Going to Monterey Bay, CA Dive Sites??

[Aardal]

I'm going to California for spring break and will be in San Fransico area. Does anyone know of a place in Monterey Bay to go Diving or near by like San Jose. Hey Mario, I hear you live in California can you help!!!
Aaron

 

[Triton]

Aardal,

There are actually plenty of areas to dive in Monterey and the Carmel area, from begginer all the way to advance diving.

On weekends, the begginer sites like Breakwater and McAbee beach will get really crowded with students doing their open water dives. It is not uncommon to see up to 300 divers on these beaches, so you might want to get there early to get the best parking.

The water right now in Monterey is about 52F so make sure to dress appropriately.

There are a few dive shops in the area but right now I can only remember 2 http://www.mantaraydive.com and http://www.aquariusdivers.com these shops can also give you information on some of the boats that go out of Monterey if you don't feel like doing a beach dive.

Here is a site that will tell you a little bit more about the most popular sites in Monterey.

http://darwin.bio.uci.edu/~rvilla/mont.html

Have fun diving.

 

[Aardal]

Triton,

Thanks for the websites! This will help me tremendously....I assume that a 2pc 6.5 mm suit will be sufficient for 52 degrees?

Aaron

 

[Triton]

Aardal,

Your 2 piece suit should be enough, I use a 6.5mm full suit for these waters and have not had a problem with getting cold. Usually if I get cold it would be in between dives, so I will go to a nearby snack bar for hot chocolate or coffee and be nice and warm for the second dive.

Hope this helps and looking forward to hear how your dive goes.