boomx5
Contributor
I've heard from several different people that Monastery is more of an advanced dive site. Does anybody dive there regularly, what are some of the sites features, and why is it more dangerous?
Monastery In Monterey
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montereydivemas
Guest
When I first got certified I dove monestary a lot, almost exclusively in fact. The main thing about monestary beach is you HAVE to know when to go. If the waves are coming in OR if the waves are GOING to be coming in soon STAY OUT. flat water is a must at monestary, I have only had to cancel 2 dives there because of bad conditions but i live here and only go when its nice. You should also know and be aware of your limits when diving there. I usually stay above 100 feet when i dive there to extend my bottom time but it drops to something like 3000 feet so careful dive planning is a must. Also when I started diving there I was lucky enough to have a divemaster friend leading the way and I think a local guide or at least somebody with previous experience at the site is a must. I saw my first big shark at monestary at about 90 ft very cool but very scary at first as i was spearfishing and didnt know what Mr. shark was going to think about the fish I had on my spear at the time, lucky for me he was'nt hungry. Just gave me a casual glance and swam away.
Scubaroo
Contributor
As divemas said, conditions have to be spot on to consider diving Monastery - it is a very tricky beach, especially when exiting. The beach is a coarse 2-3mm gravel rather than sand, and the waters edge is usually a dropoff into about 6' of water less than 10' from the edge, so waves tend to dump straight onto the beach. Kelp also extends right to the edge of the beach. If there is more than a foot of surf, you're going to be in for a rough time getting out.
All that said, there are two sites at Monastery - north and south. The south end generally offers the easier entry. Between them is lots and lots of sand, or gravel. The south end is a shallow 30' dive in and around rocks, covered in lots of soft sealife, but few fish. It can be very surgy in amongst the rocks, but because of the shallows, is very bright and colorful especially if the sun is out. A pleasant dive, and it's not unusual to encounter the more shy harbour seals during the dive. There are some sea urchins about here, so be careful if there's surge. Enter the water directly in front of the kelp, and take a bearing out through the middle of the kelp beds. Once you reach your turn pressure, a reciprocal course should bring you straight back to the beach. I like to head out away from the beach, and then make a left turn once I'm several hundred feet out, just to penetrate amongst the rocks a bit more. I don't have compass bearings on hand, but it's easy to find the beach by reversing course if you take a turn, and you'll hit sand - follow the border of rocks and sand to the RIGHT back to the beach. The kelp also ends at the rock / sand border. If you normally dive thirds amongst kelp, it's not required here - it's an easy escape to the sand by heading north, and the kelp beds have a distinct edge, so there's no worry about having to do the kelp crawl back to the beach.
The north end is the advanced end - it's easy to end up deep and narc'd here if you're not careful. Enter the water on the left of the kelp bed, and surface swim out part way along it's length towards the washrock (can't miss it). Drop down, and follow the edge of the kelp out, and you can see the Monterey Canyon first hand. The bottom abruptly drops away at a 45 degree angle - make sure you're not over sand when you hit this drop, because the sand just slopes down, and is very disorienting - you'll feel like you're sliding down the side of a houseroof it's that steep. Head north and you'll hit a boulder field tumbling down to the depths. Lots of big fish like lingcod and rockfish in here, crabs, anemones, if you can find it in Monterey / Carmel, you can probably find it here. The DEPTH is what you have to watch here though - the bottom just drops off into the black abyss, quite literally. It's not a wall dive as such, but just a sloping mass of ledges and boulders getting darker and deeper. I've been to 118' here before, before turning back, and I think 600' is not much more than a short swim away, before dropping down into the thousands. It's a bit spooky down there! Not surprised there's big sharks about. There is a washrock on the edge of the dropoff, so be careful when ascending the slope if you venture down it - it's easy to find yourself continuing up the washrock to 20' or less (did it once), and then having a 50' bottom for a long way back into the beach. Take a big light, your bestest most trustful buddy, and a conservative dive plan if checking this site out.
PS Watch out for wasps in the trees on the north end of the beack - I've got a scar on my arm from one of the little buggers. They didn't appreciate me taking a surface interval on their bush!
Oh yeah, and this site is more Carmel than Monterey, so if you're doing multiple dives here, bring tanks for each dive to save driving back into Monterey.
All that said, there are two sites at Monastery - north and south. The south end generally offers the easier entry. Between them is lots and lots of sand, or gravel. The south end is a shallow 30' dive in and around rocks, covered in lots of soft sealife, but few fish. It can be very surgy in amongst the rocks, but because of the shallows, is very bright and colorful especially if the sun is out. A pleasant dive, and it's not unusual to encounter the more shy harbour seals during the dive. There are some sea urchins about here, so be careful if there's surge. Enter the water directly in front of the kelp, and take a bearing out through the middle of the kelp beds. Once you reach your turn pressure, a reciprocal course should bring you straight back to the beach. I like to head out away from the beach, and then make a left turn once I'm several hundred feet out, just to penetrate amongst the rocks a bit more. I don't have compass bearings on hand, but it's easy to find the beach by reversing course if you take a turn, and you'll hit sand - follow the border of rocks and sand to the RIGHT back to the beach. The kelp also ends at the rock / sand border. If you normally dive thirds amongst kelp, it's not required here - it's an easy escape to the sand by heading north, and the kelp beds have a distinct edge, so there's no worry about having to do the kelp crawl back to the beach.
