Advanced Open Water in Monterey

[Ben Prusinski]

Survived my advanced open water dives last weekend in Monterey! I decided to do this here rather than the Caribbean to become stronger at diving cold water places like Monterey. Plus it builds confidence for trips to warm water if one can dive in cold water places. Was fun saw tons of metridrium on the boat deep dives last weekend and had a sea lion buzz me as well. Viz was crap but at least I learned to dive in poor visibility conditions with strong surge and surf conditions. Have my new gear figured out- man that Aqualung Pro QD BCD is a royal PAIN to get on and off! But once on, great BCD. Buoyancy is tricky here in cold water compared to warm water diving.

 

[fisheater]

Congrats!

I got certified in Monterey for the very same reasons. You WILL be a more prepared and skilled diver when you hit those warm water vacation spots. (But do be aware of local hazards and techniques.)

While vis in the bay sucked these last few days, vis at Lobos was spectacular!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[Ben Prusinski]

@fisheater, exactly! Plus now I am a lot more comfortable with putting my gear together and taking it apart and using the new kit. This will make life more fun both here locally and on my dive trips to warm water. Dream is to dive Galapagos for hammerheads and whale sharks and with the advanced cold water current conditions there, Monterey is great training for it.

 

[Simple.nomad.tortoise]

The other SUPER COOL thing that an AOW in Monterey prepares you for is the amazing shore diving in Pacific Grove and heading south. Many of the best spots are challenging and it totally helps to have an AOW education behind you be+ Reply to Threadfore you take the plunge into an amazingly beautiful place like Monastery.

 

[Ben Prusinski]

@simplenomadtortois- definitely agree. For me, the spring straps greatly simplified shore entries/exits to get past the surf zone. Coolest thing thus far were the giant cauliflower looking metridiums and giant sheephead crabs as well as the sea lions. I hope to dive Pt. Lobos and Monastery in the future when conditions are calm and viz excellent.

 

[Ouvea]

Today was definitely not a good day to dive Monastery Beach. I went in with conditions being "marginal" and exited with conditions being "absolute no no." In hind sight, I should not have gone in since their was a strong wind present and there wasn't any indication that it would subside. Shows you how conditions can change within the span of an hour. Timed the entry so I could walk in and don my fins (you do need to be extremely quick at this - yes spring straps are a must!). Surfaced at the end to gauge conditions. There was no way in hell you could pay me enough money to attempt a walking exit!!

There were two other divers that surfaced near the center of the beach and swam laterally to the northern end, where it was less turbulent. The good thing about Monastery Beach is the divers. At least, we look out for each other even if we're perfect strangers. There were two other divers that had exited and were keeping an eye on those of us who were exiting. Brought two tanks but was tired and decided that fish and chips were a better alternative to a second dive.

It's good that you got trained in adverse conditions, Ben. Crawling out of the Breakwater when its calm is quite different then crawling out when the surf is crashing on your or behind you. It's during the adverse conditions that your training and calm mind are going to get you home safe.

 

[de629]

I also sdid my advanced dives there last weekend. Saturday the vizability was so bad I swam in to a rock (bolder?) i didn't see and they canceled the night dive we were supposed to make. On Sunday we did a long surface swim out before desending and went through the Metridium fields on the way back which was pretty cool. I only saw one fish the whole weekend...............

 

[dougchartier]

Galapagos was definitely the most exciting place I dived. The huge schools of hammerheads were pretty incredible, though we only saw them at Darwin. We didn't see any whale sharks, unfortunately.

The current in the Galapagos is significantly stronger than anything I've experienced in the Monterey area. That said, we dove Galapagos with only 50 dives under our belts (almost all tropical), and that was adequate. So long as you're comfortable underwater and in reasonable physical condition, you'll be fine. Hope you get out there soon!

@fisheater, exactly! Plus now I am a lot more comfortable with putting my gear together and taking it apart and using the new kit. This will make life more fun both here locally and on my dive trips to warm water. Dream is to dive Galapagos for hammerheads and whale sharks and with the advanced cold water current conditions there, Monterey is great training for it.

 

[Ben Prusinski]

Thanks Doug, I will save up for the Galapagos trip and continue with diving locally. This summer the plan is Cayman and Bonaire with Hawaii and next year I am looking at diving Cozumel and Palau/Truk/Yap. That should prepare me for Galapagos.

 

[dougchartier]

All great places to dive. Have fun!