Do I need a technical certification to join a technical trip?

Depends on the trip. Dives beyond recreational limits need a technical certification, no exceptions. Trips that carry the label because of difficulty rather than depth, the Hogan, the Corsair, the Pontoon Causeway, are open to recreational divers who are certified to the depth of the dive and approved by the Captain.

What is the Captain's approval based on?

Experience. Cold water diving, how you handle current, and how you cope with demanding conditions. It doesn't replace being certified to the depth, you need both.

How do I get approved, and how far ahead?

Text Capt Lora at (619) 757-3280 before you book and be honest about your experience.

No. Nitrox only, 22 to 40%, blended onboard. Helium mixes come aboard pre-blended.

Usually eight to nine hours, boarding at 7:30 am.

Does the Marissa anchor on tech wrecks?

No. We live-boat every tech trip. Teams are dropped on a marked shot line with the engines off and recovered at the buoy after ascent.

Technical Diving Charter San Diego | Deep Wrecks & Deco

Marissa Charters runs technical dive charters out of Mission Bay, San Diego, at $249 per diver for a two-tank day that usually runs eight to nine hours. The crew handles staged, deco and bailout bottles, doubles, CCR, sidemount and scooters. Dives beyond recreational limits need a technical certification. Some trips carry the technical label because of difficulty rather than depth, the USS Hogan, the Corsair and the Pontoon Causeway among them, and a certified, experienced recreational diver can join those with the Captain's approval.

We drop you on the wreck, not near it

We live-boat every technical trip. The Captain places a marked shot line at the wreck, teams of no more than four are dropped on it one team at a time with the engines off, and you are picked up at the buoy after your ascent. The shot line is a visual reference set close to the structure rather than hooked into it, so the wreck stays intact and you spend your gas on the dive instead of the search.

The whole procedure is written down and emailed before the trip: gear-up sequence, what water-ready means, drop-line logistics, SMB labelling and team order. Tech-only days, with no recreational divers aboard, run about twice a month. The tech diving page has the full procedure, the schedule for a tech day and the SMB protocol.

Two different kinds of technical trip

Dives outside recreational limits. Real decompression profiles and depths past recreational limits. These need a technical certification and there's no approval route around it.

Dives inside recreational limits that we still call technical. The USS Hogan, the Corsair, the Pontoon Causeway and a few others sit within recreational depths, and we label them technical because they're hard. Current, depth at the outer edge of recreational, low visibility, and structure that punishes sloppy navigation.

A recreational diver can join that second group with the Captain's approval, and two things are required rather than one.

You have to be certified to the depth of the dive. Approval doesn't stand in for certification and we don't treat it that way.

Then the Captain approves you on experience. How much cold water diving you've done, how you handle current, and how you cope with what these particular wrecks throw at you.

The listing tells you which kind of trip it is. If you're not sure, text Capt Lora at (619) 757-3280 before you book and be straight about your experience. An honest conversation has put more divers on these wrecks than any card ever has.

The sites

USS Hogan, F4U Corsair, Pontoon Causeway, P-38 Lightning, Missile Tower, S-37 Submarine, Scripps Canyon, Murray Head, Cape Charles, High Seas, and new wrecks the crew locates. The deep sites run 130 to 250 feet. Site choice on a tech day depends on conditions, and no named wreck is a promise.

What we accommodate

Tech, CCR, sidemount, doubles, scooters, and staged, deco and bailout bottles. Crew stages bottles, scooters and camera gear at the stern, and bottles are clipped on before entry, not in the water. Nitrox blended onboard at 22 to 40%, single tank or doubles, from a high-pressure compressor that fills to 4200 psi. We don't blend trimix. Helium mixes come aboard pre-blended.

Where and when

Mission Bay Sports Center, 1010 Santa Clara Place, San Diego, CA 92109. Parking is free. Tech days board at 7:30 am and run to a firmer schedule than a recreational day, because two long deco dives and the surface interval between them fill the clock. The listing carries the times for the day.

Technical Diving Charter, San Diego