Come join the fun Oct 11th, Casino Dive Park

[drbill]

Bill, We may have to have a special election after November! But shouldn't be Dr. Imperial Emperor of the Universe?

Geez, Dave... I didn't want to make it sound too formal. After all, I'm a teddy bear and I didn't want people to think they had anything to fear from me as the Imperial Emperor (except fear itself).

 

[solarofthesix]

hey i might be interested. I will be in the areaish checking out Western State University Law School. Where can I find out more info on this dive going on? Price? Dive profile? What am I looking at? How do i get there? etc etc? I am totally unfamiliar with CA and such. i will not have GPS either. Would love to get wet while over there! Vis isnt really too much of an issue with me, ive dove in red tide's and lakes that made viz about as far as the airspace of my mask. I dive down to about 70 deg water with no wet suit, but have a small wet suit for colder temps.

 

[Teamcasa]

hey i might be interested. I will be in the areaish checking out Western State University Law School. Where can I find out more info on this dive going on? Price? Dive profile? What am I looking at? How do i get there? etc etc? I am totally unfamiliar with CA and such. i will not have GPS either. Would love to get wet while over there! Vis isnt really too much of an issue with me, ive dove in red tide's and lakes that made viz about as far as the airspace of my mask. I dive down to about 70 deg water with no wet suit, but have a small wet suit for colder temps.

We are an informal group getting together to dive at the Casino Dive Park in Avalon, Catalina. Most will take the Catalina Express from the mainland to Avalon and walk or get a cap to the dive park. The park is a shore, via a set of concrete steps that lead into the open ocean. The depths can reach 100’ but 90% of the cool stuff is 20’-70’. Diving the park is fun and easy. Gear can be rented at the park along with air fills. There are lockers for valuables but most just leave the stuff on the surface while they dive. There is no charge for diving, just gear rentals and air fills.
Buddies are easy to find, just come and join in the fun!

This thread has more basic info.
*UPDATED* The Great Catalina Island Info Sticky Thread

 

[solarofthesix]

sounds good, so I take it the Catalina Express is some sort of passenger ferry? Is there a need to bring my rental car with me or leave that on the mainland?

 

[Teamcasa]

The ferry is people only, you won't need a car on the island anyway. You will have a blast!

 

[solarofthesix]

kk yea answered my question there...any possibility that i could meet some people before getting on the boat and such? Also I have never dove kelp fields before, and the pictures on the site lead me to believe I will be diving them this trip. Any tips/recommendations/special considerations that i need for this?

 

[Teamcasa]

Kelp diving is fun, that's where all the good stuff is. It's not a big deal to us but then again we dive it all the time.

The main thing is getting hung up in it. Once you realize your kicking and not moving, you know you have been snagged. Don’t thrash about, carefully look around and see where you are snagged, snap or cut it loose. Watch your buddy, help them out when they get snagged, they will/should do the same for you.

 

[Clammy]

kk yea answered my question there...any possibility that i could meet some people before getting on the boat and such? Also I have never dove kelp fields before, and the pictures on the site lead me to believe I will be diving them this trip. Any tips/recommendations/special considerations that i need for this?

I'm willing to bet most people are going to take the 6:15am ferry over to the Island off the downtown Long beach location (not queen mary). Just show up about 30 min before hand to pick up your ticket (AFTER reserving it well beforehand!) and I'll bet you'll just run into a lot of people with dive gear! Just show up and I'm sure you'll meet people!

Looks like I won't make it to this one =/ I think I'm gonna do the wrecks down in SD! Have fun!

 

[DiveNav]

......hey i might be interested. I will be in the areaish checking out Western State University Law School. Where can I find out more info on this dive going on? Price? Dive profile? What am I looking at? How do i get there? etc etc? I am totally unfamiliar with CA and such. ........

Hi solarofthesix,
you can actually virtually dive the Unerwater Park of Avalon - aka Casino Point - (and other dive sites here in SoCal) using our eDiving DIVE SIMULATOR - available here.
It comes with detailed 3D map of the area, directions to the Points of Interest You would visit there and marine life that most likely you would encounter while diving the park.

And it is free

Best Regards,

AM

 

[Clammy]

Hi solarofthesix,
you can actually virtually dive the Unerwater Park of Avalon - aka Casino Point - (and other dive sites here in SoCal) using our eDiving DIVE SIMULATOR - available here.
It comes with detailed 3D map of the area, directions to the Points of Interest You would visit there and marine life that most likely you would encounter while diving the park.

And it is free

Best Regards,

AM

It's a pretty good/accurate map too!