Catalina After Labor Day: Dive Guide or Buddy for a Florida diver?

[guyharrisonphoto]

I am visiting Catalina on the Monday and Tuesday of Labor Day.

I have never dived in the kelp and am really looking forward to this!

I am very experienced in tropical waters and dive regularly (20-40 dives per year) but this will be my first time in the kelp.

Looking for recommendations for a dive guide or shop who can supply one for me. Or, a fellow scubaboard person who can show me the ropes.

Thanks!

Guy

 

[SoCalRich]

Greetings Guy,
If you are diving casino point. With your experience you just need a dive buddy, and thicker wet suit. The park is easy to navigate. As for the kelp, don't roll if you get tangled, just relax and break it off.
Here are some the dive shops on the island.
Catalina Divers Supply,
Diving Catalina
Catalina Scuba Luv
Dive Catalina With Ron Moore

I hope you enjoy Catalina as much as we do.
Good Divin,
SoCalRich

 

[guyharrisonphoto]

Thanks SoCalRich

I am going to get one guided dive from Catalina Divers Supply on Sept 3 and then do others on my own with a buddy once I am comfortable. I am also on the list for their boat trip on Sept 4, but I am the only one and they need three others to fill it up. So, for now, I am planning for a shore dive on the 4th as well. And I will have my 7mil semi-dry with matching hood!

Also, this came up at the last minute, I found a boat doing a three dive day trip to Anacapa on Sept 1. It is the Explorer Dive boat chartered by ECO Dive Center and leaving from Ventura. I thought that would be a great intro to the northern channel islands. Hopefully I will find a good buddy on that trip.

Any tips or suggestions appreciated.

Guy

 

[drbill]

Here are some the dive shops on the island.
Catalina Divers Supply,
Diving Catalina
Catalina Scuba Luv
Dive Catalina With Ron Moore

CDS bought SCUBA Luv so they are now one shop.

Visibility in the dive park has not been good recently and due to the warm water, the kelp is dying (although still fairly abundant). I was up the coast at Howland's Landing on the West End yesterday and conditions were much better there. Hopefully you'll get a chance to do a boat dive while you're here and experience several other Catalina dive sites.

 

[Trailboss123]

Thanks SoCalRich

I am going to get one guided dive from Catalina Divers Supply on Sept 3 and then do others on my own with a buddy once I am comfortable. I am also on the list for their boat trip on Sept 4, but I am the only one and they need three others to fill it up. So, for now, I am planning for a shore dive on the 4th as well. And I will have my 7mil semi-dry with matching hood!

Also, this came up at the last minute, I found a boat doing a three dive day trip to Anacapa on Sept 1. It is the Explorer Dive boat chartered by ECO Dive Center and leaving from Ventura. I thought that would be a great intro to the northern channel islands. Hopefully I will find a good buddy on that trip.

Any tips or suggestions appreciated.

Guy

You will love Anacapa. You will need your own tank and weights if diving on the Explorer. If Eco Dive Center is chartering the boat, you can likely acquire those through them. If not, Ventura Dive and Sport (also located at the Ventura Harbor) can rent to you. They have a few 100 cf steel tanks, so you could specifically ask for one of those. Speaking of VDS, they also have a 3 tank dive trip going out to Anacapa on that day from their dive boat, the Raptor. Tanks are included, you will just have to ask for weights. Welcome to the Raptor Dive Charters Website located in Ventura Harbor, California

 

[guyharrisonphoto]

Thanks trail boss. I already paid for my trip on the explorer. I was not able to find any others when I was looking last week. Includes two hot meals and three dives for 135 which I thought was pretty good. I will contact the shops about a tank and it sounds like I need to arrange weights as well? Any tips u can give me about diving that boat?

 

[guyharrisonphoto]

CDS bought SCUBA Luv so they are now one shop.

Visibility in the dive park has not been good recently and due to the warm water, the kelp is dying (although still fairly abundant). I was up the coast at Howland's Landing on the West End yesterday and conditions were much better there. Hopefully you'll get a chance to do a boat dive while you're here and experience several other Catalina dive sites.

