Eric Sedletzky
Contributor
Welcome to the board!
If you want to just get your feet wet and start slow I recommend doing a handful of shore dives off San Carlos Beach (Breakwater) in Monterey.
Like has been mentioned already, sea lions, kelp, fish, small critters in the rocks, and an opportunity to get wet.
If you want to start out in wetsuits, I recommend getting 7mm freediving suits. They are much warmer than basic scuba suits found in most dive shops and rental fleets. The difference is that freediving suits don’t have zippers and they are usually slick skin inside which seals on your body better. They are generally made out of higher quality material.
Just using cheap 7mm two piece scuba suits with zippers and separate hoods or one piece back zip suits with a hooded vest will not keep you warm enough due to the constant flow of cold water running through all the gaps, layers, and zippers. You will be cold and miserable, and most people who start out in those think that’s as good as wetsuits get and end up buying a drysuit.
Freediving suits are different, they have attached hoods and even though they are two piece they seal very well and are warm. Mako here on scubaboard is a good place to start. There are also dedicated freedive shops that specialize in those suits.
That’s the one piece of advice I have for successfully diving wet around here and enjoying it.
I dive north of San Francisco up on the north coast. We have some great diving too if you ever get sick of Monterey. Lot’s of shore diving spots, nice calm coves, rocky terrain, a lot of interesting underwater structure. The vis is generally not as good as Carmel/ Monterey though and it’s more exposed, but a lot less people.
If you want to just get your feet wet and start slow I recommend doing a handful of shore dives off San Carlos Beach (Breakwater) in Monterey.
Like has been mentioned already, sea lions, kelp, fish, small critters in the rocks, and an opportunity to get wet.
If you want to start out in wetsuits, I recommend getting 7mm freediving suits. They are much warmer than basic scuba suits found in most dive shops and rental fleets. The difference is that freediving suits don’t have zippers and they are usually slick skin inside which seals on your body better. They are generally made out of higher quality material.
Just using cheap 7mm two piece scuba suits with zippers and separate hoods or one piece back zip suits with a hooded vest will not keep you warm enough due to the constant flow of cold water running through all the gaps, layers, and zippers. You will be cold and miserable, and most people who start out in those think that’s as good as wetsuits get and end up buying a drysuit.
Freediving suits are different, they have attached hoods and even though they are two piece they seal very well and are warm. Mako here on scubaboard is a good place to start. There are also dedicated freedive shops that specialize in those suits.
That’s the one piece of advice I have for successfully diving wet around here and enjoying it.
I dive north of San Francisco up on the north coast. We have some great diving too if you ever get sick of Monterey. Lot’s of shore diving spots, nice calm coves, rocky terrain, a lot of interesting underwater structure. The vis is generally not as good as Carmel/ Monterey though and it’s more exposed, but a lot less people.
