Sea Sick in the Channel Islands?

[Tripod]

I too am in the same predicament as you guys. I LOVE scuba diving and am severely limited to my overwhelming intolerance of any boat rides... and shore dives, altho sometimes good, can't beat a good reef that can only be gotten to by boat. It's to the point that I sometimes have to sit out of dives cuz i feel too nauseated and/or too weak from the fact that I don't eat anything during my day long trips to avoid throwing up.

how much drowziness did you get with scopace?
I've only tried bonine before and it really didn't work for me. It did however knock me out pretty good. I was out like a rock for about 4 hrs after i got back from a boat ride and wasted a whole afternoon of my hawaiian vacation, comatose in my hotel room.

I am going to try the patch out next and maybe scopace.

 

[MissyP]

how much drowziness did you get with scopace?

I can't answer about Scopace, but with the Scopolamine patch I had no side effects other than a little dryness in my mouth. On the Scop. package, it has a "may cause drowsiness" label but I never felt drowsy~ quite the opposite actually.. I was bouncing off of the boat walls every morning

 

[scubavili]

The Spectre is a HUGE boat but no multiday trips but they will let you spend the night on the boat between trips. The peace is a nice size boat too (one of the best in socal) it does multiday trips. The great escape is supose to be wonderful, i was on it in rough water the captain was great (although i didnt sleep at all that night). Unfortunately the best time to dive is fall and the water is pretty ruff then. Try summer maybe? I use dramamine and caffine. Good luck and have fun!

I just got back to Finland from my 6 week vacation in CA. I did a lot of diving from the Spectre and it is a huge boat. I also spent nights onboard in the harbor, but I have to say the boat is not cleaned very often. If you are ok with that, Spectre is a GREAT boat! Private dive stations (no fear of gear getting mixed with someone others), good food and excellent service. The Spectre is located in Ventura so if youre coming from north it is your closest option.

If you tend to get sea sick easily, Spectre is your option. The boat goes to Anacapa which is the closest Channl Island to the shore. The trip over takes only about a hour.

If you want to do multiday trips I highly recommend the Sand Dollar. It is a bit pricy but worth the money in my opinion. Sand Dollar is clean, they cook food for you all the time, you get nitrox fills, the staff is great. It is smaller than Great Escape or Spectre though.

 

[Taniwha]

I'm not too farmilar with the livaboards but I can recommend Bonine for motion sickness prevention. Our family owns a boat out of Orange County and we give everyone bonine, haven't seen anyone lose it after taking it. Obviously what you eat before boarding the boat make a difference too.

Billy

If your avatar is any indication, EmptyV, they're probably "losing it" after watching you suit up, not from seasickness. :biggrimja

Hehe,
Doug

 

[Taxgeek]

Hi MissyP! We were on the same trip! Who knew? It was really freakin' great, I highly highly recommend the Conception. The Vision is big like that too, with the Truth being smaller. I guess the local big boats are Conception, Vision, Spectre and Great Escape. Don't know how big the Peace is. The food on the Conception might be the deciding factor though - it was amazing. Like eating in a restaurant.

Anyway, Susie, I use the patch too. You have to put it on 4 hours before, and I've tested that and it's true! And the only side effects I get are a tiny drymouth, like MissyP or somebody said, and after about a week, a little bit of farsightedness. Just a teeny tad though. (Like, I have to hold my reading book 4" farther away than I normally would.)

I also use Scopace if I need something stronger. I don't know the dosage, but the scopace my doctor prescribed seems MUCH stronger than the patch, and it starts to work after about half an hour. I can feel the little drymouth, and I get the slight farsightedness immediately instead of after a week.

Both of these work really well for me, and I'm the kind of person who can turn green even looking at a boat. I can get seasick while the boat is tied to the dock!

Hope you have a great trip!
Taxgeek/Susan