Monastery In Monterey

[Diver_Jan]

I'm coming to Monterey at the end of the month and have told that Monstary and Butterfly House are both 'must do' dives. I'm also scheduled to dive Point Lobos on the 29th which I haven't dove before either. I'm really looking forward to the whole experience.

We had massive waves here down in Laguna Beach. Lifegaurds almost closed the beaches to divers. I told them, they need to close the beach to swimmers and keep it open for the divers. Swimmers have to be rescued all the time. It's rare, very rare that I see lifegaurds assisiting divers.

In any case, for those of you that have to crawl out of the surf (including myself at times), it's NOT pathetic, it's being safe!

 

[pterantula]

haya Jan:

I was just checking out your site - very cool stuff, great pics. I'm game for plenty more adventures in Monastery, and I've never done Butterfly, so if you want to try to put together a little group for July/Aug that would be neato - I'm gonna see if I can recruit some local friends for such things; be a shame to waste the summer on dry land...
(-and Monastery is supposed to be "epic" once you get far enough out there...)

cheers,
t

 

[Ben_ca]

Man talk about flashbacks.... 2002 thread resurected

T are you talking about getting rolled at San Carlos or a Monastery?

 

[Thalassamania]

The best way to dive Monastary is the way the locals always have: Surfmat. Get on top and kick out through the surf. Tie it to the kelp, set your flag and dive. Return to your mat, take your flag down, untie from the kelp, kick toward the beach and surf on in. Sounds easy, is easy, but it is a skill that we used to spend an entire morning at Monatary teaching. But then, we never had to scrub a dive there.

 

[pterantula]

haya Ben:

Rolled at Monastery - San Carlos is cake by comparison (except my certification day when I was completely exhausted, frozen numb, and way too low on air; not very well prepared, but live & learn...).

 

[dannobee]

I'm coming to Monterey at the end of the month and have told that Monstary and Butterfly House are both 'must do' dives. I'm also scheduled to dive Point Lobos on the 29th which I haven't dove before either. I'm really looking forward to the whole experience.

Those are only "must do" dives if you get blown out at some of the other spots that I mentioned

Monastery does have a nasty break right at the beach which can get dangerous when the waves/swells are up. Time the wave sets and go like heck when going out or coming back in. Don't waste any time in the surf zone, otherwise you'll get tumbled. If you time the wavesets, you'll rarely need to crawl out, but still keep your reg in your mouth, just in case. Digging the monsterberries (the name given to Monastery sand-think beige colored gravel and small rocks, NOT Caribbean type sand here) out of all of your gear is NOT fun.

I have reservations for Pt Lobos on July 29, when else did you want to dive?

 

[clifftondiver]

2 weeks ago I did my Deep Diver Specialty dive at Kate's Neckline, maybe 500 yards from shore at Monastery, from a boat. I second the comments on how spooky it is down there. We descended down the anchor line to about 70', swam out just a bit while descending and QUICKLY found ourselves at 130'. No sharks that we noticed, but the spooky part was looking away from the almost vertical rock face and seeing nothing but blackness -shudder- Very enjoyable in the kelp forest.
IMHO, getting a captain to anchor out there is the safest way to see it.

 

[DocWong]

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.

Sorry to hear you had some difficulty at Monastery. Here's a short clip of a larger video of diving at Monastery. This is not to promote diving in the shown conditions, but a demo of what to do and not do. This is not the complete video and is missing a lot of scenes and voiceovers. The final product will be a 20 minute video that should be finished this year sometime.

YouTube - Monastery Beach Dive Video Preview

 

[Jim Ernst]

If it is your first time at Monestary.... Get a guide!!

Ben_ca or scubajunkee are two of the very best I know of ,And they are both on this board, Ask either of them to guide you and they if they are available will be happy to dive with you.

Get a local guide!!

 

[TishaDee]

Monastery is my absolute hands down favorite place to dive in Monterey. The kelp bed is thick, lush and bustling with sea life of all variaties with plenty to explore and much deeper diving is only a few fin kicks away. Although, I have to agree with montereydivemas in that you should definatley take along a seasoned Monastery dive buddy for your first couple of dives there. Conditions can often change dramatically and even in the best of conditions, exiting can be laborous and will require skill. I would also recommend that you allow yourself a larger margin for error with your air and plan on having more then the normal 500psi or 50 bar left to ensure plenty for your exit.

If you have a problem at Montastery, it is more then likely going to be with your exit. It is not uncommon for first timers to get pummeled by the surf (even if at first it appears mild) and having their reg ripped out of their mouth while be rolled. So being aware of this possibility and holding your reg in your mouth the moment you get pummeled will ensure that you not only can continue to breath, but that you also don't swallow or choke on water.

Doc Wongs video clip is great and will help you get familiar with the site and how to properly dive it.