This weekends frightening Monterey swell model confirmed that it was the perfect time to head down south to Ventura, California to explore our beautiful Channel Islands for the first time!
After reading my UTD Essentials class report, Limex (Nick) a very cool So Cal DIR tech diver, invited me down to join a boat with 17-18 other UTD/GUE divers on the Spectre Charter. CalBoat Diving
The boat docked in Ventura Harbor and $115 included overnight bunks on Friday night, coffee, fruit and a fresh Egg McMuffin style breakfast, a grilled lunch, and brownies straight out of the oven topped with ice cream after the final dive, free air fills, 4 dives and a hot tub for the wetsuit divers.
Dive sites ranged in depth from 30 to 60-70 ft. The boat did not pump Nitrox, so picked up a steel/DIN rental tank from Any Water Sports to replace my O2 cleaned tank. Was on the road by 7pm and rolling into Ventura Harbor by 1:30am. Clutching my light, I tip-toed down to the boat to scope out the scene, where I was greeted by a friendly hug from Nick and his awesome girlfriend Jamie - who quickly sorted out space for my tank and a bunk. Within 20 minutes my gear was stored and I snuggled up in my cozy bunk sound asleep.
My eyes popped open to the sound of the boat motors. Feeling both excited and a bit shy, I jumped out of bed excited to see all the bolt clips/scooters/long hoses in one place and curious to meet all these Scubaboard internet people like LigersandTions, Ranier and Lobstah (still not sure who Lobstah is?) and excited to see Claudette again.
After a 1.5 hour boat ride with a sighting of dolphin, the beautiful rocky island of Anacapa appeared. We anchored and soon dropped down into the water. The first dive site, Pelican Reserve had about 60 ft vis & small patches of kelp. The bottom was mostly white rock which was dotted with colorful purple sea urchins, starfish and vibrant orange Garabaldi, and lots of Sheeps head. We dropped down to 54ft and surfaced after 47 minutes. The water was a balmy 60F with a slight surge. Jana, a GUE Fundies diver from San Diego, led and did a great job of navigation
.
As the swell increased, kelp was flattened by current at one dive site, so we headed for Santa Cruz Island to seek calm water at a site named Pink Ribbon. A beginner rec diver joined Jana and I for a very peaceful cruise through the majestic kelp forests hunting nudis and other critters in the 40ft vis. Nope, I didn't take these next few pictures!
Lots and lots of the brilliant Flabellina Iodinea (aka: Spanish shaw)
And a sighting of Navanax inermis
I’m just learning to key out some of these long slug names with help from the BAUE site ;-)BAUE Field Guide
As we glided through the kelp forests, various partner teams of DIR divers swam by. some were beginners while others were outstanding divers with scooters and all the toys. Occasionally, a more advanced team would pause to make sure we were ok – it felt like I was part of a supportive family who kept a watchful eye on each others safety. We surfaced from our kelp jungle romp to a tasty lunch shared with my partner and new friends the headed to the final site.
Pretty new to the drysuit and drysuit boat diving, the idea of diving in current made me a bit nervous, but have done plenty of it in a wetsuit in warm water, so decided to go for it. We dropped down to a max of 46ft. Soon, to my surprise and delight, we swam comfortably against the current over a spectacular rock outcropping at “Drop off Reef/Radar Tower”. The water was 55F, a little cooler, and I could feel a noticeable change where the cool/warmer water mixed.
The vis must have been - I'll guess - 70 ft? The bottom was covered with beautiful green dotted starfish, purple sea urchins, and lots of Spanish Shaw nudis. But even better yet, the depth dropped dramatically into deep blue water below the wall.
By the third dive I felt comfortably integrated with my new partner - so found myself relaxed and happily hovering above the wall gazing into the spectacular blue water, watching all the DIR diver teams frog kicking gracefully through the water. The rocky point was such a treat, with Garbaldi, and lots of other fish to enjoy before a fun ascent with stops mid-water while swimming against the current.
I love good vis and blue water so could have easily stayed down on the third dive at least a day or longer. But because of building swell, we called the day at 3 dives and headed safely back to the harbor without anyone becoming seasick in the predicted 20ft swells we never saw.
Lots of laughs, great times! Fantastic divers, friendly helpful boat staff, comfortable boat, beautiful vis & a day fun of diving – who could ask for more? I started the trip with a bit of nervous apprehension and left with more confidence, smiles that followed me into today, and budding new friendships with a fantastic group So Cal divers!
After a full day of diving and only 5 hours of sleep, lots of hugs, gear was packed and I hit the road for the return journey. The 5 FWY down took 6.5 hours from San Mateo but returning on the 101 FWY was a pleasant 6 hour drive. The whole trip was done in a 30 hour turn around.
I rolled into my driveway around 11:30pm with a stack of salty gear that needed rinsing (wishing I could pay Kristina’s kid the $5 to wash it, but alas out came my rinse tubs at midnight). By the time I finally hit my pillow my eyes did not open till 11:30 am.
Thanks So Cal divers for such a great weekend! I really enjoyed meeting you. The fantastic company and beautiful diving of Anacapa were well worth the drive! Thanks again Nick for the invite & Jana for being a committed dive partner. It was a great experience and I really look forward to more. Maybe over New Years! Maybe a weekend to explore Catalina!
