Pacific Star

I love to sleep, so I love that the Pacific Star is docked in Redondo Beach. Considering that I only have to travel five minutes to get from my bed to a comfortable bunk on the Pacific Star makes me very happy. Of course, there is more to a dive boat than sleeping and the Pacific Star has much more.

The Pacific Star spent the last five of the last eight years serving the divers of the Central Coast. New owners, the Sentenos, are an enthusiastic family. They brought the boat south from Monterey to its new home in Redondo Beach this last spring. The boat was already made for divers and was quite comfortable as a live-aboard with all the expected amenities. But before she was ready to take on the divers of Southern California, the Sentenos put a great deal of time and effort into more improvements and renovations.

At 65-feet long and 22-feet wide, the back deck is large and roomy for all the divers to dress in comfortably. There are benches and tank troughs all the way around the back deck, with plenty of room in the middle. I did not find myself bumping into others, even with a boatload of enthusiastic divers. There are rinse tanks, as well as shelves to store your cameras between dives. This is a camera-friendly boat.

The swimstep is large and fully submerged. It is extremely easy to reboard the boat from this area. The swimstep area is perhaps the most outstanding feature of this fine boat. There is always a crew member there to assist you with your fins and gear. There is a wide platform the width of the boat on the stern just above the swim step. It makes it comfortable to step up off the swim step to a firm footing before climbing the three steps to the back deck. There are two hot water showers on either end of the platform, in addition to the walk-in hot water showers in the two heads.

The salon is large and capable of seating the entire boat for meals. Breakfast was served after the first dive of the day and lunch was available after the second and third dives. The food was good and, again, the crew accommodating.

Below decks is a large bunkroom with single and double bunks, as well as semi-private staterooms. There is a large camera table with charging stations just as you descend the steps to the bunkroom (again, camera-friendly). The area has plenty of room and lighting to service your cameras, strobes, housings and miscellaneous toys between dives. Down below the photographers have the table to themselves, though you still have the option of changing out your film in the galley.

The Pacific Star dives all the Channel Islands, with a special interest of Catalina diving. Docked at King Harbor she has easy access to dives in the Santa Monica Bay and has special open boat twilight trips to local Palos Verdes sites. Many wrecks and other unusual dive sites lie in and near the Santa Monica Bay and the Pacific Star will serve them all. King Harbor is also the closest harbor to Santa Barbara Island and the west end of Catalina Island. She has three engines and cruises a comfortable 15 knots. Meals and air is included with open-boat trips except twilight dives.

The Pacific Star docks at King Harbor in Redondo Beach and you load literally at the ramp that leads to the boat. Parking is only a few feet away and, with validation, is $2 for the day. The parking lot is shared with a variety of restaurants for a possible after-dive dinner at the Blue Moon Saloon, Chillers, Blue Moon Saloon, Ruby’s, and the Happy Clam.

The Pacific Star, also known as “Straight Hooked Charters” can be found at www.pacificstardiving.com. or you can call for more information at 310-921-9210.