Monastery: Calm to Rough: How fast?

[davidbaraff]

I thinking of trying Monastery this weekend, with a diver who's a few dives past O/W. I've only gone to Monastery once, and it was when it was dead calm, at which time it seemed same enough for anybody. (Some other divers in the group were just out of O/W, and their instructor, who was there, told them it was fine for them.)

My question: I'm not going to take this diver (or myself for that matter!) if the exit might be hazardous/difficult. If we go in and the conditions are really calm, I assume it's not going to change into dangerous surf on the drop of a dime. Right? Or, no, not right?

 

[Gombessa]

I've actually heard of this very kind of thing happening, at Monastery. I'm fearful enough of that beach to suggest not taking a newly certified diver there without being accompanied by someone who is very familiar with the site (at least for the first few dives there).

 

[pacificgal]

As someone who nearly drowned at Monastery upon entry, please do not take a new diver there, there are plenty of beautiful places in Monterey and Pacific Grove to dive to be able to avoid Monastery, it's simply not worth the risk.

 

[Anti-Hero]

How did you almost drown, if you don't mind me asking?

 

[mikemill]

When I did Monastery with Robin, Sarah, and Eric it was fairly calm when we went in (not a pancake but still fairly mild) and in the 30-45 mins we were down it turned quite a bit. Not horrible but certainly not gentle. Eric and I ended up just crawling out.

My advise would be to find someone who dives Monastery often that can clue you in to the subtle signs.

 

[pacificgal]

You can do a search for diver recovers from 10/9/04 accident,
but I'll tell you too.
I wasn't as experienced as I should have been, I didn't know enough to know what a non-divable day at Monastery looked like. I depended on my buddies and what they knew of my level of experience to determine what was a good dive for me. I shouldn't have tried.
I tried getting through the surf zone as I have been taught, air out of BCD, fins on, mask on, crawl through surf, lost my mask, lost a fin, was at the mercy of the surf, got tossed about as if in a washing machine, must have hit my head on my tank and lost consciousness.
I had waited for my dive buddies to get in so that I could see how it was done, and they were a bit far away when I got into trouble. They saw I had issues, one got to me and told me to keep my reg in my mouth, I nodded acknowledgement and passed out.
They pulled me out, gave me CPR, got an ambulance there, and then I spent the next 4 months in the hospital, 2 in a coma, 3 on a ventilator, 4 in total. They had to remove those monster berries from my lungs. I left the hospital in a wheelchair and on dialysis, the lack of oxygen to my organs caused kidney failure that didn't ever recover.
I went from a wheelchair to a walker, then to diving again.
It wasn't a diving accident, it was an entry accident. The last thing I remember was driving to Monterey that morning, and I think I actually said a prayer facing the Monastery when I entered.
I knew it was going to be a tough dive for me, but I was cocky and didn't know my limitations because I wasn't experienced enough.
I don't blame anyone but myself.
I am lucky to be alive, lucky to be walking, and will get a kidney transplant in the next 1-2 years so hopefully life will be normal after that. I still have some limitations, such as flexibility and the whole kidney-function thing, but I am so grateful to be alive, so grateful I had good dive buddies that day, and thankful to God that he let me live to dive another day.
I take nothing for granted anymore, and live every day as if it's my last.
I will not stop diving, but I will not dive Monastery again, no matter how much experience I have.

 

[pacificgal]

Now I'm afraid no one wants to dive with me

 

[pacificgal]

What I have learned through all this is dive within your limitations, and don't be afraid to thumb a dive if you aren't sure you're capable. No one needs to be a hero. For me, diving needs to be fun, not necessarily a challenge.
I've done a considerable number of dives since my accident, at least 20, and granted I am not that strong anymore, as far as leg strength to climb over rocks and down stairs, but I know what my limits are and don't push them.

 

[Peter_C]

Not Monastery, but at Mcabee Beach we went in to ankle slappers and in 15 minutes came out to over head surf. I had a lot of respect for the ocean before and gained even more respect after that experience.

Use the swell charts to determine the long range forecast, but nothing is better than watching the site for a minutes, even though it could easily change while you are out diving.

 

[Anti-Hero]

You can do a search for diver recovers from 10/9/04 accident,
but I'll tell you too.
I wasn't as experienced as I should have been, I didn't know enough to know what a non-divable day at Monastery looked like. I depended on my buddies and what they knew of my level of experience to determine what was a good dive for me. I shouldn't have tried.
I tried getting through the surf zone as I have been taught, air out of BCD, fins on, mask on, crawl through surf, lost my mask, lost a fin, was at the mercy of the surf, got tossed about as if in a washing machine, must have hit my head on my tank and lost consciousness.
I had waited for my dive buddies to get in so that I could see how it was done, and they were a bit far away when I got into trouble. They saw I had issues, one got to me and told me to keep my reg in my mouth, I nodded acknowledgement and passed out.
They pulled me out, gave me CPR, got an ambulance there, and then I spent the next 4 months in the hospital, 2 in a coma, 3 on a ventilator, 4 in total. They had to remove those monster berries from my lungs. I left the hospital in a wheelchair and on dialysis, the lack of oxygen to my organs caused kidney failure that didn't ever recover.
I went from a wheelchair to a walker, then to diving again.
It wasn't a diving accident, it was an entry accident. The last thing I remember was driving to Monterey that morning, and I think I actually said a prayer facing the Monastery when I entered.
I knew it was going to be a tough dive for me, but I was cocky and didn't know my limitations because I wasn't experienced enough.
I don't blame anyone but myself.
I am lucky to be alive, lucky to be walking, and will get a kidney transplant in the next 1-2 years so hopefully life will be normal after that. I still have some limitations, such as flexibility and the whole kidney-function thing, but I am so grateful to be alive, so grateful I had good dive buddies that day, and thankful to God that he let me live to dive another day.
I take nothing for granted anymore, and live every day as if it's my last.
I will not stop diving, but I will not dive Monastery again, no matter how much experience I have.

That is one hell of a story. Glad you made it out alive to dive another day. I've never dove Monastery, and after the recent passing of someone I knew there it's lost all it's mojo with me for the foreseeable future.

Thanks for sharing.