Monastery: Calm to Rough: How fast?

[pacificgal]

Anyone can have a bad day at Monastery, I would prefer to have my bad day somewhere that isn't known as "Mortuary Beach"

 

[mikemill]

As an example of how bad things can get: I got rolled getting out of breakwater on Saturday. Coming out on the end away from the wall, stepped and my foot slipped into a hole and before I could get my balance to brace against the wave it nailed me, I struggled to regain my balance but ended up falling and the wave rolled me and pulled me back a few feet.

One thing to remember about Monastery is that getting out of the water is only part 1. Part 2 is trying to climb back up the sand hill.

 

[dannobee]

I was taught by my OW instructor about wave sets, big surf and Monastery. Did a couple of dives at Monastery for AOW and learned when to walk away.

That's one thing that I never forgot.

Sometimes you just have to walk away from Monastery.

 

[pacificgal]

One thing to remember about Monastery is that getting out of the water is only part 1. Part 2 is trying to climb back up the sand hill.

Let me elucidate, climbing up a sand hill that moves and doesn't give you anything to grab onto. You can dig in as much as you want, but if the surf wants to take you back with it, there isn't a damn thing you can do about it, you're along for the ride.

 

[davidbaraff]

I know enough to not try diving there when it's obviously not divable. I'm just wondering if the swell/wind model indicates a calm day, you get there and it's flat as a bathtub, if you can still get screwed *getting out*. I.e. it's only going to be getting out, since I wouldn't go in unless the waves are under 3 inches high.

 

[ae3753]

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.

Really appreciate you sharing this story. Glad that you're diving again too!

 

[Gombessa]

Well, from the responses posted here, you have your answer. It can certainly turn ugly in the course of a 30-60minute dive. How ugly? That depends, and freak changes are probably more rare than milder ones, but that's life and statistics. With 25 to 50 dives, and a newly certified dive buddy, I say why bother with Monastery if you're not with an experienced friend? There are plenty of safer sites with easier entries/exits to choose from.

 

[dannobee]

I know someone will chime in here and say that it's happened to them. Personally, I haven't.

And I've dived Monastery with some pretty big wave sets coming in. Generally, when it's big and ugly and for some reason you still want to dive it, you can usually sneak in at the very south end, near the fence to Point Lobos. Be prepared to crawl along the bottom because the kelp is thick here (unless you feel like doing the kelp crawl before you dive). You can also sneak in at the very north edge, again in kelp, so enter, then get heavy and navigate through the kelp. It's actually very pretty in the shallows on the North side, irrespective of conditions.

One thing about Monastery, the vis is usually pretty good in rough seas because the monster berries don't usually cause any kind of silt-out.

One thing that I've learned about exiting here. If you face the ocean and walk backward, you can usually walk back up passed the high water mark, then kick off your fins. It forces you to look at the waves rolling in, giving you time to hunker down and turn sideways when the big ones roll in. Either that or just get on your knees and crawl up as fast as you can. I much prefer the former.

On nice days it's beautiful, but when it's big, it'll show you who's boss.

 

[Divenomad]

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

Nah, I'd dive with you. Making an error in judgment is not a problem per se, it's not learning from it that's a problem, You clearly learned something.

And I've seen Monastery go from glass to "Oh my God, what have I done?" in 15 to 20 minutes. Wind/ tide change.

Mad respect for Monastery.

Nomad

 

[ryssyr]

I'd dive with you too pacificgal. I forgot to empty my bcd once on entry and ended up getting lifted and backflipped right back to the beach. In the mean time the strobes on my camera were beating me in the head. Embarrassing to say the least but it could have been worse. I have new respect for the strength of my sea and sea housing. I must have body slammed it three-four times during my re-exit and entry.