The north end is the advanced end - it's easy to end up deep and narc'd here if you're not careful. Enter the water on the left of the kelp bed, and surface swim out part way along it's length towards the washrock (can't miss it). Drop down, and follow the edge of the kelp out, and you can see the Monterey Canyon first hand. The bottom abruptly drops away at a 45 degree angle - make sure you're not over sand when you hit this drop, because the sand just slopes down, and is very disorienting - you'll feel like you're sliding down the side of a houseroof it's that steep. Head north and you'll hit a boulder field tumbling down to the depths. Lots of big fish like lingcod and rockfish in here, crabs, anemones, if you can find it in Monterey / Carmel, you can probably find it here. The DEPTH is what you have to watch here though - the bottom just drops off into the black abyss, quite literally. It's not a wall dive as such, but just a sloping mass of ledges and boulders getting darker and deeper. I've been to 118' here before, before turning back, and I think 600' is not much more than a short swim away, before dropping down into the thousands. It's a bit spooky down there! Not surprised there's big sharks about. There is a washrock on the edge of the dropoff, so be careful when ascending the slope if you venture down it - it's easy to find yourself continuing up the washrock to 20' or less (did it once), and then having a 50' bottom for a long way back into the beach. Take a big light, your bestest most trustful buddy, and a conservative dive plan if checking this site out.
PS Watch out for wasps in the trees on the north end of the beack - I've got a scar on my arm from one of the little buggers. They didn't appreciate me taking a surface interval on their bush!
Oh yeah, and this site is more Carmel than Monterey, so if you're doing multiple dives here, bring tanks for each dive to save driving back into Monterey.
monastary is the best beach dive in monterey no questions about that, but it can be very easy to get tossed or rolled, so on exit stay low and crawl untill you see dry sand or rocks. Also before entering your first time sit on the beach for an hour or so on a busy day and watch what people do upon enty and exit and be ready t help!!!!
I love monastery beach. I dive there whenever I have the chance. but you have to be careful. people die in the surf zone there. it gets deep quick. and the kelp can be a hazard if you are not prepared for it. it is an advanced dive, but the rewards are worth the risks
Scubaroo
Contributor
Courtesy of www.californiacoastline.org (this website rocks):
North Monastery - washrock and kelp bed visible
In this image, one would enter the water to the right (south) of the kelp bed, following the edge of the kelpbed out to near the washrock, at which point the seafloor begins to drop away into the Monterey Canyon.
South Monastery - kelp bed visible
In this image, the best diving is entering the water from the beach just to the left (north) of the rocks, and then following the kelp bed around to the south. Compass required.
And just up the beach, is the famous Butterfly House, which I'm yet to dive:
Butterfly House
North Monastery - washrock and kelp bed visible
In this image, one would enter the water to the right (south) of the kelp bed, following the edge of the kelpbed out to near the washrock, at which point the seafloor begins to drop away into the Monterey Canyon.
South Monastery - kelp bed visible
In this image, the best diving is entering the water from the beach just to the left (north) of the rocks, and then following the kelp bed around to the south. Compass required.
And just up the beach, is the famous Butterfly House, which I'm yet to dive:
Butterfly House
Scubaroo
Contributor
Only that it's supposed to have some good diving! A buddy and I were sent there one day by our LDS, who said they'd had reports the conditions there were the best in months - it's a bit like Monastery, and gets washed out easily by conditions. We didn't do the dive - we spend 30 minutes trying to figure out a safe entry point - we tried to enter via the small rocky cove just to the left of the Butterfly House in the picture - not sure if this is the correct spot or not - hopefully someone on the board who has dived there can advise where to enter! There looks to be easier beach access to the south, but it would be a hell of a swim to get back around to the cove. The rocky cove just looked too tricky, and was clogged with kelp when we were there. This was about 5 months ago, haven't attempted it since.
Dryglove
Contributor
Those are some cool pics of monestary.I havent been diving there in a while now.Definitely gotta make a trip back over there.Butterfly house also looks like an interresting tricky dive.
cyklon_300
Contributor
as a rank newbie...we were on a road trip from OR and stopped by a LDS who invited us to join them there for a class dive.
Gorgeous sunny day, but I got Maytagged in the surf and lost mask, snorkle, and a fin. The gravel sanded my face down to hamburger...neither me nor my buddy (a very experienced diver) got down.
I don't think anyone from the class made it in either...I've always wanted to go back and see what I missed.
Gorgeous sunny day, but I got Maytagged in the surf and lost mask, snorkle, and a fin. The gravel sanded my face down to hamburger...neither me nor my buddy (a very experienced diver) got down.
I don't think anyone from the class made it in either...I've always wanted to go back and see what I missed.
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