Dive Review of Truth Aquatics/Extended Stay American - Calle Real in
The Continental USA/Channel Islands of California

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Truth Aquatics/Extended Stay American - Calle Real: "Great Truth Aquatics Limited Load SoCal Trip!", Aug, 2016, by Richard J Lunsford Jr, KY, US ( Contributor 14 reports with 12 Helpful votes). Report 9025 has 1 Helpful vote.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Did an Aug. 16 - 20'th 5-day Southern Channel Islands limited load live-aboard trip on the Truth Aquatic's boat Vision. Loved it. Excellent value trip; rented tank & weights and bought nitrox via SEA Landing Dive Center, by where the boat docks. Got in 24 dives total, temp.s ranged from ~ 54 - 67 degrees, viz. from ~ 30 - 50 feet, current usually quite mild. Saw a range of topography (e.g.: kelp forest, lush bottom vegetation, bare rocky areas with clefts) and animals (e.g.: couple of sea lions, 2 harbor seals, 2 giant sea bass, 1 torpedo ray, at least 2 bat rays, many varied fish, sea stars and other invertebrates). I saw no sharks but 1 leopard and 2 horn sharks were seen by others. We spent 2 days at San Clemente, 1 at Santa Catalina, 1 at Santa Barbara Island & 1 at Santa Cruz. Food was good and plentiful; I recall filet mignon, chicken & beef kabobs and salmon tacos. A bowl of fruit and one of assorted candy are out for 'grazing.' Bedding is bunk style, with vinyl covered mattress - you get blanket(s?) and pillow(s?) but not a sheet. The boat transits between islands so there's more 'motion of the ocean' at night than the 2 Caribbean Aggressors I've done. The top of the boat doesn't have a bunch of lounge chairs like those Aggressors, but this trip was much less expensive. 3 Bathrooms made the lack of en suite heads a non-issue. Storage is limited; I packed 1 suitcase and 1 duffle bag, plus 2 carry-ons. Captain and staff were friendly and efficient. They don't put dive guides in the water (normal for the California dive scene) and you can dive solo if you wish. Outside of protected areas, fishing and spearfishing are accepted within legal limits. A steady wind blows over the sea, causing evaporative cooling that can chill wet people on the dive deck quickly; plan to strip your wetsuit at least to the waist and put on a shirt or jacket at times. Your BCD & tank sit on the floor of the dive deck; you lift them to a bench when ready to don gear. You need a full wet or dry suit, hood and gloves due to repetitive cold water diving. I loved it. California live-aboard diving should be on the radar of more U.S.-based dive tourists. It's colder with lower viz., unguided and calls to a more mature diver than some mainstream Caribbean locations, but it was fine diving and well-worthwhile. Kudos to Truth Aquatics; highly recommended. A very nice change from the Florida/Caribbean diving I'm used to. I've got an extensive write-up with many photos at Scuba Board - [scubaboard.com link]
Websites	Truth Aquatics Extended Stay American - Calle Real
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Bonaire (> 150 dives), Key Largo (20 dives), Jupiter, Fl (10 dives), Belize via live-aboard (26 dives), Caymans via live-aboard (25 dives), North Carolina (9 dives), several on Caribbean cruise stops.
Closest Airport	SBX	Getting There	Flew from Nashville (BNA) to L.A. (LAX) to Santa Barbara Airport (SBA), which is in Goletta ~ 15 miles from the boats.
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy	Seas	calm
Water Temp	54-67°F / 12-19°C	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	30-50 Ft/ 9-15 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Nothing much. You're treated like an adult. Solo is okay. Nobody checks your max. depth, remaining gas pressure, whether you had deco., etc...
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	None	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals	N/A	Tropical Fish	N/A
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Camera table space present; could be bigger. There's a rinse tank reserved for cameras and regulators. Limited viz. lends itself to close-ups and macro., but you can get some wide angle shots.

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

Subscriber's Comments

By report author: Richard J Lunsford Jr in KY, US at Aug 27, 2016 21:52 EST

Minor clarification: I stayed at the Extended Stay America hotel one night at the end of the trip, to allow time to pass before flying. It was okay.

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Dive Review of Truth Aquatics/Extended Stay American - Calle Real in The Continental USA/Channel Islands of California

Truth Aquatics/Extended Stay American - Calle Real: "Great Truth Aquatics Limited Load SoCal Trip!", Aug, 2016,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subscriber's Comments

Dive Review of Truth Aquatics/Extended Stay American - Calle Real in
The Continental USA/Channel Islands of California