Posted by Anonymous on March 26, 2001 at 19:04:16:
In Reply to: Canadians posted by Carol on March 26, 2001 at 18:29:24:
Be very careful on your first few dives here on the Central Coast of California. The surf is very rough on the West Coast of any continent, and it can get very rough here, absolutely, regarding beach diving. So you need to consider "rough beach entries and exits."
The water here is 48 to 55 degrees fahrenheit right now, depending on upwellings and currents. So you need really thick wetsuits, double suits for your torso and chest area, both 7 mm, if you want to be warm in our waters here on the Central Coast. So "cold water diving" is another issue you need to consider. You can rent the wetsuits here at any of the dive shops.
MBDC [Monterey Bay Dive Center] does private tours at $50 per diver, I believe. Any PADI store [like Aquarius Dive Center] will have "Discover Local Diving" group tours. They are listed in the phone book for the city of Monterey, area code 831. Both of them can book you onto various boat dives, which lead to dives with splendid visibility (75'+) and moderate swells on good days.
Definitely dont go into the ocean here without a local by your side, unless its a boat dive on a "beginners boat" rather than on a tek diving boat.
Southern California is a whole lot easier to dive. The water is warmer, the waves arent as bad, and they have both beach dives and boat dives too. Southern California scuba diving is for wimps, compared to Northern or Central California.
But they do have great lobsters down there, if you can fetch one! But they do not have abalone. They ate them all up, just like they drank up all the water in Mono Lake and practically destroyed it.
Have a great vacation!