Do any mainland dive shops go to Catalina?

[tricoti]

Does anyone know of mainland dive shops that do trips to Catalina? I'm wondering if I can avoid taking the Catalina Express ferry (round trip in one day) and dive Catalina from a boat departing from and returning to the mainland. Or, is there other great diving I can do on a boat from the northern LA area?

THANKS!

 

[tricoti]

By the way, I'm by myself so I just want to be thrown on a boat with a group and ideally I'd be diving on June 26, which is a THURSDAY and might not be available.

Thanks again!

 

[alaity47]

Lots of boats go to Catalina... Great Escape, Sundiver, Sea Bass, Magician all come to mind right away. Sometimes open boats, sometimes chartered by a shop.

Check out CDN's boat diving database:

California Diving News : Dive Boat Directory

Also no shortage of other good boat diving.. lots of boats leave out of Ventura or Santa Barbara to hit the northern channel islands. I'd browse around the various boat/shop websites and just sign up for whatever appeals!

 

[alaity47]

Ah, Thursdays are a little different. I don't know of any boats that do Catalina runs on Thursday, but the Peace goes to Anacapa:

Peace Dive Boat Main Page

 

[rakkis]

Pretty much every single shop in CA arranges 2- or 3-tank trips from the mainland to Catalina. Almost all of these charters tend to happen during the weekend though.

For a Thursday, you're probably better off contacting the dive boats directly. Check California Dive Boats : The Official Page for contact information to all the boats. They are arranged geographically.

 

[CompuDude]

Only a couple of dive shops locally have their own boats. Most boats here are independent.

A dive shop will charter a boat, however, or some boats have open boat days where you can book directly.

The easiest thing to do is go to the boat's web page and check their calendar to see who has them chartered on a given day. Contact that shop (or the boat, if it's open boat) and see if there are spots available, book, and you're all set. Sometimes this can be done over the net, but usually you'll want to call on the phone.

There is a list of SoCal dive boats here: California Dive Boats : The Official Page

I'd check with the Peace, Magician, Great Escape and Sea Bass first... those are (IMO) some of the best boats in the area.

 

[drbill]

Looks like plenty of others have already replied with what I would have suggested so I'll just post this to boost my post count. Hope you get a chance to dive out here.

 

[cmburch]

My favorite is Truth Aquatics.

Truth Aquatics - About Us

Some dive shops charter them. They have excellent boats and service out of SB. About 1.5 hr NW of LA.

 

[scjoe]

The Magician (San Pedro) and the Pacific Star (Redondo) have in the past done Wed runs during the summer and early fall. I would give them a call.

 

[JMdiver]

The Spectre & I think the Peace do Thurs. dives.

John