I went on the Iron Eagle's trip scheduled to visit the Cortez Banks for the opening weekend of Lobster season, booked through the Nautilus Aquatics shop at $450.00 for 3 days. It was most dissappointing and a contender for the most disorganized trip I have ever been on in 700+ dives.
Their website and phone number had become inoperational the week before which was alarming, but this wasn't the worst of what would occur.
The trip was booked and sold as being destined for the Cortez Banks, but that never happened despite promises by Captain Dan on the first day. As we steamed out of Long Beach on Friday night, a voice came on the loudspeaker asking if we wanted to do a midnight lobster dive at San Clemente just moments after lobster season opened. Many of us were excited to go lobster diving and quickly said "yes" but then retracted that thinking it would delay the overnight trip to Cortez Banks where we thought that we'd be going.
When we woke Saturday morning we were still at San Clemente Island. The Captain, Dan Adler, apparently had never intended to go to Cortez Banks the first day and stated that he wanted us to do a check out dive prior to going to the Banks. Nobody was ever told this prior to the trip, even the stunned dive organizer, and it was the start of a downward spiral of expectations.
The dive site selected had a 2-3 knot current and while several of us descended quickly to the bottom, a few divers had difficulty and drifted beyond the very short, 100ft, current drift line. One deckhand, realized this and jumped on the Waverunner without Wetsuit, Radio or PFD (Personal Floatation Device). Upon attempting to retrieve the diver the Waverunner capsized. With no communication and the remaining deckhands inattentive, the dead Waverunner drifted nearly a half of a mile before anyone figured out they should launch the Zodiac. The Zodiac had deflated over the previous few days and required inflating prior to launching. All were finally returned to the Iron Eagle, but it was a rather shocking introduction to diving on Iron Eagle.
Dan hadn't noticed because he was preoccupied with his buddy (and both their girlfriends) as Dan was giving him a private Open Water certification check-out. Dan's student floundered in the water for a few minutes, flailing in the current and then decided to call it quits. Dan, his student, and their girlfriends quickly departed in a pre-arranged speedboat pick up (to attend a wedding) but not before Dan had gathered us all on deck to promise that we definitely would be making it to Cortez Banks the next day. Due to a failed second engine which would never start, we never made it to Cortez Banks.
There was much talk amongst the guests and crew that Dan had arranged our trip itinerary to be convenient for him, his student, and their gf's plans to attend the wedding back on the mainland. There were also comments about Dan's poor choice of the dive sites; especially exposing his student to current.
On the plus side, the crew reaffirmed our suspicions that things go much smoother when Dan was not present.
The boat had a host of facilities which were unuseable or below average compared to nearly all other California dive boats.
Want a dive deck?
There is a huge dive deck, but not laid out for divers.
The boat's previous configuration as a Louisiana oil rig tender has protrusions under the benches leaving no place for dive gear to fit, so gear ended up being strewn all over the deck. Milk crate's would have been nice but they still wouldn't have fit under the benches and if left on the open deck would have just conflicted with the space occupied by cheap, white plastic lawn furniture.
Spearfisherman also used the deck to clean their catch as there were no cutting boards.
Where the deck wasn't filled with people or gear, it was slimey and stinky.
Want an air fill?
There were no long, high pressure lines to fill your tanks in their BC's, so filling tanks required that you break down your BC/reg EVERY time (further adding to the deck clutter) and carry your tank forward to the filling station.
Want a Nitrox fill?
Advertizing Nitrox on-board is a good marketing move, but those tanks were given low priority in the fill line and my buddy abandoned Nitrox for air after waiting 2+ hours with his Nitrox tank still not filled.
Want a dip tank?
There was not a single dip tank for anything - missing mask dip tanks was not that big of a deal, but it didn't stop there - UW Photographers had no place to work and no tank to soak their gear in.
At the end of the trip there was no dipping tank for regulators (very poor form).
Want a dive ladder?
They had one, single ladder and more often than not a lengthy queue would form. Unlike other boats there was no deckhand to assist you in removing your fins.
Want Lunch?
On our last day lunch was served at 3:45pm (no exaggeration) and nothing since the 8:00am breakfast. They were going to grill hamburgers, but had to wait as several divers had brought up "short", illegal sized lobsters and were permitted to BBQ them before the rest of the customers lunch was cooked. This was most unprofessional.
Want a Hot Tub?
Yes they had one, too bad it didn't function, but other posts on this board show it has been inoperational for many months.
Want a dry cabin?
Divers were permitted to lounge in the living areas while in wetsuits, soaking the carpets and cushions. This may have been a contributor to the evening humidity in the sleeping areas, but it could be poor ventilation also. Tough to tell.
I have a new appreciation for Truth Aquatics, Horizon, Peace and other dive boats which make SCUBA diving trips seem so easy.
Something the Iron Eagle has not ironed out yet.
