Wristshot:
You see, this is why I (we) need you guys to tell us these things that we just don't know!
How expensive would a motel in San Pedro and a second day boat ride out to Cataline be compared to staying on the island? (I got no clue - like Schultz "I know nothing, Nothing!!)
W
Well, Jenn's idea to find a Sunday boat that boards Sat. night is probaby the most cost effective. Let's look at it (these are just average #'s):
Sat.: $50 Catalina Express r/t + $10 parking (not a dive boat, but a, well, ferry, I guess, that lets you bring all of your gear with you. They drop you off at the island, where it's a short trek over to the dive park todive all day)
$15 - 3 air fills
$8 - r/t baggage handling + tip (it's a short walk, but feels long when you're hauling your gear - trust us, it's worth it).
$XXX - lunch, dinner, food, snacks, etc...
If you stay at Catalina, you're looking at a room of approx. 1-300/night (and the rooms there - even the $300 ones, are nothing special. Old, basic rooms. There are some cheap bargains, but that's only relative). They've got a captive audience, being an island and all.
So, with prices like that, I'm assuming it leaves you back at San Pedro Sat. evening. You can pay for a hotel there to repeat everything above again the next day (btw -the ferry ride is 1 hr each way, so that's a lot of back and forth). Or, for approx. $120 you can board a dive boat (none of the boats here are luxurious, but they'll do - no worse than a night of camping with a cot, and some a lot better). If you go to one of the other islands (Santa Barbara or San Clemente), sometime in the middle of the night, the boat will leave and start the 5 hour ride over, so when you wake up at 8 am, you'll be at your destination and able to start diving. These boats will all serve you a nice, hot breakfast and lunch (and depending on which one, you'll get a # of snacks and maybe even dinner), included in the price, along with air fills, usually for 3 dives. Generally, they'll start heading back in the early afternoon. The price of the dive boats usually breaks even with the price of a day of diving in the park, all things considered, and with the boat allowing you to sleep on it Sat. night, you wouldn't need to pay for the hotel room.
I'm not too familiar with San Pedro if you still wanted to go the way of the hotel room, but I do know that some areas are not great. Rooms can probably vary from cheap to as much as you'd want to spend, but I wouldn't know what to recommend for you.
Hope that helps. If I didn't have plans to be at the dive park that Sunday, I would volunteer to join you on a boat and play tourguide. Hopefully someone else will be able to, and if not, I will be at the dive park Sunday, so if you want to do it 2 days in a row, I'll see you there.
So I have to pull my name from the list. Sorry!
