Monterey Bay: a Diving Review

[dwashbur]

Our time here is about up; we'll be heading back to Idaho around September 3rd or 4th. Having spent the summer diving Monterey Bay and its environs, I thought I'd share some general impressions.

We do want to come back here for more diving someday, but we have all agreed it won't be in summer again. The water temperatures are great, the sun shines virtually all the time, and there's so much seaweed covering everything you can't see most of the critters. I'm not just talking about the kelp beds; those are more or less constant, though they do grow and recede seasonally. No, I'm talking about various kinds of broad-leaf reddish seaweed that completely covers the rocks, structures, pipes and anything else it can attach to, obscuring the structures and anything on them. Looking for small creatures becomes an excavation project, digging through the leaves and stalks to try and see if there's something on the rock beneath. The problem with that is, there's also usually a thick layer of silt settled on the leaves, so the instant you touch one, viz goes to guess-where. So you can't see anyway unless you sit there for half a minute or more and wait for it to settle, by which time the leaves have flapped over the object again anyway.

The other big challenge for divers here is surge. We have been amazed at how deep it goes. We dealt with a certain amount of surge in Puget Sound; it's created by the waves that are part of the eternal motion of the sea. In the Sound, you can get below it at about 10 feet. In Monterey, it goes clear down to 30 feet and sometimes more. So while you're trying to dig through the leaves and waiting for the silt to settle, you're getting thrown back and forth by the surge, even when you're as deep as most of EUP. The depth and force of the surge varies from site to site and from day to day; some days it's little more than a minor annoyance, but other days it threatens to slam you into that rock you're hanging on to. It tends to be worse at sites that are a little more exposed, like Lovers Point Cove 3, but even in a protected inlet like Whalers Cove at Point Lobos, it's a constant companion. If you haven't done any diving in surge before, or have minimal experience, brace yourself, because you're in for a shock. Be extra careful, and if possible, go with someone who is experienced at this stuff.

The books and websites list well over a dozen dive sites in the area, but that's a bit over-optimistic. About half of them are boat only, and boat trips here are expensive. We haven't been able to go on one, quite simply because we couldn't afford it. The prices have gotten worse with the recent increases in fuel costs. But even when talking just about shore dives, while there are numerous potential sites, the majority of divers usually stick to 3 or 4 of them: the Breakwater, McAbee Beach, Monastery, and Point Lobos. We haven't done McAbee Beach, partly because the parking situation is... weird. In addition, it's essentially an extension of San Carlos Beach, where the Breakwater is, so it's not really that different. The Breakwater includes the pipeline and the Metridium field, and both are good dives if there isn't too much seaweed. The pipeline in particular is also subject to a lot of surge, but on a good day it's worth it. Monastery is only diveable on certain days when wave and tide conditions are favorable, but when they are, it's a nice place to go. Point Lobos has an incredible abundance of life, and if you can get deep enough, the viz is usually quite good. But in summer, if you want to stay inside the cove and just explore there, expect layer upon layer upon layer of that seaweed and poor viz. By contrast, when we went there back in January, the viz inside the cove was 40-50 feet easily, and the rocks were practically bursting with thriving, colorful critters. Once again, summer seems to be the least desirable time to go.

If you're a dry suit diver, you'll probably want to go ahead and use your dry suit here most of the time. The water temps vary from about 60 to 50 depending on depth; all summer there has been about a 5 degree thermocline down around 22 feet, and it has been pretty constant from one week to the next and from one site to the next. We've been diving wet and have only gotten cold a couple of times, usually when one of us didn't eat enough before heading for Monterey. Then again, we were diving wet in Puget Sound in December, so maybe we're either unusually hot-blooded, or crazy (or both). But even back in January, the lowest water temp we recorded in Monterey Bay was 52, so it's not that different from the summer temps. That's one of the advantages of this place: the temperatures don't change to any great degree the way they do in Puget Sound.

There is a LOT to see here. One of the major highlights of diving this area in the summer is the abundance of playful harbor seals who will come down and nuzzle you, or nip your fins. And while we never got close to one, there have even been a couple of dolphins playing out in the bay from time to time. There are at least 6 varieties of rockfish, the occasional kelpfish, greenlings and all the rest, plus the ever-popular monkeyface eels when you can find them. If you're a macro person, like we are, little nudibranchs, tubeworms, sea cucumbers, mollusks of various types including snails, abalone and other stuff we haven't actually identified yet, abound. Like crabs? This is a place to be. From the big pacific rock crabs to the tiny but pugilistic sharpnoses, they're here.

