Dangers to watch out for diving in Monterey area?

[fuzzybabybunny]

Ok, some burning questions I have about Monterey:

1. Are you actually safe from sharks in the kelp? My guess is no.

2. How dangerous is it to be in completely open water? ie. 40+ feet, no kelp, no other life in sight, a long way from shore.

3. Will sea lions or seals bite you? They can get awfully close...

4. Will a small 4" knife with blunt tip + serrated and straight edges + line cutter work well enough for SCUBA + spearfishing? Or am I looking for something longer for spearfishing with a sharp tip?

5. I saw a dying mola mola with its fins bitten off being eaten alive by a starfish. Even without the starfish, it would sadly spiral down to the ground due to not having any fins. Would it be ok to put it out of its misery if I had a knife?

6. Will eels bite hard and through your wetsuit if you accidentally put your hand right outside their hole?

7. Any super dangerous things I need to watch out for around these parts?

 

[aquaregia]

1. Are you actually safe from sharks in the kelp? My guess is no.

2. How dangerous is it to be in completely open water? ie. 40+ feet, no kelp, no other life in sight, a long way from shore.

The UCSC swim team does a fundraiser swim relay from Santa Cruz to Monterey. This year, the Landlord came to say hi. They got on the boat as a precaution, but He didn't really bother them. They said it was neat to see a white shark so close.

I'd be way more concerned about getting hit and killed by a marathon runner at San Carlos beach.

3. Will sea lions or seals bite you? They can get awfully close...

They bite my fins and once I had a harbor seal hug me. So... maybe?

5. I saw a dying mola mola with its fins bitten off being eaten alive by a starfish. Even without the starfish, it would sadly spiral down to the ground due to not having any fins. Would it be ok to put it out of its misery if I had a knife?

Those sea lions are real sons of.... I wouldn't hesitate to put a disabled mola mola out.

7. Any super dangerous things I need to watch out for around these parts?

Monastery Beach.

 

[kathydee]

Welcome to scuba diving! It's great to see you are so excited about the sport & want to become aware of our local hazards.

Breakwater is the perfect place to build skill and learn about local diving. I'd second the advice about not diving solo. It's always more fun to dive with a buddy anyway .

I remember being frightened of sharks when I first started diving here ,but in over 200 I have yet to see one - ok just a couple of very cute leopard sharks which are 3-4ft bottom dwellers and totally harmless. Many locals have done thousands of dives without a sighting.

I can share a very valuable piece of advice I received when new to the area: Stay away from Monastery Beach until you truly understand the dangers of the site. Don’t let anyone convince you otherwise.

Be safe and have fun.

 

[kathydee]

Glad things turned out ok in the end but this may be a good read:

New Monterey Diver Information

Nice post Ken,

Just want to highlight the part about safe kelp diving: Kelp Diving Information

 

[Jim Ernst]

Ok, some burning questions I have about Monterey:

1. Are you actually safe from sharks in the kelp? My guess is no.

2. How dangerous is it to be in completely open water? ie. 40+ feet, no kelp, no other life in sight, a long way from shore.

3. Will sea lions or seals bite you? They can get awfully close...

4. Will a small 4" knife with blunt tip + serrated and straight edges + line cutter work well enough for SCUBA + spearfishing? Or am I looking for something longer for spearfishing with a sharp tip?

5. I saw a dying mola mola with its fins bitten off being eaten alive by a starfish. Even without the starfish, it would sadly spiral down to the ground due to not having any fins. Would it be ok to put it out of its misery if I had a knife?

6. Will eels bite hard and through your wetsuit if you accidentally put your hand right outside their hole?

7. Any super dangerous things I need to watch out for around these parts?

If you get lucky enough to see a shark, you are blessed, 1219 dives in Monterey, Never seen one yet, Sea Lions, no we have never had an attack reported, You solo diving, Not a good idea, You are way to new, 4 pm, you should have waited an Hour or two, you would have found night divers coming in soon after that, Stop solo diving at this new stage, and stop scaring Yourself! Now get some more experience with Dive buddies that know the area and have fun!!

 

[dannobee]

1. You won't see any Great White Sharks. They're out there, but the big ones are smart and can tell that you're not a seal or sea lion.

2. If you're waaay out from BW or Lover's Point, the biggest risk that I can see is boat traffic. Treat it as an overhead environment. Also, you lose any reference you have with respect to depth. Make sure you don't ascend too fast.

3. The sea lions will buzz you, blow bubbles in your face, and even bark at you underwater. Take out your reg and bark back. I've never heard of our sea lions biting. (different story for So Cal ones-I've heard stories of bites down there). Maybe ours are more laid back.

