First time diving Monterey - Cypress on 3/22

[sladerer]

I appreciate all the advice. I'm usually not much of an advice person (it's generally like therapy
seeking - looking for an excuse or looking for an accomplice), but I have a tremendous amount of
respect for the ocean (I've lived near it and played in/on it most of my life) and really just
wanted a few pointers. I was hoping to find folks in this forum who were knowledgeable
about local conditions (check), would appreciate that we are interested in diving them (check,
I think), and would offer their best advice without being judgemental (partial check).

1) With 53 and 40 dives respectively, my wife and I are a long way from pros, but we've
done both beach and boat diving, have taken specialty training to improve our overall understanding
of diving and improve our diving skills, and will be taking the SSI Stress and Rescue class the next
time our shop offers it. We have enough dives to understand the principal and practice of using
enough weight (regardless of tank material) to be slightly negative at the end of the dive (and to
effectively add/remove air in the BC to stay neutral throughout). We record our dives in detail and
use this information to help us prepare for our next dives. The setup/weight configurations I provided
earlier aren't the only ones we've used, but what was successful for us on our recent dives, so basic
informaion about freshwater to saltwater for me and 3mm w/AL to 7mm w/ST for her was what I
needed, and mostly got.

2) Equipment familiarity. We bought my wife's BCD and reg during our first post cert trip
as we figured out quickly she wasn't terribly comfortable in the rental gear. The woman's cut BC
with trim pockets immediately improved her overall physical comfort and that quickly translated to
more relaxed diving. I've got 30 dives in my equipment. The only thing new for this trip
is the temp, and the farmer john/jacket for her. I've honestly never been uncomfortable or
nervous in or under the water. Respectful and properly cautious and prepared, yes, but never
anxious - though I'm sure my local instructor will work on that during S&R ;-)

3) I'm not sure what it accomplishes to call us "warm water divers". We're divers, interested
in experiencing a lot (if not all) of what the world's oceans have to offer, whether warm, cold,
fresh, salt, deep, shallow, whatever. Next month will mark 2 years since our OW cert - in that 2
years we've dove Hawaii, FL Keys, Seychelles, Antigua, Cabo, Caymans, Cozumel and I've done
St Lawrence wreck dives. Rookies, maybe, but avid enthusiasts. Warm water, so far, but now
we're actively seeking new experiences. I don't take offense easily and assume the point of this
was to make clear this is really is something new and something we can't really understand until
we do it - point taken. Just help us understand what you do to stay warm and what you did
right or wrong when it was "new". The tip on hat/gloves/parka/hand warmers is a geat tidbit
and I probably wouldn't hae thought of all of them.

If it's your opinion we should do a beach dive first, I respect that. Our OW cert was beach
dives fighting 2 to 3 ft waves - maybe cake compared to MB but tough enough for our first
non-pool, saltwater, weighted beach walk, fight through the surf zone diving. I vote with Tim
that gear up and drop off a boat is much less stressful and task loading. Either way, logistics
will prevent me from a beach dive on Saturday, so I've got to make Sunday boat dives
as successful as I can and prepare as much as possible.

As for time management, our Cozumel trip was 5 days, 14 dives, 2 boat dives each morning
with 10 mins gear up warnings. I do appreciate the advice on putting on our boots/lowers
in the parking area to accomodate the short boat ride times - very handy - and the
parking tips (I've spent a couple of weekends in Monterey over the last couple years
but didn't really need to drive around).

Thanks again everyone.

 

[bbianchi]

Erm, so dude...

2-3 ft waves here is what we consider lake like... plus its totally different due to swell periods, cant really be compared too easily.

Also congrats on your Cozumel dives. One thing *I* have noticed from boat diving here and other places, is that Monterey boats are unique, as is the dive culture here. Any and all advice be it taken as slightly overboard/rude/overbearing/whatever was and is only meant to help and inform you. IMHO not considering Technical Diving.. there is Diving and then there is Monterey diving. There are far too many unique conditions and hazards here that make it a different beast. If you wanted you could shore dive with a minimal swim to thousands of feet here, granted I dont think anyone would want to.

Either way take some or all of the advice given as its coming from some very solid divers. In the end be safe enjoy your dives, and remember: Stop, Think, Act.

 

[mikemill]

If you wanted you could shore dive with a minimal swim to thousands of feet here, granted I dont think anyone would want to.

