Monterey conditions. (let's keep it going )

[Rob Wilks]

I know Bamboo has closed. Not sure about the other shops. I’d imagine they’re closed as well. Pretty quiet around Monterey.
I’d be happy to post conditions from time to time though.
Today was mostly sunny with a few clouds and pleasant. The bay was a lake as well as Carmel. I didn’t dive today, but I saw several folks at breakwater as well as monastery the last few days after the rain. The vis has looked good. I’d say 20+ in Monterey maybe 25-30 in Carmel? Maybe better? Anyone chime in and correct me if that’s inaccurate. Rain is forecast tomorrow night preceded by a long period swell out of the northwest at 13-15 sec or so. Height around 4ft building
to 6-8 by Monday.
I’ll post conditions when I see its looking good. PM me as well if you’d like.

 

[Akimbo]

Mendocino Bay

The last few days have been so flat it is spooky. It's a good time to hit those spots you always wondered about but couldn't access due to surf. Typical 6-12' of vis near shore. The sky is cloudless and the seas are deep blue.

 

[Bigbella]

Mendocino has some great seasonal diving -- and, also some great spearfishing over the years. Haven't been in some time, since that sport abalone closure.

Beautiful area . . .

 

[Brett Hatch]

Dove North Monastery yesterday around 12:30 with my main dive buddy Daniel. I have never seen the site so calm, the waves were 6 to 12 inches high at the slack tide! Since wave action was so small, we didn't bother going to the extremely North side of the beach, just made a beeline from the stairs straight into the ocean.

Kicked out on the surface a bit passed the splash rock, dropped into 70 feet of water or so. Had a lot of problems with my mask that day, had to clear every 4-5 breaths, very frustrating, should have shaved! Followed the reef Northward a little past the big lone metridium that lives at ~100' until my dive time began to approach my NDL; turned at roughly 17 minutes (this DeepBlu Cosmiq is very conservative, even on progressive mode). Arrived at the starting place at minute 28 with plenty of gas and NDL remaining, decided to go play in the kelp. We ascended to safety stop depth in the dense kelp bed, and swam around in the kelp for half an hour. The shallow kelp forest was nearly still, horizontal surge was very gentle at 1-2 hand-widths.

Around minute 60 I was down to 1000 psi (buddy around 1300, damn mask!), decided to get clear of the kelp to deploy our DSMBs. Not needed of course, but we thought it would be a good day to practice. Deployed them and dragged them shoreward until the hard bottom was about 15', then ascended at minute 69 (nice). We were surprised to find a pair of concerned divers on the surface asking us if we were OK or needed help, saying they had been just about ready to drop down to look for us. Whoops. If you are reading this, sorry friends, didn't mean to alarm you, just practicing our skills!

Weather was alternating sunny and drizzly. Vis was good but not great (greenish and sightly hazy) around 10-15' in the kelp shallows, and 20-25' feet at 50-90' depth. Every now and then a dark cloud must have gone by, because the ambient light would suddenly drop -- a little eery at 90 feet! Min temp 54F. Dove 32% in HP100's.

Wildlife was about typical for the site -- no mammals this time, but saw lots of rockfish, some good-size lingcod, a huge cabezon, lots of hand-sized bluish-grays schooling in the shallows. Invertebrates everywhere, 3 types of nudibranch (white w/ 2 brown spots, tiny bright-yellow, and finger-length yellow with tiny brown speckles).

Crawl not necessary on exit, we took off fins in chest-deep water and then walked right out like it was the Breakwater. Brought 2 tanks each, and were real tempted to go back in... but ultimately decided to save our other tank for another day. No telling when we can get fills next.

N. Monastery profile, 3/21/2020

• Brett Hatch
• Mar 22, 2020

 

[wnissen]

Around minute 60 I was down to 1000 psi (buddy around 1300, damn mask!), decided to get clear of the kelp to deploy our DSMBs. Not needed of course, but we thought it would be a good day to practice. Deployed them and dragged them shoreward until the hard bottom was about 15', then ascended at minute 69 (nice). We were surprised to find a pair of concerned divers on the surface asking us if we were OK or needed help, saying they had been just about ready to drop down to look for us. Whoops. If you are reading this, sorry friends, didn't mean to alarm you, just practicing our skills!

Sounds like a lovely dive.
I've always wondered about the "etiquette" of that. If I saw two SMBs together I would know it was practice, but how do you know if one SMB is someone in distress?

 

[Brett Hatch]

Sounds like I lovely dive.

It really was

I've always wondered about the "etiquette" of that. If I saw two SMBs together I would know it was practice, but how do you know if one SMB is someone in distress?

As for etiquette, I'm really not sure... someone who has been diving around here longer than I have might have a better point of view. For me, I almost never see DSMBs deployed in this area. Every now and then a handful will pop up at the Breakwater -- obviously a class.

In our case, my buddy decided to reel his in and put it away during our ascent. So from the outside it would look like 2 SMBs deployed, moved around for 5-10 minutes, then one got pulled under, then a pair of divers surfaced. Must have looked pretty unusual, and in hindsight I could see it being alarming to the nearby divers. I really do appreciate their concern, but did not intend to cause any distress.

 

[Ouvea]

Sounds like a lovely dive.
I've always wondered about the "etiquette" of that. If I saw two SMBs together I would know it was practice, but how do you know if one SMB is someone in distress?

The deployment of an DSMB does not convey distress unless you specify this to the captain and to the crew of the boat. Also, you should make sure that everyone on board uses the same protocol, as to prevent confusion to the boat crew. If your team shoots two DSMBs to indicate distress, definitely convey that to the boat crew and the other divers. I don't know if anyone does this, but I've heard of dive teams carrying DSMBs of different colors, where one color indicates distress, while the other indicates a normal condition.

Personally, when diving from a boat, I will deploy the DSMB underwater if I ascend without the anchor line as a visual reference. The dive computer gives my depth but I don't want to get hit by any passing boats. Also, it's just easier not having to worry about an armada of divers congregating at the anchor line for the safety stop...

If you boat dive in our area and head over to the Carmel side where currents do flow over the deepr sites, you must carry at minimum an SMB.

 

[absaav]

Given the Coronavirus Shelter in Place ordinance established in Monterey County,
and Essential Activities include outdoor activities as long as "social distancing" and limiting group activities..

I have my own scuba tanks and compressor so wouldnt need a "fill" for a shop.
Traveling from Santa Clara County

Is there any restriction to Scuba dive currently with a household member at

1)Breakwater
2)Monastery Beach

 

[Brett Hatch]

@absaav I haven't made it down to Carmel since my last posting, so can't say for sure. However, neither the California State Parks, Monterey County, nor Carmel's government websites have anything to suggest it would be closed. Breakwater was open as of last Saturday, dove it myself and saw a handful of other divers as well.

 

[uspap]

I sent this to Monterey County Department that issued the advisory:

I was requesting clarification on the legality of going scuba diving at this time. I see that the beaches are open as well as parks. The shelter in place order is clear on essential travel and work but seems to have some ambiguity as far as recreation. Am I allowed to come from San Jose to dive at the Breakwater at this time if I practice social distancing and am not sick or been exposed to COVID-19?

I got this response and sent an email to klahnk and am awaiting response.
Hello,
Thank you for your question.
Please visit www.mtyhd.org/covid19 and read the order and FAQs.
If this does not answer your questions please email klahnk@co.monterey.ca.us with Shelter-In-Place Question in the subject line.

Regards,

Monterey County Webmaster

County of Monterey

Information Technology Department

Email: webmaster@co.monterey.ca.us