As divers, are we not taught to identify problems and then fix them? The best solution I can offer the OP is just stay home. I certainly would not recommend going to Catalina during the week to avoid the crowds. I also would not recommend staying at Seaport Villiage where they include those pricey ferry tickets in thier very reasonable prices. I also would not recommend letting them shuttle your gear for free for you or enjoying thier free hot breakfast. It would be much easier to just stay home.
Avalon Sucks
- Thread starter Firewalker
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H2Ocean
Contributor
It's up there in price, as far as the effort needed to get there, if it were 2 or 3 times that amount of climbing the Express stairs and ramp to the Express, then hiking the gear over to the park, (suiting up, wow that's alot of work) walking the entry exit stairs, then the long walk to the air-fill station?, the Park, its conditions (usually pretty nice,) the people, students whatever, the access to the Valliant, or any diving around there make it worth all that effort! It not only can be an excellent advanced dive, but is a pretty easy entry level ow site as well. I only get there once or twice a year if that, I always have a blast there, if I went for 1 dive, it'd probably not have the lustre. We try to fit in 5 or 6 dives if that's all we can get, and it makes it alot worth the trip!!
If you're taking suggestions, Dr. Bill...
If there is one complaint about Casino Point, it's the bathrooms and the lack of showers right close (and not up the street). By Sunday afternoon, there's usually one toilet that's broken and flooded the floor. Not pleasant, but Catalina's not alone. So many of the bathrooms at the local beaches are disasters - especially by the end of the day.
Oh - a few more lockers would be nice, too!
Understand about the bathrooms and the showers. However, I rarely find the men's room to be in bad shape. The bathrooms are the property of the island company which really gains little payback for the use of the park. They invested heavily in the infrastructure at Descanso Beach (where there is payback of course).
Showers would certainly be nice for daytrippers. Keep in mind that Catalina has a limited supply of fresh water and that complicates the issue.
There actually is a city ordinance that prohibits the use of Vons shopping carts for transporting luggage, SCUBA gear, etc (and they have auto-locking brakes on the carts now if they go beyond a short distance from Vons. Just a little friendly advice since it could result in a fine.
I used to carry all my dive gear and video equipment on a hand cart from my house at the top of one of our hills to the dive park and back. If you think it is a PITA getting gear from the boat to the park and back (all on level ground), try carrying it on a handcart up my hill at the end of a day of 4-6 dives! What's wrong with this younger generation. Why as a kid in Chicago I walked to school both ways uphill in the middle of snowstorms with temperatures down to -81 F with the wind chill. Of course that's also why I moved to SoCal as soon as I finished college!
I really like the dive park, one of my favorite dive spots, so much to see there.
I did my Nat Geo and AOW training there, we had 60 foot viz (what, that's not normal?
)
My most memorable dive was there too, a giant black sea bass as long as my diver friend, who's on her first ever dive here, followed us, and only us, around for the entire dive like a little lost puppy
Kudos to Seaport Village Inn , they always have the most courteous and thoughtful and helpful staff anyplace
I did my Nat Geo and AOW training there, we had 60 foot viz (what, that's not normal?
) My most memorable dive was there too, a giant black sea bass as long as my diver friend, who's on her first ever dive here, followed us, and only us, around for the entire dive like a little lost puppy
Kudos to Seaport Village Inn , they always have the most courteous and thoughtful and helpful staff anyplace
One think I've noticed is that they always reek. Seriously. Even when no one is using them. That's why I stopped diving dry there, so I could pee in the Park instead. (Please tell me there's no law against that yet?)
Yikes. Well, in my defense, it's been at least 7 years since I've used the shopping carts so any statute of limitations has run and hopefully I won't be arrested on site on my next visit. Thanks for the head's up. Pushing any sort of cart nowadays seems like too much work. Back then I was still in my 30s and had lots of energy. Nowadays, unless I can get a golf cart, I stay close to the Point (Portofino the last time) and dive when the airfill trailer is open. Shamefully, my last visit was over two years ago, August '09. We were supposed to go this year but it hasn't happened yet.
BTDT with the hand cart uphill, but only to cheaper hotels located a few blocks up from the ocean, in the middle of town. Ten years ago. Today I'm lazy enough to hold out for a warm water dive trip where I don't have to lift a finger. I no longer believe the "no pain, no gain" mantra need apply to diving
fnfalman
Contributor
Nobody is denying the inconvenience of diving at Casino Point versus diving off a charter boat from Mainland. However, it doesn't mean that Casino Point doesn't provide for good and fun experiences. I usually try to make it to Avalon at least twice a year during the off season.
And yes, I say that it's very easy for students and novices. It's in a highly protected cove. I've been there when the wind would be whipping like crazy with some serious surface chops and dive boats cancelled their excursions, yet once sunk underneath the waves, it was as tranquil as it can get. There has to be some pretty weird water movement for the surge to be unmanageable at Casino Point. It's shallow and it does not drop off quickly. Students or novices that get lost can at least follow the slope back to shore. May not be back to the stairs, but they'll make it back to the shallow and rocks if they were to follow the slope up.
I prefer to take novices to Casino Point for easy entry/exit, and for great ocean dives without the hassles of seasickness and gate time. We can sit for long periods between dives talking about lessons learned and make adjustments to gears without holding anybody else up.
And yes, I say that it's very easy for students and novices. It's in a highly protected cove. I've been there when the wind would be whipping like crazy with some serious surface chops and dive boats cancelled their excursions, yet once sunk underneath the waves, it was as tranquil as it can get. There has to be some pretty weird water movement for the surge to be unmanageable at Casino Point. It's shallow and it does not drop off quickly. Students or novices that get lost can at least follow the slope back to shore. May not be back to the stairs, but they'll make it back to the shallow and rocks if they were to follow the slope up.
I prefer to take novices to Casino Point for easy entry/exit, and for great ocean dives without the hassles of seasickness and gate time. We can sit for long periods between dives talking about lessons learned and make adjustments to gears without holding anybody else up.
Mossman... I am "fortunate" in having a very insensitive sniffer. People tell me about the urine smell in the bathrooms and on the asphalt and bricks in the park and I can't detect it. Also makes it much easier to eat my cooking!
You are absolved on the Vons carts. The ordinance went into effect less than seven years ago!
I may be a tough old geezer... but I'd look forward to a tropical dive trip myself!
You are absolved on the Vons carts. The ordinance went into effect less than seven years ago!
I may be a tough old geezer... but I'd look forward to a tropical dive trip myself!
I've lived in or near cities with sizeable homeless populations all of my life, so I'm well used to urine smells (though not as much as a New Yorker - whenever I visit that city, especially Central Park, that's all I smell is urine). And yes, there are urine smells near the lockers and elsewhere around the point, though I'm not sure who's out there peeing in the open so I've surmised it might have something to do with wetsuit drippings instead. But inside the bathroom, whew! That's something more than urine, or else the urine smells are just caked up from the roaring 20s when the casino used to be a popular place.
Unfortunately, I'm "blessed" with a sensitive nose. Fortunately I can hold my breath long enough to pee, but if it's "number two", I think I'd have to hold it until I found nicer accommodations. One reason I love diving - it's not just that you can't hear people yack and you can enjoy the calm sounds of bubbles, but you also are relieved of foul odors for an hour or so.
GrumpyOldGuy
Contributor
There is something ironic about complaining about the smell of urine in a restroom when so many of us piss ourselves on a routine basis while diving.
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