Catalina?

[serafino]

I'm heading there this Monday 07/28/08. Is there anyone that is going to be there too that wouldn't mind me joining up with them? I don't want to dive alone since that is really unsafe and won't dive at all if I can't find anyone. If I have to I might just find someone there. So let me know if you are in the area and wouldn't mind me tagging along.
Thanks,
Serafino

[Bill McIntyre]

You might want to try posting in the California- West Coast forum.

[sciencemike]

Are you hunting? or Freediving?

[serafino]

I'll be free diving. Well more like hunting except without the gun. I'm not going for any pbs just to see the the life around Catalina.

[sciencemike]

My brother might be in avalon, where he could dive the Park with you or take a kayak out. He is not the best freediver, and can only go to about 70 feet or so, but knows rescue's and such. If you get a PM from him, that means he is there. If not he isnt @ the island.

Even if you are @ Avalon, diving the dive park is a great way to see the life @ catalina. Its safe even to dive alone because there are 100's of scuba people all over the park. Trust me you will always be bumping into them. The good life is at ~20-60 feet deep. And straight out from the ramp and slightly right is a sunken sail boat @ 65 feet deep.

[serafino]

Awesome thanks for the tips. I would expect it to be crowded especially this time of year so I guess I could go alone as a last resort. Although I can go much farther than 70ft I would rather play it way on the safe side and not go past 50-60 and I doubt even that deep at all. Thanks I'll look for a pm and if not I'll see if there is anyone around.
Thanks so much for everyones help and advice.

Serafino

[Bill McIntyre]

Originally Posted by serafino

Although I can go much farther than 70ft I would rather play it way on the safe side and not go past 50-60 and I doubt even that deep at all.

I don't know if you are being serious, but "not much farther than 70ft" is much deeper than the average spearfishing dive of people I know. Perhaps you are accustomed to going straight up and down ropes with no gun, but repetitive dives with a speargun are different.

I shoot the great majority of my white sea bass and yellowtail at depths less than 25 feet.

Its after I shoot them and they tie up in the kelp on the bottom that I may have to dive deep, but there is no way I could dive to 70 feet and cut a fish out of the kelp down there in the murk.

[jtkwest]

[quote=Bill McIntyre;727600]I don't know if you are being serious, but "not much farther than 70ft" is much deeper than the average spearfishing dive of people I know. Perhaps you are accustomed to going straight up and down ropes with no gun, but repetitive dives with a speargun are different.



thank you, iwas starting to feel inadequate, i can only hit like 50 feet for a few seconds, IF i'm calm. but iam damn deadly anyway, if i do say so myself. maybe this guy is european, and he means meters, not feet. just kidding, seriously, though, if you do dive that deep, you need to invest in a speargun dude. FOR REAL.

[serafino]

Lol I'm not European. Although I do have relatives in Europe lol. I'm actually from So Cal originally but I moved up north a bit to Merced which is 50 miles north of Fresno. I would like to invest in a nice speargun except I'm only 16 and just spent my money on scuba certification. I want to stay away from the low quality guns since they break to easily. Maybe I'll find one diving one day and save some cash lol.
I guess I'll stay withing 30ft or so I may dive down to the wreck that was mentioned only if I find a buddy.

[serafino]

Back from Catalina! It was an ok experience. I don't think I would recommend any of my friends to go there. It was a very small town. I needed some weights for my belt and stopped by the dive shops there and at all of them it was about 20 bucks a pound which is INSANE! So I had to fight my buoyancy a bit and couldn't go deeper than say 15ft. I did come across probably 50 Garibaldi which was pretty awesomeand unusual. I would say its too expensive to be worth it. Everything is overpriced.

[sciencemike]

Not that it does you any good, but the air refill station right outside the casino rents weight for 5 dollars for as long as you are there, and as much weight as you need.

Yes Catalina is ridiculously expensive. How was the visibility? And my brother was not in Catalina.

Sounds like a good time to practice your FRC being underweighted and all.

I would back up what bill has said about depth. Most fish i shoot are above 25 feet deep. When you hit the Bull Kelp you are too deep.

[serafino]

I didn't want to rent just because its a waste when I can manage ok without them. The visibility was fairly decent. If I had a spear at the time I would have caught some decent sized fish. I wasn't sure if it was legal to spearfish inside the dive park though. I saw some great looking fish withing 15 ft I wouldn't have had to go any deeper to catch anything good.