I would definitely compare the Iron Eagle to:
Captain Abdullah's dive trips
which asks the question "WHY PAY MORE?"
Their website and phone number had become inoperational the week before which was alarming, but this wasn't the worst of what would occur.
The trip was booked and sold as being destined for the Cortez Banks, but that never happened despite promises by Captain Dan on the first day. As we steamed out of Long Beach on Friday night, a voice came on the loudspeaker asking if we wanted to do a midnight lobster dive at San Clemente just moments after lobster season opened. Many of us were excited to go lobster diving and quickly said "yes" but then retracted that thinking it would delay the overnight trip to Cortez Banks where we thought that we'd be going.
When we woke Saturday morning we were still at San Clemente Island. The Captain, Dan Adler, apparently had never intended to go to Cortez Banks the first day and stated that he wanted us to do a check out dive prior to going to the Banks. Nobody was ever told this prior to the trip, even the stunned dive organizer, and it was the start of a downward spiral of expectations.
The dive site selected had a 2-3 knot current and while several of us descended quickly to the bottom, a few divers had difficulty and drifted beyond the very short, 100ft, current drift line. One deckhand, realized this and jumped on the Waverunner without Wetsuit, Radio or PFD (Personal Floatation Device). Upon attempting to retrieve the diver the Waverunner capsized. With no communication and the remaining deckhands inattentive, the dead Waverunner drifted nearly a half of a mile before anyone figured out they should launch the Zodiac. The Zodiac had deflated over the previous few days and required inflating prior to launching. All were finally returned to the Iron Eagle, but it was a rather shocking introduction to diving on Iron Eagle.
Dan hadn't noticed because he was preoccupied with his buddy (and both their girlfriends) as Dan was giving him a private Open Water certification check-out. Dan's student floundered in the water for a few minutes, flailing in the current and then decided to call it quits. Dan, his student, and their girlfriends quickly departed in a pre-arranged speedboat pick up (to attend a wedding) but not before Dan had gathered us all on deck to promise that we definitely would be making it to Cortez Banks the next day. Due to a failed second engine which would never start, we never made it to Cortez Banks.
There was much talk amongst the guests and crew that Dan had arranged our trip itinerary to be convenient for him, his student, and their gf's plans to attend the wedding back on the mainland. There were also comments about Dan's poor choice of the dive sites; especially exposing his student to current.
On the plus side, the crew reaffirmed our suspicions that things go much smoother when Dan was not present.
The boat had a host of facilities which were unuseable or below average compared to nearly all other California dive boats.
Want a dive deck?
There is a huge dive deck, but not laid out for divers.
The boat's previous configuration as a Louisiana oil rig tender has protrusions under the benches leaving no place for dive gear to fit, so gear ended up being strewn all over the deck. Milk crate's would have been nice but they still wouldn't have fit under the benches and if left on the open deck would have just conflicted with the space occupied by cheap, white plastic lawn furniture.
Spearfisherman also used the deck to clean their catch as there were no cutting boards.
Where the deck wasn't filled with people or gear, it was slimey and stinky.
Want an air fill?
There were no long, high pressure lines to fill your tanks in their BC's, so filling tanks required that you break down your BC/reg EVERY time (further adding to the deck clutter) and carry your tank forward to the filling station.
Want a Nitrox fill?
Advertizing Nitrox on-board is a good marketing move, but those tanks were given low priority in the fill line and my buddy abandoned Nitrox for air after waiting 2+ hours with his Nitrox tank still not filled.
Want a dip tank?
There was not a single dip tank for anything - missing mask dip tanks was not that big of a deal, but it didn't stop there - UW Photographers had no place to work and no tank to soak their gear in.
At the end of the trip there was no dipping tank for regulators (very poor form).
Want a dive ladder?
They had one, single ladder and more often than not a lengthy queue would form. Unlike other boats there was no deckhand to assist you in removing your fins.
Want Lunch?
On our last day lunch was served at 3:45pm (no exaggeration) and nothing since the 8:00am breakfast. They were going to grill hamburgers, but had to wait as several divers had brought up "short", illegal sized lobsters and were permitted to BBQ them before the rest of the customers lunch was cooked. This was most unprofessional.
Want a Hot Tub?
Yes they had one, too bad it didn't function, but other posts on this board show it has been inoperational for many months.
Want a dry cabin?
Divers were permitted to lounge in the living areas while in wetsuits, soaking the carpets and cushions. This may have been a contributor to the evening humidity in the sleeping areas, but it could be poor ventilation also. Tough to tell.
I have a new appreciation for Truth Aquatics, Horizon, Peace and other dive boats which make SCUBA diving trips seem so easy.
Something the Iron Eagle has not ironed out yet.
I would definitely compare the Iron Eagle to:
Captain Abdullah's dive trips
which asks the question "WHY PAY MORE?"
