Northwest Dive Club

I'm planning to go on vacation in July to California and visit my mother and siblings in SoCal (Buena Park). So, the question is, Does anybody have any recommendations of any boat dives from Long Beach, or any chartered boat dives at Catalina island?

Give Capt. Tim Burke a call, he owns the "Great Escape". The boat runs out of San Pedro and makes trips to Catalina and other spots. His website is www.diveboat.com
You can spend the night prior on the boat, grab a bunk or stateroom, sleep overnight. Parking is free. Most trips they also throw in breakfast, lunch and airfills. They dont rent gear, but he might be able to arrange for some tanks or weights.

We've done the "Great Escape" before and liked the boat. We also like to dive the "Magician" out of San Pedro (they have nitrox on board)- check to see if they're running their Friday, Open Boat specials. If you want to go a little further north for a change, the "Peace" ROCKS (they're out of Ventura). I've never dove them, but I've heard nothing but good about Truth Aquatics out of Sata Barbara.

You might also want to catch the Catalina Express over to the Island and dive Casino Point. It is a wonderful dive park. I would do this on a week day, though. It can get pretty darned crowded with classes on the weekend.

When you get closer to the date, PM me. I commute between Seattle and LA. If I'm down there at the same time as you, we could hook up for some dives.

Lauri

Oh, the Peace is THE boat! Not only is it a comfortable boat that's very easy to get on and off (much easier than the Spectre in BOTH directions, unless you like ten foot drops), and a boat that has a truly top-notch deck crew, but it also has the best food in the whole diving world, I think And they fill Nitrox, too. But it's a long drive up there from Long Beach.

I have had good experiences doing 2.5 day bug hunt trips out to Catalina and Santa Barbra islands with the Sun Diver out of Long Beach if you're looking for a no frills operation. The crew was nice and food was better than good. Sleeping accommodations were bunks, no state rooms. The Captains (Ray and Kala?) put us on each spot every time.

Jim and I have dove the magician out of long beach and really love it. Excellent crew and captain (jerry). Fridays they have open boat specials for I think it was $95 for a 3 tank trip. Get on their fb or email list and they occasionally have $125 specials o weekend if they aren't full. Good luck and let us know what you ended up on. Shell