Find a buddy on Catalina

[maruay]

Hi,

I'm new to this board and planning to go dive at Santa catalina on memorial day weekend, 29 to 31 MAy during my business trip. I plan to get there alone and rent all gear from the shop with no buddy. Never dive a kelp forrest or been to Catalina before, just only have 9 boat dive in Thailand warm open water after get certified last month.

I just wonder if it's common to find a buddy on a shore or join with other group at the Casino point or when I go on the boat trip.

How is the situation on catalina during the period and if it's a good time to dive?

 

[Bubbletrubble]

You're doing the right thing by letting people know that you're looking for a dive buddy on at the Casino Point UW Park on May 29 - 31. Be patient. One of us SoCal divers may respond and agree to dive with you.

Alternatively, you can hire a DM for one or more dives to serve as a local guide. There's lots to see within the park boundaries, and presumably a dive guide should be able to point out all the interesting stuff to you.

Have fun!

 

[davidbaraff]

Note: if you only have 9 dives past certification *and* have never done a dive in cold waters (i.e. 7mm wet suit plus a lot of extra weights) you really might want to consider getting a divemaster. You *might* have no issues with coldwater diving for the first time --- then again you might. Doing your first such dive on a boat with nobody to give you help might not be the best thing...

 

[fisheater]

I second the "dive with a professional" advice above. There's a HUGE difference between warm water diving and cold water diving.

I suggest that you take a class. You'll have a dive professional with you and you'll be learning new skills.

There are two dive shops on the island, Scuba Love (www.http://www.scubaluv.biz/) and Catalina Divers Supply (Catalina Island Scuba Diving and Snorkeling from Catalina Divers Supply on Catalina Island in Avalon CA) from which you can get both gear rentals and training.

Additionally, there are LOTS of SoCal shops and independent instructors from whom you can arrange for gear rentals and training.

(I've often taken a class for my first time at a brand new dive environment.)

 

[Bubbletrubble]

When conditions are benign at Casino Point (which is often the case), I can't think of a better place for a novice diver to gain some experience in temperate water and kelp. Many basic OW classes are taught there. A sturdy set of stairs with handrails leads down to the water. There are buoy-chains inside the park that beginners can use to help with descents/ascents.

As davidbaraff and fisheater mentioned, there are important differences between SoCal diving and warm water diving in Thailand:

1. Weighting: You'll be wearing a thick wetsuit (7mm probably) with gloves and a hood. This will necessitate wearing far more lead weight than you are used to. You really need to be able to do a proper weight check. Over-weighting is poor practice and can be dangerous. Being fresh out of OW class, you should know how to determine your weighting requirements. If not, consult your course books. On a related note, cold water gear is heavy. For shore diving, carrying all of that weight to/from the water's edge can be a lot of work.
2. Managing the bubble in your BCD: On account of the additional lead, wetsuit compression at depth, and the weight of gas in a full tank, you'll be running a significant amount of air in your BCD when you get to the bottom. You must be aware of managing this air in your BCD when you begin to ascend. Some people are taught to dump all of the air from their BCD prior to ascending. IMHO, that approach is foolish. Given one's gear configuration in cold water, that will make you severely negatively buoyant and cause you to crash into whatever is below. You will also be struggling to swim up against a great deal of negatively buoyancy. Bad idea. Instead, dump air from your BCD in short bursts as you ascend under control. During the ascent, ensure that you are under control by pausing for several seconds in a neutrally buoyant state. Some people like to do this at every 10 ft. mark. If you weight yourself properly and ascend under control, you should have no problem hovering at 15 fsw to do your safety stop.
3. Weight belts: If you are renting your gear at Catalina, you'll probably be given a nylon weight belt with a plastic or metal buckle. It's critical for you to understand that, as you descend, your thick wetsuit will compress and this will loosen up your belt. A loose weight belt will tend to slide around and might fall off. It may even slide around so that the buckle is lodged between the small of your back and the BCD. This is obviously unsafe. Prepare for this. You can tighten your belt as you descend and do so on one or more occasions as you reach maximum depth.
4. More substantial exposure protection: Wearing all of that exposure protection will be an adjustment. It may feel restrictive. You may lose some manual dexterity. A tight-fitting hood can impair ear equalization. In rare cases, the restrictiveness of the gear (and one's psychological reaction to it) can cause breathing difficulties. It happens. Be aware of these issues and mentally prepare yourself to deal with them.
5. Low vis: Vis conditions may be vastly different. Although vis can be quite good (50+ ft.) at Catalina, a lot of SoCal diving takes place in vis conditions in the 10 ft. range. This can be a cause for concern for warm water divers who are accustomed to 100+ ft. vis. You may have to adjust your buddy separation distance. You may have to use lights to maintain good buddy communication. During the pre-dive briefing, you'll want to discuss "lost buddy" protocol. Even with good vis, the kelp can block sightlines or cause buddy teams to pass in a single file line through gaps in the kelp. Stay close and keep constant tabs of where your buddy is. This may entail looking at your buddy after every couple of kicks. I'm not kidding about this.
6. Kelp entanglement: Take necessary precautions to avoid kelp entanglement. Streamline your gear. Clip off SPGs and computer consoles. Properly secure your octo. Fin buckles can catch on kelp. Fishing line may be present. To deal with this, carry one or more cutting devices (scissors, knives) that are easily accessible. Most kelp you'll find in the UW Park can be broken by hand quite easily. If you get caught up, stop and in a calm manner proceed to disentangle yourself. Maintaining neutral buoyancy can be helpful. Understand that getting caught in kelp can lead to buddy separation. Be very conservative with your gas planning and management. You may surface to find that a large kelp paddy exists between you and your exit point. Rather than doing the "kelp crawl" at the surface, it might be best to descend and swim under the kelp canopy. Save enough gas to do this. It will make your life a lot easier.

