drrich2
Contributor
Hi:
I tend to go nuts if I'm not at least plotting a potential scuba trip, and I've made my 2 trips for 2015. So I'm looking ahead to 2016, Lord willing & providing that I get to dive as I hope to. I'd like one trip to be a high dive count warm water place I've dove little (Cozumel) or Roatan. Don't know if that will happen.
But what I really want to do is come dive California for about 5 days around September or thereabouts. And probably one kind of diving to 'really' do it; not 2 dives of this, 2 of that, head up state for 2 more Could be alone, or might have 3 landlubbers (wife, toddler, mother-in-law) to send off to sight-see, zoos, etc...
But California has a lot of diverse offerings. Shore vs. boat, day boat vs. live-aboard, north vs. south, a number of different 'home base' city options, diving through a club or not, etc And tends to be colder water diving, boats don't provide guides by default & rental gear availability (mainly tanks) isn't always clear (like option to my beloved 120 cf steel tanks ). And I'm not dry suit trained, or likely to pursue it for one trip.
So, I'm tentatively trying to work through the options & maybe start building some good info. So far, my plotting looks like this:
1.) I'm told north of Point Conception, it's cold. I don't see the need for that. So, southern California dream'n...
2.) Shore diving - an option, but in more adverse conditions than I'm used to, likely to be more work for fewer dives, can be dangerous & one would be well-advised to seek some guidance. And I'm an introvert. Boat diving it is.
3.) San Diego is a destination with good diving, but you can get 'blown out.' Doesn't seem to be the main place dive tourists are heading, unless I'm missing something.
4.) You can shore dive off Casino Point at Catalina Island, but that doesn't sound like a 5 day plan, especially since it might be the only trip to California I ever make. And people do boat trips to Catalina Island from the mainland. At least to start with, not the plan.
5.) There are a number of sites boats hit, but what I keep seeing articles about, & seeing boat trips targeting are the Channel Islands! Seems to be a big regional draw for the dive tourist, I'm thinking?
6.) So, you got your northern Channel Islands where the water's cooler, yet they seem to get more attention in the articles I've run across.
7.) And you got your southern Channel Islands, a tad warmer but not warm, and I would think these would have more appeal?
8.) And you've got day boats (e.g.: the Specter, maybe with a 3 tank trip?) & live-aboards (e.g.: Truth Aquatics offerings). Not a lot of 5 day trips on Truth, but some 'limited load' 4 or 5 day trips. What kind of ride out time do the day boats have? How much of the day gets taken up? If it's just me, avoiding hotel costs by live-aboard might appeal. Anybody got any thoughts on how day boat vs. live-aboard options stack up?
9.) Anybody know a good way to wrangle up some rental 120 cf tanks?
10.) California Diver Magazine online was a help; lots of articles. That's where I saw the ad for Channel Island Dive Adventures; is that a good outfit to go with?
Richard.
I tend to go nuts if I'm not at least plotting a potential scuba trip, and I've made my 2 trips for 2015. So I'm looking ahead to 2016, Lord willing & providing that I get to dive as I hope to. I'd like one trip to be a high dive count warm water place I've dove little (Cozumel) or Roatan. Don't know if that will happen.
But what I really want to do is come dive California for about 5 days around September or thereabouts. And probably one kind of diving to 'really' do it; not 2 dives of this, 2 of that, head up state for 2 more Could be alone, or might have 3 landlubbers (wife, toddler, mother-in-law) to send off to sight-see, zoos, etc...
But California has a lot of diverse offerings. Shore vs. boat, day boat vs. live-aboard, north vs. south, a number of different 'home base' city options, diving through a club or not, etc And tends to be colder water diving, boats don't provide guides by default & rental gear availability (mainly tanks) isn't always clear (like option to my beloved 120 cf steel tanks ). And I'm not dry suit trained, or likely to pursue it for one trip.
So, I'm tentatively trying to work through the options & maybe start building some good info. So far, my plotting looks like this:
1.) I'm told north of Point Conception, it's cold. I don't see the need for that. So, southern California dream'n...
2.) Shore diving - an option, but in more adverse conditions than I'm used to, likely to be more work for fewer dives, can be dangerous & one would be well-advised to seek some guidance. And I'm an introvert. Boat diving it is.
3.) San Diego is a destination with good diving, but you can get 'blown out.' Doesn't seem to be the main place dive tourists are heading, unless I'm missing something.
4.) You can shore dive off Casino Point at Catalina Island, but that doesn't sound like a 5 day plan, especially since it might be the only trip to California I ever make. And people do boat trips to Catalina Island from the mainland. At least to start with, not the plan.
5.) There are a number of sites boats hit, but what I keep seeing articles about, & seeing boat trips targeting are the Channel Islands! Seems to be a big regional draw for the dive tourist, I'm thinking?
6.) So, you got your northern Channel Islands where the water's cooler, yet they seem to get more attention in the articles I've run across.
7.) And you got your southern Channel Islands, a tad warmer but not warm, and I would think these would have more appeal?
8.) And you've got day boats (e.g.: the Specter, maybe with a 3 tank trip?) & live-aboards (e.g.: Truth Aquatics offerings). Not a lot of 5 day trips on Truth, but some 'limited load' 4 or 5 day trips. What kind of ride out time do the day boats have? How much of the day gets taken up? If it's just me, avoiding hotel costs by live-aboard might appeal. Anybody got any thoughts on how day boat vs. live-aboard options stack up?
9.) Anybody know a good way to wrangle up some rental 120 cf tanks?
10.) California Diver Magazine online was a help; lots of articles. That's where I saw the ad for Channel Island Dive Adventures; is that a good outfit to go with?
Richard.