Monterey sharks..?

[GDCB]

Hey Goatlord,
I'll be making my first cold water dives next weekend too. Hope Monterey cooperates. I was going to do my OW and AOW dives all in the same weekend. But I decided to strech it out so I can better absorb the skills and have more fun and less stress. I'm amazed at just how different the pool skills are with a wet suit compared to when I learned in Mexico in just swim tunks.

 

[GoatLord]

Miskatonic- You totally called it, I was worried about the whites

Cbrunberg- I have dove in cold water before, I am from Minnesota, all we got is cold water. I have a little experience (OW and AOW and wreck cert) but never gone in the ocean, a little freaked from all the talk of sharks from friends and stuff....

I really appreciate all the great replies, it is awesome to read all the stories, I feel waaay better. Anyone know of a good charter that goes to the pinnacle during the week? I will be there tuesday through friday - hoping to dive every day. But we wanted to go out to the pinnacle one of the days, so......

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

GoatLord, there's a good deal more about Monterey that's different than just cold water.

First off, you'll need more weight because salt water is denser. Take the weight of the
the system (diver, tank, weights, and ALL other gear). Multiply by .0256 to get how much
lead to add for salt water.

Second: Read
http://www.garlic.com/~triblet/ba_diving/newmontereydiver.html
and
http://www.garlic.com/~triblet/ba_diving/kelpdiving.html

Third: HAVE FUN.

There's a list of Monterey dive boats at:
http://www.garlic.com/~triblet/ba_diving/links/index.html
The Monterey Express occasionally does Wed. and Fri. trips if they get a quorum.

 

[GoatLord]

Thanks for link, I appreciate all the good info- seriously I am barely able to stand it. Tuesday can't come soon enough.....

 

[GDCB]

Chuck, as always a wealth of information. go ba_diving!!!!

Thanks

Carl

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

" Also, I think there's some nutty Tamales Bay divers wandering around, and even they don't tend to see them.

Hey now, I'm one of those nuts that dive Tomales. I've never seen one there, but then I've only dove it once. I won't go there any more, not because of the threat of sharks but because it took me 3 weeks to clean all the damn sand out from inside my boat! and I didn't even get a flatty.

ZKY

 

[GDCB]

ZKY

I may be wrong but I think Tomales is the GW's breeding ground. I don't know the season for mating and they may not eat during mating. But protecting their young might be a motivator for aggressive behavior. I have seem biten seals on the beach north of Pt. Reis south of the Tomales opening. My friends scuba instructor was biten in Tomales Bay. I saw it on the news years ago.

Carl's .02

 

[Ishie]

I wonder if that scuba instructor is the friend of a friend I heard about today. Freediving in Tomales Bay and pretty much dived headfirst straight into the shark, who was apparently just as surprised as the guy was. Has scars on his chest, but nothing missing and came out alive. Sound like the same story?

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

One of the guys at Lawsons landing was telling me about 2 guys ab diving off the southern point out of an inflatable (Point Reyes headland) at the mouth of Tomales and one of them was getting back in the boat when a white popped his head up right behind to him to get a look. The guy in the boat freaked and the guy getting out of the water didn't see it and didn't know what was going on. They were both ok.
I did a scuba dive right south of that point off bird rock. Later, the guys at Lawson's told me that that spot is ground zero for great white action and that I was a lunatic. Well, I already know I'm a lunatic and the diving was actually pretty good. lots of finger reefs sticking up out of the sand with lots of growth. Saw a gargantuan Cabezon and got a huge lone scallop.

ZKY

 

[JustinW]

Also, I think there's some nutty Tamales Bay divers wandering around, and even they don't tend to see them.

Hey! Along with ZKY, I am also one of those crazy tomales bay divers. Also never seen a GW, but diving in the bay does keep me on edge more than usual. I've seen angel sharks while in Tomales/Bodega and seen guitarfish (related to sharks) and skates in Monterey while diving. I have seen maybe 100 blue sharks in Monterey Bay but that was over the trench 10 miles out and, over a few years, and we were chumming for them.

Funny note on GW's and Lawson's Landing. The guys that run the backhoe that puts your boat in the water say they watched a GW tear apart a seal right in front of the launch area. The bar is sharky, but the rewards from diving the area are great. Come on Ishie, you know Monterey can't hold a candle to North Coast diving anyhow!