4. While a knife is fine, the risk at Breakwater, as mentioned before, is fishing line. A pair of EMT Shears can be purchased for around $5, and work far better. You can actually cut a penny in half with a pair. Far faster and easier to use than a knife. Most tech divers I know carry a pair of shears and a knife.

5. Most people let nature take its course. It's been going on long before scuba.

6. If you're fortunate enough to see an eel, please look but don't touch. They're animals with poor eyesight. And some animals are neurotic, just like some people.

7. There's really not much dangerous out there, except kelp and boaters. It sounds like you have to kelp part down.

I don't know if I'd be diving solo with so few dives. There is no dearth of people to dive with at most of the local sites. Introduce yourself and meet some new people. They might even be from scubaboard.

Now, as far as Monastery goes, it is not a site that you should be afraid of, but you should respect it. It's a beautiful shore diving spot, but can be very dangerous. If you haven't dived there, please go with someone who has.

An experienced Monastery diver can walk in and out in in conditions that would drown other people. Local knowledge is paramount if you want to be the former.

I can round up a few other instructors who can teach a rough water entry/exit at Monastery if there's enough interest.

 

[pacificgal]

Dan, I think everyone could use training in rough water entries and exits. Surf can kick up at any time, if that's a skill that can be learned, you know I would be first in line.

 

[Lenaxia]

Yup... It was 4PM and my dive buddy had already left to go home but I still wanted to go dive, so I did. There was no one else around at that time. Why do you guys clock out so soon?

I think this is a question that has been glossed over that should be addressed.

fuzzy, I think it is really important to understand the risks of solo diving and the purpose behind buddy diving. Especially being a new diver you don't have the skills nor the experience to properly deal with any kind of equipment malfunction underwater, that is the main reason behind not solo diving.

I can swim 100meters on a single breath with no gear. I can free dive to 40ft with ease. I can hold my breath until I pass out after over 3 minutes. But I still won't solo dive because I don't want to end up in a hyperbaric chamber after my 1st stage fails and I have to do a CESA from 60ft.


On to the second part of the question: Why do we clock out so soon?

Generally, most of us just do 2 dives and call it a day. It's convenient as 2 tanks is about the limit for easy transportation and sometimes we don't have access to a dive shop.

Incase you do have access to a dive shop like Glenn's then yeah, more than 2 dives is fine, I've done 4 dives in a single day before just walking into Glenn's and getting fills.

The other reason why people clock out so early is because of water conditions. 90% of the time, the best conditions are early in the morning. After that conditions many times (though not always) will deteriorate. After you've been diving for a while and the novelty wears off, diving in poor conditions isn't really that fun anymore and thus people avoid afternoon diving.

Like jellyfish.... killer jellyfish... that will eat you alive... they'll wrap their tentacles around you and rip your flesh from your bones... it happens... they were after me... I swear!

Anyway, thats why we clock out so early. Not to mention doing 4 dives in a day is considered a lot, its pushing yourself and when diving you want to avoid ALL stress as it leads to increased chances of DCS. Yes... it can hit you.

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/as...just-how-often-does-undeserved-dcs-occur.html
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ask-dr-decompression/358076-do-undeserved-hits-happen.html

Another thing to be conscious of is that it is NEVER wrong to call a dive.

My buddy or I have all called dives during all 3 of my past dive weekends. The first was because my buddy got sea sick due to rough conditions; we called our last 2 dives. The second was called because of rain; yes, rain; my buddy doesn't like diving in miserable weather.

The third was more interesting. We drove 3 hours to Sonoma because NOAA said conditions would be right. We called our second dive on the 1st day because conditions were rough, then on the 2nd day I called the last 2 dives because I couldn't keep my dry suit dry; I flooded my zipper, a glove, my pee valve and my neck seal. It was a bad weekend.

All of these resulted in unused tanks but the important thing is I am still alive. I don't know what could've happened but I will not push my luck. Remember, 10 ft of water is more than enough to kill you.

You should spend some time in the http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/accidents-incidents/ forum. Read what signs people noticed before things go wrong. One theme you will notice is the "I should've known it was going to be a bad dive" thought. As soon as ANYTHING goes wrong, the likely hood of something else going wrong skyrockets.

 

[dlndavid]

I don't know if I'd be diving solo with so few dives. There is no dearth of people to dive with at most of the local sites. Introduce yourself and meet some new people. They might even be from scubaboard.

or maybe even Fred.

 

[Lenaxia]

Here is another thread on solo diving that I think is very constructive:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/basic-scuba-discussions/358051-solo-diving.html