Ventura County Coastal Wrecks

Channel Islands Dive Adventures has the Explorer chartered for a trip diving Ventura County coastal wrecks on Saturday, December 29, 2012. There are a few smaller wrecks in Ventura County that can make for a great dive and if possible we might sneak a trip over to Anacapa for a dive on the TBM Avenger or possibly the Spirit of America (Peacock) off Santa Cruz

This plan is to board at 7:00am Saturday morning (or after 7:00pm on Friday) and depart at 8:00am, doing 3 dives on some wrecks and getting back to the dock about 5:00pm. One wreck we may possibly dive is the Kopco Star, an old kelpcutter, 52’ X 27’ in size that sunk in October of 1963 at a depth of 80’. Other choices are the TBM Avenger (115’ deep), the Spirit of America (70’ deep) and/or a couple of smaller coastal wrecks. No matter which wrecks we dive, they will all be fun dives!

This trip is best suited for intermediate or advanced divers that have experience in cold water conditions and including possible current, swell, limited visibility and deep water. The wrecks visited are unique and interesting and inherently have more hazards and will not necessarily have the best dive conditions. Most importantly, good buoyancy control is needed and surface signal tubes are always recommended.

Trip Details

Where: Ventura County Coastal Wrecks
When: Saturday, December 29, 2011.
Time: Board at 7:00am Saturday (or after 7:00pm on Friday) with the Explorer departing at 8:00am, the approx. time back to the dock is 5:00pm.
Cost: $120.00 includes, 3 dives, food, snacks, drinks & air
Pay Online-click here to pay with MasterCard, Visa, Discover, PayPal, Google or call to pay by check or cash

The Explorer is 65’ x 22’ and set up for 28 divers, but 18-22 works best. Her owners Tony and Candee have been running the Explorer for a long time now, always treating their customers like family. Safety is of utmost importance to them and having fun diving some new places is right behind that plus their crew is very friendly and helpful. There is a nice comfortable galley with seating for about 18 where you can get your cooked to order meals. You can get things like breakfast sandwiches, burritos, burgers, tuna melts, chowder, soft drinks and to top off the day special treats like Klondike bars, plus lot’s of snacks between dives. Above the galley there is also a very nice and large uncovered upper deck which also doubles as a place to store dive bags.

The dive deck has wrap around bench seating with gear storage and for the hunters there is a bait tank in the middle of the dive deck and 2 large fresh water buckets for cameras. The submerged swim step and large platform is easy to exit the water and air fills are done with 1 compressor filling to 3400psi (please bring only 1 tank) and there is no nitrox available on the boat. There are several options for nitrox, but this would have to be taken care of before the trip. The Explorer is also rebreather and doubles friendly.

The Explorer also has 26 single and 8 double bunks if you want to have a nap between dives or if you would like to board the night before a trip. Bunks are available on a first come first serve basis (please try to save the double bunks for couples). There are 2 bathrooms outside on either side of the boat and 1 outside shower on the port side and 1 shower all the way forward in the bunk room. The Explore does not provide rental gear, but you can reserve rental gear through the Peace and they will deliver it to the boat and pick it up afterwards.

All trips on the Explorer include food, snacks, drinks & air.

The Explorer Dive Boat is located at Ventura Harbor, 1583 Spinnaker Drive, Ventura, California, 93001, Dock D-11 (Directly behind the Greek Restaurant). Ventura Harbor Village is located on US-101 approximately 30 miles south of Santa Barbara and 65 miles North of Los Angeles. For a map click here. For general information about Ventura Harbor Village, you can visit them online at www.venturaharborvillage.com

To sign up and pay for trip or if you have any questions, please contact Ken at

info@channelislandsdiveadventures.com or call 805 469-7288