Catalina

[thomasrogers]

Hey guys, I'm going to be doing a trip out to Catalina this summer after nursing school is out and was wondering if anyone knows where to stay while there? I heard some of the hotels you need to book way in advance so I'm thinking now might be a good time to do it even though I won't be going until mid June...-ish.

Also, are there any good boat rental places that anyone knows of? Not too costly but one that will take me out to the deeper kelp? I was reading that in order to shore dive to any good locations a hard top vehicle needs to be rented to drive down one of the roads. Is this true? Any locations where I might have some luck shore diving from?

[Smash]

Catalina is great, but you aren't going to find anything to rent that is not expensive. Except perhaps a kayak. Also you cannot rent any form of transportation that will allow you to drive around the island. The island is almost wholly owned by the Catalina Island Conservancy. They very tightly control access to the island in all but a few places. You can get permits to hike or ride a bike outside of the public areas, but to drive.

Having said all that I don’t want you to get the idea that it not fun. There’s tons of great diving around Two Harbors and Avalon. You can rent boats by the hour in Avalon and kayaks in both places. Check out www.catalina.com. And be sure you know where the MLPAs are. You might also want to use the search function on the board because there have been many threads over the years that have addressed this topic.

[growingupninja]

I have been to Catalina a half dozen times and never set foot on land but you don't need a boat to get to deep kelp, at least on the north end and backside where I have dove--the bottom drops off pretty steep and may be 80' a couple hundred yards from shore. However I have no idea if you can get there by land. A lot of people camp out there, too. One important thing--bring a dive flag. If you rent a kayak and dive from it you are legally supposed to display one. I have a buddy who got hassled for that. You might also want to bring a realistic anchor which isnt standard equipment on any kayak I have ever rented or used from any kind of vacation lodging.

[spear007]

two harbors campground is the way to go.
lots of non-mlpa areas you can reach from a rented kayak.