> Can anyone recommend any good charters in the Anaheim/Long Beach area?
> Shore diving would also be fine given a buddy who knows the area. Time
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> (Change phonetics to characters to reply privately: November two zulu
> oscar november @ attglobal.net)
http://californiadiveboats.com/
It's too hard to recommend a specific boat for an indefinite time frame. A
lot of the boats vary their schedules between open boats and group charters.
You can contact the chartering shop or club for more information if they've
chartered a trip you want, but recommendations on specific boats can fly out
the window depending on who's chartering it. For example, the Great Escape
comes highly recommended by some who don't mind how many people they cram
aboard, but there's at least one particular chartering shop that won't allow
the use of nitrox on its charters. So you're basically on your own. Good
luck.
Oh, and then there's the fact that the boats are pretty much hit or miss
anyway depending on who's running them at the time since many of them change
hands. I used to like the Aquatica, then I hated it, and now it's supposed
to be better with new ownership (I think Manny bought it) but I haven't
tried it out because of past experiences. I used the like the Pacific Star
when it was first launched as a local dive boat, then it got really bad, and
now it's supposed to be better since Dave bought it but I haven't tried it
yet due to past experiences. The Sundiver comes highly rated but they just
lost a diver a few months ago who's now suing them for $4 million so who
knows who will end up owning that.
Perhaps you're better off with shore dives.
If wrecks are a real big bonus to you, drive an hour+ down to San Diego one
sunny morning where you'll find real "charters" that specialize in open boat
wreck diving. Most of the Anaheim-Long Beach boats will take you to the
Channel Islands where there's nothing but great viz, giant kelp, and sea
lions.
Keith - 11 Feb 2005 13:37 GMT
The Sundiver comes highly rated but they just
>lost a diver a few months ago who's now suing them for $4 million so who
>knows who will end up owning that.
I went with Sundiver back in September and had a great experience.
What happed with the lost diver?