You can book dive boat trips or guided shore dives with any of the local scuba stores in Monterey by phone. I recommend the following:

Aquarius Dive Shop on Del Monte Ave in Monterey

Aquarius-2 Dive Shop On The Wharf

Manta Ray Dive Center

Monterey Bay Dive Center on Cannery Row

A google search on any of those “exact phrases” with Monterey California should find you their web pages.

For overnight accommodations (the weekend in your case) you can usually get a room at Motel 6 if you reserve about a week in advance. Best Western in Salinas is not bad either, and not that far away, and it makes for a good back-up motel when the Monterey motels are booked up for an event.

Best places to dive, that are safe and easy, are these:

San Carlos State Beach, USCG Wharf, on Cannery Row at Reeside Ave in Monterey

El Torritos Beach, at El Torritos restaurant, on Cannery Row, in Monterey

Lovers Cove, on Ocean View (extension of Cannery Row) Blvd at Forest Drive, in Pacific Grove.

If you stick to the above 3 sites, then you will probably do ok, with very little chance of getting yourself hurt. There are other places here which if you dive unawares you could get yourself killed.

For weather and sea state forecasts, you can go to:

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/

and then click on the map portion of the waters off the Monterey coast.

• Manta Ray closed this past Sunday. Chuck Tribolet 13:09:03 09/28/05 (1)
  • Sad to hear about Manta Ray NCD 16:06:00 09/28/05 (0)