2nd Monastery Beach Victim Dies-It's Time for a Better Sign and Video

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The sign, no matter what the design will not help the very small minority that will choose to totally ignore signs. But that's not whom the signage is for. The new signs are aimed at most sensible beach-goers or divers to use extra caution when going to this beach.

I believe that if Sunday's church group walked by this sign and read it, that we would not have had those 2 fatalities.

I think I'm going to add a scuba diver tumbling in the water to simply add the scuba element. For scuba diving Monastery, it's a bit more complex and I don't think we have the space/bandwidth to adequately tell someone how to dive Monastery.
 
Doc, I have nearly infinite space/bandwidth. One of the things to be added to all the dive sites listed are descriptions / hazards / etc. Can you email me the .pdf? I'll put it up on my site and incorporate it into the "Monastery" dive location.
 
Hey everyone, I found this interesting and it might be something that Doc has already seen, But it makes for some interesting reading on the subject so thought id share it here.




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Monastery Beach Has Deadly Reputation: Monastery Beach Has a Deadly Reputation
Posted on: Sunday, 27 January 2008, 09:00 CST

By Laith Agha, The Monterey County Herald, Calif.

Jan. 27--It's known as "Mortuary Beach" for a reason.

With its pounding surf, riptides and unusually steep beach, the half-mile stretch of Carmel River Beach formally known as Monastery Beach has seen unwary visitors and scuba divers swept away at a rate that earned it the morbid nickname.

At least one local diver said the California Department of Parks and Recreation could save lives with improved signs to inform visitors of the beach's unusually dangerous conditions.

"Over the last 25 years or so, I have seen a lot of people die on that beach," said Frank Koucky, 57, of Carmel Valley.

After learning about a diver drowning there last month, Koucky called Loren Rex, the local public safety superintendant for the state parks, to suggest replacing the beach's warning signs with ones that might more effectively alert visitors to hidden dangers presented by the beach's unique conditions.

The December drowning was 2007's only fatality at the beach, though two people -- nondivers -- were rescued from the water last summer.

Monterey County's state parks office was unable to provide a history of deaths at the beach or nearby spots along the coast. Rex said Carmel Bay, a span of coastline from Point Lobos State Preserve to Pescadero Point in Pebble Beach, averages about two drownings a year.

Since 2004, 14 divers have died in Monterey County waters at spots including Point Lobos, Lovers Point in Pacific Grove and San Carlos Beach near Cannery Row, according

to the Divers Alert Network medical research department. Two deaths reportedly occurred at Monastery Beach.

A search of Herald's archives, combined with the network's data, revealed at least 15 deaths of divers and nondivers since 1985.

"I would say that is probably the highest rate" among Monterey-area beaches, Rex said.

Koucky, who has been diving for more than 40 years, said many Monastery Beach victims are out-of-towners driving by, looking for a good spot to dive or spend a sunny afternoon with the family. They are often ignorant of the danger of the surf's strong undertow and the unusually steep shore.

"In my experience, many good divers have died there," Koucky said. "Children often play near the water because parents just don't know."

The most egregious occurrence was in 1986, when a family of four from Pakistan stopped at Monastery Beach while driving from Los Angeles to San Francisco. They were posing for a photograph when a wave knocked them down and pulled them in.

The beach running along Highway 1 just south of the Carmel River is named for the Carmelite Monastery across the road.

Warnings posted|

The beach is marked with signs at four locations, warning visitors that "surf (is) subject to unexpected life-threatening waves and currents" and "climbing on rocks, swimming and wading (are) unsafe."

But the signs do not explain in detail the severe conditions that often prove deadly, which is what Koucky hopes will change. The signs also don't tell beachgoers how frequently visitors -- mostly divers -- lose their lives there.

Koucky said he would like a history of fatalities to be part of new signs.

"If you merely say, 'Be careful,' well, everything says be careful," Koucky said. "But if you say, 'Many, many people have died here,' they may take notice. Unfortunately, that's what it takes to get people to be cautious."

Whether state park signs would include examples of those overtaken by treacherous waters would be up to the department's legal department, Rex said.

"What I would like to do is have two interpretive panels on the north and south sides (of the beach), where most of the divers enter," Rex said. "Then in the middle of the beach we'd be looking to put in these 'steep beach' signs to let the public know it can be real hazardous too close to the water."

Rex said he is putting together a proposal that would likely go through several stages before getting final approval, starting with submission to the local Parks Department office and possibly ending up in front of the state Coastal Commission.

If the proposal glides through the ranks, "it could be a couple months," Rex said. "But if we go back and forth on the design, or if we receive public opposition, it could take longer or get shot down."

Based on Sonoma sign|

The proposed sign exclaims "danger" in bold red capital letters, outlined in black. Beneath "danger" is written "steep beach" in red capital letters. Below that is a graphic that displays a cross section of the shore detailing the beach's steepness, its deep and long shore trough that lies beneath the surface, potential wave activity and what can happen to someone dragged underwater.

Safety recommendations, listed at the bottom of the proposed sign, inform beach visitors to stay above the beach's steep face, to supervise children at all times, and never to face away from or play tag with waves. It recommends calling 911 rather than attempting to rescue anyone in trouble.

The design is based on a sign made for Sonoma Coast State Park's Goat Rock beach, said Alex Peabody, aquatic specialist for the state parks public safety division.

Goat Rock, which is bordered to the north by the mouth of the Russian River, "has a notorious shore break and is a really dangerous area where they have lost a lot of people," Peabody said.

