Unanswered Catalina and Great Escape info

[scubasaint]

Hello everyone.........

I will be coming to LA for a business trip in late August and am trying to work out the logistics so that I can do a day trip on the Great Escape to Catalina.

There are a few questions I have with regards to both that I have been searching for on the forum, but have not head much luck locating them, and yes, I have read the Catalina sticky!


Can anyone answer the following questions for me?

• What are the average depths of the dives when diving Catalina from the Great Escape?
• I read they don't have Nitrox. Is this still true?
• I've never dived in kelp or cold water; most of my diving is in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean? Is it highly recommended or necessary to hire a guide? If so, what are the average costs? My buddy will be diving as well and has also never dived in these conditions.
• I thought I saw that you can sleep on the boat the night before the trip leaves. Is this true?
• Any other critical pieces of information I should know?

At some point I would like to dive Casino Point, but figure with this being my first and only trip diving Catalina in the foreseeable future, I would like to do boat diving as my understanding is it is top notch.

Thank you all for any help with this! I need to get some rest for another day of the "grind".

 

[SCUBA_Phil]

Scubasaint,
Avg. depth is 50' Most recreational boat go to places where you can stay at 30' or adventure to 100'
No nitrox on the Great Escape. If you want nitrox try the Magician or the Pacific Star. All are good boats.
This is SoCal, none of the boats provide guides. Post when you are going to dive and someone on this board will probably more than happy to dive with you. 90% chance you can just buddy up on the boat with no advance notice.
The only boat that lets you sleep on it (last time I looked) was the Sundiver.

SoCal has some great diving. Catalina is world class.

 

[Kevrumbo]

Southern California Scuba Diving - Great Escape Dive Boat

 

[robint]

Scubasaint,
Avg. depth is 50' Most recreational boat go to places where you can stay at 30' or adventure to 100'
No nitrox on the Great Escape. If you want nitrox try the Magician or the Pacific Star. All are good boats.
This is SoCal, none of the boats provide guides. Post when you are going to dive and someone on this board will probably more than happy to dive with you. 90% chance you can just buddy up on the boat with no advance notice.
The only boat that lets you sleep on it (last time I looked) was the Sundiver.

SoCal has some great diving. Catalina is world class.

Yes, you can sleep on the Great Escape. Any trip, the night before.
Crew will be there to have you sign all the paperwork and show your C-card, sign-in for your bunk, and you are set. Lots of people do it. You are allowed to start loading your stuff on the boat the night before around 8pm, or whenever the crew shows up and starts prepping the boat. We always sleep onboard as we drive in from out-of-state. There are lots of others who also sleep onboard who don't live in the area. Also, if you sleep onboard, you can set up your gear the night before and get a good spot.... those people arriving in the am are all half asleep and cranky, trying to schlepp dive gear from their cars and find an empty spot to put their tanks, etc.

If you really want a guide, you need to e-mail Tim and request one. I am sure he can find you someone to dive with you. But as mentioned before, you probably don't need one. The Catalina dives are always pretty easy and relaxing, just make sure you and buddy know how to use a compass to get back to boat. You won't be able to see it until you are very close, but you can listen for motor to help you know you are getting closer.

A few things you need to remember.... if you get caught in the kelp - freeze! Don't thrash around. Slowly try to located where you are hung up, if you can untangle alone go for it or let your buddy do it. Kelp is east to snap in half if needed.

Also... you MUST bring your own tanks and wts onboard. They don't have any onboard.
You also need a 7mm suit, one piece or two piece, and a hood and gloves. Water is cold and after a couple of dives it seems even colder. Bring dry clothes to change into after you dives, the ride back to mainland after diving is about 2 hours, plenty of time to catch a nap downstairs.
Also, you cannot go downstairs wet, no wetsuits, so you ask a crew member to get something out of your bunk if you need it. Otherwise, bring everything upstairs (like topside camera, logbook, sunscreen, hats, towels) and store them on one of the shelves in galley for easy access, or bring a dry bag to stow under your seat or with your dive bag stowed on sides of the boat in walkways.
You can bring your own small cooler onboard if you want beer or some special drinks other than sodas. (They have some beer onboard but it is extra $.)

See my photos of the boat here:
California on the Great Escape - August 2008
California Kelp 2007

robin

 

[blue steal]

Great info robint. I think you covered most everything. I am going out on the Great Escape this Saturday. I will give a report on how it goes. Heard many good things about the GE. I will not be sleeping onboard as I live 10 minutes away from there and will just show up in the morning. Hopefully will still get a bunk and a spot for the tank. One thing that does concern me is that I am going solo and will I be able to find a buddy?

