Feb charter

[bradells]

Visiting an old friend in Ventura the first weekend of Feb to go see some racing in Pamona, and figured, see if I can get some dives in while I'm there.

Looking at several places, Raptor and Spectre have (3tk day) boats going out on the Saturday (Peace doesn't).

Anything I should know/be aware with Cali boats (would be bringing everything but tanks/weights)?

Wouldn't have a buddy heading in, are divers friendly enough for a easy going third wheel?

Most likely be bringing my dry suit. How much thermal does one typically need in those waters?

Thanks

BRad

 

[Vegan Shark]

I went on the Spectre in September and had a great experience (minus sea sickness). Just tell the DM when you sign into the boat that you need a buddy, and they'll call out asking if anyone is fine with you tagging along. With tons of other divers, in all likelihood someone will wave you over to join them. Was no problem on my trip. If you're comfortable going solo you can just do that too, since the dive sites are very shallow and safe.

As for Cali boats, there won't be any guides in the water with you. You'll get a briefing of the dive site, then you're off on your own to explore to your hearts desire. They didn't give us time limits, but I'd say an hour per site is how long my trip was.

 

[fnfalman]

The Spectre is a bigger boat, has better food, a hot tub, large heads. I have my own gears so I don't know what gears the Spectre can provide. I think that they have aluminum tanks for rent and possibly weight but I'm not sure.

The Raptor is a very fast boat with minimal conveniences (finger food, tiny head) and no onboard air compressor so you will have to swap tanks. The Raptor is owned by Ventura Dive & Sport so they can rent you everything.

 

[Vegan Shark]

Spectre has all the same rental options as the Peace. For tanks they have al and steel 80s, LP 95s, and HP 100s. Rental

The dive sites are so shallow that the bigger tanks probably aren't worth the extra $5. I rented a LP 95 and still had over half a tank at the end of each dive.

 

[AZTinman]

I went out on the Spectre in October and did a four tank dive day. It's a good op.

I don't like lugging tanks and weights so they provided those items for me. Basically, if you're renting this type of gear from them, you'll find a dive station labeled with your name which has your rental gear in it. The crew hooked me up with a dive 'buddy' without any problem.

The food was excellent. I also enjoyed sleeping on the boat the night before diving. It is a big boat. While I didn't use it, the hot tub is a nice feature. Lots of the divers on my trip opted to skip their last dive and hit the hot tub instead.

The boat had a lot of repeat customers on it when I did my October trip. These folks knew all of the paperwork procedures and routines... easy stuff.

I haven't used the Raptor yet; however, I'll probably give them a try at some point.

-AZTinman