Wrinkles September Dive Catalina 9-18

[CHUD]

Hey, do y'all have room for one more? I'm on the 6:15 out of Long Beach with a group from my LDS, Aqua Adventures Unlimited, but it'd be great to meet and dive with some people from here.

 

[headhunter]

Hey, do y'all have room for one more? I'm on the 6:15 out of Long Beach with a group from my LDS, Aqua Adventures Unlimited, but it'd be great to meet and dive with some people from here.

Hey Chuck, it would be great to see you out there. Even if only to spend some time during the SI. I'm sure we'll see you on the boat on the way over too.

Christian

 

[CHUD]

Cool. Well, you all know what I look like so I should be easy to find.

 

[mccabejc]

Another reason I like to get there early is so I can grab a locker near the Casino. It costs 75 cents each time you lock it.

However, there are a ton of lockers just as you get off the boat, over near the restrooms. I think that you can get a day rate for those lockers, but you have to go to the Catalina Baggage and Storage office located down past the Catalina Express ticket office, at the opposite end of the building as the lockers. They also have a change machine there if you need quarters. And if you have luggage you want to store they'll hold it there for you. Or you can have them transport it to the Casino.

 

[headhunter]

Another reason I like to get there early is so I can grab a locker near the Casino. It costs 75 cents each time you lock it.

However, there are a ton of lockers just as you get off the boat, over near the restrooms. I think that you can get a day rate for those lockers, but you have to go to the Catalina Baggage and Storage office located down past the Catalina Express ticket office, at the opposite end of the building as the lockers. They also have a change machine there if you need quarters. And if you have luggage you want to store they'll hold it there for you. Or you can have them transport it to the Casino.

How big are these 75-cent lockers? Do you put your gear bag in a locker once most of you gear is out of the bag? Or do you leave most of your stuff out in the open and only lock up valuables like wallet, watch, car keys, etc.?

I'm sure I'll get this figured out since I'll be with many of you on the 6:15a ferry. I'm thinking of using a small dolly for my tank and wondering what to do with that while on a dive.

Thanks.

Christian

 

[sapphire]

Christian,

I only lock up valuable stuff, the lockers are smallish. They are .75 each time you get into them, so bring quarters!! The rest of the stuff you can leave out while you dive, like your gearbag, etc.

For all of us on the 6:15 ferry, it is cheaper (per person) to use Catalina Baggage Service when you have 3 or more (a group)... I think it is like $7 pp or something for round trip service to take your stuff to Casino Point and back again... another good reason to find each other on the ferry! I know Christian and Jim, but not what anyone else looks like...

Jennifer

 

[headhunter]

Christian,

I only lock up valuable stuff, the lockers are smallish. They are .75 each time you get into them, so bring quarters!! The rest of the stuff you can leave out while you dive, like your gearbag, etc.

For all of us on the 6:15 ferry, it is cheaper (per person) to use Catalina Baggage Service when you have 3 or more (a group)... I think it is like $7 pp or something for round trip service to take your stuff to Casino Point and back again... another good reason to find each other on the ferry! I know Christian and Jim, but not what anyone else looks like...

Jennifer

Thanks Jennifer! I'll just put anything I remotely care about in my reg bag and lock that up.

You I and Jim would qualify for the discount on Catalina Baggage Service. Cool!

Christian

 

[mccabejc]

Christian,
One of the things that amazed me my first time at the Casino is how EVERYONE leaves their stuff out in the open while diving. I think someone posted a while back about a rumour of getting stuff ripped off, but as long as you put your valuables (wallet, money, keys) in a locker you should be okay. When you consider that most who visit Catalina are families who can afford $50 a person for the ferry ride, you start to realize that there probably aren't many people who would pay that kind of money to come over to rip off dive bags.

The biggest lockers at the pier (where you get off the boat) are pretty big. My guess is around 2 ft. high by 1.5 ft. wide. by 2 ft. deep. Something like that. Maybe a little smaller. And I think there are a few at the Casino about that size.

I just bring my big roller dive bag to the Casino, put all my gear on, throw some stuff in the locker, and go diving with my gear bag sitting out in the open.

One thing I would recommend is that you put your reg/oct/computer in a separate bag for the trip over and carry it with you. They like to pile the gear bags outside on the stern of the boat, and you may find your gear bag under a stack of others.

 

[headhunter]

Christian,
One of the things that amazed me my first time at the Casino is how EVERYONE leaves their stuff out in the open while diving. I think someone posted a while back about a rumour of getting stuff ripped off, but as long as you put your valuables (wallet, money, keys) in a locker you should be okay. When you consider that most who visit Catalina are families who can afford $50 a person for the ferry ride, you start to realize that there probably aren't many people who would pay that kind of money to come over to rip off dive bags.

The last time I dove Catalina was at a time that whenever I was outside of the Los Angeles area, I would actually leave the keys in the ignition with the windows down when going into a store. That was usually in Santa Barbara or the Santa Ynez Valley. We were under the impression that there was no crime outside of Los Angeles.

Nobody would want to steal my bag anyway. It's about 20 years old and uglier than I am. :11:

One thing I would recommend is that you put your reg/oct/computer in a separate bag for the trip over and carry it with you. They like to pile the gear bags outside on the stern of the boat, and you may find your gear bag under a stack of others.

Good idea. I'll just pull the reg bag out of the gear bag once on board.

Thanks.

Christian

 

[headhunter]

OK now what's the latest on who will be there?

Is anyone missing from this list or has anyone else gone from "maybe" to "yes" or "no"?

andrewjd
ann marie
arnaud
chud (officially there, but with another group)
dazedone
divebrasil (maybe)
divebuddysean
diver jan (maybe)
headhunter
mccabejc
sapphire
shaka zulu
tonyc +1
wrinkles (there in spirit!)

And what about Shaka Zulu's avatars? Will they be coming or are they all non-divers?

Christian