Do people dive in Jan/Feb?

[art.chick]

Neve, you can rent any piece of equipment you need. It is much easier than lugging stuff. For colder water you will need more stuff (gloves, hood, etc.) And the price varies.

Would you consider Catalina's Casino Point off of Los Angeles? If it does not work with your itinerary, nevermind, but it is great coldwater diving with minimal effort & they have guides to take you around if you need them.

 

[kelpmermaid]

Actually, the annual Avalon Harbor Underwater Cleanup is held in February...just food for thought. Rental gear, including wetsuits, is easy to find. On the drysuit front, I don't know about rental, but when I was looking to buy, it was not easy to find anything to try on in small women's sizes. I suspect that would be expensive inventory to maintain.

 

[MNScuba]

Not sure about where you're diving, but here we just cut a nice big triangle in the ice and hop in. (A little more to it than that, but you get the idea.) At least we know the boaters and jet-skiers won't be bothering us...

 

[raviepoo]

The dive sites don't rent equipment. They just maintain the facilities that people use for their dives. To rent equipment you would have to go to a LDS.

For Seabase try contacting Neptune Divers in Salt Lake city. I'm pretty sure you can find them as a link off of the seabase web site. They were the shop that told me about seabase when I dropped in on a recent trip to Utah.

Philadelphia has several dive shops. I don't know any of them, as I live in NYC. Try typing "scuba" and "Philadelpia" into a search engine to come up with a list. Perhaps you could arrange to do some diving as part of a cold water specialty class? Just a thought.

If you want easy and convenient, try one of the dedicated dive resorts in the Florida Keys. Amoray and Kellys by the Bay are two that spring readily to mind. You can rent all of your gear and you never have to leave the property, just stroll from your room to the boat dock.

 

[JustAddWater]

Excluding occasional storms, winter diving in southern California is very nice. As mentioned in a previous post Catalina and the other Channel Islands have decent winter conditions.

 

[neve]

cut the ice and hop in?? OMG that sent shivers down my spine. Is it really that cold?

Catalina's Casino Point looks feasible too, and it's much closer to Vegas than Salt Lake City. I will look into this, thanks! Any recommendations for a dive operator/LDS/instructor?

I'd also look into doing a specialty class as sugegsted by raviepoo. Looks like drysuit training in Singapore is only done in the Navy

 

[kelpmermaid]

Maybe we could set something up for you, weather permitting of course. My club also does a "Polar Bear Dive" usually in mid-January there. I know Artchick goes out to Casino Point quite a bit. You can get out there by taking a ferry from San Pedro or Long Beach - it's about $42 r/t. In Avalon where Casino Point is, there are only two dive shops - Catalina Scuba Luv and Catalina Diver's Supply. Take a look at www.ladiver.com and you can check them out there. CDS has a trailer out at Casino Point, but I think they have only tanks & weights, and in the winter that is only open on weekends.

 

[neve]

I will be arriving in Vegas on Sat, Feb 1, '03. I'll be staying there for 5 nights, and then will most possibly head to LA for a couple of days before flying off to Philly.

I'm gonna have a look at the website you recommended as well as do a bit of research on Catalina's dive ops. I can feel a plan beginning to form....

thanks again everybody!


more comments are welcome.

 

[neve]

Hiya all,

After searching high and low, I've found a certification agency - BSAC - that does drysuit training in Singapore. Tentatively, I will do it in October. When I go to US in Feb, I will have the option of doing cold water diving!

 

[raviepoo]

Practice. Practice a lot. Bouyancy in a drysuit is a whole new world.