25th Annual Avalon Harbor Underwater Cleanup — Feb. 25
The 25th Annual Avalon Harbor Underwater Cleanup will be held on Saturday, February 25, 2006. Once a year the Avalon Harbor Department permits diving in Avalon Harbor — the Avalon Underwater Cleanup. This event, which is steeped in a quarter century of tradition, brings together 500 divers from California and other western states, as well as many foreign countries.

In the morning, divers will scour the harbor searching for trash and debris, which is removed and sorted by volunteers. Prizes and awards are given at the afternoon Award Ceremony at the Wrigley Stage in downtown Avalon.

Registration can be accomplished either on-line from the Catalina Conservancy Divers (CCD) web site (http://www.ccd.org) or by downloading the registration form from the CCD web site and mailing it with a check.

Proceeds from the event go to support the work of the CCD and Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber. CCD is a support group of the Catalina Conservancy, which is dedicated to restoration and protection of Catalina Island and its surrounding waters. CCD has been conducting underwater monitoring projects around Catalina since 1992. The Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber is located at the Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies near Two Harbors. The Chamber is the closest life support recompression chamber to the heavily dived Catalina area and has been responsible for saving many lives over the years.

All participants in the event will receive a T-shirt and be eligible for a door prize drawing. In addition to the door prize, numerous prizes totaling over $10,000 in value will be raffled off during the awards ceremony.

Catalina is located 22 miles from the LA/Orange County coast and can be reached by boat from Long Beach, San Pedro, Dana Point and Newport Beach and by helicopter. For information regarding transportation, hotel accommodations, activities, events or other services, contact the Catalina Island Visitor’s Bureau at 310-510-1520.