Channel Islands... What do I need to know...

[Esprise Me]

I'm comfortable leaving stuff in my car at the Long Beach ferry terminal. Can't guarantee that nothing will ever happen, but it's an acceptable risk IMO. Just don't leave anything tempting in plain sight.

One thing I've reluctantly stopped doing is dropping off my stuff unattended at the curb before entering the parking structure. Someone recently had their gear stolen that way; it was all over the FB groups. It sucks because even the lowest parking level is half a flight of stairs up from the street, and there's always a long wait for the elevator. Also, someone recently had a computer stolen at the dive park, which is really disheartening; people have long felt comfortable leaving their bags with wallets, cell phones, etc on the benches around the casino while diving. Another reason to get a hotel on the island-- you can leave your valuables in your room.

 

[Manatee Diver]

I'm comfortable leaving stuff in my car at the Long Beach ferry terminal. Can't guarantee that nothing will ever happen, but it's an acceptable risk IMO. Just don't leave anything tempting in plain sight.

One thing I've reluctantly stopped doing is dropping off my stuff unattended at the curb before entering the parking structure. Someone recently had their gear stolen that way; it was all over the FB groups. It sucks because even the lowest parking level is half a flight of stairs up from the street, and there's always a long wait for the elevator. Also, someone recently had a computer stolen at the dive park, which is really disheartening; people have long felt comfortable leaving their bags with wallets, cell phones, etc on the benches around the casino while diving. Another reason to get a hotel on the island-- you can leave your valuables in your room.

What do you suggest doing with cellphones, wallets, and other things (prosthetic leg) while diving? Normally it would go in the car.

 

[Esprise Me]

Anything you can leave in your room, probably a good idea to do so. Maybe bring a credit card, small amount of cash, and your c-card instead of your whole wallet. If you're hiring a guide from CDS, s/he might be willing to stick your phone in their locker. This incident with the computer just happened recently; I haven't been back to the island since then. Maybe it was just a one-off crime of opportunity when someone left something small and obviously valuable in plain sight, and maybe it's not likely to happen again. But it's a real bummer.

 

[azstinger11]

I’ve always just left it in an unlocked hard side dive case (including laptops/iPads etc) and never had an issue. You might be able to ask the guys running the tank rental shop if you can leave something with them or within eyeshot of them. If you have a room on island though I’d just leave anything not going into a drysuit in the room. They are also working on a permanent store front area inside the casino, so they might have storage inside by the time you get there.

 

[Manatee Diver]

But it's a real bummer.

It always is when the dark side of the world creeps up on you.

Another question, dive knives. I've never needed anything more than a trilobite, but I was reading a guide to kelp diving that mentioned you might have to cut yourself free. Do I need a more substantial dive knife?

 

[Esprise Me]

Nah. If you get tangled in kelp, just use your hands to snap the stems. It has a lot of tensile strength--you can't easily pull it apart--but it's easy to break by bending. But usually you're not even really entangled, just snagged, and it's easy to slip it off whatever it's caught on. Before I got fins with spring straps, I was using a pair of fins that were a little too big with buckles; the extra length of the straps was really good at grabbing little strands of kelp when I swam through. It was a great buoyancy control exercise as a new diver for me to learn to reach back every few minutes and pick the kelp strands out.

 

[lamarpaulski]

What do you suggest doing with cellphones, wallets, and other things (prosthetic leg) while diving? Normally it would go in the car.

The guy (or gal)at the trailer/dive shop at the casino will usually let you stash small stuff with them. I just would give them a small waterproof box I had with cell/ vCard etc.

 

[Manatee Diver]

How do you handle under garments on the day boats? I'm pretty sure that the trips out are at least an hour and it will be the middle of summer. Do you bring dry bags to store them in? Put them on say a half an hour out?

 

[Esprise Me]

I mostly dive wet in the summer. But when I dive dry, I wear leggings and a T-shirt on the boat, then put my undergarment and drysuit on when we get close to the island. FYI even in summer, it's sometimes a bit chilly in the early morning when the boat departs.

 

[Ulfhedinn]

Since we are talking Catalina. I always drag my Steel 130 but I think this year I would love to rent instead. Is it still just AL80s for rent or can you get a Steel 100 or bigger?