Sadly, this was one of the worst adventures/tours I have ever done. We opted for the snuba dive tour - a cross between snorkeling and scuba diving.
Tip: Do not book tours through Catalina Tours. They charge you more than if you booked directly with the company. And they don't give you all the necessary info. We booked the snuba dive through Catalina Tours, instead of directly through Scuba Luv. And we paid $10 more a person and didn't get any details and when or where to meet the tour. When we arrived on Catalina, I called Scuba Luv and was told to meet them at their booth as Descano Beach Club 10 minutes before the tour starts.
When we arrived at their booth, we were handed a waiver to fill out and then the staffer left and never returned. Another staffer came in and asked why we were there. He seemed quite confused. Then he told us to go to the side of the booth to get our wetsuits and equipment.
They didn't have a wetsuit to fit James O., so he was stuck in one that was too small for him. Most companies ask your height and weight when you make a reservation so they can be sure to have the proper equipment for you. Not here. I was then handed a wetsuit by Christopher, our apparent guide, without anyone asking me about my clothing size or weight. I did hear another staffer ask this of the other 2 girls on the snuba tour with us. My wetsuit was about 2 sizes too big and full of holes. No instruction was given as to how to put on the wetsuit, unlike other tours I've done. James O. was struggling to get his on. Mine went on way too easy as it was too big, but no one cared or checked the fit (also unlike other tours I've been on). Ditto on all the other equipment - no checking for fit on the masks, fins, etc. And big ditto on the weight belts. Christopher didn't seem to factor in at all the different weights of folks on this.
It was rather chaotic and we didn't really know what was going on. It took awhile for the other 2 girls on our tour to get suited up. It was about 25 mins after the tour start time before we walked down to the beach. We then had to navigate rocks and swim out to a small floating platform. We then boarded that and received like 30 seconds of instruction. Our guide really didn't seem to care at all and was just thoroughly annoyed by any sort of questions or hesitancy. As this tour is advertised as only needing to know how to swim and good for beginners and kids, it was crazy that our guide seemed to expect us to all be experts.
After we got in the water, I was struggling and it didn't seem like my regulator was working. Christopher was annoyed beyond belief and blamed it on me not being able to do it. After 10 mins or so, he finally went to the float and swapped out my regulator. And, of course, I was then fine. But then I struggled to get below the surface. I tried just being upright and floating down, which worked for James O. because of the weights. That didn't work for me. I tried turning upside down and diving head first. That didn't work either. I literally couldn't get myself to sink. I was so frustrated. I'm sure it didn't help that my wetsuit was too large and ballooning with water. And there had been absolutely zero tips or instruction on how to "dive". And then about 5 minutes later, it was all over. I finally was able to get underwater and breathe, tried and failed to get further down, and then it was all done. It felt like no time at all in the actual water. And everyone's hoses kept getting tangled. Shouldn't our guide have done something to help keep this from happening? Or offered some tips and instruction on keeping it from happening?
We then boarded the float thing, took everything but the wetsuit off, and swam back to shore. When we got back to the booth, it appeared to have been only 45 minutes since our start time, not an hour. And as we talked to the other 2 girls, they had just as frustrating of a time. And they also were really disappointed in our guide, or lack thereof. One of the girls had asthma and both were inexperienced. And both felt like they were yelled at and talked down to by Christopher.
This was such a complete waste of money. We paid almost $90 each to have a miserable experience! We then walked over to the main office (not the booth) to talk to a manager. She was very nice and took notes as we told her what happened, but left it with a "I'll talk to him and get his side of the story." As if we were lying or weren't legit upset customers. And when I pointed about my bright red legs with a rash, which wasn't there before putting on their wetsuit and had never happened with any other wetsuit, she was all "yeah, that happens". But at least she was nice-ish and did give us rental equipment for free to go snorkeling. It was this that makes this review 2 stars instead of 1.
In short, I would not do a tour with this company. At the very least, make sure Christopher is not the guide for your tour. read more