Waterhorse Charters

As a San Diego Diver, I choose Waterhorse Charters for my offshore Local Dive Boat.
The boat has easy access, crew will help get your gear on & off the boat if needed. Captain prior to leaving will provide boat safety and a low down of your dive sites of that trip. Gives you a chance to mentally dive it before getting there.
The boat is fast, wreck alley is right there, for the kelp, a little bit longer. Los Coronado Islands, is what it is, no local boat is faster and plenty of room, well covered from the elements. Once on the dive, captain goes over & recommends a safe dive plan if your new to the area, that applies for all.
It’s a great Team, they get it, your there to dive, they are there to help you enjoy and provide a safe Dive.
I recommend Waterhorse Dive Charters, been many times and plan to continue diving with them.
Henry Cook, Rescue Diver

Second dive trip in past 2 weeks with this shop. Great crew. This is my fourth trip this year with this group. Boat is well-​maintained food is good, They know exactly what they are doing. This is the best day dive boat I have experienced. I’ve been diving since 1971. Thank you for a great trip. Can’t wait for my next trip.

Top-​notch dive boat with a friendly crew. This is a roomy boat with ample interior space; look forward to snacks and soup between dives, and probably some of Captain Ryan’s stories!

We just went out for a 3 tank dive at the Coronados Aug 14^th and it was great! Crew was a 2 person crew and they were very friendly and accommodating. Lots of good info and easy equipment rental. On other boats the inbetween snacks aren’t very tasty but theirs was simple and good. Will definitely rebook with this company. The boat was comfy and don’t forget to tip which was easy to do with such a great crew.

Captain and Staff are seasoned professionals and it’s evident they want all divers to have a safe, fun, enjoyable dive. The boat is very nice, food/​snacks fresh and well stocked, weights available and you gotta love the two boarding ladders and massive swim step. I highly recommend diving the Yukon with Waterhorse, they are a class act and the dive itself is exceptional.

Fantastic crew and awesome charters although I do think it sucks that Mexico now charges for these stupid visas which jacks prices up 25 dollars more. The trips are fantastic though and Ryan and Anita are super awesome to catering to whatever you need! We did 3 dives, one off the south kelp beds, another at boomers which was amazing although the current makes it tricky and then the last at keyhole which I had been to before but once again the waves and current did not want to cooperate although we did get to dive the site. They give you warm soup and donuts and the lemon cookies are on point! There is bread and salad and chips to get your energy back up and ready for the next dive! Ryan and Anita even turned out last dive into a whale and dolphin watching your as we scouted out a pod of whales and did circles around some dolphins. Solid dive charter and the one I usually look for when going on a trip.

I have taken Waterhorse out to the Islas de los Coronados twice now, and both trips were spectacular. The Islands are home to many seals, sea lions, and schools of colorful fish. Rock walls and corals are full of interesting critters. Adding to the fun are a keyhole and some small wrecks.
The crew of Waterhorse run a smooth operation, underneath their friendly laid-​back façade. The boat is comfortable and has a hot water shower! The eats ample and restorative. I will definitely be going back to the Islands with them.

Got a ticket 2 wreck dives. Bad weather over the last few days so I wasn’t sure the dive would be good. The captain told us up front that conditions are questionable but we tried to go dive anyway. Once we got to the Yukon the captain sent 2 divers down to check out the conditions. The divers returned and conditions were terrible. We cancelled the dive and the captain is letting us reschedule for another day. That is a stand-​up guy in my book. They had food for us and we made the best of it. No complaints.

