Channel Islands?

[AcornMan]

Is late March a good time to dive at the Channel Islands? If so, I would like to get some suggestions for good dive operations there. If it matters, two people in our group have been on three dive trips, and a third has been on one trip (but he is very confident and capable). TIA.

 

[drrich2]

Where were these dive trips, and do you guys plan to dive dry suits or wet suits? How familiar are you with diving that area? Is there a particular part of California you plan to depart out of? When I was researching for a Southern Channel Islands trip, people provided quite a bit of info. to me and it was very helpful for me to avoid getting blind-sided with the unexpected. I was quite happy with Truth Aquatic's boat the Vision on a 5-day limited load Southern Channel Islands trip (linked from the thread I already linked). I'm glad I did a limited load trip to reduce the likelihood of crowding. That was departing out of Santa Barbara.

Richard.

 

[Trailboss123]

Is late March a good time to dive at the Channel Islands? If so, I would like to get some suggestions for good dive operations there. If it matters, two people in our group have been on three dive trips, and a third has been on one trip (but he is very confident and capable). TIA.

I think all year is good, but to be honest, Springtime usually brings our lowest visibility due to the onset of algae blooms. Water temps will be toward their coldest of the year in winter and early spring and then slowly beginning to warm. By coldest, for late March, you would be looking at 53-57 degrees. It will also vary some between southern and northern channel islands. Are you looking at single day trips or multi day liveaboard? Do you have a preference between Southern (depart out of Long Beach, Orange County and San Diego) or Northern (depart out of Ventura and Santa Barbara).

 

[azstinger11]

Major Dive Boats/Charter Companies in the Area:

• Waterhorse (San Diego)
• Marissa (San Diego)
• Truth Dive Charter (boats = Truth, Vision, Conception) (Santa Barbara)
• Magician(LA)
• Peace(Ventura)
• Pacific Star(LA)
• Explorer(LA)

Shops/Clubs and others that frequently charter boats:

• Power Scuba
• Channel Islands Dive Adventures
• Eco Dive Center
• Ocean Safari

This list is not all-inclusive or exhaustive but it should represent the majority of the major operators in the area. In general, the boats out of San Diego will only do Catalina Island (rarely), Los Coronados Islands, San Diego Wreck Alley, and other local dive sites. The boats out of LA/Ventura/Santa Barbara will hit the Channel Islands National Park area, oil rigs, a few wrecks in LA, and some of the sea mounds that are divable.

 

[Trailboss123]

A couple of other Ventura Dive Ops that hit the Channel Islands (Anacapa and Santa Cruz) are:
The Spectre: The Spectre Dive Boat | Diving Santa Cruz Islands on Spectre Dive Boat
The Raptor: Raptor Dive Charters: Schedule and Reservation Information

And The Explorer, mentioned above is also out of Ventura- not Los Angeles.

 

[Bob DBF]

A list of SoCal dive boats and contact info.

California Dive Boats : The Official Page


My personal favorite is the Peace.



Bob

 

[azstinger11]

A list of SoCal dive boats and contact info.

California Dive Boats : The Official Page


My personal favorite is the Peace.



Bob

Cool site, and agree on The Peace got to love the hot tub! I know the world of dive boats is a bit slow moving but that site was last updated in 2016 and is missing a few boats like the Westerly. Between the update time and peaking at the code, I wonder if the site is now abandoned.

 

[tc]

Sundiver is great for Catalina and the oil rigs- http://sundiverinternational.com/

 

[Trailboss123]

California Diving News does a good job of listing all of the boats also (all the way up to Monterey) and lots of other great info: Dive Boats Archive - California Diving News

 

[drbill]

The Channel Islands cover a fairly wide range of oceanographic conditions and ecological systems from the chilly waters of San Miguel to the warmer waters of Anacapa and Catalina. My preference for dive boats would be the Truth Aquatics boats, the Peace and the Magician (all good boats).