A ban on diving at Monastery Beach is not part of the conversation for state parks, nor among divers.

"It's not a problem with no surf," Peabody said. "But when there is surf, that beach can be very difficult to negotiate with the shore break."

Deadly spot|

James Vincent, a 19-year-old master diver and employee of Aquarius Dive Shop in Monterey, said local divers know when to head to Monastery Beach and when to stay away, but out-of-towners unaware of its hazards are prone to underestimating it.

"It's not a beach you want to mess with," Vincent said. "The day when that guy died (last month), it was extremely rough weather. I was surprised to hear someone was out that day. There are days when it's plenty calm. But on days when it's rough, I drive right by it."

Koucky said he hasn't gone in Monastery's waters since 2000, when he narrowly escaped a difficult situation while exiting the water. But a ban on diving at the beach should not be a consideration, he said, because its bountiful underwater world can be explored safely when the conditions are right.

He simply wants all visitors -- divers or not -- to know the potential hazards.

"It's a frightening thing to see death after death after death in the same spot, and they're all preventable," Koucky said. "All I want is for people to not die at that beach at the same rate."

Laith Agha can be reached at 646-4358 or lagha@montereyherald.com.
 
Awesome effort to keep people safe. Some thoughts:

The title "Danger - Steep Beach"....is the danger that the beach is steep, or is the danger that there is an undertow? How about "Danger - Strong Undertow" I think most people understand "undertow" and "rip tide" even if those are not technically correct terms for what is going on there.

I think the "Backwash - on a steep beach..." text could be shortened to "STRONG UNDERTOW"...instead of explaining why there is a danger, just say what the danger is.

The four bullet points didn't jump out at me until my third glance at the sign. They are kind of buried between larger text.

To drive the point home about child supervision, how about changing the image so instead of someone flying a kite, the image is of an adult with their back turned to the ocean. I think the existing ocean part looks like two kids (although at first I thought it might be two sea lions).

I think the sign needs to be simple enough so someone can glance at it as they are walking by and get the point. As it is now I would say someone has to stop and really read it.

Posting the image again for reference:
2346371328_f74631b43e.jpg
 
The sign, no matter what the design will not help the very small minority that will choose to totally ignore signs. But that's not whom the signage is for. The new signs are aimed at most sensible beach-goers or divers to use extra caution when going to this beach.

Sorry Doc, I disagree. Warning signs only serve to limit the liability of the State/County/City or private owner/operator who placed it.

Warning signs only discourage a small percentage of reasonable people. Most people, if they even bother to read the sign inevitably just tell themselves, “Oh heck, it looks safe to me.” and proceed past the sign anyway.

Don't get me wrong, Signs will help and are necessary, even if they serve to save a few from disaster.
 
Awesome effort to keep people safe. Some thoughts:

The title "Danger - Steep Beach"....is the danger that the beach is steep, or is the danger that there is an undertow? How about "Danger - Strong Undertow" I think most people understand "undertow" and "rip tide" even if those are not technically correct terms for what is going on there.

I think the "Backwash - on a steep beach..." text could be shortened to "STRONG UNDERTOW"...instead of explaining why there is a danger, just say what the danger is.

The four bullet points didn't jump out at me until my third glance at the sign. They are kind of buried between larger text.

To drive the point home about child supervision, how about changing the image so instead of someone flying a kite, the image is of an adult with their back turned to the ocean. I think the existing ocean part looks like two kids (although at first I thought it might be two sea lions).

I think the sign needs to be simple enough so someone can glance at it as they are walking by and get the point. As it is now I would say someone has to stop and really read it.

There's no such thing as undertow. And rip current (not rip tide) is not an issue here,
except possibly right in the middle. What there is, here, is BIG ASS WAVES, sometimes.

I agree that the danger is not that the beach is steep but rather that the waves can
be really big.

I do like the idea of an image of the adult turning their back on the kid near the
surf line.

I don't think you are going to simplify it enought for it to work at a glance. It needs
to get lots of attention. LOTS OF RED will help.
 
Hi Chuck,

I'm no expert in the hydrodynamics, but with that steep beach and the way it drops off, when the wave does come crashing down, it goes deeper and pulls the diver or beach goer into the water. Then the repeated wave action then creates quite a scene and the diver gets pulled out and under.

I'd call that an undertow as a simplification, but if that's just plain wrong, then we can't use it. do you know otherwise?

I like the idea of changing it to: DANGER-STRONG UNDERTOW.
 
Hi All,

This collaborative effort to save lives at Monastery is awesome!

When I look at the latest version of the proposed sign, I truly like the ‘DANGER’; however, I cannot say I’m sold on the ‘steep beach’ verbiage. Although ‘steep beach’ is meaningful to those of us in the diving community, that meaning may not have much significance to those outside of the diving community. Rather, ‘POWERFUL WAVES’ or similar words of a more universal interpretation may be more effective.

Arguably, one of the most majestic characteristics of the ocean is its phenomenal power. How we can translate its underestimated strength to the unsuspecting beach-goer is the life-saving subject.

I also agree with Doc’s usage, and Chuck’s endorsement of, LOTS-O-RED – particularly on a strongly contrasting background.

Even after new signage is posted, others may slip through the cracks and perish; nevertheless, this is a noble effort.

Jeff
 
:popcorn:............ I think its unfortunate that people die while going to the beach. ever hear of a band called tesla. they do a song about sign's'. I dont think the sign is broken. its the chance we take when we go anywhere.

make Monastery part of lobos.. with more rules and regulations. that might make it more safe.
 
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