What an awesome dive boat. The captain and crew are very friendly and helpful. The boat is very well taken care of. They do provide hot soup, salad, and other treats post dive.
Thank god they serve food, because I forgot to eat breakfast this morning and I was getting a little weird. At one point during the first dive, I almost ate a Garibaldi, but those suckas are MEAN!
P.S.
Please take care of the crew tip wise. They work extremely hard and we (divers) need charter companies like this to continue to raise the bar.
P.P.S.
No refunds for Garibaldi bites! No really, check the website…

Mehh… I’ve experienced better. Crew is ether grumpy or on Prozac depending upon the individual LOL. Price is decent (its not a deal or outrageous) but the ENTIRE crew is on your butt the entire trip from start to finish about tipping them before you leave! They even have a sign on the boat… recommending a $ 50 dollar tip! Do the math…$ 110 two tank dive trip… OK cool…$ 160 two tank trip… very pricey. Honestly, I went to the ATM before I got to the boat and got $ 20 to tip with, but after 4 hours of their bantering, I kept it and bought a nice lunch.
Finally, the event that will make me think twice about going on another trip with Waterhorse: I was a buddy-​less diver (as I often am when I travel) and ended up budding up with a threesome to do the dives. The first dive I led/​navigated the dive and brought us right back to the anchor line after a 50 min. dive… perfecto. The second dive I let my «Master Diver» (LOL) buddy led… big mistake. After the second turn I was lost… but I wasn’t leading and when I signaled to him he assured me he was still good to to go. Long story short, we surfaced about .5 miles away from the boat! I was kinda annoyed, but my time as a military diver has made me very comfortable with long surface swims. We laughed and joked and started the 25 min. swim. I knew we wold be last on the boat, and EXPECTED some pointed, yet in good fun, jesting when we reached the boat… but not the crew being A-​holes about it. They went on-​and-​on and made it sound like we did it on purpose, until I looked the CAPT strait in the eye and told the small man, «…for the last time, we didn’t do it on purpose.». For the rest of they trip back, no one spoke to us and I was ready to get off the boat when we docked.
If you have had a similar experience, please leave feed back and/​or your own review. Thanks

This dive boat is fantastic! The captain is a master at putting you right on the dive site!
Can’t beat a boat that offers hot minestrone & chowder for lunch!

I frequent San Diego for dive trips several times a year and I can say without a doubt that Waterhorse Charters is by far the best run dive operation in town.
The boat is the biggest dive boat in operation there but they keep the amount of divers below the max allowable to provide for extra space for everyone else on board.
The capt’n and crew are always amazing, friendly and very accommodating. Nothing like a hot shower after diving in 52* water and the food is amazing as well! They put out a buffet of soups, salads, dinner rolls (which are to absolutely awesome), along with coffee, tea, hot chocolate and several other drink choices.
There’s no question that I’ll continue to use these guys whenever I’m in town for a dive trip. These guys rock!

MEXICO!
Los Coronados Islands
This dive charter was our transportation out 20 miles from the Mexican coast. Great staff, plenty of room, and an unforgettable experience. 3 tank dive! Deep diving, hit 75ft below.
— book in advance
— option to rent gear
— food provided between dives
On our way to the Islands we witness a school of dolphins feeding. When we got to the Islands we did dives in the north and south islands. End of July, visibility was 70 – 90. Charter was full at 22 but it was still roomy, I had no issues with space. The charter ride was not choppy, no seasick or panic attacks. Either I’m getting over it or I’ve overdosed on Dramamine.
Will I be back? Yes!

Took a trip with them to the Coronados Islands, The crew was super friendly, very knowledgable and helpful. Their safety briefings were top notch, they knew the sites inside and out and told us what to expect no matter which way we ventured.
They offered to defog my mask with a lighter and even taught me how to make an amazing cappuccino with their coffee and hot chocolate!

