Need info for Monterey area

[stevejaz]

Hey all,

We will be coming to Monterey for the Superbike races in July. My wife and I would like to do a dive (or 2) on Friday July 3rd. We would really appreciate some help with local area info.

About us:

-OW certified
-We are staying at the Carmel by the River RV park on the Monterey Peninsula.
-We have recent shore and boat dive experience.
-We will need to rent BC's, Regs, Tanks, Weights, and suits

What we'd like to know:

-Water temps
-Best time of day (tides)
-Good locations to dive
-A good shop to get our gear from
-Anything else you think we might find useful

Thank you very much for any help you might be able to provide!

Steve

 

[mikemath]

What we'd like to know:

-Water temps
-Best time of day (tides)
-Good locations to dive
-A good shop to get our gear from
-Anything else you think we might find useful

Great to hear that you'll be coming to visit the area and do some dives! We've had great conditions the past few weekends--hopefully it will be great when you're here.

Water temps in Monterey usually range in the 50-56 degree range at recreational depths. You'll want to rent a 7mm wetsuit with hood (or drysuit if you're certified), and you'll need at least 5mm gloves.

Best time of day to dive is in the morning. Wind can pick up in the afternoon and increase the wave action. Tides will be most impactful for shore dives, and I've found the best viz (and shortest shore walks) at high tide. You can find tide information for Monterey here: Tide/Current Predictor

If you want to do some shore diving, try to make a reservation at Point Lobos: Point Lobos State Reserve - Scuba. It's a marine sanctuary and one of the best dive spots in the area, but there is limited diver capacity and it may already be booked for that holiday weekend. For an easy, tune-up shore dive, the Monterey breakwater is one of the most popular sites, and you can get some details here: Monterey Dive Infomation- Breakwater. For boat diving, there are several good dive boats. I've done most of my diving off the Beach Hopper 2 and really love diving with them (The Beachhopper II). I've also heard good things about the Sanctuary (The Sanctuary) and the Escapade (The Escapade). All of them have experienced captains who can take you to great dive offshore sites in Carmel (weather permitting) or the Monterey Bay.

For shops, I can recommend either Monterey Bay Dive Company (Monterey Bay Dive Company) or Aquarius Dive Shop (Aquarius Dive Shop). Both have comparable gear and rates, and either can help hook you up with a DiveMaster to conduct a Discover Local Diving class if you'd like more info on the life and conditions.

In terms of general things to know, there are only a couple I can think of. On dive boats, there is not a tour-guide style DM. Unless you pay for a private DM, they will almost always stay in the boat and monitor from the surface. You will be responsible for conducting your own dive, although you will be given a good briefing by all the boats I listed. The second thing to look out for is to look for small life, especially nudibranchs, one of the things Monterey diving is famous for (Nudibranchs). They can be easy to miss if you are used to looking out for fish in tropical locations. Also, if you're doing a shore dive and the waves are more than 3 or 4 feet, cancel your dives and go visit the excellent Monterey Bay Aquarium (Monterey Bay Aquarium, California) instead--I've found that visibility and enjoyability drop in such conditions. You can see the expected wave model for the next few days here: Monterey Sea Conditions at a Glance (currently not looking very good for this weekend).

Have a great time!

 

[stevejaz]

Great to hear that you'll be coming to visit the area and do some dives! We've had great conditions the past few weekends--hopefully it will be great when you're here.

Water temps in Monterey usually range in the 50-56 degree range at recreational depths. You'll want to rent a 7mm wetsuit with hood (or drysuit if you're certified), and you'll need at least 5mm gloves.

Best time of day to dive is in the morning. Wind can pick up in the afternoon and increase the wave action. Tides will be most impactful for shore dives, and I've found the best viz (and shortest shore walks) at high tide. You can find tide information for Monterey here: Tide/Current Predictor

If you want to do some shore diving, try to make a reservation at Point Lobos: Point Lobos State Reserve - Scuba. It's a marine sanctuary and one of the best dive spots in the area, but there is limited diver capacity and it may already be booked for that holiday weekend. For an easy, tune-up shore dive, the Monterey breakwater is one of the most popular sites, and you can get some details here: Monterey Dive Infomation- Breakwater. For boat diving, there are several good dive boats. I've done most of my diving off the Beach Hopper 2 and really love diving with them (The Beachhopper II). I've also heard good things about the Sanctuary (The Sanctuary) and the Escapade (The Escapade). All of them have experienced captains who can take you to great dive offshore sites in Carmel (weather permitting) or the Monterey Bay.

For shops, I can recommend either Monterey Bay Dive Company (Monterey Bay Dive Company) or Aquarius Dive Shop (Aquarius Dive Shop). Both have comparable gear and rates, and either can help hook you up with a DiveMaster to conduct a Discover Local Diving class if you'd like more info on the life and conditions.