I didn’t take pictures, so if anyone did - it would be cool if you could post a link or a few shots here. One of these days soon I’ll have to get a decent underwater camera.
After reading my UTD Essentials class report, Limex (Nick) a very cool So Cal DIR tech diver, invited me down to join a boat with 17-18 other UTD/GUE divers on the Spectre Charter. CalBoat Diving
The boat docked in Ventura Harbor and $115 included overnight bunks on Friday night, coffee, fruit and a fresh Egg McMuffin style breakfast, a grilled lunch, and brownies straight out of the oven topped with ice cream after the final dive, free air fills, 4 dives and a hot tub for the wetsuit divers.
Dive sites ranged in depth from 30 to 60-70 ft. The boat did not pump Nitrox, so picked up a steel/DIN rental tank from Any Water Sports to replace my O2 cleaned tank. Was on the road by 7pm and rolling into Ventura Harbor by 1:30am. Clutching my light, I tip-toed down to the boat to scope out the scene, where I was greeted by a friendly hug from Nick and his awesome girlfriend Jamie - who quickly sorted out space for my tank and a bunk. Within 20 minutes my gear was stored and I snuggled up in my cozy bunk sound asleep.
My eyes popped open to the sound of the boat motors. Feeling both excited and a bit shy, I jumped out of bed excited to see all the bolt clips/scooters/long hoses in one place and curious to meet all these Scubaboard internet people like LigersandTions, Ranier and Lobstah (still not sure who Lobstah is?) and excited to see Claudette again.
After a 1.5 hour boat ride with a sighting of dolphin, the beautiful rocky island of Anacapa appeared. We anchored and soon dropped down into the water. The first dive site, Pelican Reserve had about 60 ft vis & small patches of kelp. The bottom was mostly white rock which was dotted with colorful purple sea urchins, starfish and vibrant orange Garabaldi, and lots of Sheeps head. We dropped down to 54ft and surfaced after 47 minutes. The water was a balmy 60F with a slight surge. Jana, a GUE Fundies diver from San Diego, led and did a great job of navigation
.As the swell increased, kelp was flattened by current at one dive site, so we headed for Santa Cruz Island to seek calm water at a site named Pink Ribbon. A beginner rec diver joined Jana and I for a very peaceful cruise through the majestic kelp forests hunting nudis and other critters in the 40ft vis. Nope, I didn't take these next few pictures!
Lots and lots of the brilliant Flabellina Iodinea (aka: Spanish shaw)
And a sighting of Navanax inermis
I’m just learning to key out some of these long slug names with help from the BAUE site ;-)BAUE Field Guide
As we glided through the kelp forests, various partner teams of DIR divers swam by. some were beginners while others were outstanding divers with scooters and all the toys. Occasionally, a more advanced team would pause to make sure we were ok – it felt like I was part of a supportive family who kept a watchful eye on each others safety
. We surfaced from our kelp jungle romp to a tasty lunch shared with my partner and new friends the headed to the final site. Pretty new to the drysuit and drysuit boat diving, the idea of diving in current made me a bit nervous, but have done plenty of it in a wetsuit in warm water, so decided to go for it. We dropped down to a max of 46ft. Soon, to my surprise and delight, we swam comfortably against the current over a spectacular rock outcropping at “Drop off Reef/Radar Tower”. The water was 55F, a little cooler, and I could feel a noticeable change where the cool/warmer water mixed.
The vis must have been - I'll guess - 70 ft? The bottom was covered with beautiful green dotted starfish, purple sea urchins, and lots of Spanish Shaw nudis. But even better yet, the depth dropped dramatically into deep blue water below the wall
. By the third dive I felt comfortably integrated with my new partner - so found myself relaxed and happily hovering above the wall gazing into the spectacular blue water, watching all the DIR diver teams frog kicking gracefully through the water. The rocky point was such a treat, with Garbaldi, and lots of other fish to enjoy before a fun ascent with stops mid-water while swimming against the current.
I love good vis and blue water so could have easily stayed down on the third dive at least a day or longer
. But because of building swell, we called the day at 3 dives and headed safely back to the harbor without anyone becoming seasick in the predicted 20ft swells we never saw.Lots of laughs, great times! Fantastic divers, friendly helpful boat staff, comfortable boat, beautiful vis & a day fun of diving – who could ask for more? I started the trip with a bit of nervous apprehension and left with more confidence, smiles that followed me into today, and budding new friendships with a fantastic group So Cal divers!
After a full day of diving and only 5 hours of sleep, lots of hugs, gear was packed and I hit the road for the return journey. The 5 FWY down took 6.5 hours from San Mateo but returning on the 101 FWY was a pleasant 6 hour drive. The whole trip was done in a 30 hour turn around.
I rolled into my driveway around 11:30pm with a stack of salty gear that needed rinsing (wishing I could pay Kristina’s kid the $5 to wash it, but alas out came my rinse tubs at midnight). By the time I finally hit my pillow my eyes did not open till 11:30 am.
Thanks So Cal divers for such a great weekend! I really enjoyed meeting you. The fantastic company and beautiful diving of Anacapa were well worth the drive! Thanks again Nick for the invite & Jana for being a committed dive partner. It was a great experience and I really look forward to more
. Maybe over New Years! Maybe a weekend to explore Catalina! I didn’t take pictures, so if anyone did - it would be cool if you could post a link or a few shots here. One of these days soon I’ll have to get a decent underwater camera.
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