August 28th, 2010
The summer scuba diving season got a late start this year due to unseasonably cold weather, cold water and an extended fog season that lasted until the end of July. Water temperatures are still below normal for this time of the year but the diving is still great. Since the water has not warmed up as it should, the kelp has remained thick and healthy. Typically a lot of the kelp dies off in the summer so it is nice to be able to dive under a nice thick canopy of kelp in the dive park.
Over the last week or so there has been a fair amount of surge and before that we had several days where there was a strong current that ran for about an hour each day and it was impossible to swim against it. Other than that the visibility has been good, not excellent, but good and there has been plenty of interesting sea life to see.
I have been leading Scuba tours for certified divers and Discover Scuba tours for people who have never dived before. Since I arrived here the 15th of May I have done just under 100 dives showing people around our beautiful Avalon Dive Park at Casino Point and I am just loving it. I think from this point forward the conditions are going to get better and better and since the good weather started so late this summer I hope it will last well into the late fall, all the way through November where we often get 100 feet of visibility in the water. So my analysis is definatly; The Catalina Island Scuba season is going strong.
Tags: Avalon dive park, california diving, california scuba, casino point dive park, catalina diving, catalina island, Catalina scuba, dive california, dive catalina, scuba diving, scuba diving vacation
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July 5th, 2010
I have been living and working on Catalina Island again, now for a month and a half. I am getting settled in to my new lifestyle of working part time at The Avalon Hotel and part time as a Scuba Instructor and snorkeling and scuba tour guide. Catalina Island gets a Carnival cruise ship every Tuesday and one of the dive shops that I Work for has the contract to take people from the ship diving and snorkeling. I have been working exclusively on the snorkeling tours both from shore and off the Scuba Cat dive boat. Snorkeling tours have been great. It is very fun diving down and bringing up critters for the snorkelers to see and touch. We usually can bring up a variety of shell fish, sea stars, sea cucumbers, lobster, octopus, horn sharks, sea hares and much more.
When there is not a cruise ship I do diving tours and Discover scuba tours in the Avalon dive park. I have done around 500 dives in the dive park so I have a good knowledge of the best features of the dive park so that I can give my customers a great tour. I really love seeing people get to see a bat ray or a giant black sea bass for the first time.
Come over and check out the Avalon Dive park, it is one of the best shore dives in the country.
Tags: Avalon dive park, california diving, catalina diving, Catalina scuba, dive california, dive catalina, how to be a scuba instructor, scuba instructor, scuba instructor hobby, teaching scuba, working as a scuba instructor
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June 2nd, 2010
Here I am, back on Catalina Island again! Laurie and I are all moved in to our apartment on the ground floor of Avalon’s top romantic get a way hotel, The Avalon Hotel. We are the new Inn-keepers of this awesome hotel and we just love it. My wife has been training to work at the front desk and I will start training soon. Meanwhile I have been working at the dive shop leading Scuba and snorkeling tours.
Coming back to Avalon has been like moving back home. I have remained a part of the community since I left and have stayed in contact with folks here so it has been a smooth transaction getting back into island life.
I will be sharing many stories and adventures as time goes on so stay tuned.
Tags: catalina island, catalina island hotel, living on catalina island, moving to catalina island
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April 28th, 2010
We leave in less than 2 and a half weeks and things are falling into place quite well for our move to Catalina island. Avalon is a small town and one of only two towns on Catalina island; the year around population is less than 5000 although the summer tourist season brings in many seasonal workers. The only other town on the island is on the west end at Two Harbors with about 400 residents.
Since it is an island and a small town we have to be very conservative about what we bring as it is expensive to ship furniture and things over on the barge. The Catalina barge runs out of Wilmington in the Los Angeles Harbor, you can drop off all of your things and pay for what you ship by the pound, then pick it up on the island the next day. We sold one of our 2 cars and had a garage sale last weekend that cleared out over half of our total possessions, it was very liberating to free ourselves from all of that stuff. for the most part, the only things that we need to bring is clothing, cookware and kitchen stuff, some small furniture like a small dining table, a television and my work tools (scuba gear and teaching supplies).
