The Dive Evangelist

I recently posted a 3-day liveaboard trip to California's Channel Islands to the Oceanblue Divers site. Having dived these islands many times, I expected this trip to fill up quickly. The kelp forests and rocky shores of the Channel Islands are as amazing and diverse as any dive site in the Caribbean (more so, I think). The trip is a "Dive 'n' Dash," which means participants can conceivably burn only two vacation days to go. And it's a great value for a liveaboard with virtually everything included.

Yet the trip is not filling up as quickly as I'd expected. Why is that? I suspect several things. It's scheduled at the end of summer, so perhaps some people will have used up their vacation time already. Temperate-water diving may be unfamiliar to some divers whose image of the sport only involves bathwater-warm seas and coral reefs. People may have an erroneous impression that California diving is not for beginners. And, most likely, people probably think the water is too cold.

Let me address each of these factors in turn and dispel some misconceptions:

No vacation time. Well, you either have it or you don't. But in a dive club almost 900 members strong, I'm sure there are plenty of people available for this trip. And since we can board the boat anytime up until 11:00 p.m. Wednesday night, you could potentially get away with using only two vacation days (if you leave close to the end of the workday on Wednesday and fly nonstop to L.A.).

Unfamiliar with temperate-water diving. If all of your diving has been in tropical waters, then you quite simply don't know what you're missing. Nature programs on TV (most recently, the "Planet Earth" series) frequently claim that temperate waters are the most ecologically diverse on the planet. If you've seen all of the marine life that lives on a coral reef, you may find that hard to believe. But for me, having dived extensively in both environments, the difference between temperate-water kelp forest diving and warm-water coral reef diving is like the difference between a lush forest and a dry desert. The one advantage to tropical diving is visibility—it's usually better. But aside from that, I'd choose a kelp forest over a coral reef any day of the week.

Not for beginners. Not so. You'll find the same unpredictable factors in California diving as you would anywhere else (conditions, weather, etc.). You need to be competent and responsible for your own safety, just like you would diving anywhere. But whether you've got 15 dives or 1,500 in your log book, you can dive the Channel Islands. Unlike most Caribbean diving, California dives are not led by a divemaster. They open the pool, and then you dive on your own, according to your own personal dive plan. So it's important to dive safely and remember how to find your way back to the boat (but, again, the same holds true for any diving). And lastly, Scuba Diving Magazine's most recent Readers Choice Top 100 ratings named the Channel Islands a Top Destination for Beginners (North America).

Too cold. "Cold" is subjective, so I admit that what I think of as "not cold" might be "cold" to some. But anyone who has dived in, for example, Dutch Springs—or anywhere cooler than 85-degree Caribbean waters—knows that exposure protection is just that: protecton from exposure. 7mm wetsuits are designed to keep you warm in temperate waters, and most of them do their job very well. When I wear a 7mm suit and hood, I rarely feel a chill beyond the shock of that first giant stride. In September, the water temperature in the Channel Islands will probably range from around 70 on the surface to mid- to high-50s at depth (and the topside weather will probably be lovely).

When it comes down to it, sometimes people don't know what they don't know. If more people had been on some of the kelp forest dives I've done, this trip would be full by now. So consider this your golden opportunity to get in on an amazing dive trip at a great value (both in terms of cost and time off). And come September, you'll find yourself face-to-face with a sea lion.