Monterey conditions. (let's keep it going )

[lexvil]

09/01/25: Llabor Day diving at MacBee beach. This is our first dive in the cold water. Unfortunately, visibility is extremely low, probably 4-6 feet at most. It feels like a night dive that you cannot see anything. The murky soup-like water is probably due to the Summer plankton blooms, as an earlier post pointed out. I think the good side of this observation is that the ocean is rich and many fish can thrive here.

Our hunting question is: should we try again in the Monterey and hope for a better dive? it was quite a hassle to get in the water and only to be disappointed. Would like to hear from divers who frequent these water or already quit these water.

I was there Sunday, viz in the kelp was pretty bad but once you moved out to deeper water it was not horrible still far from great. There is a lot of structure out there past the kelp, sort of a mini lobos look. The soft sand can make exiting a pain and red lettuce covered inner reef can be pretty shallow at times but there aren’t many options while the invasion is ongoing. Lobos is a nicer option if you have week days open for diving.

 

[wnissen]

09/01/25: Llabor Day diving at MacBee beach. This is our first dive in the cold water. Unfortunately, visibility is extremely low, probably 4-6 feet at most. It feels like a night dive that you cannot see anything. The murky soup-like water is probably due to the Summer plankton blooms, as an earlier post pointed out. I think the good side of this observation is that the ocean is rich and many fish can thrive here.

Our hunting question is: should we try again in the Monterey and hope for a better dive? it was quite a hassle to get in the water and only to be disappointed. Would like to hear from divers who frequent these water or already quit these water.

You may find it more enjoyable to dive off a boat. Captain Mary Jo of the Beachhopper II is among the best at finding a clear patch of water, and it's much easier to do that from a vessel, instead of surface swimming.

 

[FlaminglotusSJ]

You may find it more enjoyable to dive off a boat. Captain Mary Jo of the Beachhopper II is among the best at finding a clear patch of water, and it's much easier to do that from a vessel, instead of surface swimming.

Thank you. Indeed, we found shore diving in Monterey not as easy as other places, e.g., warm water beach front...

 

[FlaminglotusSJ]

Diving in cold water isn't for everybody. For some people, it's the cold water itself, which requires a lot of heavy equipment to dive in. Not much you can do about that, drysuits and thick wetsuits just plain need a lot of lead to be able to sink. But, it sounds like the main issue you have wasn't so much the water being cold, as it was poor visibility. If bad visibility is the main problem you had, then there is hope

5-foot visibility is on the bad end of the spectrum, but not uncommon for this time of year. When the ocean looks like it will be that way, usually I will skip diving. 20-foot vis is also fairly common in the summertime, and a much better experience. 20-foot vis I would say is a good conditions in Monterey / PG / Carmel. In winter and spring, you'll get a few weekends a year with 50-foot vis or better, which is great conditions

I would recommend trying to dive again. Conditions will be better in the fall/winter/spring when there is less sun, so the phytoplankton are less active. You might want to reach out to a local dive guide to help you get acquainted with the local dive sites, and assess conditions. You might also consider diving from a boat, both the Beachhopper II and the California Explorer are out there frequently

Great input and analysis. One positive thing I learned is that the water is not cold at all, with all the heavy wetsuit. I believe we will try again, maybe through another dive shop, or boat dive, or simply try to understand these water better. Thank you all for the kind support!