The process is all set up, we will pack the stuff that we are bringing in a U-Haul trailer and drive it to the barge, put it on the barge and we will get it on the other side. The other important thing to do is to contract long term parking for our car on the mainland in Long Beach. there is a very limited number of cars on Catalina island and in order to have one there you need to get a permit and it takes on the average of 16 years to get approved. However, it is good to have a car on the mainland near the Catalina landing so when you go over to shop or get away, you can use your own car, otherwise you need to rent a car. Renting a car is not a bad option, though, especially if you only plan to go over once every couple of months or so. There is a car rental agency right at the landing that gives discounts to island residents and it is very convenient to use.
So, if things go as we have planned then we are all set. We are looking forward to getting into the groove of Island life and working in the tourism industry. I will continue to blog our progress.
Tim Sanchez http://www.vistasbelow.com
Tags: catalina island, how to move to catalina island, living on catalina island, moving to catalina island
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April 18th, 2010
One of my goals for this year was to return to working in the recreational scuba diving business one way or another. I have decided to move back to Catalina Island to work for Catalina Divers Supply where I will work in the shop, on the dive boat, at the dive park leading scuba and snorkel tours and teaching scuba classes. Since I began my hiatus from teaching scuba a little over 2 1/2 years ago; I have missed the lifestyle of being outdoors and around the ocean so much. I also have felt like I was wasting all the time, money and effort that I had put into becoming a scuba instructor because I was not really actively teaching. So now, problem solved. My wife and I both have jobs lined up and we have an apartment reserved for us and we will be pulling out of the high desert of northern Nevada’s cowboy country and heading to the beautiful island of Santa Catalina, CA. USA.
If you visit Catalina Island, you will find me at Catalina Divers Supply starting May 18, 2010. Join us for a boat dive on the Scuba Cat, or come out to the Avalon Dive Park and take a tour of the best shore dive in California.
Tim Sanchez
http://www.vistasbelow.com
Tags: california diving, california scuba, catalina diving, catalina island, Catalina scuba, dive california, dive catalina, living on catalina island, scuba instructor, teaching scuba, working as a scuba instructor
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March 24th, 2010
Many people ask me to tell them what is the most exciting thing I have seen while scuba diving and of course I have many stories to tell. One of my favorite stories is about the time that I swam with 20 sperm whales in the bay of La Paz.
I was visiting La Paz on one of my many scuba diving adventures, I booked myself on my favorite day boat out of La Paz and we were motoring out of the bay on our way to the sea lion colony when the captain slowed down and made a hard turn to starboard. Everyone on the boat got up and looked over and saw the tell tale signs of whales, water spouting and fins and tales breaking the surface of the water. As the boat slowly and carefully approached the pod, everyone speculated about what kind of whale we were seeing as they were huddled together in a big pack and we were not able to identify them right away, but we could count about 20 of them. The boat stopped within 100 yards from the action and we stopped and watched in awe when one of the divers on the boat asked the captain if we can go snorkeling with them. He was hesitant to say yes and everyone else on the boat did not want to go in except the instructor who asked in the first place and me. So, we got in the water with our mask, fins and snorkel and floated over closer to the pack with the intention of staying clear of them but to watch from the side. Well before we knew it some of the whales started to flank us and move to the outside of us, moving us toward the center of the pack. There were whales all around us, close, they were rubbing against us, swimming under us and at one point I was laying right on top of one of them. I free dived down next to one of them right at his head and looked at him eye to eye, then I went further and looked inside his mouth and touched his teeth. Now I could clearly see the shape of the whale and identified them as sperm whales and many of them were almost as long as the 65 foot boat we were on. The biggest rush I got was when one of the largest ones swam right under me as I laid spread eagle sliding down his back as he swam by. Suddenly I realized that he had a dorsal fin, so I looked down and saw the fin coming just in the nick of time for me to move aside so it did not hit me right between the legs. When I got to the point when his tail was about to pass under me, he raised his tail with me laying on it and as it lifted me up out of the water I turned around and sat up on his tail like I was on a chair. I was lifted at least a couple of feet out of the water and right at that moment I looked back at the boat and saw all the people looking at me with expressions of amazement on their faces. My heart was beating so fast I was getting light headed, when I got back on the boat I could not contain my excitement I was literally jumping up and down with joy.
