Monastery Beach Dive!

[Courtneyf82]

I went on my first Monastery dive a few hrs ago and OMG it was incredible, surf zone was so flat we just waded in, not even a foot high. once we got past the zone and got down to 50ft, the viz was incredible!! like 45+ft, there is soooo much more life there, and its right offshore!!

We went over to the edge of the dropoff to peek over and got dive bombed by a couple of seals, everything is way bigger there too!! Nudis so big, I thought they were sponges until I got closer. I wish it was this calm there more often, Ive seen people get wrecked there before and get lost in a cloud of sand and scuba gear.

Now I want to plan a night dive there, but I have a feeling I might be a little low on the food chain at times, with that resident GW Ive heard hangs out around there...... nevermind. Anyway, this got me thinking, what was YOUR first Monastery dive like? Were you as amazed as me?....maybe....maybe not? What did you see? Let me Know!!

And for all those who have never been to Monastery, DREAMS CAN COME TRUE!!!!!

 

[Rick Inman]

Few years ago I came down from Washington to dive Monterey, and of course everyone on the internet told me I would surely die a horrible death if I dived Mortuary Beach. So of course I did, several times over the next two weeks.

I hired a guide to introduce me to the local Monterey shore dives, and he refused to take me to this place of death, preferring the Breakwater and Pt. Lobos, so I had to go it alone. Some days there was little surf, some days it was rough – and yes, there is a narley shore break. Timing is everything. I watched people check it out and leave, and others do the M. crawl upon exiting, but I never felt the need to do this. Timing is everything.

Even when there was some current, there was enough structure around the kelp beds that you can stay out of it.

I loved the place. It was my favorite site to dive in Monterey. Unfortunately, on my last visit last year, it wasn’t divable. There were winter storms, 5’ shore breaks, and they had bulldozed tons of sand into the cove cutting the vis to zero. Bummer.

Can’t wait to go back!

 

[kosstamogen]

Did my first time there last month in giant surf crashing down up to my ankles as well. Definitely a great day awesome viz 45-50. I didn't expect that final step off the beach though it's a doozie, from knee deep to chest deep in 1-2 steps. The south side has these great kelp covered areas that are cathedral like.

So far I have only dove in California, and I have to say that I like Catalina better even though Mortuary beach is great. I like diving the Valiant and I think that the viz is comparable to Mortuary. Also like that whole walking down steps idea a lot better than beach entrances. That being said I can't wait for the next chance to go there to sharpen my beach entrance skills.

 

[dsafanda]

what was YOUR first Monastery dive like?

I had a great dive at Monastery when I dove it for the first time about a month ago and am looking forward to many more dives at that beach. However, I still prefer Pt.Lobos.

 

[RikRaeder]

I dove Monastery 20 years ago for my initial YMCA cert. Instructor said we were quite lucky (although he never taught anything about such things, I think there was an upwelling that day). Visibility was crystal clear to about 40 feet. You could see the bottom quite well from on top of the kelp (while practicing kelp crawling).

We didn't see any life, however, except for one other group of divers as we decended. We did see the tail half of a small leopard shark sitting on the bottom though. The next week, someone was bitten by a GW (resident or not). It's ok though, it was just a spear fishing free diver. He survived to swim again.

There seems to be about one a year at Monastery, but from what I've heard, never a SCUBA diver.

I loved Monastery and would love to go back. It sure beat the bejesus out of our first days certification diving at Cannery Row. Yeah, take the newbies diving in 3' visibility!
:blackbat:

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

The key to Monastery is knowing when to walk away. When it's good, it's great, when
it's not good, it's horrid.

That shark-bit freediver ended up dying free diving in the Red Sea. Proabable
shallow-water blackout.


Chuck

 

[RikRaeder]

That shark-bit freediver ended up dying free diving in the Red Sea. Proabable
shallow-water blackout.
Chuck

We're talking 1986 here, right? 20 years ago? There are bites at that beach almost annualy. There and surfers in Santa Cruz.

 

[Deuces]

Good for you!

I'm hoping to go to Monastery this weekend. We were supposed to go 2 weeks ago but the breaks were crazy so we just went around the little point to Butterfly House. It was beautiful! We went down to 90' and the viz was AT LEAST 35 ft., probably more, I was too amazed at how awesome the scenery was to think about it. It's making me totally itch to see Monastery.

 

[mweitz]

Only 1 EVER reported attack at Monastery, and only 1 reported attack ever at Lobos. Now, I would believe 1 death a year at Monastery. People get tumbled in the surf zone and panic. If you are having a problem, simply swim back out of the surf zone, tie your gear off to some kelp and swim in without it. Once you and your buddy are in safely you can go out and retrieve your gear one at a time.

A total of 7 reported attacks in Montery if memory serves me correctly.

I believe there is some speculation that the gentleman that was bitten at Monastery and passed in the Red Sea suffered some lung damage from the attack which may have contributed to his passing, per a personal friend of his.

Mark

We're talking 1986 here, right? 20 years ago? There are bites at that beach almost annualy. There and surfers in Santa Cruz.

 

[RikRaeder]

I'll take your word on the bite stats. I guess I've just confused Monterey with Monastery. My mistake. So the guy who got bitten twenty years ago WAS the diver who took his last dive in the Red Sea. Small world. Thanks for the correction and info.