In terms of general things to know, there are only a couple I can think of. On dive boats, there is not a tour-guide style DM. Unless you pay for a private DM, they will almost always stay in the boat and monitor from the surface. You will be responsible for conducting your own dive, although you will be given a good briefing by all the boats I listed. The second thing to look out for is to look for small life, especially nudibranchs, one of the things Monterey diving is famous for (Nudibranchs). They can be easy to miss if you are used to looking out for fish in tropical locations. Also, if you're doing a shore dive and the waves are more than 3 or 4 feet, cancel your dives and go visit the excellent Monterey Bay Aquarium (Monterey Bay Aquarium, California) instead--I've found that visibility and enjoyability drop in such conditions. You can see the expected wave model for the next few days here: Monterey Sea Conditions at a Glance (currently not looking very good for this weekend).

Have a great time!

Thank you VERY much for the thorough response! I saw the Point Lobos dive and wondered about that. We actually just dove some lava tubes about a month ago so our familiarity and recent experience....i.e confidence, is good. Also did a bunch of shore dives then as well so no refresher needed I'll see if there is availability.

We're already planning on going to the Aquarium. I've been to Monterey a few times, the family has not, so I'll be taking them to all the local touristy stuff as well.

How about night dives? Are they popular around there or not so much due to and kelp. I'd never get my wife to do it but would be down if there is a local group or diver I could join.

Thank you again for your reply!

Steve

 

[mikemath]

How about night dives? Are they popular around there or not so much due to and kelp. I'd never get my wife to do it but would be down if there is a local group or diver I could join.

Thank you again for your reply!

No problem, happy to help. The most popular night dive spot is along the Monterey Breakwater (San Carlos Beach), which I included in my links above. On Saturday nights, you might not even realize it's a night dive with all the lights in the water since just about every Advanced Open Water student in northern California is doing their night dive there for their cert. Because of all the nooks and crannies in the rocks at the breakwater, there is a lot of nocturnal life to see. The dive is easy and hits a max of about 40' if you follow the breakwater out. It's also right across the street from two dive shops, has good facilities on site, is easy to walk down to with your gear on, and is within 100 yards of the coast guard station in Monterey.

Try to get your wife out--there is no kelp along the breakwater. Regarding the shark concern, dangerous shark attacks on divers off California are incredibly rare and I've never heard of even a sighting at San Carlos beach (one of the most-frequented dive sites in California if not the world). It's really not something you need to worry about. The breakwater is a great night dive site, and it shouldn't be too crowded on a Friday night (Saturday will be busier due to the aforementioned AOW, but it's a large dive site so people do spread out).

 

[mikemath]

...local group or diver I could join.

Forgot to comment on this point. You can find someone by posting to this forum, or if you go on a weekend, there are enough divers around that you can probably find a buddy on-site by just talking to people.

 

[tazrox]

I agree that Breakwater would be the perfect Monterey intro for your situation (especially: rentals, both day & night dives, generally favorable conditions, other buddies). I was just there on Monday morning and it was a calm 59 degrees. People might complain that it's too barren but I think there's tons of stuff to see. I even saw a few octopi and at least 5 of the nudibranch species on mikemath's nudi link.

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

Please read:

http://www.garlic.com/~triblet/ba_diving/

esp. the page titled Information for the certified diver who is new to Monterey. This ain't the tropics. On average, about once a year
a diver new to the area dies on their first dive here. Remember that your
OW card says you are qualified to dive under circumstances similar
to where you trained. You didn't train here. You need to, as the
boating world says, "seek local knowledge".

 

[stevejaz]

Please read:

Ba_diving Website - Information about Northern California diving

esp. the page titled Information for the certified diver who is new to Monterey. This ain't the tropics. On average, about once a year
a diver new to the area dies on their first dive here. Remember that your
OW card says you are qualified to dive under circumstances similar
to where you trained. You didn't train here. You need to, as the
boating world says, "seek local knowledge".

Very true, and I realize it "ain't the tropics", nor have we only dove in "the tropics".

As for seeking the knowledge, that's why I spend a lot of time on here, especially in the "Accidents and Incidents" section and am asking for local input, reading sight briefings, will also talk to dive shops and get current conditions.....

As for us....

We have done low vis dives <5' (actually what my wife cert'd in)
We have done night dives and navigation
We have done shore dives with current and surf
We have dove with 7mil suits although she only went to 30' and I did an 80' max depth

I am very aware of our lack of skills, especialy in your area, thus my questions and my search for a suitable dive for us.

Appreciate the input and I had actually already taken in to consideration or experienced most of the topics you covered.

Thanks,
Steve