Snorkeling Catalina

Ron does such a great job talking you through the process and getting you fitted for your wet suit and other gear for your snorkel adventure. The staff (in our case, a high school biology teacher who moonlights here), does a great job briefing you and explaining things and poiting out all the little things. The snorkeling fees gets you one hour with an instructor/​guide, then another hour free on your own. The price was well worth it and the views under the water by Lovers Cove was amazing. Had as much fun snorkeling here as I did in St Thomas. Would like to try in the summer summer time, perhaps on my next trip there. I would recommend making an appointment to insure a slot at a time that works for you.

This place is amazing! Ron the owner was very knowledgable and very helpful. He got us our wetsuits and goggles while keeping a good conversation. Our snorkel guide was also amazing he was a marine biology teacher so he was very knowledgable on everything. Absolutely amazing experience I highly recommend coming to this place for your snorkeling and diving needs! Great people and an even greater experience!

I went to Catalina Island for my 27^th birthday and decided to conquer something on my bucket list (snorkeling). Prior to arriving I was extremely confident not scared at all and I was sure it would be a breeze. Everything leading up to the actual snorkeling went smoothly. Ron was our tour guide for the day and he did an excellent job guiding us and making sure we all felt comfortable and informed. Well, I decided that while out doing the actual activity to have an anxiety attack !! I was frightened… I felt like I completely lost all recollection of knowing how to breathe! I wanted to chicken out so bad but luckily I had our instructor and the group of people that were there encouraging me to keep going and it was totally ok for me to take extra time to become comfortable! Ron literally held my hand every step of the way making sure I was safe and I was so fortunate to be able to get over all the bumps in the road and actually see the beauty hidden in the ocean!

Not for the faint of heart! Ad states no experience necessary-​not true. They never asked if I could swim. No floatation device was provided. Entrance to Lovers Cove is very rocky and slippery. The current pulled me out into the ocean and then back into the kelp. Instruction was minimal. Best to be an experienced snorkeler and a strong swimmer for this site.

Came all the way from seattle, to be told that They didn’t had us on schedule. Called 2 weeks early, took my credit card#. They said they will email me with infos. So 2 days before our flight, still haven’t received any email for confirmation. So i called again. Nobody answered. Left them a voicemail. Never had a call back. So i assume that maybe its ok if they never sent me an email and just go ahead. Remmber we came all the way from seattle.
Psh. So disappointed.

Didn’t get to experience it – the wait after paying was insufferable and the gentlemen there were rude. End up leaving. Others in my party enjoyed the woman who led the group.

Rented our gear for snorkeling and it was awesome! Had a blasty blast :) So glad we found these guys. They got us suited up and ready to go within 15 minutes. Checking gear back in was 5 minutes. So helpful and so amazing! We’ll DEFINITELY utilize their services again.

My boyfriend and I did their guided snorkeling tour and it was such a great first time experience! Oscar who helped us make our reservation was great. Everyone seemed nice, friendly and helpful. Our tour guide (unfortunately, I didn’t catch the name) was great! Really took care of us and made sure everyone was doing fine. Thank you Snorkeling Catalina!

Awesome snorkeling experience with our very knowledgeable guide instructor (i didnt catch his name) but very fun to be with, cool place with cool and very helpful staff on site

Chris was our guide and was absolutely adorable… and knowledgeable. He took us out to Lovers Cove where there were tons of fish and kelp beds to see. We felt bad for Chris because there were 2 other people in our group who were scared and not strong swimmers. He knew we were experienced snorkelers and let us go on our own for a while. I think he felt he was not giving us enough attention so he came over to us and dived down to show us an abalone and lobsters hiding in the kelp. The water was cold even with the wetsuits… about 65 degrees. We are used to snorkeling in the Caribbean so the water temp was somewhat shocking. We hung in there for an hour and then called it a day. I think it would be warmer from July-​September. The rest of the staff was super friendly. We would definitely recommend Snorkeling Catalina. Note that they do not have changing room or lockers. We suggest arriving in your swimsuit and use the public bathrooms to change after snorkeling. Also, when you get off the Catalina express there are lockers. You can put your valuables there otherwise Snorkeling Catalina will keep your stuff in their office. That’s what we did and it was very safe. Overall a great experience!

