Monastery on Saturday

[Keith.M]

I am looking at planning to try and dive Monastery on Saturday, 9/6.

The swell models look very promising and I am hoping for some easy entries and exits.

We plan on being very mindful of the conditions and only attempt it if the conditions are very favorable.

So with that said, is it better to dive along the south point that is the other side of Point Lobos? Or do you dive the North beach and go for some of the Carmel Canyon? Or is the canyon better to access from the south part of Carmel River beach?

I have only dived Monastery once before and that was off of a RIB. THat dive was very nice and was off shore from the point in ~75 fsw.

 

[NorCalDM]

South Monastery is my favorite more to see IMHO just enter as far south as you can don't enter anywhere near the center of the beach. Carmel River Beach is a nice dive but I've only dove at the far end of the beach near the stairs respect that entry as well.

 

[zf2nt]

The two sites are very different and I would hate to have to pick a favorite!

The south side is generally shallower, and in fact there is a huge area which is <40' so that it is good for open water classes when conditions are calm. You do need to swim a fairly long way out from the beach in order to get below even 30'. From that point, you head generally 270 and try to avoid getting too shallow. If you go far enough, you will start getting some depth. Go far enough and it is called Mono-Lobo, and the topography is truly dramatic. But that's a long kick which, if you're new to the area, you're not likely to do. In that 30' - 60' range you will have lots of big boulders forming canyons, gulches, mini-walls, etc., which sport incredible diversity. It can quickly make a marine biologist out of you.

The north side has a smaller shallow region, and in fact it's almost too shallow to be able to enjoy at low tide. My favorite way to do the north side is to swim all the way out to the wash rock, go down, and then stay at about 60' of depth as I work my way around the wash rock and start heading to the northeast. Then you will find yourself at the very head of the Carmel Canyon. You can do a near vertical descent down to 100' or so and as you do you can look (on a clear day) all the way across the canyon to the east side. I love to do that wall and then stay at a max depth of somewhere in the range of 100' - 130' as I work my way back out the point. Once you get out on the point you want to come up to about 90' in order to swing around it and then start coming back up the south side of the finger. Otherwise, you'll be following the canyon and when you come up shallow it's just a bare sandy bottom. I usually come back to shore on the bottom and enjoy the shallows on the way back in. The best path is right where the rocks of the finger meet the bare sand that fills that whole area between N. and S. Monastery.

Just remember that getting in at Monastery (either end) is the easy part. It's getting out that presents the challenges. I really, really hate having to crawl out at Monastery and will not go in if I'm not convinced I'm going to be able to walk out.

Bruce

 

[Keith.M]

Thanks Bruce for the detail!

We decided to stick to the south side and found your description perfect.

The entry and exit was very easy. There was no real swell to speak of but we did have some surge in shallower water.

We had two very fun dives and basically followed the 270 heading you had mentioned. The boulders, walls and mini canyons were a lot of fun with lots of life. My son thought that these dives were the most life he had seen yet, even more than Lobos. Which I disagreed...

The first dive was to a max depth of 39 fsw and 58 degrees. Second we made it out a little further but still only to 43 fsw and 56 degrees. Visibility was 15 with 25 at the deepest.

I had looked at the hill to go over before and read many commentas about it. I never thought it looked ver bad. But after a nice dive and with all your gear, that climb was nothing to sneeze at. Even my athlete 17 year old son commented about it.

 

[zf2nt]

I'm glad to hear you had a good time with it. It truly is a gorgeous site.

One of my fondest memories is of a night dive I did there with an AOW class. It was one of those 100' visibility days and there were virtually no swells on the surface. At every turn, our visibility was limited only by the rocks at the end of whatever canyon we were following.

At S. Monastery, you can take people on a long, twisting, turning journey through the deep dark jungle so that they really feel you have lead them on the safari of a lifetime. And yet, you're never more than 50' from the clear if somebody runs low on air and you have to shoot out to the NE to get them clear of the kelp before surfacing.