Thanks for that update. Too bad sounds like conditions are just fair at the Park. I am on CDS list for their boat dive sept 4 but I am the only one and they need 4 to go so the park might be my only option.

 

[Sam Miller III]

Guy
What a surprise !

You are finally venturing west and diving in Gods country - where diving began ! You will enjoy Anacapa Island ! In my spearfishing days it was one of my favorite locations - cooler clear water & varied marine life

Apparently it has never been discussed but the channel islands can be tropical or some what chilly that time of the year, a jacket or even a "boat coat" maybe appropriate to bring along.

My dear wife Miss Betty has decreed that my office and study will be remodeled, redecorated and repainted so things are in complete turmoil in the Miller adobe.

In the process I did unearth the letter you sent me about an article I had published in my dedicated column in Discover Diving sooo many yeas ago-- sadly it is once again some where among all my treasures.

You have not announced your itinerary - Are you flying into LA or San Francisco ?

Cheers from CenCal

Sam Miller,III

 

[Trailboss123]

Thanks trail boss. I already paid for my trip on the explorer. I was not able to find any others when I was looking last week. Includes two hot meals and three dives for 135 which I thought was pretty good. I will contact the shops about a tank and it sounds like I need to arrange weights as well? Any tips u can give me about diving that boat?

My pleasure. You will enjoy your day on the Explorer. Pretty straight forward. Give yourself a bit of time to get from your vehicle with all of your gear and down to the boat. There should be a number of wheeled carts down near the boat that you can use to haul all of your gear down from your car and back up afterward. You will be well fed and I am sure you will make many new friends. It will take over an hour to get from the harbor and out to your first dive site. Probably more like 1.5 hours before you are anchored up. The crossing can be super smooth or a bit rocky, depending on wind and swell. It is a pretty stable boat though. Unless you get there a day early, you will want to have Eco Dive center bring your tank and weights or arrange for the Explorer to have it for you already. Boarding for the Explorer is at 6am and boat departs at 7am. Ventura Dive and Sport doesn't open until 7am, so getting your tank and weights from them the day of departure will not work. I would just e-mail Explorer and let them know what you need- they should be able to meet your needs and have it on the boat already: explorerdiveboat@sbcglobal.net

Look forward to hearing a report from your So Cal dive trip.

 

[guyharrisonphoto]

Guy
What a surprise !

You are finally venturing west and diving in Gods country - where diving began ! You will enjoy Anacapa Island ! In my spearfishing days it was one of my favorite locations - cooler clear water & varied marine life

Apparently it has never been discussed but the channel islands can be tropical or some what chilly that time of the year, a jacket or even a "boat coat" maybe appropriate to bring along.

My dear wife Miss Betty has decreed that my office and study will be remodeled, redecorated and repainted so things are in complete turmoil in the Miller adobe.

In the process I did unearth the letter you sent me about an article I had published in my dedicated column in Discover Diving sooo many yeas ago-- sadly it is once again some where among all my treasures.

You have not announced your itinerary - Are you flying into LA or San Francisco ?

Cheers from CenCal

Sam Miller,III

Hi Sam

Thanks for your kind words! This has been on my list of "to do" diving for a long long time but I am just now getting the chance. I definitely will have my boat coat (I use it in FLA when snorkeling with manatees is in 70 degree water but 38 degree winter air temps), and some fleece clothes. Hope to see lots of fish and animals at Anacapa and Catalina, also want to do 2 dives focusing on macro as your nudibranchs and invertebrates are very different from what I see here in Fla.

I am arriving in LAX on Wednesday the 29th. Staying with my sister until the 4th in Irvine. Trekking to Ventura and back on the 2nd for for the Anacapa trip, then going to Catalina the 3d 4th and 5th with the redeye home on the 5th.

Yes, lots of great diving history in Cal. I always enjoy your posts about those early days.

Guy