I hope I haven't scared you off from SoCal kelp diving. It really is a lot of fun, but you do need to be aware of dealing with certain hazards.

Have fun and dive safely...

 

[fnfalman]

Isn't any SoCal SBer going to volunteer to be the local guide for the OP?

I would volunteer to be a guide but I'll be hittin' the road that weekend.

 

[maruay]

Thank you so much for helpful suggestions above. I will check out with the dive shop that I get a gear rent to have a divemaster out for the first dive tour to check the conditions, environment and additional skill I need. My concerns will be on the next dives or the next day if I want do the boat dive. Would the boat has a dive master or can pair me up with someone on the trip? And if they allow diving in group or a buddy can find on the shore there? I believe that it will be crowded on the island during the memorial day weekend.

I used to dive with 5mm wetsuit for 5 dives, and familiar with weight checking so thickness shouldn’t be much trouble. Setting up equipment and helping up myself with lot of weight shouldn’t be a problem as I’m male, 6’ and 175 lbs. Also 5 out of my 9 dives had visibility around 10-15 feet. Cold water and kelp entangle are what I concern more.

 

[fisheater]

There will be a DM on the dive boat, but California boat DMs stay dry on the boat unless they're performIng a rescue. You'd need to hire your own for a DM to dive with you. (Hence, my take a class suggestion,)

 

[fnfalman]

Thank you so much for helpful suggestions above. I will check out with the dive shop that I get a gear rent to have a divemaster out for the first dive tour to check the conditions, environment and additional skill I need. My concerns will be on the next dives or the next day if I want do the boat dive. Would the boat has a dive master or can pair me up with someone on the trip? And if they allow diving in group or a buddy can find on the shore there? I believe that it will be crowded on the island during the memorial day weekend.

The divemaster would pair you up if you don't have a buddy. You will find that most SoCal divers are very friendly and don't mind taking a visitor under their wings.

I used to dive with 5mm wetsuit for 5 dives, and familiar with weight checking so thickness shouldn’t be much trouble. Setting up equipment and helping up myself with lot of weight shouldn’t be a problem as I’m male, 6’ and 175 lbs. Also 5 out of my 9 dives had visibility around 10-15 feet. Cold water and kelp entangle are what I concern more.

You've already dived with a 5-mil suit and know how to do weight check, so the 7mm suit isn't going to be all that unfamiliar to you.

As far as diving in cold water with a wetsuit, there's a lady whom I dive with from time to time. She's barely 5-ft tall and maybe 90-lbs soaking wet. She dives in the coldest winter day with a 7mm wetsuit and a 3mm liner.

Anyway, as far as kelp entanglement goes, it's not that big of a deal. First of all, don't carry anything that you don't need to carry on your BC or your body. One small flashlight is fine for day time diving. You don't need a death ray laser PLUS a backup. If you're not diving in blue water, then ditch the SMB/Safety Sausage & reel. If you don't need a big knife to kill JAWS with? Leave it behind.

Then when you dive, you pick your way so that you don't have to go into the thick of the kelps. If you get entangled underwater, just stop and don't struggle. Feel your hand around until you find the kelp and snap it. It's really easy to snap the kelp with your hands. If you're on the surface, don't try to swim over the kelp. Dive down 5-ft and go underneath the kelp canopy. BUT if you really, really, really have to swim on the surface, then swim on your belly with your face down and use your snorkel/regulator. Push the kelps down and away from your body (aka The Kelp Crawl). Swimming on your back through the kelps simply doesn't work. Whatever you do, don't twist and twirl - that's a good way of getting kelp wrapped around you.

 

[davidbaraff]

Probably the most important thing to know about kelp is:
1. Kelp is most dangerous (in my opinion) on the surface. It's easy to get a reg/snorkel pulled out of your mouth when going through kelp on the surface if you are not paying attention. And easy to get tangled up on the surface. But it's no big deal. Just stop and deal with it.

2. (Corollary) Look *up* before you surface. If you're under a whomping big wad of kelp, just move over and don't surface directly into it. That will prevent issues due to (1).

Other than that, the kelp when you're underwater in the park is not going to reach out and eat you alive. Swim around it if it is making you nervous.