Camping and shore dive on Catalina. Feasible ?

[chimie007]

Never been there. I have a few days before a meeting in LA and I'm thinking of camping in Two Harbors and doing shore dives early Oct and some hiking.

Is it feasible logisticwise ? I'm thinking about issues with keeping gear safe, access to dive site, tank rentals, etc. Might do one boat trip but otherwise would like to dive from shore to keep cost down.

thanks

P.S. I read the sticky thread. All about hotels.

 

[saintsfan]

theres a dive shop at the pier and pretty good scenic beach dive from the farthest east beach along the cliffs.snorkel out along the cliffs and you will see a small white buoy, nice easy dive

 

[ChickOfTheSea]

You also have the option of renting kayaks. It's cheaper and you can get to places the boat will take you anyhow!

 

[muddiver]

It can be a bit of a swim to any good dive at twin harbors on the leaword side of the island. Straight out from the main beach is the boat anchorage where you can not SCUBA with out permission from the harbor master. At teh campgrounds there is more beach which you can launch from, but you still will have to motor out and around the shallow areas to the deeper water for a good dive. Also dragging your gear down to the beach at the campground will be tricky due to the steep slope of the cove area. If you can rent a small boat I highly suggest you dive istmus reef out where the navigation marker sticks out of the water. Bird rock is also a very good dive that is close enough for small boat travel. Depths at both locations range from 0' to 100' with awsome vis'.

 

[drbill]

Two Harbors camping is at Big Fisherman Cove. Kayak is a good option to get to dive sites like Middle Reef, Bird Rock (and, if you paddle well, Ship Rock) not to mention the diving right near shore.

 

[chimie007]

Two Harbors camping is at Big Fisherman Cove. Kayak is a good option to get to dive sites like Middle Reef, Bird Rock (and, if you paddle well, Ship Rock) not to mention the diving right near shore.

Well well....maybe I need to rethink this whole camping/diving plan. Is shore diving (let's say without a kayak) possible at all near Two Harbors camping ? Is shore diving (apart of the Casino park) not really feasible on the island ?

If I have to factor the cost of renting a kayak, I might as well just charter a boat once a day.

I was kind of hoping to camp somewhere nice and then get some cheap shore diving and snorkeling not too far from there. Am I asking too much ?

 

[Codyjp]

2 of my favorite dives on catalina is isthmus reef and lions head on the north side of cherry cove. they would both be a quick paddle from the pier.

 

[wilton]

Almost all of the shore on the island is steep and rocky with no roads or footpaths -- virtually impossible to access from land. Besides the beach at Two Harbors, there are one or two other beaches that are accessible by road, but they, too, have moorings that you'll need to navigate somehow.

 

[chimie007]

Almost all of the shore on the island is steep and rocky with no roads or footpaths -- virtually impossible to access from land. Besides the beach at Two Harbors, there are one or two other beaches that are accessible by road, but they, too, have moorings that you'll need to navigate somehow.

Thanks. So looks like it will be kayak or charter.

 

[scottfiji]

Ignore all the other posts. no offense to the posters!

Camping and shore diving at two harbors is easy and great, I did it in July.

No need to bother with a boat or kayak.

The diving near the campground is excellent, some of the best in catalina. keep all your gear at the campsite. when you wake up, gear up, walk 30 seconds to the water, make the short swim to the dive site and you are in heaven.

The trucks that transport your camping gear from and to the ferry will also transport full/empty tanks for you from/to the dive shop.

It's that easy.

enjoy, and let us know how it was!

scott

ps - just make sure you get a campsite near the shore, #5 or #6 should work out fine...I think they have a map of the campsites on-line