Catalina Island Sand Dollar Liveaboard - Feb 6/7

[Jang]

Any SBers going on this trip? I decided to go last minute and would be great to meet up with any fellow SBers.

P.S. Is it really possible to get 6-7 dives each day?

 

[robint]

Any SBers going on this trip? I decided to go last minute and would be great to meet up with any fellow SBers.

P.S. Is it really possible to get 6-7 dives each day?

you should really post this in the California Forum to get an answer.

 

[merxlin]

Jang, not on that boat but I am on a 2 day for this weekend. It is very possible to get in that many dives if you watch your bottom times and depth. Typically if the boat leaves the night before, you can splash before breakfast if you are so inclined. Then an hour per dive plus an hour SI while they move to a new location (or stay if the conditions are so good that divers want to do another one there, or so bad everywhere else you have to stay there). Most boats try to give you a variety of locations. Thats 3 dives by lunch, a couple afternoon dives, and a night dive. I have done as many as 8 (with some being shallow and only 30-40 minutes). Most people do 5 or 6 with no problem.

That being said, watch the weather for this weekend. Swells are up, and rain is in the forecast. That is better news for Catalina than it is for the Northern Islands, as there are spots to hide from a west swell at Catalina. I am suppossed to go to SB Island Saturday. Could be a bit bumpy getting there and back for both of us.

 

[drbill]

My maximum number of dives in a day in our waters is six (6). However that was in summer when daylength is longer and water temperatures are warmer. Six dives in a day in winter is certainly stretching it quite a bit (but can be done).

 

[Jang]

Thanks for the input. I checked NWS Marine forecast and it looks like this trip should be a good puke-fest for us land-lubbers with 2ft waves and 5-7ft swells.

 

[fnfalman]

Six or seven dives are entirely possible if Nitrox is in use, especially if the dives are consistently deeper than 60-ft. The last time I did that was on the Peace while using Nitrox. On my first day, I went with air and my nitrogen saturation was borderline high and I only did five dives (4 days and a night dive). On the second day, with the use of EANx32, my nitrogen saturation was still fine even after slamming out four dives, and still good enough to do two more after that.