Diving weather?

[Shasta_man]

How do you read the weather and conditions to know whether you can dive?

I know if it's storming, you can't go, thanks.

My question is how to read the buoy and swells, etc info that you can find on the web.

How do you read the conditions to decide to go?

I'm concerned about weather for shorediving here in Monterey.

Thanks

 

[scubajunkee]

Hi there,

I use a number of tools to determine when I should go diving in Monterey. I look at the swell report from this site:

http://weather.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/fmtbltn.pl?file=forecasts/marine/coastal/pz/pzz535.txt

I usually look for a low NW swell, up to 6-7ft, but prefer 0-5ft in height. Whether it rains or not doesn't matter too much to me, since I'm underwater anyway.

But pretty much every weekend, you CAN find a place to dive in Monterey. I usually start in Carmel, like Pt. Lobos or Monastery and work my way back to Monterey (Breakwater), if the conditions aren't diveable.


Ericson

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

Shasta_man: http://www.garlic.com/~triblet/swell/wamglance.html pulls it all together
in one place.

scubajunkee: That's the Monterey Bay forecast. Ideally, you'ld like to go to Monastery
or Pt. Lobos, right? That's covered by the Pigeon Pt. to Pt. Piedras Blancas forecast.
And the Monterey Bay forecast has a problem: It's almost always flat SOMEWHERE
in Monterey Bay, but the forecast doesn't tell you where. By looking at the offshore
forecast, you see what King Neptune is throwing at us and can infer what Monterey
will be like. My personal rule is based on the offshore forecast, and really simple:
If it's a NW swell and over 8', stay home.
If it's a W swell and over 10', stay home.
Otherwise, GO DIVING.

 

[scubajunkee]

Chuck,

Thanks for the clarification on the Monterey vs. the Pigeon Pt. Forecast. I remember bookmarking the latter, but forgotten about it.

Thanks,
Ericson

 

[Shasta_man]

Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks as always.