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It was a cold, drizzly winter morning at the Ventura Harbor as I boarded the Raptor, stowed my dive gear and filled my cup with piping hot coffee. I like to sip it leisurely, warming my hands on the cup. Much to my disbelief, my coffee was still warm as we anchored at the dive site and the divers were dressing in. It blurred my mind a bit, but we had just crossed the Santa Barbara Channel in only 40 minutes. This was the fastest mainland to island dive run this seasoned diver has ever experienced. In a flash I was in my suit and in the water, diving the kelp of Anacapa Island. From dock to diving was less than an hour. Fantastic.
The Raptor dive charter boat adds a new perspective to diving the Channel Islands, allowing a diver get up later (departures are at 8 a.m. or 9 a.m.) and get home earlier, typically by early to mid-afternoon. You spend more time diving and less time on the boat ride, resulting in your ability to enjoy several great dives and still have the better part of the afternoon free to enjoy with your family and friends.
The Raptor is brand-new 46-foot custom-built dive boat, designed from the keel up, specifically for diving. Newton is America’s leading manufacturer of charter dive boats and they are quite popular with resorts throughout the world. If you do much dive travel, odds are you have dived off a fast, comfortable Newton boat, although the Raptor is a departure from most Newtons for several notable reasons. The lightweight fiberglass boat planes its way through the water, pushed by two 375-horsepower John Deere marine engines. Not only is the ride fast, it is smooth as well. Speeds of over 25 knots are possible.
The boat is surprisingly roomy and comfortable. While the boat is U.S. Coast Guard certified for 36 divers, the management limits the passenger load to just 20. The day I rode the boat there were 16 aboard and we all had plenty of room. The boat is organized in stations with gear storage in large baskets below the seating. Wetsuits and dry suits are hung on a rack under the protection of the sun deck. Tanks provided (part of the trip price), depending on what you want, are either steel 85s (about the same size as a standard 80) and compact 72s. I loved diving the steel 85 as it allowed me to prolong my dives just a bit and shed a few pounds of lead. Like the boat, the tanks are glistening and brand new. A nice bonus on the tank: for DIN regulator divers, the valves can be easily and quickly converted.
Diving operations are efficient and yet simple. The transom is wide-open, with a huge swim step, allowing divers to disembark quickly and with little effort. The swim step is only 10 inches from the water, so water entry is easy. Off the swim step are two large ladders angled perfectly for diver reboarding.
My favorite part of the boat is the heated main salon. A large portion of the deck is completely enclosed and heated. My dive station was “indoors,” and I very much enjoyed dressing in fully (except fins) in the dry warmth. Most of the other divers onboard were able to do so also. Between dives and at the end of the day I was able to retreat into the warmth. Inside this big room was a camera table that doubled for serving a catered lunch and a small bar with hot coffee, tea and hot apple cider. All of this was quite welcome on this cold and drizzly day.
Other amenities include two heads, dual outdoor hot freshwater showers and an eight- speaker sound system connected to satellite radio. The full range of electronics is impressive, including radar that is coupled directly into the color mapping GPS. A gadget unique to the Raptor is the closed-circuit TV monitor up from the back deck to the wheelhouse that allows for safer diving operations, especially for live boating during drift diving. And for night diving operations, three HID-xenon through-hull lights illuminate the bottom for easy return to the boat — just look for the glow.
For now the Raptor is offering two and three tank trips to Anacapa and Santa Cruz Islands on weekends and occasionally on Wednesdays. Night diving trips are also occasionally run. Coming soon, the boat will be offering more advanced drift dives and exploratory long-range scooter dives.
Give the Raptor a try. You’ll be glad you did. For full information on the Raptor, including their current schedule of dive trips, visit www.raptordive.com online or call 805-650-7700.
Dale Sheckler is editor and publisher of California Diving News, producer of the SCUBA Show 2007 expo and co-author of the book Southern California's Best Beach Dives.
© Copyright 2007, all rights reserve, by Saint Brendan Corporation, P.O. Box 11231, Torrance CA 90510, mail@cadivingnews.com. No part of this may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system/website, or transmitted in any form by any means without prior written permission of the publisher.
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The contents of this publication/website are opinions of the individual writers. The publishers of California Diving News and its contributors assume no responsibility for any mishap claimed to be a result of use of this material. Diving is an adventure sport and with it comes inherent risks. Improper use of diving equipment or improper diving techniques may result in serious injury or, in extreme circumstances, death. Readers are admonished to use their own best judgement in each individual situation.