Diving the Spectre this weekend
- Thread starter Taxgeek
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JustAddWater
Guest
Have a great time. The Spectre provides a nice 3/4 day outting. Is it an Anacapa trip?
I read your post too late. I took the Spectre on Thursday. Great trip. Met some nice people and had a good time overall.
I'll just post a followup here in case anybody out there in the future pulls up this thread.
Had a FABULOUS time on the Spectre. It's an older boat (former rig supply boat) with major character. It's not the fanciest boat around, but it's big, clean, roomy (pretty much), and a generally good time. The Captain, Ted Cummings, did a great job with really detailed and informative briefings about each dive site (i.e., current, surge, what to look for, topography, what animals he'd been seeing there lately, etc.), and the entire staff was friendly and helpful and just great.
I went both saturday (Cal Dive Boats/ Santa Barbara Aquatics) and Sunday (sport chalet), and both were great. The pace was more relaxed than I'm used to, which I really enjoyed, and we had 4 dives with 1hr surface intervals both days.
The dive sites were generally shallow at Anacapa - most 50 feet or less. Our dive at Santa Cruz had the potential to be deeper, but I just didn't feel like being deep that day, after having become spoiled with all the light available for videography on the previous shallow dives. ;-)
The food was good (BBQ), the sleeping quarters were nice (except that there are no staterooms, which I like on the Encore and Great Escape).
Didn't have any problems with short gates or be-back times as somebody here reported - in fact, we left Anacapa at about 4:30 each day, and were at teh dock at 6, an hour later than posted times. Nobody seemed stressed about about scheduling, which was nice.
Viz varied, but was similar to what we've been seeing down here, IMO. Water temps were nice and warm (64-66).
I would highly recommend the Spectre, and will be using it more in the future.
Taxgeek
Had a FABULOUS time on the Spectre. It's an older boat (former rig supply boat) with major character. It's not the fanciest boat around, but it's big, clean, roomy (pretty much), and a generally good time. The Captain, Ted Cummings, did a great job with really detailed and informative briefings about each dive site (i.e., current, surge, what to look for, topography, what animals he'd been seeing there lately, etc.), and the entire staff was friendly and helpful and just great.
I went both saturday (Cal Dive Boats/ Santa Barbara Aquatics) and Sunday (sport chalet), and both were great. The pace was more relaxed than I'm used to, which I really enjoyed, and we had 4 dives with 1hr surface intervals both days.
The dive sites were generally shallow at Anacapa - most 50 feet or less. Our dive at Santa Cruz had the potential to be deeper, but I just didn't feel like being deep that day, after having become spoiled with all the light available for videography on the previous shallow dives. ;-)
The food was good (BBQ), the sleeping quarters were nice (except that there are no staterooms, which I like on the Encore and Great Escape).
Didn't have any problems with short gates or be-back times as somebody here reported - in fact, we left Anacapa at about 4:30 each day, and were at teh dock at 6, an hour later than posted times. Nobody seemed stressed about about scheduling, which was nice.
Viz varied, but was similar to what we've been seeing down here, IMO. Water temps were nice and warm (64-66).
I would highly recommend the Spectre, and will be using it more in the future.
Taxgeek
HBDiveGirl
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Thanks, Taxgeek, for the review. I'm on the Spectre this Saturday August 20th, (my first dive with them,) and your review is Very encouraging. Especially the "no rush" aspect and the captain's knowledge of the sites. Thanks for posting.Taxgeek:
Claudette
EricJ
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I'm booked to dive The Spectre for Friday, Aug. 19th.
They have very nice dive stations for each diver. Each station is set off from the one next to it a bit. The clearly defined dive space makes keeping track and finding your equipment easier than on most boats. They also have a GREAT crew and a nice barbecue lunch.
Although there are no staterooms, they also don't make two single bunks out of a double bunk by slipping a little board between them. Most people board the boat in the morning, so I often find the bunk areas fairly empty.
On the negative side, it seems that I frequently smell the boat's exhaust when boarding after a dive. I'm sure the boat is safe, but I usually keep breathing from my tank untill I'm fully on board.
They have very nice dive stations for each diver. Each station is set off from the one next to it a bit. The clearly defined dive space makes keeping track and finding your equipment easier than on most boats. They also have a GREAT crew and a nice barbecue lunch.
Although there are no staterooms, they also don't make two single bunks out of a double bunk by slipping a little board between them. Most people board the boat in the morning, so I often find the bunk areas fairly empty.
On the negative side, it seems that I frequently smell the boat's exhaust when boarding after a dive. I'm sure the boat is safe, but I usually keep breathing from my tank untill I'm fully on board.
OldmanandtheC
Guest
Claudette, I agree with Taxgeek, you'll love it. I'm on it Friday with Hollywood Divers. One warning, the combo tri-tip/chicken is a LOT of food. By the way, thanks for the brownies, they were the best I've tasted in a long time!!.
HBDiveGirl
Contributor
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And I wonder who my buddy might be???? Hmmmmm....:jump013: ?Mo2vation:
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