the sense of "dissapearing" in the kelp. After my first dive, I lucked into meeting DrBill as we were putting gear back in the truck. He is truly a great guy.

Although it is quite different from a Caribbean dive, I'd rate the dives I had in Catalina right up near the top of my experiences in the ocean. I hope to get back out there someday and enjoy it again!!
 
Sounds good; I'd like to do that someday. What size tanks were available for rent? Anything larger than 80s? Did you hire a private guide for the boat trip, or navigate to & from the boat yourself?

Richard.
 
I rented Aluminum 80. I believe they said steel 72's were available too. I'm sure every operator has various options. I didn't hire a guide for the boat trip. They said it was typically easy to buddy-up with someone on the boat. That was certainly true as there were a number of persons who came on the boat solo. I had a buddy for every dive.

Kevin
 
Nice meeting you at the park. Come back when the kelp is healthy and you'll be doubly amazed.
 
I've been diving now for 9 years and I've done a lot of travel, and for my money, the best diving in the world is up and down the west coast of North America. The diving in SoCal is fantastic, and the best I have done is off the boats. Glad you got to enjoy it!
 
It ain't a Casino Point dive until you've met the (in)famous Dr. Bill.

Well, during summer it is hard to meet me as I'm diving at night due to the hordes of poorly supervised snorkelers... and those who meet me during daylight (a scary time for fanged individuals like myself) may notice a certain unease at being out in sunshine!
 
It ain't a Casino Point dive until you've met the (in)famous Dr. Bill.

LOL, if that aint the truth. I too ran into him while waiting to board the Express back to LB.

I'll add that he was just as friendly in person as he is on the forums. Very accommodating and I saw no fangs :cool2:
 
Now that summer is "over" (don't tell Mother Nature), I've resumed my daytime diving. The dive park really has been decimated by the persistent warm temperatures, low nutrient levels and surge events associated with Marie and the other hurricanes off Mexico. However, it has also meant great visibility and in daylight I can see the Guadalupe cardinalfish and giant sea bass. Diving now will be great preparation for my trips to the tropics over the winter (when hopefully, El Nino-based storms will bring us plenty of rain).

Diving the park right now is really not indicative of the beauty of our giant kelp forests. The only real hint you get of their former (and future) glory is diving at the south end near the harbor mouth where cold, deep water from off the harbor mouth brings nutrients up into that end of the park and sustains the kelp.
 

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