Catalina Dive Park first timer

[dazedone]

Thank you all for helping especially Mo2vation for taking the time to help out.

Mo2vation, when is the next time you will be out there? want to go with some newbies?

As many times as I have dove catalina, I have never done CP. I'd love to find a buddy to do that. How about next weekend or the weekend after that? I'd probably want to do a 3-4 tank day since it is a bit of a schlep with all my gear and stuff.

 

[Brian Gilpin]

I will be on Catalina on June 15th. Going to be there only one day but in Calif for a week and there are 3 of us that are divers. Not wanting to carry our gear, can you rent all gear there on the island? Do I need to make a reservation for a shore dive? What are the water temps like? Is this dry suit water? Thanks in advance for your help.

Danny
www.divingrebels.org

Yes you can rent all your gear but I would suggest bringing what you can easily carry such as your own masks regs etc. Drysuits are common in Socal but I usually dive wet there because water temps are near 60 degrees. Depends on how deep you want to go because water is significantly cooler at depth. I guess I would say if you have one bring it. No reservation is needed for shore dives at park but check with locals when you get there as some areas are off limits due to boat traffic etc.

 

[saf_25]

2) Don't get disouraged if you see a zillion people there on Sat or Sunday. Weekends are pretty packed in the AM... I've been there in the height of summer with hundreds of people there, and once you're in the park you're unlikely to see anyone... its one of the great mysteries of the place.

3) Enjoy more than the park - Avalon is a pretty neat place. Go to breakfast at the waffle place. Get lunch at the Dockside Cafe. Relax - stretch 4 dives into a full day. My fav dinner is at Armstrongs (wood broiled fish.. yummers) or go to Antonio's and get the only veggie pizza in the world with carrots on it! Bring a marker, and staple a buck to the rafters... our DIR/F buck is still there! Get a goofy hat and sit on the window ledge of Luau Larry's - got get an espresso at Galaghers... lots to do.K

Ken,
You left off the most important thing when it comes to Avalon food - the Big Olaf! How could you leave that out?!?! I can't go to Avalon without getting one. (For those of you who haven't been enlightened, Big Olaf is the wafle cone/ice cream shop on the island. It's a must after a day of diving!).

Everyone else has offered you great advice - I've got just a couple of other things to add. I've only spent the weekend at Avalon once, otherwise I usually make a day trip out of it. But, the weekend we spent there was at the Hermosa Hotel. We were in town with a number of other groups of divers who were spread at hotels throughout the city. We ended up spending at least half, if not even more of a percentage less, than the people at other hotels, and our accomodations were not any worse than theirs. The hermosa has a wet gear storage room, as well as individual gear lockers, and it really a great place to stay for the price.
As for exposure suits, you can do a drysuit, especially in the winter, it can come in nice. But, at least last summer, the water temps heat up well into the 60's and with the hot air temps, drysuits really aren't necessary. A 7mil is sufficient.
The last warning I offer is that air fill lines can get pretty long on the weekends in summer - last year, we spent an entire day at the park and were only able to get 2 dives in because the day was spent waiting for our tanks to get filled. If you're going there on vacation and can head over Fri to dive the park, then spend SAt on a boat (if you were planning on doing that) it might be the way to go.
I don't have any specific plans to be at Casino Pt anytime soon, but it's been awhile since I've been there, and I've been wanting to make a trip, so let us know when you'll be in town, and we'll see who can make it.

 

[Mo2vation]

Thank you all for helping especially Mo2vation for taking the time to help out.

Mo2vation, when is the next time you will be out there? want to go with some newbies?

Was there on Monday - here's the scoop:

Topside: Scorcher. Those of us who brought sunscreen, rule - judging by all the lobsters on the 8:05 PM boat, lots of people forgot.

Mellow entries and exits - essentially no surge at the steps.

64 Suunto Degrees at 15 FSW. At 90 FSW on the Sue Jac, it was 54 Suunto degrees. The thermoclines were all over the place. 35', 55', etc. Viz much better on the 0 - 35 foot range... very clear. Lots is suspended stuff at depth.

The 3 tiny Spanish Shawls are still on the swim through on the Sue Jac. They were there last week, and were there this week, too.

Bat Ray city. All over the sand. We saw lots.

Sheep Crab city. Saw a couple of giant sheep crabs.

It was just a mellow hang this weekend, and catching the entire secong half of the Lakers Game on the boat back was very above average.

Lets set it up. I recommend PM-ing Wrinkles to lobby for the June Wrinkles So Cal dive-in to be in the park. Our Jan dive-in was in the park, and it was windy and surgey and pretty cold. Lets get a June dive there, for sure.

K


PS: Saf - Olaf belongs on the short list... it was on my original post but I edited it off because that post was too long anyway. You're right, it rules, I suck.