It is the oldest snorkeling centre of Catalina Island. An old lady is the owner of the shop. There is one diving instructor, a small shop but the most enthusiastic people of the world. They generally take group of 6 people for snorkeling. They are the most experienced persons and lovely in their attitude. Me, my husband and my mother went there for the snorkeling experience and in a word it was awesome. I don’t know swimming but the instructor was very friendly and helps and explains very easily so I could do that without being scared. We spent 2 hours in the sea watching the most wonderful view under the sea. The dresses they gave us was very comfortable and even my mom who is 58 years old came from India to see US enjoyed the most. I would recommend them to all my friends n family. I really loved them. They charged $ 132 dollars for all the gears and
Guided snorkeling tours altogether. It may seem that it is costly but their behavior was awesome and they took care of us very nicely. So I may visit them in future again. It was really beautiful experience of my life.

This was our first time snorkeling. The owner was very friendly and accommodating. Chance was our guide, he was informative and comical. Make sure to take Chance a breakfast burrito… He Loves breakfast burritos. Very friendly. Great company, will definitely return and tell everyone about them. Thanks.

We had a good snorkeling experience during our first visit to Catalina. Connie was very kind and accommodating. The shop is small and and is mostly outdoors. The rental equipment was decent. Some suits had holes in them. The only bad part of the experience was that the shop seemed very understaffed during our visit. Connie was the only one at the shop to help customers. We arrived early as instructed to our scheduled boat trip and had to wait for 30+ minutes to get fitted for snorkeling gear because she was busy helping another group get their gear. We ended up starting later than the scheduled time slot.
Brian was our boat captain who took us to 2 different snorkeling spots. He was very accommodating and knowledgeable about the island and the sea life. My friend and I had an awesome time snorkeling. I wish there was more spots for the boat to take us snorkeling because the first spot barely had any sea life at the time. If you have experience snorkeling, I would recommend to just rent gear and walk to Lover’s cove, which is a fantastic spot with lots of fish. Be cautious of all the other tour guide ships that are sailing in the cove.

We had a wonderful experience for our first snorkeling with Instructor Zac. Zac is awesome!!! He was also teaching biology on the island.
P. S.: It’s buy one get one for birthday offer. As the owner said, it requires at least 2 paid people for one trip due to the increasing costs. Lover’s Cove is rocky but there are so many fish!!!

I had never been snorkeling or to Catalina, and I am so glad I did both yesterday!
It helped make my sister’s birthday so special. They gave her a free snorkeling tour in honor of her birthday, with our purchase– which was awesome. The tour guide was very sweet and attentive. The snorkeling itself was incredible. And I am inspired to buy a wetsuit now, because I usually am shivering from the Pacific Ocean’s chilliness. I definitely recommend!

So here’s the skinny:
— There’s just no way to have rental wetsuits that don’t smell a little bad; it comes with the territory. Better than having to supply your own, in my opinion.
— The rocks where you snorkel are indeed pretty uncomfortable, but the lack of sand/​mud also contributes to incredibly clear viewing. Again, it’s a tradeoff that I think is well worth it.
— Our guide, Tim, was awesome with my somewhat timid kids, and really went out of his way to be encouraging and helpful. The kids had such fun, and one even wants to go snorkeling again because of how positive the experience was.
The only thing keeping the place from a full five stars is just the small size of the shop which makes things a bit cramped when you’re preparing. It’s not like there’s much they can do about that, though, especially with expensive Catalina real estate prices.
If you’re looking to snorkel in a fantastic spot with a fantastic guide, and you don’t need total pampering, I think this is a great option.

In preparation for my birthday weekend, I did a lot of research on snorkeling companies on the island before I decided to settle on Snorkeling Catalina. Amidst the positive reviews for this business, I was skeptical because of the incredible complaints from the negative reviews. With my options limited, I took a dive (heh) and went with Snorkeling Catalina because of the competitive rental gear pricing ($ 20 for an all day rental of wetsuit, fins, snorkel, and goggles? How can you beat that!). Despite the fact that I’d never been snorkeling before, I took the advice of the previous reviews and rented the gear without the guide. I am so grateful for you guys because my boyfriend was too cold to bear the waters for even an hour, so a two-​hour guided tour would’ve been torture for him. Not to mention the fact that we saved that extra money by just renting the gear!
Yes, you do have to walk from the shop to Lover’s Cove, and yes, the pavement can be pretty hot and rocky, but you can take your sandals with you as they provide a net to carry your stuff in and the island is pretty safe with generally trustworthy folk all around. Just be careful after you get down the steps because the rocks are slippery and there is no sand at the cove, so you will have to walk on the rocks on shore and in the water.
The store itself is pretty tiny and the staff is very busy with assisting their customers with sizes for their gear and preparing them for their scuba or snorkeling tours. I met Ron, Connie, and a couple of other staff members, who were all very helpful. When my boyfriend discovered that he could not wear the goggles because his mustache covered the nose guard, he was able to rent only the snorkel at a lower price. The staff also seems very experienced and they were accommodating when I asked for different sizes.
I don’t really understand the complaints about this place. My wetsuit did not smell bad; it fit perfectly and kept me warm. The staff was knowledgeable and accommodating, despite how busy they were in such a small space. You cannot beat these rental prices! They accept credit card and they do have a-​la-​cart options and bundles for rentals to suit your snorkeling needs!

