NITROX tank & loose weight rentals in Monterey

[gkndivebum]

My wife and I are going to be in Monterey the week after next, diving at Pt. Lobos and (maybe)
Monastery.

Does anyone have a recommendation about who to rent nitrox tanks from? Al80s fine, as are
steels (neither of us is bringing doubles gear). It looks like Monterey Bay Dive Center has
nitrox; Bamboo Reef makes no mention of it.

Oh, and we'll need some loose weights.... advice appreciated for a couple of confirmed warm-water
divers (with drysuits this time!).

Last time we dove in the area we were staying in Silicon Valley and rented tanks & weights from
Diver Dan's -- this time we're staying in Monterey and would prefer something closer.


TIA -

 

[mweitz]

I would check out Manta Ray http://www.mantaraydive.com/index.htm

They are also next to the BW.

Mark

My wife and I are going to be in Monterey the week after next, diving at Pt. Lobos and (maybe)
Monastery.

Does anyone have a recommendation about who to rent nitrox tanks from? Al80s fine, as are
steels (neither of us is bringing doubles gear). It looks like Monterey Bay Dive Center has
nitrox; Bamboo Reef makes no mention of it.

Oh, and we'll need some loose weights.... advice appreciated for a couple of confirmed warm-water
divers (with drysuits this time!).

Last time we dove in the area we were staying in Silicon Valley and rented tanks & weights from
Diver Dan's -- this time we're staying in Monterey and would prefer something closer.


TIA -

 

[Wristshot]

Either Aquarius store or MBDC should be able to get you everything you need. Trust me, they are geared for helping out divers.


W

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

Aquarius Breakwater does NOT have Nitrox. I don't think Bamboo Reef does. Manta
Ray, Aquarius Del Monte, and MBDC do. I usually go to Manta Ray.

All five shops rent loose weights.

If you haven't done Monastery before, get checked out on it. It's a great dive, but
requires some special techniques and a large dose of discression.

 

[Wristshot]

Thanks for the correction Chuck. I did not remember about Aquarius Breakwater not having Nitrox. My bad.


W

 

[gkndivebum]

[...] I usually go to Manta Ray. [...]
If you haven't done Monastery before, get checked out on it. It's a great dive, but
requires some special techniques and a large dose of discression.

Thanks Mark, Wristshot & Chuck for the pointers. Looks like we'll head to Manta Ray for
rentals.

Re: Monastery - we've heard the entry/exit can be, ummm, interesting sometimes. We
do have a local friend (maybe several) coming with us to show us the "Monastery Crawl",
I believe it's called :11: Both my wife and I are firm believers in pancakes instead of
death if the conditions are bad That's what happened to us on our last trip to the
area, when we were going to try Butterfly House with some friends...

We've dove at Pt. Lobos once before, and thoroughly enjoyed it. We're going again with
the same friends, off of the same Zodiac.

Thanks again!

 

[zf2nt]

Re: Monastery - we've heard the entry/exit can be, ummm, interesting sometimes. We
do have a local friend (maybe several) coming with us to show us the "Monastery Crawl",
I believe it's called :11: Both my wife and I are firm believers in pancakes instead of
death if the conditions are bad That's what happened to us on our last trip to the
area, when we were going to try Butterfly House with some friends...

We've dove at Pt. Lobos once before, and thoroughly enjoyed it. We're going again with
the same friends, off of the same Zodiac.

Thanks again!

You shouldn't be so afraid of Monastery. It is a gorgeous dive site, one you shouldn't miss. Truthfully, I would rather dive Monastery than the pinnacles out of Whaler's Cove. But...stop to check it out before you go in at Monastery. If it doesn't feel right to you, don't do it. As you obviously know, the entry and exit can be nasty. Go on to Pt. Lobos instead if you don't feel comfortable with Monastery. But if you feel you can handle it at Monastery, by all means go for it. The CA crowd make way too much of a deal out of this one, IMHO. I'll be back to CA in another 11 days, and I can't wait to go out at Monastery!

Bruce, Little Cayman Island

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

You shouldn't be so afraid of Monastery. It is a gorgeous dive site, one you shouldn't miss. Truthfully, I would rather dive Monastery than the pinnacles out of Whaler's Cove. But...stop to check it out before you go in at Monastery. If it doesn't feel right to you, don't do it. As you obviously know, the entry and exit can be nasty. Go on to Pt. Lobos instead if you don't feel comfortable with Monastery. But if you feel you can handle it at Monastery, by all means go for it. The CA crowd make way too much of a deal out of this one, IMHO. I'll be back to CA in another 11 days, and I can't wait to go out at Monastery!

Bruce, Little Cayman Island

Bruce, you keep disresepecting Neptune, and he's gonna chew you up and
spit you out. Monastery can be a great place on the right days, and downright fatal
on the wrong days, and go from right to wrong in the length of a dive. A coworker's
brother got killed there about 15 years ago. I count three deaths there and one at
MonoLobo (just around the corner) since I started keeping my own records in 1998.
And one long term coma. As they say, "local knowledge is required". Do Monastery
on the right day in the right way, and it's almost as good as it gets from the beach
(I think Lobos is a little better, but only a little). Do it on the wrong day or in the
wrong way, and it will. at best, really suck.

gkndivebum seems to have the right friends to go there with, though. And he knows
he needs to learn about the Monastery crawl. (But if you get blown out at Monastery,
try the Monterey side.)