 

[robint]

Great info robint. I think you covered most everything. I am going out on the Great Escape this Saturday. I will give a report on how it goes. Heard many good things about the GE. I will not be sleeping onboard as I live 10 minutes away from there and will just show up in the morning. Hopefully will still get a bunk and a spot for the tank. One thing that does concern me is that I am going solo and will I be able to find a buddy?

you can stop by the night before and put all your gear onboard and get a spot for your tank, etc, then go home for night.

They do a briefing in the morning after breakfast, and they ask "who doesn't have a buddy?" Usually there are a couple of people who raise their hands, and they end up together. One day last trip a young handicapped guy walked up to me and hubby and asked if he could buddy with us... since we had camera gear he knew we would be going slow. We said sure and it worked out fine - we chatted a bit, got to know each other and checked out each others gear and hand signals. He was a great diver, had been diving in Calif for several years, and was very comfortable in the water, he just hung out watching me shoot video and hubby shoot still photos. I am usually not one who wants to buddy with a stranger as I know I suck as a buddy as I get so distracted by shooting video. Hubby and I usually try to stay within eye-sight of each other but sometimes get separated. It was actually pretty nice having him along those 3 dives as he kept track of both of us and the boat.

I really like Calif divers for the most part. They aren't wussy warm water divers who whine about everything and need hand-holding. They get in their gear and get in water and dive, no fuss.

 

[DiveNav]

......... What are the average depths of the dives when diving Catalina from the Great Escape? .............

Hi,
we have created 3 virtual dive sites in Catalina (Ship Rock North, Bird Rock and Isthmus Reef) that the GE might visit.
I would say that there is a good 60% probability that the GE will hit at least one of those 3 sites during a typical dive trip to Catalina.

Using our (free) scuba diving simulator you can check out from your home details of those dive sites including major terrain features, endemic marine life, depths, water temperature and visibility. You can also plan your dive in great details.

Here more info:
Ship Rock North
Video
Map

Stay close to the rock .... or you will find yourself in ~300ft of water

Bird Rock
Video
Map

East of the rock is quite deep (~170ft) but most likely the boat will anchor in the shallow plateau (~20ft) North West of the rock. If so, go and visit the wall just east of the boat.

Isthmus Reef
Video
Map

Usually the boats here anchor in the shallow (~20 to ~30ft). I like to explore the wall in the North West of the dive site. It drops down from ~40ft to ~110ft quite quickly

Have fun and be safe

AM

 

[blue steal]

Cool simulations DiveNav. Enjoyed them very much. Thanks for the tips robint. I just might drop off the heavy gear the night before, get a bunk. I enjoy warm water, (wuss?), but grew up here in Ca so cold water is a fact of life for me and it does not bother me. I am quite comfortable in the ocean, surf, swim, snorkel, and now scuba. I like going slow and spend a lot of time just hovering and checking things out. Into the safety mode so to speak, always monitoring, checking stuff. Although I am a "newbie" to scuba, most of my scuba dives have been in the PI with my nephews. They were not good buddies, and I spent most of those dives solo as they would go deeper than planned or wander off permanently. It would even piss off the DM's. I'm very independent, but at the same time enjoy helping and guiding others. I frequently take groups out in the summer on snorkeling trips to Laguna Beach and am the "SM" (Snorkel Master) :snorkel2:you might say. Do it in the PI all the time, it's great to see the look on their faces when perhaps for the first time they look underwater after living right next to the ocean. Priceless.......
Anyway, thanks so much for you tips and advice.:talkingfish: I am learning so much about scuba thru scubaboard.

 

[ligersandtions]

Like Robin said, if you get caught in kelp, slowly and methodically free yourself. I see you have 100+ dives, so I assume you've got your buoyancy all figured out....but diving in kelp is one place where you really want to have good buoyancy skills because it is highly likely you will get caught at least once - when you're caught and have to stop swimming to free yourself, you don't want to sink like a rock!

Otherwise, have fun and enjoy diving Catalina - it's quite a treat!

 

[drbill]

One of the really cool things about much of Catalina's leeward coastline is the steep offshore slope. You can be diving in 10 ft of water or 200 ft within easy reach of the dive boat at most sites. Of course most of what you want to see is in the upper 60 ft or so, but if you're looking for nudies they're generally found in the colder, more productive waters closer to the recreational diving limits.

I've been diving the kelp forests here for 40 years now and the few times I've had kelp snagged on my tank valve or other equipment, it has been an easy move to remove it by stopping, assessing the situation and simply removing it (or snapping it apart IF need be). I dive solo most of the time, so diving with a buddy makes this an even easier procedure.

As for hiring a guide, I wouldn't see this as necessary if you and your buddy are observant. Keep poking around and you should see plenty on your own. Also, given the offshore slope it is difficult to really get "lost" since you just need to keep within the desired depth range and use basic navigation.

Enjoy your experience!