any advice for the diving at Avalon?

[jackdav]

LOML just certified OW last month and has been lobbying hard to go diving again soon. Next Sunday is our 1st aniversary and so I am taking her to Catalina Island to dive at Avalon dive park and perhaps take a boat trip or two.
I understand they got lotsa kelp and cold cold salt water. If anyone on the list has dove Avalon, is there anything I need to watch out for? Any recommendations or caveats (I am a rank novice with only 5 or 6 dives more than my wife) regarding the diving or the facilities available there? I am a little concerned about the kelp, but I have long wanted to dive in a kelp forrest, so I am also really excited about it.
I had asked Joewr for some advice on modifying neoprene, with an eye towards altering the sleeves and legs of a used XXX wetsuit. The problem with that plan was that I could not find a used XXX wetsuit anywhere in the metro Phoenix area... so I plunked the plastic for a custom Jabba-The-Hut sized wet suit, and it came last night (the Visa bill has yet to come) and fits nicely. But thanks for the advice Joewr .... It should have worked.
So now I have my wetsuit down, my BCD down and only have yet to buy a dive computer, some gages, and some regulators (no wonder my LDS mentioned about 700 times that this is an "equipment intensive sport") at least until I get interested in hunting or wreck diving, or cave diving, or........
Best Regards to All,
Jack in Phoenix

 

[Scottri]

Hey welcome to diving!

I have done some diving at Avalon. It's a very nice place. The kelp can get thick there. The best advice I have for kelp is to make sure you have a knife and if you do get tangled up in it just relax, go slow and it will be fine. The dive park there is very nice and it's pretty easy to get in and out. The vis is great and there are usually a lot of people around in case you do get in trouble.
There are 2 shops on the island if you need gear and you can get air fills right at the dive site.


Scott

 

[socaldiver]

Hi Jack,

Casino Point is the dive park in Avalon and it is a very easy dive. I have several dive reports under the North America section you might want to look at.

California diving Supply has a trailer at the park that is open on the weekends where you can get air fills and rent gear if needed. It is a nice little walk back into "town" (about 10 minutes on a very slow walk) for meals during surface intervals.

The Point has steps that take you right down into the water, during high tide it is a piece of cake when entering the water, during low tide it is a little trickier. Your exit is somewhat "hairy" if you have never done it before because of the surge that is normally there, just relax and go with the flow and when you get to the steps grab the pole.

When you enter the water do a surface swim straight out to the white buoy and then descend, you will be in about 25 fsw. If you go west you will have plenty of kelp and sandy bottom, plenty of marine life and the depth only gets to about 80fsw before you are out of the marine park. If you go east after your descent you will see Cousteau's Monument and past that are plenty of rocks and thick kelp forest. You come out of the kelp forest and there is a fairly good size dropoff that is 100+ fsw. Directly out from the stairs the bottom slopes gradually. You will see some "wrecks" out in that area, a sailboat is in about 50 fsw just the other side of a big kelp wall you should be able to see when you descend.

I have not been to the Point for about 2 months now, but we are hoping to get there this Saturday to get in a few dives, so I don't know what vis is like but I have heard it has been in the 40 to 50 ft range. The water temp is 62 right now so probably a 7 mil would be in order.

Some other info for you: when you get off the express there will be a "taxi stand" then you can hop a ride over to the park for a nominal charge if you don't feel like walking over to the park. There is also a storage locker there that you can give your equipment to and they will take it to the point for you and pick it up when you are ready to return. That cost I think $6 one way, but not sure. If you want to carry your own gear to the Green Pier, California Diving Supply is on the pier and you can rent carts from them to carry your gear.

There are showers/restrooms across from the Tuna Club just a short distance from the park, and at Casino Point you have restrooms only.

I totally agree with Scott, the kelp is not that big of a deal, if you get hung up in it just relax and between you and your buddy you can break loose with little effort. Diving in the kelp is one of the more awesome dives you will ever have, plenty of marine life and "rooms" to explore. Be prepared to see the magnificent Giant Sea Bass. They have been playing around different parts of the island this year and more and more sightings as each day goes by. These fish are HUGE (5 to 6 ft and 300 to 400 lbs). Other marine life you can expect to see are the garibaldi, calico bass, sheepheads, kelp bass, giant kelpfish, opal eyes, sea perch, top smelt, blacksmiths, blue banded goby and if you look in the nooks and crannys you will see spiny lobster, horn sharks, octopi and eels.

Enjoy, I will be posting a dive report either Sunday or Monday when I return.

 

[divernva]

I dove Catalina a few months ago and it was great. The kelp wasn't really a problem... stay close to the bottom. I got hung up once, and was able to untangle myself. The kelp seemed worse at the surface than in the water.

Since I went during the summer season, air fills were available at Casino Point from a trailer run by Catalina Dive Supply. I don't think they bring out the trailer during the winter season... so you'll have to get tanks from the pier location or one of the shops in town. It's a good hike between the town and the UW park... especially with gear and tanks. Renting a "cart" from one of the dive shops would be a good idea. Taxi is about $7, renting a golf cart for the day is about $30... some accommodations have golf carts available to the guests.

Look into a boat dive, some great dive sites around the island. Not to mention, no problems with tanks either. I did a day on one of Scuba Luv's boat. The sea bass are awesome... saw one in the UW park too.

If you do a search on the message board, you should come up with a bunch of dive reports from socaldiver. They aren't titled Catalina... usually just "another diver report" or something like that, but the reports are great reading. And I expect socaldiver to chime in here soon as well.

Good luck with your trip. Catalina's a great place to relax, not to mention the excellent diving.

Ken

 

[socaldiver]

I did chime in, actually beat your post, it's these quick fingers.

 

[divernva]

Well, I see socaldiver did make an appearance! I must type slow or something....

Just wanted to mention that RSD has an article about diving in Catalina... boat dives primarily and pretty deep. Just some extra reading to get you in the mood.

RSD's site is: www.scubadiving.com
(Sorry don't know how to make it a direct link in the message)
The article can be found on the front page...

 

[kelpmermaid]

Socaldiver's description of Casino Point was great! The only thing I have to add is about kelp itself. It will stretch lengthwise, but you can snap it by bending it. Definitely take a knife or sea snip (scissors) with you, just in case. As with any other situation, if you do become entangled, remain calm and have your buddy check out the point of entanglement and set you free.

 

[kelpmermaid]

One thing I forgot to mention, if you find yourself needing to go across kelp at the surface (and this is worse as tide drops,) you'll need to "crawl" over it and push it down a bit-- looks something like a doggy paddle.

 

[buff]

.......kelp is in ice cream(lecithin). I learned this in 7th grade and that is all that I know about kelp.

Hope this helps....