Best Alternative to Breakwater

[sammyman]

My wife and I have been diving Breakwater for the last few years. I was hoping to try something different for our next dive. She is extremely scared of sharks, and isn't comfortable in water that is too deep. Where are some other good alternatives to breakwater? I am looking for a shore dive that is something different, yet beginner? Any suggestions?

 

[sniper5]

First off, the risk of shark attack in Monterey Bay is almost non existent. There have only been 2 attacks on divers in recorded history. Consider the number of divers in the water each year and that is an incredibly low number. If the Breakwater is rough, our usual second choice is Lovers, just because it is usually calm when the wind is blowing into the Breakwater. Usually better in the winter tho, when the kelp has cleared out. You might also try McAbee beach by El Torito. Or, if the sea is calm try the beach by Monterey Bay Kayaks and get directions to the sailboat. It's marked with a buoy so it's easy to find. All of these areas run about 40 feet or shallower which shouldn't be too scary.

 

[urmaddad]

Try Cannery Row. It is just down the street from Breakwater.

 

[pacificgal]

I like Coral Street. It's easy to find (once you find Coral Street, enter the water there) and the entry is easy too. I won't ever do a dive where someone whose never been there isn't there with me, not sure if that's common for everyone.

 

[eric gundrum]

Or, if the sea is calm try the beach by Monterey Bay Kayaks and get directions to the sailboat. It's marked with a buoy so it's easy to find.

I've done one day of diving at "Del Monte Beach" and I loved it. It's a bit like a desert -- lots of sand -- but with many an oasis of eel grass full of interesting critters. I saw a huge sunflower star, for instance, and innumerable tiny spanish shawls. I may have been lucky to have good visibility; I don't really know what's normal there. We probably swam as much as a minute or two between patches of grass, but there are things to see in the sand if you keep your eyes open. (It was in the sand that I saw the largest nudibranch I'd ever seen.)

Depth ranges from 20' to about 40'. I think you'd have to swim a mile to get deeper. (You might have to swim a mile to get to 40'.) This is very much a beginner shore dive. Waves were less than two feet, if I recall correctly. (But more powerful near the wharf.) I had never dove there before, and my buddy (for the day) was less experienced than I was. (Our "guide" called in sick but suggested we go without him.)

Some of the downside: long swims, no showers, limited parking (get there early). Could be boring if you don't have an open mind the the possibilities.

As part of our first dive, we swam to the tender straight out from the kayak shop, dropped to the bottom. We then meandered along the bottom to the wharf, checking out the eel grass patches along the way. Once at the wharf, we headed back to shore, examining the outer edge of the piers as we went. The eel grass was great, but I don't think the wharf is a good place for unguided beginners (unless you understand the risks).

For our second dive, we kicked out past the tender to a buoy that I think was marking a boat channel or the edge of the boat moorings. We dropped to about 28' and went searching for the sunken aqua-track. Eventually we found it, then went searching for the shale beds. We never saw the sunken sailboat. We found big fish around the aqua-track, interesting critters in the cracks of the shale and more interesting critters along the way. We were thrilled that we actually found the aqua-track.

Overall it was a great day of diving for a pair of divers with fewer then thirty dives between them. One of these days I plan to take my regular buddy (our sick "guide") there and show him all that we found. (As it turned out, I pulled out a couple of cans of Bud for him. )

 

[dannobee]

I second the Coral Street recommendation. Try to catch an incoming tide, the vis will be better and if you drift anywhere, it will be back toward Lover's.

Bring your snorkel because there is a lot to see in the shallows.

Depth is 40 ish max unless you kick WAY outside the kelp.

 

[sladerer]

Wife and I dove McAbee in June. A very nice, not too deep dive with plenty to see.

 

[jon m]

I second the Coral Street recommendation, too
lots of shallow topography. we drop in 10'-15' , never reach more than 35'...

 

[CA_Diver]

I LOVE Lover's! =) Inner Lover's is well protected from the persistent swell, so the entry is pretty easy on most days. If it's too burly to enter at Inner Lover's, it's probably not a good day to dive anyway. In terms of what to dive, I have two favorites. If it's really calm, then there is a shallow reefy area to right of the of the beach. You just need to swim around that little outcropping of rocks, and you'll experience a dive in about 10-15ft of water with an awesome array of colorful seaweeds, rockfish hiding under rocks and crevices, and crustaceans. There are just tons of things to see here if you look closely enough. Sometimes a juvenile harbor seal will hop off his rock to follow you around and check you out. The other dive requires a little bit more of a surface swim, but is well worth it if its not super rough and you don't mind 10-15min of leisurely kicking on the surface. This is the "research buoy" (at least this is what our group of friends call it, not sure if it has a real name or not) area which can be found under the western kelp patch at the end of the long clearing in the kelp (you'll see what I mean when you get there). It's basically once you're at the end of this clearing, or when you can't figure out where the clearing is anymore. From my understanding, UC Santa Cruz puts some buoys in the area for research dives. They don't move around much, but do get taken out before the stormy season. In this area in about 40ft of water (it's hard to really go much deeper than 45ft even if you were to stick your head in a hole), you'll find some rocky pinnacles covered in tons of things to admire. I can probably burn an entire tanks just swimming around just one of these pinnacles. I haven't gotten bearing on it, but I just basically find a big patch of kelp and follow it down. If you don't land right on one, swim around a bit and you should be able to find one. The area in between closer to shore is also good, but I found it's more sandy so vis isn't as good as it is around the "research buoy" area.

Another good dive at "Breakwater-ish" is the cannery pipe. It's on the opposite side (west/north?) of the long parking strip that parallels the beach at the breakwater. The pipe basically comes out where the bathrooms are. Just swimming along that pipe is a great dive, tons of things to see and hard to get lost. It does get deeper as you get further along the pipe maybe like 50ft max (don't quote me), but then you can just turn back around.

These sites are just my opinion, but there's tons of great diving in Monterey. Good Luck, Happy Diving!

 

[TSandM]

I really loved Carmel River Beach. I'm not a local, so I don't know what the determinants of it being divable are, but it isn't deep and there's a lot of structure and tons of life. The entry and exit are over smooth sand (not with a weird break like Monastery) but I still got knocked down getting out