Catalina: need recommendations for first private boat trip

[Jake]

Hi all-

A family member just bought a boat worthy of making day trips to Catalina for diving. I've been on dive boats to the island but never really thought much about where we went.

So, I'm wondering if anyone can recommend some good sites to go to as first time private visitors. For a first time out we'd prioritize things like low current, shallow-ish depth (20-60 feet average), and easy conditions for boating (like not having to worry about drifting into obstructions).

We'd be leaving from Huntington Harbor if that makes any significant difference to anyone.

Thank you in advance.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Dive Sites - Google My Maps

These are a few of my favorite Catalina sites, although Catalina is not my favorite place to dive.

 

[Jake]

Dive Sites - Google My Maps

These are a few of my favorite Catalina sites, although Catalina is not my favorite place to dive.

Thank you for the map. Is the Piper Cherokee in good shape, and is there anything else at that location besides the plane?

 

[MaxBottomtime]

It has been stripped. It was sitting in deep sand with nothing nearby.
Piper Cherokee Six N3516W

 

[drbill]

Try Franko's map of Catalina dive sites.

Santa Catalina Island | Franko's Fabulous Maps of Favorite Places! - frankosmaps.com

Surprised that Phil's map didn't include Ship Rock, one of my local favorites (offshore from Bird Rock).

 

[MaxBottomtime]

It does. That's one of my favorite deep dive spots.

 

[drbill]

It does. That's one of my favorite deep dive spots.

Hmm, I didn't see anything beyond Bird Rock when I scrolled. It isn't a bad shallow site either. I just looked again and saw that I was looking at the area labelled "Bird Rock State Marine" rather than Bird Rock itself (thought it looked a bit "far out" (so to speak).