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Train with a full-face mask on Catalina Island and learn cold-water, scientific, and public-safety diving skills in kelp forests and shore-access reefs. This eight-hour course at Catalina Divers Supply is ideal for Open Water divers age 12+ ready to extend their season and skill set.
Train with a full-face mask on Catalina Island and learn cold-water, scientific, and public-safety diving skills in kelp forests and shore-access reefs. This eight-hour course at Catalina Divers Supply is ideal for Open Water divers age 12+ ready to extend their season and skill set.
Book with Catalina Divers Supply
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Operated by Catalina Divers Supply · Avalon, California
At the edge of the Pacific, Avalon on Santa Catalina Island offers one of Southern California’s clearest classrooms for advanced diving techniques. Catalina Divers Supply in Avalon runs an eight-hour Full Face Mask Diver course designed for divers moving into cold-water, scientific, or public-safety environments. The course—taught from a harbor-side shop and practiced in the island’s kelp forests and rocky reefs—requires a minimum age of 12 and an Open Water Diver certification. A short boat hop or shore entry from Catalina’s protected harbor puts students into water defined by dense giant kelp canopies, armored kelp bass habitat, and small rocky pinnacles that shelter Garibaldi and nudibranchs. Visibility can be excellent, and the kelp forest creates a vertical landscape unique to Southern California where practicing buoyancy, communications, and mask integration feels like training inside a living laboratory. Casino Point Dive Park and several shallow wreck sites provide varied training venues within easy reach of Avalon’s shoreline. The full-face mask is the technical pivot of this course: it seals around the face to allow clearer voice communication, improved cold-water tolerance, and a wider field of view than traditional regulators. Training focuses on mask fitting, sealing, nominal communications protocols, emergency disconnects, and integration with dry suits or wetsuits that local conditions demand. Expect surface drills, confined-water skill sessions near the harbor, and at least one supervised open-water dive where instructors evaluate comfort, buoyancy control, and equipment-handling under realistic conditions. Catalina Divers Supply’s presence in Avalon makes this program especially practical. The shop is a community gateway for island dive operations—gear rentals, local logistics, and years of experience running students through Catalina’s variable tides and kelp-laced currents. For divers who want to move into scientific surveys, public safety diving, or simply extend their season into colder months, this course supplies tangible skills that translate to research projects, volunteer programs, and professional roles. Practical notes: the course runs about eight hours and is best scheduled with a half-day buffer for travel on the Catalina ferry. Bring your certification card, dive computer, thermal protection suitable for Pacific temperatures, and patience for changing conditions. Catalina’s diving history includes early recreational development by William Wrigley Jr., and today the island remains a focused center for kelp-forest conservation and underwater research. Whether you’re a scientific-minded diver or a technical recreationalist, the Full Face Mask Diver course at Catalina Divers Supply turns Avalon’s kelp corridors into a classroom where equipment, communication, and cold-water confidence come together. It’s an immersive, practical step toward purposeful diving around one of Southern California’s most storied islands. Schedule with Catalina Divers Supply well ahead during summer and holiday weekends to secure instructor time and boat space for open-water practice dives and equipment rental availability today.
moderate.
8 hours.
Moderate: comfortable swimming and able to manage scuba gear for surface and underwater drills; some prior experience with controlled descents/ascent expected.
You must hold an Open Water Diver certification and be at least 12 years old to enroll.
The program is approximately eight hours and includes confined-water practice plus at least one supervised open-water dive.
Basic scuba gear and rentals are available through local shops, but check with Catalina Divers Supply about full-face mask availability and personal-fit preferences before arrival.
Temperatures vary seasonally but are often cool; bring appropriate thermal protection such as a thick wetsuit or drysuit during colder months.
Meet at Catalina Divers Supply in Avalon; the shop coordinates shore entries and nearby open-water sites for practical sessions.
Yes. The training emphasizes communication, mask emergency protocols, and equipment integration that are directly relevant to scientific surveys and public-safety operations.
Catalina became a modern recreational destination after early 20th-century development by William Wrigley Jr., whose investments shaped Avalon’s shoreline facilities.
The island’s kelp forests are the focus of local restoration and monitoring efforts; divers are encouraged to follow no-touch policies and report observations to researchers.
8 Hours • Ages 12+
Book with Catalina Divers Supply