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In my fairly short dive history, I’ve been fortunate to take a giant stride off several excellent dive charter boats. As a newer diver, I believe I have a heightened sense of what is comfortable and what isn’t. And, my first experience on the Sunfish was certainly in the comfortable category.

The dive shop had chartered the trip so I knew nothing of the boat. This 53-foot dive boat struck me as just big enough, yet open and clean. I’m not the best on the open water without my Triptone or two, or three… so I appreciate open areas and seating room. The Sunfish has both. As I stepped on board, I was greeted by the crew, Joey and Nick, who helped me to my station and introduced me to the dive process. Sunfish has the ability to fill tanks on board (up to 4000 p.s.i.), so I was directed to the bead bracelets to put on the valve to signify an empty tank.

There are 20 dive stations on board and enough room to allow each person their own space. In fact, the boat is able to carry as many as 49 passengers at one time, but they limit themselves to 20 divers for comfort.

I was able to load my station with tank, BC, fins, etc. and then move my bag off to the bow of the boat. It’s nice to be able to keep my bag on board to leave extras, such as my towel, dry clothes, save-a-dive kit and so on.

Once all were on board, we left dock and started our journey across the channel. It was a nice, smooth crossing, with the usual dolphin pod for company. But, it seemed to take less time than usual – probably because of the comfort of the trip.

The captain, Andy Volaski, is ready and willing to work with the divers on board and has a good knowledge of the islands. On this trip we had hunters, photographers and several students doing their planned and “free” dives to complete certification. So, it was a challenge to find the right spot to interest each palette on board.

Our first stop was an amazing site near Santa Cruz Island in about 80 feet of water with large monoliths 10 feet across that stretch to within 15 feet of the surface. We then moved on to Pelican Bay for some shallower diving against the beautiful tall cliffs of Santa Cruz Island.

At each site, I well taken care of by the crew, and noticed they seemed to take a little more care than usual with activities like checking inflated BCs and making sure the tank was fully on.

As we started back to harbor, I had an opportunity to really take stock of this boat I had been diving from. In Channel Island diving, you have a great selection of boats to choose from. The Sunfish is that one in the middle that is “just right.” I noticed the 15+ divers on board all had their place to take that quick nap as the boat went home, whether it be around the table or bench in the self-serve galley, or one of the two huge storage / engine covers in the stern.

I look forward to another trip on Sunfish. Maybe an oil rig next time?

Visit Sunfish online at www.SoCalDive.com.


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