Catalina Dive Boat Operators ???

[BluewaterRocket]

Jim from Florida here - posting for a fellow Floridian friend who is forum challenged. My friend and his girlfriend will be staying in Catalina Island in late October and would like to charter a dive boat from the island. The one dive shop he found in Catalina that runs a boat said they need to fill the boat with more than 2 divers and as of today they've only got my buddy and his girl. Was looking for some advice to better understand what options are available for dive boats from Catalina. Any advice appreciated - Thanks.

 

[diversteve]

There's two based in Catalina:

Catalina Scuba Luv: Scuba Dive, Snorkel, Snuba Dive Catalina Island California
Catalina Island Scuba Diving and Snorkeling from Catalina Divers Supply on Catalina Island in Avalon CA

They can also shore dive there - Catalina Island Diving Casino Point is popular - and a dive park.

[user]drbill[/user] lives there so would know of any other options.

 

[dwaters]

There is a third option for boat charters....a six-pack, I believe...contact Ron here: Dive Catalina - Offering NAUI Scuba Diving Lessons and Introductory Dives in the City of Avalon on Catalina Island

And yes, do not ignore our wonderful dive park in Avalon....a great place to get wet just a few steps from most of the hotels in town.
Check out our "sticky" for tons of local information here: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/socal/231885-updated-great-catalina-island-info-sticky-thread.html
Let us know when you'll be in town and I'm sure you will catch one of us diving the park.

 

[drbill]

Looks like the three boats are covered in the above posts.

 

[Lorenzoid]

On my first and so-far only trip to Catalina last October, I encountered the same problem of no dive op having enough divers signed up for their boat to go out on either of the two days we were there. So we just dove from the Casino Point dive park. It was a new experience for us to just walk down some steps into a kelp forest, and we enjoyed it. That said, I think next time we really want to go out on a boat.

 

[Gill]

The options open up greatly for dive boats that depart from the mainland to dive at Catalina as their regular schedules are Sat and Sun with some of the boats also doing Wed and Fri also. But since the couple are staying on Catalina, that does reduce some of the choices.

 

[diverrex]

The options open up greatly for dive boats that depart from the mainland to dive at Catalina as their regular schedules are Sat and Sun with some of the boats also doing Wed and Fri also. But since the couple are staying on Catalina, that does reduce some of the choices.

Yes ironically there are many more boat options and many more boat divers at Catalina each weekend that have departed from the mainland, not from Catalina. That's something I could see being missed by an out-of-towner. The best way to boat dive Catalina is to catch a dive charter boat from San Pedro or Long Beach.

 

[davidbaraff]

When in October? I'm going to be there Friday/Sat/Sunday (October 26/27/28th). I try to go out with ScubaLuv (on the King Neptune) 2 out of my 3 days and dive the park on 1 of the days. ScubaLuv needs 6 people to go out, so if your friends are going to be there on the same day as me and want to pick ScubaLuv, then we'd be halfway there.

I'm already signed up with ScubaLuv on Sat Oct/27, but it sounds like they have a pretty full boat then already, so I wouldn't mind switching it around.