Favorite SoCal boat

[Arnaud]

Each time that I try a new boat (and Mo2vation and I have been on a few lately), I keep thinking I would love to have a Zagat guide on dive boats. Food, space, comfort of bunks, quality of air, availability of EAN, speed, crew, captain, dive platform, etc...

I love this site but it does not quite address all my questions.

So anyway, let's talk about your favorite boat.

When I consider everything, the Peace gets my vote. The food's great and abundant. The bunks are reasonably comfy. There is a membrane system on board. The crew is plenty and always ready to assist each and every diver. The captain is always looking for the best possible spots. Plus, they don't charge an arm and a leg.

My only real problem: I just wish they would serve the Southern Channel Islands...

 

[peterw]

I've never been on the Peace or any others north of Redondo but the Pacific Star gets my vote out of all the boats in Long Beach, San Pedro and Redondo Beach. The food is pretty good and the boat is spacious with a couple of good sized showers in nice clean heads. The crew are nice people and the bunks are clean.

 

[Mo2vation]

Probably because I've spent the most time on that boat. The galley serves kinda inneficiently (the traffic flow is all wrong) but I like that I can store my entire bag under the bench below my tanked-up rig. No staterooms, but the bunks are big and clean - even the top ones aren't too bad.

The two hot showers on the gigantic swimstep are cool. I love the upstairs deck for lounging around. Huge camera / charge station downstairs. The boat is clean, crew is cool, nitrox is flowing, the tunes are blasting, fills are fat and quick, and I've simply had lots of good times on that boat.

The Great Escape is cool, too. Much better galley layout, no bags under the tanked rigs, but enough room to store fins, mask, hoods, etc. The camera / charging station is cool, as its upstairs right inside the galley. The dual-entry sleeping area is kinda cool (with the rope lights and the Playboy Mansion-like spiral stair case)...bunks are tight as the staterooms take up a lot of space. The top bunks are positively claustrophobic. But its OK... I'm asleep. Its a nice rig, cool crew.

Pac Star is my fav so far. Arnaud and I are pounding through the So Cal (LB, San Ped, Redondo, etc.) boats lately. We'll be on the Peace soon and I'll see...people rave. I'm excited, but Ventura is a haul for me.

K

 

[alaity47]

I'm a big fan of the King Neptune out of Avalon. It's a smaller boat, but well laid-out. There's always been plenty of room to sit in the galley, and there are snacks out pretty much all day long. Tanks and BCs get set up along the stern, fins and masks get stuck in railings along the side of the boat (inside the boat, not outside!), and your dive bag and all your neoprene stays up front. So you kind of trickle-through the boat as you're getting ready, and everyone's not in the same place at the same time.

The boat's nice and close to the water, too. I like that. I remember the first time I made a giant stride off the Spectre, and felt like I was walking off a cliff!

Speaking of the Spectre, that's a favorite of ours for teh Channel Islands. Two words: hot tub! Food's good, air fills are fast - but it can get a little crowded both on deck and in the galley.

I would love to find a good boat that goes to Catalina from San Pedro or Long Beach. Preferably something fast - that can be a long haul. Any suggestions?

 

[drbill]

My vote goes to the Peace as well- good setup and great food plus the hot tub for the trip home. Reasonably priced as well and so far they've always gone where they've said they would (unlike some others I've dived on).

Truth Aquatics gets my second vote, although now they seem to be doing more multi-day trips vs the day trips I prefer.

Dr. Bill

 

[kelpmermaid]

Love the spaciousness in the galley and heads of the Pac Star and its general cleanliness. They could work on food a bit, though.

The Great Escape and the Encore are also nice, particularly if you spring for a stateroom. The Great Escape also has Captain Tim going for it. The Encore has THREE heads!

I have only been on the Peace once, and what impressed me most was the quality of the food.

In San Diego, the Lois Ann gets points for those chocolate chip cookies. The layout is tight and they ought to put a curtain or opaque film over the window in the head, but for those cookies I will risk a little exposure...

 

[Mo2vation]

I usually spend the entire dive protecting the other guests from the site of my alabaster, doughboy, Michelin Man looking bod. Disrobing (to the trunks) before the masses to hop in the tub is way to immodest for me. Unless of course, you're marinating in your exposure suit... probably not, huh?

Plus, I'm usually snoozin on the way back...

I leave you wacky, swinging singles to the tub.

On the Lois Ann (I think it was the LA) they served apples and warm carmel dip.... though I was gonna die. Yummers. The cookies also rock. Geeze - do I have a sweet tooth, or what?



k

 

[ChrisM]

Favorites:

1. Sundiver - Capt. Ray captained the Mr C for tons of years, and knows his diving spots. The bunk area is nice (except for being all doubles, so you might not get a day trip bunk if it's crowded, and overnites, well you gotta be friends), the galley workes well and is roomy. The dive deck is large, with a center console for gearing up and storing weights and fins underneath. there is a bag "rail" over the tanks, making equipment access easy.

Ray picks dive sites based on conditions, not schedule. One day we did a Catalina trip and we ended up at Farnsworth, you never know what you are going to get. I have dived sites on this boat that I had never even heard of, and have never gotten to on another boat. Unless there is another boat going out that nite during L season, Ray will spend the time to find a site with good conditions, rather than going to the next available site.

It is not a babysitter boat, for the most part, drive up to a site and the pool is open. Goes to the West End whenever possible

2. Great Escape - as others have said, roomy, good food, very very good captain (I am forever grateful to Tim for getting me home alive Dec. 9, 2001... ). The bunk area is rather 70-ish, and I don't like the open spaces between bottom bunks, but roominess is never a problem. Dive deck is nice and large.

Diving depends on the shop chartering it. GREAT camera area.

3. Pac Star - only done it a couple times, and it goes out with SSI a lot, which I don't like. But it's 5 minutes from my house, so that's a plus. Roomy dive deck and great bunk area, IMO.

4. Truth Aquatics - only done the Truth, doing the Vision in 2 weeks. Most like a real LA in Cal boats. Clean and roomy. Not gonna drive to SB for a day trip tho

5. Spectre/Peace - Driving to Ventura is a drag, but these boats go out all week. Other than that. they are OK, not the greatest boats, but the best for getting to Anacapa.... very good food (specially the chicken/steak on the Spectre)

Chris

 

[Arnaud]

Chris, I have to disagree.

I understand that you may not like the drive to Ventura, but that's something relative based on your location...

Yes, Ray seems to be a good captain, but the Sun Diver has got to be the slowest snail boat in the area. It took us close to 3 hours to cross the San Pedro channel from the West End and the ocean was flat... As for the food (and air fill), the whole à la carte thing just is an annoyance, especially when it is so bad (the food, not the air).

BTW, many other boats go to FB.

Putting aside the location, I just don't see any category where the Sun D. would actually be better than the Peace...

 

[wrinkles]

most know that ,my favorite boat is the Peace...

I did my cert dives there and kinda made myself a regular of the boat.

I love the quality of dives.
If a spot isn't good we move to another.
The crew is great and know the area very well so have great ideas of what to look for in certain spots.
The food is great and plentiful.
I just cant say enoguh good things about the boat.

Ana