San Diego diving is bizarrely Disneyesque.
In my years of diving, I’ve found that boat captains must demonstrate varying degrees of art/​science/​witchcraft when setting up dive sites for the folks who have chartered the trip.
Captains must evaluate currents, current directions, swells, swell duration, cleanliness of the water, depth, number of dives done by the folks on board, numbers of other boats in the area, experience levels of the divers on board, where to place the anchor, should two anchors be dropped and so on…
In San Diego, they just drive out to the wreck and clip off the buoy.
That’s IT.
Once divers get into the water, all they have to do is swim along the wreck and, once they run out of bottom time, turn around and head up the buoy line.
There’s no need to navigate, there’s no need to evaluate the conditions of the bottom and use kelp as an anchor line, there’s no need to do an open water safety stop… it’s just so easy!
Now, that said… this a top-​notch boat, crew and captain. Their boat is clean, the service is great… these folks have what they do dialed in.
But…I wonder what it would be like to dive with these folks when they actually ply the art of setting up a dive site.

A really great dive boat and crew if you’re looking to go out to the Yukon or the Ruby E.
I finished up my AOW Certification with a wreck dive at the Yukon. It was a pretty brief 10 – 15 minute boat ride. The captain repeated instructions continuously, making sure everybody heard them, he also was constantly doing a head count.
On an important note: the tanks on the boat are low pressure steel tanks. When it is full the maximum psi is 2600.
This gives you a little less air so you might want to bring your own tank if you go through a lot of air. My partner said the air tasted funny to him, but to me it was fine, I actually didn’t get dry mouth like I usually do after diving. He thinks this is because of the low pressure so it may have more moisture in it.
Other amenities included: lots of snacks and food — salad, soup, coffee, oatmeal, chips… They also have a hot shower and bathroom.
The staff help you get in and out of the water and are very clear that if you take 40 mins or more they will call the Coast Guard unless you let them know.
The dive boat was pretty crowded when we went, the waters were also pretty choppy and quite a few people got sea sick, they only have herbal remedies on board. I would dive again with Waterhorse Charters, the service was excellent and they made the dives easy.

I did my 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th OW Certification dives on the Humboldt to the Coronados this past Sunday and I could not have been more pleased!
Besides how amazing diving is in this location, the boat crew was amazing! They were incredibly accommodating to the many classes, as well as individual divers we had on the boat. They were very helpful with fins, tank fills, etc. Not only that but there were very fun and personable so definitely a great time to be around!
I will definitely be going on many boat dives with Waterhorse! P. S. they deserve much more than 5 Stars, but Unilocal doesn’t allow that ;)

Great boat and crew. If you are looking to do a boat dive in San Diego you can’t go wrong with these guys. Great service, professional, and fun. The food and drinks are always available and ready to eat. The boat is roomy, comfortable, designed and built to dive on, in fact, for you that get cold, there is a warm water shower midship so you can get all warm before you jump in the water and get cold again. Anyway, Waterhorse Charters is a great value for your diving dollar.

Recently went on a trip out to P38! Rented gears with this dive shop and every piece fitted and worked nicely. Though the price of the charter was a little on the high end, you get what you pay for. The captain, the DM and the crew were great! The snack, the soup, and the food were great. Enjoyed having cups of hot creamy mushroom soup after a dip in the 52 degrees water; hence the hot shower onboard was heavenly!!! Ran into a little issue in which one of the divers was rushed from the boat back ashore by SD Life Guard for emergency medical attention. The captain had to cancel our 2^nd dive and return ashore for Coast Guard briefing. Unfortunately the gas was spent to make the first dive, the captain could only provided a credit voucher for the next dive. Hope one day could return to SD use that voucher.

I recently went on a trip out to Coronado Islands and it was awesome! The captain and crew were great ! (I even had some sea sickness issues that they were very helpful with.) The boat is fast, the dive shop is well equipped with rentals, and the captain is very knowledgeable about all of the dive sites. He gives a nice rundown of where to go and what to see at each stop.
The hot shower was great and we had enough water to last for the whole day out (3+ dives).
If you are new to diving (as I am) they have some excellent divemasters for hire. Ian, our divemaster, was great — he was very patient and helpful with us newbies.
Overall, I would definitely use them again, and since our camera broke and we missed the pictures of all the playful sea lions, probably will!