Anacapa Diving

[stussy]

I am a newly certified open water diver. I have a few beach dives under my belt and was looking into my first boat dive. I just got done reading an article in Nov. issue of California Diving news about Anacapa island. The diving at Anacapa looks beautiful. Good viz seems to be pretty common and a number of different critters I haven't seen before. I did some research on boats out to Anacapa and from what I have read I plan to book my dive with the Peace. My only concern is will I need a dry suit to dive here? is it that cold? I currently dive with a 7mm suit with a 5mm/3mm hooded vest under. I'm comfortable in 58 water. Any help is well appreciated.

Thanks
Nick

 

[White Knight]

You are good to go my friend. Water at Anacapa right now is 63 degrees. A 7mm will do just fine. You'll be nice an toasty. San Miguel--that's another story.

 

[Teamcasa]

Just go, dive and have fun, you will do fine.

 

[stussy]

thanks for the support. White.Knight what site do you use to find water temps would help me out.

 

[ligersandtions]

A 7mm will be fine. You will probably get cold by the end of the day (assuming you dive fairly deep), but it is certainly doable. I've done, and will probably do again, a four tank day at Anacapa / Santa Cruz Island in a 7mm wetsuit. I was a little cold, but with everything to look at, you kind of forget about being cold

 

[JMdiver]

The Peace is a good boat & does 3 dives, the Spectre is another good boat & does 4 dives.

John

 

[covediver]

Anacapa is a great choice. You will be fine with a 7mm. I was at Anacapa on a multiple day trip with Truth Aquatics in August and saw three black sea bass while working along the edge of the kelp looking for bat rays. In more than a couple hundred dives at Anacapa, that is the first time I ever saw one, much less three. I think you will like diving off the Peace. Personally, I won't set foot on the Spectre, but other people have had different experiences.

 

[TSandM]

Anacapa can be fabulous, and the food on the Peace is unreal.

 

[orangelion03]

Peace is tops, but Spectre is good too. And I doubt anyone here has had as bad an experience on the Spectre as I have had =)

Fall is probably the best time to dive the islands. The water is cooling down, but not REALLY cold yet, and the visibility is outstanding. Top side conditions are good too. Last weekend was fantastic! Some sites had 40-50 feet of viz!

A tip for keeping warm with a wet suit: Between dives, take as much of it off as you can and towel off, then put on a jacket or boat coat. A wet suit on the surface in breezy conditions is sucking the heat off you. Avoid using hot water to warm your skin on surface intervals. Drink lots of water, but avoid coffee or tea...hot cocoa and broth are good (if you dive Peace, they usually offer chowder, chili, or soup between dives).

 

[fnfalman]

The Peace is top, but it's tough to find a 1-day dive with them. Usually they only do that during the week. Comes the weekend they mostly do 2-days trips.

I haven't had a bad experience with the Spectre...yet, so I can't say anything bad about it. One thing about the Spectre that I like is that they tend to go to the Underwater Archway. That's a cool dive site that isn't too deep (probably 60-ish?), plenty of brown and purple sea urchins, the underwater arch, and a lot of sea lions.

And I dive with 7-mil wetsuit all year long. Not that big of a deal. Just swim faster if you're cold. Hehe.