I took the Monterey Express today with a buddy. This is my first time on this boat, so I thought I'd share a review.
I was thrilled with the conditions and not so thrilled with the boat. I wrote ahead and asked for nitrox. When I got there, Captain Tim just said "oh looks like they forgot". Fortunately, I had a spare bottle in my car and was able to make one dive on nitrox. The other I had to use air. Not exactly a great start.
Conditions were really good. We probably had 50 foot horizontal and maybe 80 foot vertical on our first dive, fairly close to Monestary Beach and Mono Lobo. The site briefing was excellent (where to go, where not to go, what to expect, etc). There were a lot of fish. We saw thousands of anchovies, a few crabs, some jellyfish, and generally had a damn good dive, down to about 75 feet.
The snacks before and between dives were primarily cake and muffins, along with a little fruit.
For the second dive, Captain Tim searched well. He observed that one of the sites he was going to pick was too thick with kelp and didn't look like it had enough vis. So, he hunted some more. This was probably the best thing I can say about Monterey Express: they work hard to find good dive spots.
My buddy got seasick. He has a tendency to get sick and I think he psyched himself into it. I got the attention of the crew and they were just "oh just hang out right over there" but didn't ask if there was anything they could do to help. I ended out asking "hey can I get buddied up with someone else" and I just got a "ask around"... some kind buddy pair jumped in and let me dive the second time.
My second dive was about as good as the first. A rogue sea lion came flying through near our buddies, obviously just playing, but down around 40 feet or so! We also had a hitchhiker of a shrimp and a small crab. A few really big fish too!
The website advertises "3 hot fresh-water showers" so I assumed I could shower and change on the boat before my drive back to Sacramento. Nope, no showers. Someone asked about them and the crew wasn't exactly apologetic.
Things I would have liked to hear: "We use steel tanks so drop your weight by about 3 pounds", "Anything I can do to help out here", and "sorry about our equipment" (preferably by email in advance).
Summary: Captain Tim spends a lot of time making sure you get to the best available dive site. If you expect much beyond that, I think you set your expectations too high.
I was thrilled with the conditions and not so thrilled with the boat. I wrote ahead and asked for nitrox. When I got there, Captain Tim just said "oh looks like they forgot". Fortunately, I had a spare bottle in my car and was able to make one dive on nitrox. The other I had to use air. Not exactly a great start.
Conditions were really good. We probably had 50 foot horizontal and maybe 80 foot vertical on our first dive, fairly close to Monestary Beach and Mono Lobo. The site briefing was excellent (where to go, where not to go, what to expect, etc). There were a lot of fish. We saw thousands of anchovies, a few crabs, some jellyfish, and generally had a damn good dive, down to about 75 feet.
The snacks before and between dives were primarily cake and muffins, along with a little fruit.
For the second dive, Captain Tim searched well. He observed that one of the sites he was going to pick was too thick with kelp and didn't look like it had enough vis. So, he hunted some more. This was probably the best thing I can say about Monterey Express: they work hard to find good dive spots.
My buddy got seasick. He has a tendency to get sick and I think he psyched himself into it. I got the attention of the crew and they were just "oh just hang out right over there" but didn't ask if there was anything they could do to help. I ended out asking "hey can I get buddied up with someone else" and I just got a "ask around"... some kind buddy pair jumped in and let me dive the second time.
My second dive was about as good as the first. A rogue sea lion came flying through near our buddies, obviously just playing, but down around 40 feet or so! We also had a hitchhiker of a shrimp and a small crab. A few really big fish too!
The website advertises "3 hot fresh-water showers" so I assumed I could shower and change on the boat before my drive back to Sacramento. Nope, no showers. Someone asked about them and the crew wasn't exactly apologetic.
Things I would have liked to hear: "We use steel tanks so drop your weight by about 3 pounds", "Anything I can do to help out here", and "sorry about our equipment" (preferably by email in advance).
Summary: Captain Tim spends a lot of time making sure you get to the best available dive site. If you expect much beyond that, I think you set your expectations too high.
