July 18 - David Fayram took the Raptor dive boat out to Anacapa Island, from Ventura, CA, with 12 other divers and a boat crew of 4. Visibility was not great, but way better than the NW in algae bloom, so I was excited where the locals complained. We took 2 dives, both just off the island.
It is a protected sea lion preserve, so the place was loaded with playful sea lions, both in the water and out. We were nearly always accompanied by at least one sea lion, whipping around us, blowing his/her own bubbles, checking us out, daring us to follow. On the second dive, I came nose-to-nose with a sea lion on the sea floor at 30 feet - never knew their eyes were so big!
We also had loads of sea hares and scallops, and a variety of fish. We followed a rock formation to a large, scallop-encrusted arch, and slipped through the arch and back on surges. And we explored 25 foot high kelp forests with sea lions zipping in and out.
The Raptor is a fast boat, designed just for diving. Kind of a bumpy ride out, but we got to the dive site quickly, and they provided excellent fresh food. As my first dive outside the NW, it made for a fun 2-dive day.
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Thanks David for the report! If anyone else is traveling and would like to share their trip report with us, please email me @ info@gonediving.org. Pictures are great also!
Monday, July 20, 2009
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2 comments:
I love diving on The Raptor! My dive buddy described it as "a boat-sized jet ski." The boat is fairly new and
As you said, the dive boat is well-suited diving, and the crew is both fun and experienced. They keep all the wet suits and dry suits at the back of the boat hanging up, so they get a little bit of "blow drying" on the way back. I also like that they give each diver a bin to stow all your accessories in under your seat. I prefer this type of organization rather than the free-for-all you find on, say, boats in the Caribbean.
No matter what dive operator you go with - Anacapa Island has really beautiful diving. You were spot-on about the friendly sea lions. The kelp diving can be beautiful as well. There have been times where I forgot I was underwater (if that makes sense) because it's really like being in a forest - with rays of sunshine shining down through a canopy of leaves.
If you're visiting California you could reasonably make a long weekend of diving and exploring some of the Santa Barbara wineries. I highly recommend a dive in the Channel Islands - even if you only have one day.
hey gone diving guys from bellingham how are you? I'm going out on the Raptor on Saturday. Its a chartered 3 underwater arch dive by CIDA. Cool club. Anyway conditions have been sweet in So Cal. Come on back and look me up for some nice shore dives in Southern California, I'm the 2011 Dive Coordinator for AVDesertDivers.org.
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