That was definitely a once in a lifetime experience. Looking back on it I feel that it was not the smartest thing to do, getting into the water with these huge animals when I did not know how they would act. They could have rejected me and smashed me with their tail or took some other aggressive action toward me. Fortunately for me, they were very gentle and even though they pressed in on me and sandwiched me in between two of them they caused me no harm.
My favorite aspect if scuba diving is diving with the larger animals and diving in the Sea of Cortes is the place that I have had the best large animal experiences. Find out more about diving in La Paz on my web page http://www.vistasbelow.com/travel/reviews/lapaz.html
Tags: diving in mexico, la paz, la paz diving, la paz snorkeling, scuba adventures, scuba diving, scuba trip, sea of cortez, sea of cortez diving, snorkeling with whales, swim with whales, whales
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March 15th, 2010
From the moment you enter the front lobby, everything about the Avalon Hotel makes you feel cared for with 5-star hospitality. For the scuba diver looking for a dive vacation in style this is the place to go. In the beautiful garden patio you will find an outdoor shower with hot and cold water as well as a hose for rinsing off your scuba gear. Then relax on the fine patio furniture while enjoying scenery of neatly landscaped gardens complete with a beautiful koi pond and fountain.
The Avalon Hotel is a craftsman style boutique hotel filled with fine art, elegant decorations and furnishings and is loaded with amenities that make you feel pampered. The rooftop sundeck offers a fantastic 360 degree view of Avalon including the picturesque harbor. The rooms are filled with all the little things that make your stay so comfortable such as top quality memory foam beds, luxurious bath robes, beach towels, wine glasses, CD and DVD players, a fine flat screen television and much more.
Located near the middle of Avalon bay, the Avalon Hotel as well as its two sister hotels; the Vincentes Hotel and the Aurora Hotel and Spa are conveniently close to everything. Just outside and a few steps away are several restaurants, a grocery store, a beach and shops. For the scuba diver, the Avalon Dive Park better known as Casino Point, is less that a 5 minute walk down Beautiful Via Casino Way that begins just steps from the front lobby and features wonderful tile art and photo opportunities galore as you walk along the bay and past the Tuna Club, the Yacht Club and below the Chimes Tower towards the world famous Casino building. At the dive park you will find some of the best scuba diving that Southern California has to offer. It is a 2 acre protected dive site with an easy stairway entry and no boat traffic to worry about. Here you will find rocky reefs, sandy flats, lush kelp, abundant marine life and several wrecks to keep you coming back time and again to take in all that this wonderful shore dive has to offer.
If you are looking for a wonderful romantic getaway complete with world class scuba diving, snorkeling, fishing, mountain biking, hiking, and much more; it is all here on Catalina Island just 22 miles from Los Angeles but a world away. If you want to know where to stay, well there are many hotels on Catalina Island from very modest accommodations all the way up to the lap of luxury; my recommendation is the boutique bed and breakfast known as the Avalon Hotel.
Tags: avalon hotel, california diving, california scuba, catalina bed and breakfast, catalina diving, catalina hotel review, catalina island, catalina island hotel, Catalina scuba, dive california, dive catalina, dive travel, scuba travel, travel, traveling
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March 15th, 2010
We arrived on Catalina Island on Monday afternoon, March 8, 2010 just ahead of 2 days of gale force winds that shut down the Catalina Express passenger ferry service and turned away the Paradise cruise ship. Needless to say scuba diving was not happening. Laurie and I instead checked into our room at the Avalon Hotel, Catalina Islands best diver friendly hotel, and walked around and visited with the local folks and took a nice hike up in the hills. Everyone we talked to about diving told us ‘you should have been here last week!’ because diving conditions were really good. Well, after the wind stopped blowing we were finally able to get in and do a dive on Thursday.
The Avalon Hotel is situated halfway between the dive shops in the middle of town and the dive park so it is a very short and beautiful walk to get warmed up before diving. When we arrived at the Avalon Dive Park we found that the Catalina Divers Supply trailer that is there on the site was closed; but Eric, the manager of CDS just happened to be there filling tanks for a couple of divers that were out there. Eric was kind enough to also get us some rental gear and tanks so we did not have to walk all the way back to the Green Pleasure Pier in the middle of town. I found that kind of customer service very refreshing and much appreciated.
