North East Santa Cruz & The Spirit of America

Peacock

Channel Islands Dive Adventures has the Explorer chartered on Saturday, September 1, 2012 for a trip to Santa Cruz Island to dive the wreck of the Spirit of America and some other cool seldom dove reefs along north east Santa Cruz.

The plan is to board at 7:00am Saturday morning (or after 7:00pm on Friday night) and depart at 8:00am for the ride over to Santa Cruz Island with our 1st dive on the Spirit of America (65′ ft. deep) outside the Scorpion Anchorage at Santa Cruz Island and then the last 2 dives will be some nice reef dives (40′-60′ ft. deep) with us getting back to the dock about 5:00pm.

CIDA will be putting on a free BBQ at the dock/boat shortly after we get back….please stay and join us!

The Spirit of America sits upright on a sandy bottom at about 65’deep outside the Scorpion Anchorage, Santa Cruz Island. Visibility here can be 15’-40’with possible currents. With the hull and its structure to explore the Spirit of America is a very good dive. There are lots of fish and the biggest Spanish Shawls on the wreck and it is in a Marine Protected Area (MPA) with no hunting allowed. Sometimes you will get an occasional surprise such as Mola Mola passing by the Spirit of America. The Spirit of America is very photogenic and is a great dive for the photographer and sightseer and it seems to be overlooked by most dive boats.

This trip is best suited for intermediate to advanced divers and above that have experience in cold water conditions possibly including current, swell and limited visibility. The wreck visited is unique and interesting and inherently has more hazards and will not necessarily have the best dive conditions. Dive sites are to be determined by “BEST CONDITIONS” based on water visibility, tides, current, surge, swell and wind. Most importantly, good buoyancy control is needed and surface signal tubes are always recommended.

Trip Details

Where: North East Santa Cruz & The Spirit of America
When: Saturday, September 1, 2012
Time: Board at 7:00am Saturday morning (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 and free BBQ afterwards
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