Posted by Melvin on July 02, 2003 at 07:23:21:
In Reply to: Conditions in Monterey?? posted by Bughunter2000 on July 02, 2003 at 06:44:53:
Monterey can be a great dive but challenging. Not a great place for the newly licensed. I normally go there once a year about this time and beach dive for a day or two.
What to expect: Visibility in the 5-10 foot range or less (last year 2 feet was what I got). The sea often has chop and can be rough with plenty of surge. Water Temp in the low 50’s (52 or so) so bring your thermal gear. There is a dive shop on almost every other block in Monterey. You can go to them and get your name on the list for a dive partner too. They even have air refills delivered to the beach!
What to see, there was reported two years a go a giant (8+ feet) Pacific octopus in residence at Monastery Beach. Monastery beach is where the Monastery Crawl was invented as an exit technique (crawling out on your hands and knees). You should also see the wolf eel and of course the otter. I had a harbor seal wait for me to enter the water just off shore and then stay in arms reach the whole dive, often swimming under me and rolling over so his belly was to me.
Point Loma http://pt-lobos.parks.state.ca.us/scuba/scuba.shtml is not to be missed if you can get a reservation. They only admit 15 or so pairs of divers a day (reservation required) and you must have your dive partner with you to get in through the gate.
Local dive conditions: http://cdip.ucsd.edu/models/monterey.gif
Local Dive Shops: http://www.mbdc.to/dirsanca.htm
http://www.mantaraydive.com/
Dive Boats: http://www.montereyexpress.com/
http://www.cypresscharters.com/
Diver Chat group for Northern California: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ba_diving/
I hope this helps. Perhaps you can talk to a local. Enjoy the diving.