Magician Dive Boat

This boat is the shizz. Two toilets and a hot shower. not too mention nice dry sleeping area.
In addition to the boat, the crew are super friendly and very accommodating. The hot meals they serve are hearty and tasty.
This dive boat is probably the best out there.

It’s amazing what a change in owner, captain, and crew can do. As of January 2015 Captain Carl is the owner/​captain… and he’s assembled a NEW, crack team of dive pros that actually know their stuff.
The Magician may now count itself among the top boats in Southern California.

Had a great trip on the magician today. The captain and crew were friendly and helpful. They provided a fin strap for my buddy when his broke, they also provided tanks for 2 guys that didn’t bring theirs. The food was good and plentiful. We visited 3 good sites, good briefing, helped into and out of the water, provided fills to anyone who needed them when they boarded the boat, and gave several of us fills «for the road» after all the dives were over. The one concern I might have is if the boat were full, we had a half full boat, every other tank spot was taken, if all of them were taken it would have been very difficult. The website says the boat can take 22, we had about 12 and it was fine, any more than about 15 – 16 would be too uncomfortable, but I have been on a lot of fishing and diving boats and that is the same for all of them.

My husband and I have taken 2 trips now on the Magician. We would rate this boat as one of the best dive boats in Southern California. Why? Well, we are very safety conscious and you cannot beat the safety standards of Captain Jerry. He is a great Capt. and very safety conscious. I never worry that some diver may be left behind or left struggling in the water. Also, their food is the BEST and I say that as an intermediate cook/​baker. You get a full breakfast, snacks and a hearty lunch. You will not go hungry on this boat and the food is quality! Plus tons of hydration. They thoroughly explain the dives! I know you think that’s their job but having been on other boats that just point in the direction you can dive, I’m telling you that Jerry knows these waters! He knows what you may see, where you can dive, etc. Next, when you get out of the water, there are crew members looking for you! They know your name and are watching you to make sure you are safely out of the water. They even help you off with your fins! I would feel safe going with this boat anywhere they may travel. I would recommend them over some of the other dive boats out there that may be nice to travel on but lacking in many other items. The boat has two heads and one with a shower and also some bunks where you can actually sleep if you want. We are considering the Santa Barbara Island trip with them. ALSO, unlike a lot of other dive boats, we have found this boat to have very friendly divers on board. We have been trying to meet other divers and found this boat to be super friendly and knowledgeable. In summary, a great boat, crew and diving experience!

Great dive boat! They have plenty of room for all the gear and tanks, plenty of room to move around and a great staff! The boat isn’t the fastest, but with plenty of food, comfortable sleeping quarters and a cool staff the drive goes quickly. Between a great breakfast, a hearty lunch and some post dive ice cream they kept us happy.

The Southern California dive boat choices are pretty limited so I am surprised that I missed this gem of a dive boat previously. I have dived with pretty much most of the San Pedro, Long Beach, and Marina Del Rey boats, except this one and I was pleasantly surprised on my first trip with them which included an overnight stay on the boat.
I am not sure where I should start about my pleasant experience on the boat. The crew is very friendly and helpful, the boat is the cleanest I have seen, the food is exceptional for dive boat standards, the captain a pleasure to chat with, and all the boat facilities (fills, head, etc) working perfectly. I stayed on the boat overnight for two wonderful days of diving and never enjoyed overnighting on a boat as much. Best part, barbequed tri-​tip cooked by the captain!
Jerry (the boat’s captain) seems to pay every attention to details on the boat and that translates in all the qualities I described above. The crew seems to follow the captains lead and provide excellent service that is hard to parallel with other dive boats. Well done! Jerry, Earl, Daniel, and Michelle, thank you for a great experience on your boat. Hoping to dive with the Magician again soon!

For working for the last two days straight, the crew seemed to be pretty positive. There was one condescending dive master (seems to be the norm on dive boats), but I believe he was payed by Sport Chalet to accompany the boat, and was not part of the actual boat crew. He somewhat scolded my buddy and me for diving for too long (55 minutes, really??). Sorry we know how to breathe so we can stay down longer than 25 minutes.
Food was pretty good, but the shower was not working for most of our trip. Our trip was only at about half capacity, which meant there was plenty of room to move around, but I think the boat would be pretty cramped if it were full. Overall a very pleasant trip to Catalina with great weather.
I should give three stars for one reason, but I won’t. We dove the same spot for our first two dives. We only had three dives and we don’t get to dive every weekend, so they should have taken us around to a new spot for each dive. It was a small cove off a beach (don’t remember the name), but there was only one direction to go and not too much to see. I definitely didn’t need two hours underwater there. As long as this doesn’t happen again, I’ll be probably be back.

These guys are awesome. Great crew, great dive spots. Only thing is I wish the boat was bigger so we can store more gear and there isnt enough bunks for every one. The food is ok as well

Boat was just ok.
Was disappointed me most was that they only filled my high pressure steel tank to 2900. After pointing this out to them they still continued to only fill my hp tank to 2900.
They claimed this was due to the tank heating up, but come on, 600 psi off?
This has never been an issue for me on any other dive boat but would make the think twice about going back

My wife and I had a great day of diving on «Magician». I have been diving for over 40 years on dive boats around the world, so I know how dive boats should be run. Capt. Jerry Lewis (NO, not THAT Jerry Lewis!) is friendly, helpful and runs a great boat.
It was our first time on the boat. I had seen it many years ago as I walked by it on my way to dive on other boats. Jerry purchased the boat 8 years ago and did a major rehab. It looks like a new boat! Everything is clean, freshly painted, the wood work is varnished and bright. Jerry is meticulous in keeping the boat clean and neat. We noticed that when he wasn’t at the helm he was vacuuming up little bits with his «Dust Buster»!
The boat is 62′ x 18′. Jerry takes up to 28 divers. We had only 17 onboard for our Friday, Catalina trip, which was perfect so we could spread out. We have lots of camera equipment, so having the extra room was great. Jerry has really considered making good use of any space available. The bunk area in below deck in the bow and midships.
The air fills were to 3300 psi. That is good since we used HP Steel 3500 psi tanks. It was not a full fill, but it is 300 psi better than 3000 psi.
We never felt rushed or restricted in our diving. Air fills were quickly done.
Jerry and his dive masters, Tom and Spencer were very professional and helpful. We had camera equipment and underwater scooters and they were great about getting everything into and out of the water for us. I started with a air leak in my alternate air source and Jerry took the one off his regulator and let me use it all day!
Jerry doubled as the cook and cooked up some big cheese burgers for lunch.
The cost of the trip includes air fills and food. Food consisted of muffins, sweet rolls and fruit for breakfast, cheese burgers (or veggie burgers) and potato salad for lunch, and chocolate cake and ice cream for dessert.
Great boat, great crew! We have already scheduled our next day of diving on the Magician!

Great crew and fantastic boat. They are by far the best I’ve experienced out of san pedro.

Boat is pretty good, but it’s the crew that really stands out. Very friendly, helpful and obviously have been doing this for a long time. Highly recommend this boat.

The Magician Dive boat out of San Pedro is a great operation. Captain Jerry and crew are extremely helpful and friendly! I look forward to my next dive with the Magician.