maxfanatic
Registered
Hello! I'm a new diver, certified at Anacapa + local shore diving around SB in November 2019. No diving during the height of the pandemic, but recently (July 2021) did a refresher dive at Refugio State Beach prior to a trip to Kona, Hawaii. I have 5 local dives (incl. 4 for certification) and 4 dives in Hawaii.
My brother is newly certified diving in (quite cold) lakes in Idaho, and plans to make a trip down to visit me soon. He was supposed to come to Hawaii with us, but got sick before the trip and couldn't travel, so he hasn't been in the ocean yet.
Given that we'll be diving on a Tuesday to fit around his work schedule, we don't have the option of taking the Spectre. I'm thinking a day trip (or one night overnight) at Catalina might be the move. I had planned to take a trip out there right after my OW, but the pandemic had other plans.
My question to those who familiar with the dive park: do you think I should hire a dive guide / try to find a local to show us around (though I imagine this might be hard on a Tuesday...)? I don't have much experience navigating, since other than the basic navigation in my OW I've only done "follow the leader" diving. That said, all of my local dives have been in cold water with kelp, and I'm reasonably confident I could lead out-and-back dives for my brother and I. In any case, I want to build up my navigation experience so that I feel more comfortable doing local shore diving without a dive guide, and am thinking that with the generally better visibility at Catalina (relative to most sites in SB), and dedicated, mapped out dive area, it might be a great opportunity.
What do you all think? Is the dive park reasonably forgiving re basic navigation, or would you recommend finding/hiring someone to show us around? I guess if we went the route of hiring someone, I'd ideally do a single guided dive before setting out on our own -- like I said, I really want to transition into leading my own dives in a buddy team. Additionally, money is a factor -- as a graduate student, the idea of diving Casino point for just the price of the ferry and tank/weight rental is quite attractive relative. That price tag more than doubles when factoring in guided dives. Of course, though, I foremost want to dive safely.
Thoughts? Maybe even thoughts/advice more general than for this dive trip, but applying to the process of first learning to lead your own dives with a buddy. Thanks in advance for your time!
My brother is newly certified diving in (quite cold) lakes in Idaho, and plans to make a trip down to visit me soon. He was supposed to come to Hawaii with us, but got sick before the trip and couldn't travel, so he hasn't been in the ocean yet.
Given that we'll be diving on a Tuesday to fit around his work schedule, we don't have the option of taking the Spectre. I'm thinking a day trip (or one night overnight) at Catalina might be the move. I had planned to take a trip out there right after my OW, but the pandemic had other plans.
My question to those who familiar with the dive park: do you think I should hire a dive guide / try to find a local to show us around (though I imagine this might be hard on a Tuesday...)? I don't have much experience navigating, since other than the basic navigation in my OW I've only done "follow the leader" diving. That said, all of my local dives have been in cold water with kelp, and I'm reasonably confident I could lead out-and-back dives for my brother and I. In any case, I want to build up my navigation experience so that I feel more comfortable doing local shore diving without a dive guide, and am thinking that with the generally better visibility at Catalina (relative to most sites in SB), and dedicated, mapped out dive area, it might be a great opportunity.
What do you all think? Is the dive park reasonably forgiving re basic navigation, or would you recommend finding/hiring someone to show us around? I guess if we went the route of hiring someone, I'd ideally do a single guided dive before setting out on our own -- like I said, I really want to transition into leading my own dives in a buddy team. Additionally, money is a factor -- as a graduate student, the idea of diving Casino point for just the price of the ferry and tank/weight rental is quite attractive relative. That price tag more than doubles when factoring in guided dives. Of course, though, I foremost want to dive safely.
Thoughts? Maybe even thoughts/advice more general than for this dive trip, but applying to the process of first learning to lead your own dives with a buddy. Thanks in advance for your time!