SoCal Dive Guide

Spend the day at sea off the Southern California coast — three tanks, steel cylinders loaded on board, and a fast 46-foot boat ready to deliver you to Catalina or the Channel Islands. Come for the guided experience or take the helm of your own adventure; either way, the underwater world is waiting.

SoCal Dive Guide is operated by PADI Instructor Mike Grossman, who has been diving since 1994 and working out of Ventura Dive & Sport at Ventura Harbor. The operation serves two distinct diving environments: Catalina Island's Dive Park, reached by a short ferry ride and offering land-based shore access in Avalon, and the Channel Islands National Park, where day trips run aboard private dive boats. Mike previously crewed on the Spectre Dive Boat as a Divemaster for two years and brings professional guided-tour experience to every trip. The flagship private charter vessel is the Raptor — a 46-foot, 16-foot-beam boat cruising at just over 17 knots, capable of reaching the Channel Islands in about an hour. The Raptor features an enclosed main cabin, a spacious upper deck, an oversized swim platform with massive swim ladders, a freshwater camera rinse tank, and a camera table. All steel tanks are included in the trip price, and there is no need to carry tanks to the boat. Tours are available as fully guided (led by a PADI Instructor or Divemaster) or as an unguided self-sufficient charter for already-certified divers. Trips depart at 8am and return to dock at approximately 4pm. Beyond day charters, Mike offers the complete PADI curriculum — Basic Open Water, Advanced Open Water, Rescue Diver, and Divemaster — at fair prices and with professional instruction. All guided tours must be booked at least two weeks in advance, and dive boat operations fill up quickly.

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