atkins@opus.UUCP (Brian Atkins) (04/23/85)
I am going back home over the summer, and would like to do some
diving off the coast of San Diego. Has anyone out there
been to the Channel Islands? What can I expect in the way
of sights, costs, tours, time spent, etc.?
Also, what fish/sea food are in season in late August? And where
are some good coastal dive spots? Where are the good deals on tank
and wet suit rentals and air?
Alas, I lived in San Diego for 10 years, and took up diving just
after changing my residence to Boulder, Colorado. Maybe I'll
go to San Diego and learn to do ice carvings!
Brian Atkins ...{attunix, hao, allegra, ucbvax}!nbires!atkinsles@proper.UUCP (Les Kent) (04/26/85)
I went on a boat dive in the Channel Islands in November 83. It was a
great trip. The boat that I went on was the Conception. It is a 75 foot
boat that holds ~30 divers. The crew was great at making it a real relaxed
enviovnment. They serve good food that they prepare on the ship thrugh out
the day. That is great so you can dive whenever you want and not worry
about missing a meal. They also have snacks and fruit. The crew was very
friendly.
We took a two day trip that left on a Saturday morning at 4AM and came
back Sunday at ~6PM. It is about a 3-4 hour trip from Santa Barabra to
the Islands.
The diving was very good and extreamly convienient on the boat since
right after you get out you just put a tag on you tank and within 15
minutes its filled up and you can go again. They moved around to
about 5 different spots with depths ranging from 70 feet to 35 feet.
Also on Saturday night you could get in a lot of night diving. I only
did one night dive but there was enough time for two to three dives.
One item to remember if you go on a boat dive. Since the boat left at
4AM we got there the previous night at about 9PM. Well the bunk we
got was at the back (stern?) of the boat. When 4 came around and they
cranked up those pair of huge engines it was rather loud. As a matter
of fact for the first 30 seconds I finally thought the big one had
arrived. It was very hard sleeping after that. So get a bunk as far
forward.
By the way there are two boats owned by the same folks with very similar
designs. The Conception and the Truth. The Truth is a little smaller
then the Conception. They have various length trips from 2 to 5 days.
Les Kent
{dual,nsc,qantel}!proper!les