On my list of things to do in Catalina, snorkelling is probably top 5.
I rented the full package — a mask, fins, and wetsuit for $ 15 for 2 hours. It costs $ 20 to rent for the whole day. Mask and fins were pretty clean. The wetsuit was questionable because it really did smell awful.
The unfortunate thing was walking to and from Lover’s cove. Even though it was around only 10 min, it was a little difficult to walk in our wetsuits. They do not let you store your stuff inside the store. You need to go put your stuff in lockers near the boat landing (costs around $ 1) which is on the way to where you wanna go.
Overall, this place has reasonable prices for what they offer. People aren’t very attentive but hey, must be tiring doing this everyday.

I had a pretty good experience with this place and crap it’s been hella damn years since I’ve gone snorkeling.
Made a reservation over the phone with a groupon I got. One question they asked a few times when making this reservation was «you have your boat ticket already purchased?» I guess they didn’t want people making reservation if they might not be able to make it to the island. Make note of your reservation because they won’t call you to confirm later on, or you’ll be assed out. They also tell you to wear you bathing suits under your clothes when you arrive the day of.
On the day of we just walked to the spot since it wasn’t too far. They had all our gear ready in a bin with my name on it. You basically strip down and put your wet suit on out infront of the place, yea if you’re not comfortable with this you might have to call around to see which snorkel spots have changing areas ahaha. As Jon K mentioned in his review they had us also pay $ 5 on top of what we paid for from Groupon… wack…
Your guide will then walk you down to Lover’s Cove, yes I said WALK. It’s not too far but I doubt many people would think they’d be walking somewhere lol. Lover’s Cove is beautiful you’ll see tons of fish and have a great time there. One last night right before you go into the water please really test out your gear, your guide will tell you how to test it out but really test it out a few times before your far out in the water and suckin up some seawater and choking. It may sound funny but it sucks. Bring a water proof camera if you have one BUT HAVE A GOOD STRAP FOR IT or your ass is about to lose your camera, we heard another group trying to find one because it slipped out of someones hand as they were taking photos.

On 9÷10÷11, my 400^th review is dedicated to B A B Y D O L P H I N S ! ! !
Snorkeling Catalina offers more than just snorkeling services. They also have a 1 hour dolphin and sea lion excursion. And if youre lucky, youll see lots of dolphins, and maybe even some baby ones!
We made reservations in advance, went to their shop, paid and got our directions to the boat. We boarded (just the wifey and I and our guide– small and personable tour!) and set out! The boat headed over to the buoy the sea lions hang out on and I was a little disappointed because it was a little boring. But then we saw dolphins, so our boat operator guide headed over to them.
We spent the rest of the hour chasing dolphins, in the middle of the dolphins, and most awesomely, seeing BABY DOLPHINS! It does not get much better than that. Our guide did a great job of seeking them out and putting us right in the middle of them.
I guess we got lucky because our guide said wed have a better chance of winning $ 5 in the lottery on a given day than see that many dolphins, but we did and it was great!
The saddest part of it all was that both of our phone batteries were dying (from all the other pictures we had taken all morning) and we didnt get to take pictures of the dolphins! I got a few quick videos however, and some waterproof [film] camera pics I still need to develop (I have since purchased a waterproof digital camera). So sorry I dont have a lot of pictures to share, but that just means you have to do it for yourself. Poor quality from video:
Seriously, seeing a bunch of dolphins in the water below your little boat (you can practically touch them) and jumping out of the water is great, but seeing baby dophins jumping alongside the adults as well as alone? That is just super duper awesome. I want a baby dolphin for myself (ok, not really)!
5 stars for the dolphins!
Info from their website:
Daily Schedule
10:00am, 11:15am, 12:15pm, 1:30pm, 2:30pm, 3:45pm
Pricing (Prices do not include the 7% Avalon City Tax)
Adults /​Child (3 – 11) $ 38.00