Port of Departure: Northern Baja and Alijos Rocks: San Diego, California Socorros: Cabo San Lucas or La Paz   What's Included in the Cost? Meals, non-alcoholic beverage, domestic beer and house wine, tanks, weights, diving Daily room make-up and berthing area cleaning Wet suit, dry suit drying service Clothes dryer service for towels, lycras and anything else that gets wet! NITROX (32%) on departures of 5 days or greater What's Not Included (but available onboard or with arrangement prior to the trip?) Satellite telephone and email charges Equipment Rentals / Services What water temperature and visibility should I expect? Northern Baja (San Benito, San Martin, Cedros and Guadalupe Islands) December - March: 55 - 62 degrees April - June, October - November: 58 - 67 degrees F July - September: 66 - 75 degrees F Southern Baja (Alijos Rocks, Socorros) April - June: 68 - 73 degrees F November - January: 73 - 78 degrees F   Wetsuit, drysuit or what? Northern Baja: The conditions are very close to southern California. What you wear is really up to your personal thermostat. Wetsuit's are fine year around and most of the crew dive 7mm wetsuits, with hood, gloves and booties winter, spring and fall. Either a one piece with hooded vest or a Farmer John style is best, but once again depends upon your personal thermostat and style preference. Summer finds us typically in 5mm suits with all of the accoutrements. Some folks shed the hood, but once again that's up to your thermostat. Drysuits are an great winter early spring and late fall option and are very effective at battling the chill. If you don't mind the extra drag and additional hoses, and your thermostat runs on the cool side, we'd recommend this route. Southern Baja: 5 - 7mm suit in spring and a 3 - 5mm suit in Fall and early winter.   What weather conditions and temperature(F) should I expect? Northern Baja: Winter time is of course the coolest with daytime temperatures typically in the upper 60's. Nighttime quite often is cool, in the mid 50's. Spring will find daytime temperatures typically in the upper 60's to low 70's. Nighttime will once again be cool, in the upper 50's. Summer is the warmest time of the year with daytime temperatures in the mid 70's to low 80's and nighttime in the mid to upper 60's. Southern Baja: Spring and Fall are typically very pleasant with daytime temperatures in the mid 70's to low 80's and nighttime temperatures in the upper 60's to low 70's. In southern Baja we work on either side of hurricane season and typically do not encounter much adverse weather.   What dive equipment should I bring and where is it stored onboard the boat? Your dive equipment should be in it's own storage bag and will be kept alongside the main cabin. Fin's, masks, booties, gloves can be stored with your tank on the dive deck. You'll be able to leave your bc and regulator set up on your tank. Slide to the bottom of this page for equipment recommendations. What level of dive certification do I need? Our Channel Islands departures to cater to all levels of diver, beginner to advanced. All we ask is that you are in fairly good physical shape, can swim 100 feet on the surface with your equipment on and have a keen sense of adventure! Do you hold our hands or can we dive as we like? We treat you like adults and allow you to define you own dive profiles and surface intervals. We ask that you perform your safety stops and arrive back on the boat with 500psi in your tank. The divemasters and crew dive on a regular basis and are happy to buddy up with you on a dive, but we do not offered guided dives unless it is prearranged through our office. Speaking of divemasters, what do they do? They watch the pool while diving operations are underway, assist you with equipment issues and help you in any other fashion that you need. The divemasters are also part of the vessel crew and perform a myriad of other vessel related duties, so don't be surprised if you find one of them cleaning the restrooms during the evening or helping with food service during meals. Do you offer pre-dive site orientations? Yes, and very detailed ones too. You should know and understand all of the details of each dive site for your safety and enjoyment. We also provide a detailed dive site drawing on our trusty dry erase board that you will find easily viewable on the dive deck. You provide tanks and weights? Yes, aluminum 80's and hard weights are available onboard our vessels. A crewmember will ask you prior to departure if you need a tank. Weights and weight belts are distributed after departure. Can we bring our own tank? Sure, but only one per person. If you dive with a pony bottle or spare air, you may it as well. Your tank needs a