Posted by Clinton Bauder on February 06, 2000 at 23:57:32:
In Reply to: Re: Monterey Diving (sea lions) posted by Elgin on February 06, 2000 at 21:30:02:
There are quite a few operators in Monterey. The Monterey Express generally caters to less inexperinced divers and might be a good choice for somebody with limited diving or cold water experience. The BeachHopper II is a small boat and Ed will usually adjust the itinerary according to the folks on board. Cypress Charters runs two larger boats, and generally offers the best diving but they tend to be more aggressive about dive site selection. The Cypress Sea with its two tank itinerary often offers "tamer" diving than does the Cypress Point which does 3 dives. OTOH sometimes on the Point Phil will give us deep phreaks a double black diamond first dive and do the next two in more protected areas while if Dave on the Sea has a mostly advanced group he might make both dives more aggressive. If you don't have a drysuit you won't want to do more than 2 dives anyway.
No matter which boat you choose make sure to speak up if you don't feel comfortable with the conditions, and you might call ahead to arrange for a guide. Boat diving in Monterey is generally unsupervised meaning you don't have a DM in the water with you. If you want one you should make arrangements in advance.
Monterey diving is a rather different thing from the Carribean and can be a shock for first timers. It's always cold, nearly always surgy and 30 feet is considered good visibility. OTOH the diving is amazingly diverse and many of the best dives I've ever done were in Carmel or thereabouts. If I failed to show up more than 2 weekends in a row the guys on the Cypress Charters boats might call the police to find out if somthing bad had happened to me. I've even found myself getting bored in tropical areas wishing I was back in Monterey!
www.cypresscharters.com
www.montereyexpress.com
www.divemonterey.com
and for general info try my site:
www.metridium.com