But once again, you have a much better chance of seeing the critters, especially the small ones, in Fall and winter when the seaweed has died back a little so you can actually see the rocks and such. For that reason, I can only give diving in Monterey in summer an "average" rating. If you're here already, or have a reason to be here and want to get some diving in while here, go for it. But if you're going to make a special trip to dive here, wait until the colder months, and check with a local shop or two and find out how thick the seaweed is before making your plane reservations or (worse yet) filling your gas tank.

As for dive shops, we have experience with three. One is Monterey Bay Dive Center down on Cannery Row. We only went there once, because the second time we went they were closed and we had no idea why. For some odd reason, they're closed on Tuesdays. But there were no signs, no posted hours, nothing to tell us WHY they were closed. (They have since fixed that.) We had to go back to our apartment and look at their website to find out what was going on. The one time we did go there, they were courteous and filled our tanks for us. Another good thing about them is, they rent big tanks. We use steel 95's, and they're one of the few shops in town that rent tanks that size in case we want to go someplace and take an extra set with us. Our shop of choice this trip, though, was Aquarius, on Del Monte Avenue. Bruce and his wife and their other employees took very good care of us, often gave us special deals on our air fills because we came in so often, and their dog Cody is a huge, loveable lab that you can't resist cuddling a bit while waiting for your tanks to fill. They have the cleanest rinse tanks we've seen in town, and they also maintain a white-board where divers can list local conditions on an ongoing basis. That's nice, because you get your info straight from other divers rather than buoy readings, satellite forecasts and the like. If you see 40' viz listed for a site, you can take it to the bank because it came from somebody who was there on the date listed. Overall they're a very good shop. My only gripe with them is that they only have 80's for rental tanks. Gotta get some bigger ones, guys!

One shop to avoid is Glenn's Aquarius II, which is right on the Breakwater by the main parking lot. The horror stories about this shop are legion, and we have a couple of our own. On the plus side, their rinse tanks are right there; if you've been diving the breakwater or the pipeline or the Metridium field, you can come back to your vehicle, wander across the parking lot and rinse your gear. Even if you're not a customer, they don't mind. Glenn may bend your ear for a while about everything that's wrong with Monterey, but that's just the price you pay. Use the dunk tanks, but you don't want to rent from him. I'll supply stories upon request.

To sum up, yes, Monterey is a great place to dive. It's much better to dive it in the winter because there's more exposed surface to find life. On the other hand, summer is the best time to see and even interact with the sea mammals that live here. When you come down just depends on what your exploration goals are. Be sure you're trained/experienced with surf entries and exits, and if you have some practice diving in surge, that will serve you well, too.

[OreCoastDiver]

Hey Dave, nice review. I've been wondering how you've been getting on down there. Sorry you have to go back to Idaho. (Ooops, that just slipped out.)

[dwashbur]

Hey Dave, nice review. I've been wondering how you've been getting on down there. Sorry you have to go back to Idaho. (Ooops, that just slipped out.)

I'm not; it's the first hop on our journey back to the Sound!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[babs13]

Just a word of caution- plan to not go during or the day after a storm in the area unless you want to see ripped out kelp in poor viz [about 2 ft] underwater, or surfers, seals or dolphins on the surface. According with the PADI instructor I was diving with, November is known for stormy weather and later December has pretty clear waters with good viz. In November much of the kelp gets ripped out from the storms. If checking out Monestary Beach and not familiar with surge or the terrain, it might be good idea to go with someone local and familiar with the site and terrain. The the locals know Monestary Beach as Mortuary Beach. If looking for someone familar with the area [Monterey, Carmel, Santa Cruz] to go diving with or for info, feel free to send me an message for contact info. The guy I went with has dived in the area for 15 yrs.

Fish are my friends.

[Biodiversity_Guy]

How was the diving "through the vegetation" in late May vs later in the summer? Already a lot of seaweed growth, or just getting started and got worse as the summer progressed?

I am excited. It looks like I will be down there for a week or so in late May.