valid hydrostatic test date and must have been visually inspected and have sticker affixed within the year. What pressure can you fill up to? Our upper limit is 3500psi on both air and NITROX. Do not ask us to fill your low or mid pressure tanks up to a unnaproved pressure as we will not do it. You have NITROX available? Yes we do, 32% from our membrane system. You'll need your NITROX certification card onboard and will need to show it to the divemaster or captain prior to your first fill. We have an analyzer onboard, and you must analyze your tank and log your percentage into our log book. At this time we do not offer NITROX certification, but that may change in the future. How should I pack? Think soft luggage...accommodations are boat style, very compact. You'll be on a boat, not a ship. Storage is available below the bunks in your cabin or in cubbies if your in dormitory. If there is an empty bunk in dormitory, you'll be able to store some of your stuff there too. Casual, comfortable and relaxed. Your on vacation, dress like it! There are no formal occasions and the only suit you'll need onboard is your wet or drysuit. Sweats, sweatshirts, t-shirts, sandals, UGG Boots (Winter), sneakers, windbreaker, swimsuits, etc. Bring a towel as well.   How many other divers will be onboard? The maximum number of divers we will have onboard for a Baja departure is 22 in 16 cabin accommodations and 6 dormitory accommodations. If you"d like a departure with fewer divers, look for a LIMITED PASSENGER LOAD departure that only take 16 divers. Can non-certified persons join me? Of course they can! The snorkeling at most of our dive sites is fantastic. Bring them along to join in the fun! What will we do at night? In northern Baja we will typically offer a night dive. This depends on Mother Nature and her mood. When diving the Socorros or Alijos Rocks night dives will not be offered as dive lights are not permitted in the Socorros and Alijos Rocks is a very exposed open ocean location that even during the daytime poses a fair number of challenges. We quite often will hold the morning dive orientation the night before so that when it is time to go diving in the morning you're already ready to go. Plus we'll have occasional slide shows or video presentations. If we are going to move to a different island this typically takes place during the nighttime hours.   What to Bring: Dive Equipment Duffle Bag for Gear Certification Card California fishing license (If hunting) Tank (We supply Aluminum 80's, but if you are more comfortable with your own you are welcome to bring it. Unless you are diving doubles, only one tank per person is allowed onboard.) Wetsuit; water temperature 56-61 degrees winter & spring, 62-70 summer &fall. 7mm suit recommended. 3-5mm suit optional in summer & fall for snorkeling Weight belt (We provide standard web weight belts and hard weights. Bring your own if you are more comfortable with your own equipment.) Hood, gloves, booties Mask, snorkel, fins Bouyancy compensator Regulator, pressure gauge, depth gauge, compass Dive computer (optional) Dive tables Dive logbook Game bags/game clip (if hunting), lobster measuring device (when in season) Dive lights, cyalume sticks or battery operated equivalent (For night dives) O-rings, silicone Spare high and low pressure hose Spare mask and fin strap Slate SCUBA TUBA or DIVE ALERT signaling devices (Mandatory for Cortes Bank or Multi-day Baja live aboard trips.) Free-diving spearfishermen please have a flag attached to either you or your float system for better visibility in choppy seas. Personal Personal toiletries After dive jacket Lip balm Sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen... Camera Film Batteries Towels (2) Washcloths (4) Sleeping bag (Optional, the bunks have a pillow and blanket. Sheets provided on multi-day liveaboard trips.) Clothing Very comfortable and relaxed can be cool and warm on same trip Jacket, sweats Shorts Sandals Miscellaneous DAN dive - medical insurance ( or similar) Trip / Travel Insurance Hangers for drying gear (heavy one for wet suit) Batteries and battery charger Books, magazines, VHS cassettes, audio cassettes (Boats have VCR, TV, and on-deck player) SOFT LUGGAGE IS RECOMMENDED. Hunting And Licensing: Northern Baja: Freedive spearfishing is allowed on some of our northern Baja expeditions. The take of invertebrates is completely prohibited by Mexican Law. Contact our office for a list of hunting and non-hunting departures. Fishing licenses are provided and are included in the trip fee as needed. Southern Baja: Fishing and spearfishing is not allowed in the Socorros.   CERTIFICATION CARD- You will be required to show your certification card before departure.