Well want to is one thing. Want to deal with all the **** to do it is another thing I'd love go see what type of animals were down there (again maybe not...). But the whole crush depth and gas problems don't make that possible

@ sladerer
I don't think anyone here wants to discourage you from diving here. We just want to make sure you have a fun and safe time.

 

[Hinalo]

Keep in mind also that there are no DMs in the water leading dives off the boats here in Monterey. You are really on your own, so good navigational skills are valuable. The DMs on the boat will give good dive briefings so your should have a pretty good idea what the site is like. Good thing about Carmel/Monterey is that most places you can hang out fairly close to the anchor line and see a ton of life on the rocks and walls.

 

[sladerer]

Yep - read and understood. The culture point is a good one and comes through loud
and clear. (I can tell you the folks in Ottawa feel the same way about their ripping
drift dives and standing out like a flag in a gale on the descent/ascent line :-D)
That isn't meant in anyway to downplay the uniqueness or challenges of Montery - i've
been out on the bay several times and seen how quick it can go from flat to "not
so flat". I grew up boating with my Dad on the Chesapeake and know how fickle
she can be - Chessie that is, not my Dad ;-)

I don't doubt every piece of advice in this thread was offered to educate and prepare,
and even if a bit blunt I don't discount any of it.

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

You are warm water divers. Monterey ain't the tropics. The water's COLD,
it's murky, there's surge, and you are wearing a lot more gear than you are
used to. Perhaps most importantly, you are wearing a lot more exposure
protection, so your buoyancy change with depth will be much greater. Most
warm water divers have lousy buoyancy control because with a thin (or
no) suit, you can get away with it. You can't in a Monterey suit.

Please understand that every couple of years we have a warm water diver
die here. These deaths are all out of proportion to the number of warm
water divers.

Also note the sea conditions forecast for Sunday:

.SUN...NW WINDS 20 TO 30 KT. WIND WAVES 4 TO 6 FT. W SWELL 10 TO
13 FT. CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS...
THEN SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS.

 

[ae3753]

I was just saying that the diver actually doesn't need to add 5 pounds if they're using a steel tank because the steel tank is less buoyant (not more heavy, thanks for that catch, that's definitely wrong) so the loss of buoyancy cancels out the need to add more weight due to the air change.

This is incorrect.

What Chuck said about being "five pounds heavy with a full tank" applies for aluminum and steel tanks.

Steel tank's less buoyant nature does not cancel the need to add additional weight as the result of the air change. Following Chuck's example, you have a full steel tank. With no air in your BCD, you can hold a safety stop at 15' with let's say 12#s of lead. So to hold the same safety stop at the end of your dive, you need 17#s of lead.

Aluminum tanks are more buoyant so you will need more lead. However, the adding of weight to compensate for the air change still applies. With a full aluminum tank, let's say you need 17#s of lead. At the end of the dive with an empty aluminum tank, you'll need 22#s.

For your canceling scenario to work you be using a full aluminum tank to get your initial weighting. And instead of adding 5#s to compensate for air used during the dive, you switch over to a steel tank for the actual dive. In this case, it would have been easier to start with a full steel tank to begin with.

 

[ae3753]

Also note the sea conditions forecast for Sunday:

.SUN...NW WINDS 20 TO 30 KT. WIND WAVES 4 TO 6 FT. W SWELL 10 TO
13 FT. CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS...
THEN SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS.

Hmmm... those are pretty rough conditions.

@sladerer: I had similar level experience and similar diving history when I did my first Monterey boat dive. I was a warm water diver (from Texas) and had just moved back to the Bay Area.

The advice provided by the MoCal divers may be strongly worded, but they are not off base and they really have your best interest at heart. My first Monterey boat dive was quite uncomfortable, and I'd prefer for people to have a better experience than that.

One additional piece of advice: Follow the anchor line all the way to the bottom, do not do a free descent. On your way up, use the anchor line as well. This will make your first boat dive out here much more enjoyable (and a lot safer).

 

[mikemill]

One additional piece of advice: Follow the anchor line all the way to the bottom, do not do a free descent. On your way up, use the anchor line as well. This will make your first boat dive out here much more enjoyable (and a lot safer).

So true! Oh and don't be afraid to just chill near the anchor line. There is so much life down there that you don't have to go far.