Dive Destinations- Monterey, CA

[Zen1300]

If the poll is used by readers to decide if they want to dive Monterey, then full disclosure and appropriate preparation will prevent bitter disappointments. Maybe I am overstating, but it reflects my limited sphere of visibility.

Ok, so I'm a newbie here and to diving, but it would seem to me to be silly yo decide if you want to dive somewhere based on a poll on a forum (even Scubaboard), and even dangerous if you used the poll as your only source to prepare and plan for a dive there.

I lived in Monterey for several years and if its as beautiful below as it is above, I hope to someday experience it. But I'll be sure to be experienced enough and prepared to do so.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I would consider Monterey a world class destination simply because I haven't gotten out much around the world to know any better.
I think what makes Monterey nice is of course the diving, but also the topside stuff to do. It's a great town to go out in during the evening and get dinner and party it up a little. The tourist trap side of it isn't overwhelming either.
Is the diving better than the North Coast? in Monterey Bay no, but in Carmel most of the time yes, with vis at least.

I like to hunt, so to me the penninsula is beautiful and great for looky loo diving but I prefer the North Coast for what I like to do.
I have seen close to 90" viz up in Mendocino County with tons of huge fish, tons of colorful growth etc. that would blow Monterey into the weeds (at least in my view). So does that make it world class? to me it does, but due to the lack of boat charters, topside services, and attractions, to most people it would not.

I hate to tell you this but I think most people would pick warm tropical water with lots of topside fun for family over any cold water diving. Not that I've done much warm water diving, but that seems to be what most divers always talk about.

 

[deadbilly]

To me, "world class" means "as good as or better than the other best places in the world," it doesn't necessarily have anything to do with accessibility or availability. There are many world class spots within my skill and comfort zone, and many without. My (or anyone else's) ability to dive them safely doesn't alter their status.

That said, I would certainly qualify Carmel as world class.

 

[fisheater]

The "cold" water is one of the things that helps make this a "world class" dive destination.

Asides from the rich and diverse undersea life (kelp forests and all), it also means that your average diver is skilled. Diving with skilled divers is, for me, a great feature.

 

[TSandM]

To me, "world class" means I came out of the water with a grin from ear to ear. I felt that way about the last ten feet of the dives on the Bunaken walls in Indonesia, and about the Thistlegorm wreck in the Red Sea, and about the dives at Julian Rocks in Australia. Those were all warm water sites, and all had their challenges, like current and surge. But Monterey (and Port Hardy, BC) are comparable in terms of water clarity, color, dramatic topography and biodiversity. Handling shore entries (which I do poorly), cold water, surge and current are the diving skills I need to access these world class sites, but it doesn't make them any less amazing.

Akimbo, I agree that anyone contemplating diving Monterey needs to know that the water can be pretty cold, and that they will deal with surf and surge. I would hope anyone planning a trip would look into those things.

 

[zf2nt]

From reading the posts so far, it's fairly obvious that those of us who dive the Monterey area regularly know this is one of the best diving destinations in the world. Personally, I built my retirement home on Little Cayman only to discover I like diving here much more than in the Cayman Islands. That house sits empty 11 months out of the year now.

But let me offer another perspective, one the poll was trying to capture. As a Monterey area dive shop owner, I organize a lot of divemaster-led guided dives for visitors from out of the area. The average person taking such a tour has never dived in cold water and probably has never dived from shore. He may have a big stack of certification cards, but the odds are high he can't even put his own fins on. He might show up with his 3mm wet suit and ask if that is enough, then insist all he needs is 10 pounds of lead. When he goes to put his gear together, about half of the time he puts the 1st stage on backwards and tries to screw the yoke nut into the valve face. And guess what: he has a perfectly miserable time diving, all thanks to the lousy equipment, lousy visibility, cold, surge, etc., etc. I cannot count the number of times I have had to tow a customer back to shore because fear of the water so incapacitated him that he couldn't do anything for himself.

The exception seems to be the European visitors. By and large, they do have cold water experience and generally know what they're doing. I often hear them exclaim, "That was the greatest dive I've ever done!" And I guess that's what keeps me doing it. Every time I take a first-timer out and watch his face light up when the see the big corynactus stands on Granite Point Wall or see somebody fascinated by all the giant rose anemones as we skip from peak to peak on our way back from Lone Metridium, it makes it all worthwhile. But then the next tour I take out turns out to be a whiner who is in utter disbelief when I explain he's going to have to surface swim for 100 yards. Oh well. At least we locals know what we have here!

Bruce

 

[PKHamrick]

OOPS!!! I voted "world class" and am not in the target audience...

I now live on the Monterey Bay, but I only moved here after diving and falling in love with our local waters...