Laurie and I made our way down the stairs to make the entry for our first dive and when we got to the bottom stair we found that the water was another 2 1/2 feet down below because it was low tide. We rather un-gracefully made our way down to the water and splashed in to the Avalon Dive Park around noon, amazed at how well the visibility had recovered after being completely tore up with wind surge the day before. We made our way past the shallow reef, over the Jacques Cousteau plaque and around to the area of the dive park I call the little casino reef. Below 50 feet the visibility opened up to a deep blue 30 to 40 foot visibility with so much to see that we did not move around from that spot very much. Looking out away from the reef at the deep blue water we saw a little school of juvenile blacksmith perch swimming towards us in a panic, followed by a massively huge cloud of fish coming at us at lightning speed. Just as the bait ball got right in front of us it split and we could see the predator that was causing all the drama, it was a cormorant. It was quite an entertaining show, Laurie and I were sure we were going to see a harbor seal or some big game fish but it was just a “duck”. We really had a nice dive with so much sea life both big and small to see. Even though I have over a hundred dives at the dive park in my log book, I am still always pleasantly amazed at how much there is to see in that one dive site. It is something that every diver should experience at least 10 times.
To find more information about Catalina Island and the Avalon Dive Park please visit http://www.vistasbelow.com/travel/reviews/catalina.html
Tags: Avalon dive park, avalon hotel, catalina diving, catalina island, Catalina scuba, dive catalina, scuba diving, scuba diving vacation, scuba trip review, travel, traveling
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February 20th, 2010
I am heading to Catalina Island for a quick diving get-away March 8. It is sort of a last minute decision to go, although I have been planning and thinking about it for a long time. I wanted to go around the beginning of March for two reasons, one is it is my 1 year wedding anniversary and Laurie and I got married on the Island. The second reason is, that the middle of March is the end of lobster season and I want to catch a few bugs. Additionally I am really looking forward to seeing my friends and I am planning on checking out some job prospects because my goal is to move back to Catalina Island, my real home. I will be blogging my trip report as we go and a final report when we get home.
Tags: catalina diving, catalina island, Catalina scuba, dive catalina, living on catalina island, scuba trip review, travel, traveling
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January 14th, 2010
The new year has begun and it is looking good! Last year had some great moments and although there were tough times it ended on a high note. I decided a couple of years ago to step away from teaching scuba full time for a while due to personal and economic reasons. I planned to work for UPS and make a bunch of money and get my finances in order and use the excellent health benefits to catch up on routine health care. Well, I have been struggling for 2 and 1/2 years barely getting by on an average of less than 10 days of work per month. Of course I am not complaining much about that because many people fared much worse than I did through the whole economic crisis. Now things are really looking up, I made some good moves in 2009 to set the stage for what hopefully will be a triumphant return to the scuba business. For example, first and most important I got married to Laurie, my best friend and that is the best thing I have done ever. Second, I sold my house so now I have the freedom to make a move back to a diving destination to get back on the front line of the scuba industry, and third, I got a second job that will help me get on tract to pay off the small remainder of debt that I am carrying.
Now, I just have to decide where I will start teaching again? My first choice is to go right back to Catalina Island, I love it there. But I do not plan on making a move until around June so I want to research some other spots as well. Possibilities? Well, perhaps I can give the U.S. Virgin Islands another shot; the last time I tried to work there I gave up too easily and maybe I was wrong to do so. Perhaps I will give a look at Florida and Hawaii too. I heard working conditions in Florida in the Scuba industry are not very good, but I should research that further. I heard work was good in Hawaii but it is hard to live there, well it is hard to live on Catalina Island too, but it was worth it.
Meanwhile I want to take some good dive trips and write some reviews, articles and blogs that will spark some interest for some people and I want to work on my Internet business so that I can have a side income when I start teaching again. My first stop; back to Catalina Island in March for a little lobster hunting and maybe to teach a class or two. Next stop; Florida Keys and diving in Key Largo, Islamorada and Key West. After that, La Paz, Mexico in October to play with the sea lions and hopefully the hammerhead sharks.
So, it looks like 2010 will be a good year with many excellent scuba adventures and fun with good friends.
Tim Sanchez www.vistasbelow.com
Tags: how to be a scuba instructor, learning to be a scuba instructor, scuba diving, scuba instructor, scuba instructor hobby, scuba trip review, teaching scuba, travel, working as a scuba instructor
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