Please pardon my ignorance....

[ZenSquirrel]

...I'm just a poor soul forced into living in the middle of Texas*.

I'm not sure if this question belongs in the North or South forum so if I'm in the wrong place just let me know!

My friend just moved to San Fran and is trying to get me to come visit around X-mas time. Diving a kelp forest is definately on my to-do list.

If you have not noticed it before, the blatant ignorance starts...now:
- Is there kelp diving near (within 4 hours) of San Francisco?
- How is diving in the Pacific around the end of Dec? I know the Gulf of Mexico gets very nasty at certain times of the year. Does the Pacific do this too?
- What else is popular to dive out there?
- I have about 50 dives mostly in the Lake here in Austin. Is there something I should know about diving CA that isn't obvious?

Thanks for any info you can provide!

(* Disclaimer. I'm not from Texas, my job made me come here.)

 

[boomx5]

Monterey may be your best bet and the diving is very nice with plenty of kelp. It's about 2 hours away from SanFran and there are a few different locations that you can try out. As far as conditions go, I guess it all depends on the weather. If the weather is nasty than you may not want to venture down for a dive. If the weather is calm and not to windy or stormy than you should be just fine. Chuck Tribolet is the man if you have questions about Monterey diving. You can PM him and get his opinion.

PS - Here's a link to a website that has some nice shots of Monterey. BAUE

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

Diving at Christmas time is possibly the best of the year,
between storms. Your options are Monterey and the
North Coast.

I've written a bunch of stuff for the diver new to Monterey
at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ba_diving/files/WebSite/
and click on New Monterey Diver.

 

[CALI68]

Try for Monterey. It's a couple hours south of SFO and well worth the drive if the weather is workin'. You will truly be amazed at not only the diving but everything about Monterey and Carmel. It's an amazing place. If it's at all possible you should try to set it up so that you can stay a couple days. The food in that town is to die for and the accommodations range from modest to Spanish Bay insanity! The coastline is simply unmatched and a leisurely drive on the famous "17 Mile Drive" is a small glimpse into heaven. If you're at all interested in Golf...the work Mecca comes to mind.

The diving in December is cool and clear (between storms of course) so much life and so much topography. There are a number of excellent Dive Boat outfits including Monterey Bay Dive Center (Silver Prince), Monterey Express, Cypress Sea, Escapade & Sanctuary Charters. Monterey Bay Dive center as well as other shops offer guided dive tours as well. You'll love it. I'll give you an example:

Get on a dive boat that takes you to Still Water cove. Before you dive check out the view: Pebble Beach Golf Course to your left and the most beautiful beach in California..Carmel beach (Carmel by the Sea) to your right. Then do a long dive in about 45' to 60' (it gets as deep as 90') circle around the various structures and cross the sand channels to the other reefs marvel and the kelp and all the sea life. Look for huge Ling's and Cabazons and all kinds of inverts, sponges and on and on.

Did I talk you into it?

 

[Wristshot]

ZenSquirrel,

Believe it or not, the "best" diving conditions in Monterey are in the winter (in general). The water tends to be warmer and the visibility is better in the winter. The kelp is usually not quite as thick in the winter. It has to do with the water coming up from below us and fewer hours of daylight and such.

The warmest dives I have done in Monterey were in November, and the coldest were in August and May. The biggest difference would be the air temperatures and the different crowds. Obviously it will be colder above water at that time of year. (however I have been on a sunny beach in Santa Cruz on a warm Christmas Day, so you never know). Monterey may still be crowded with shoppers and vacationers, but the beaches and water won't be as crowded.

There are a few good dive boats and bunch of good shore dives available in Monterey. Search the ScubaBoard Archives, and Chuck's links. The most common beach dive is Breakwater, with easy access, nearby dive shops and a big lawn for hanging out.

All of the dives around the area can be spectacular. Just plan on slowing down, and checking everything out in detail. Get up close and personal. Expect to see seals and sea lions. Expect more starfish than you can shake a stick at. Not a lot of bright colored fish, but incredible amounts of life! You will most likely have visibility in the 15 - 30 foot range, but you will see more life in each square yard than most places in the world.

Remember when you dive kelp that the "Rambo Knife" straps to the INSIDE of your leg to not snag kelp. Remember also that kelp can be thick at the surface, but usually just slender threads at depth, nothing to be "afraid" of. Don't try to swim at the surface in kelp. Drop down a bit and swim beneath the "canopy".

I second the comment about great restaurants. Some of the accomodations can be a little pricey, but it is a great town.

The weather can be rough, or it can be nice, and anywhere in between.

In addition to some awesome dives, Point Lobos is also an incredible place to hike. There are several miles of trails with breathtaking views, changes in terrain and scenery, seals, sea lions, Otters etc.

At least at this point, the Monterey Bay Aquarium has the first Great White to survive an extended stay in captivity (I believe). Regardless, the Aquarium is something special to visit. The shops in Cannery Row etc can be marvelous also.

Enjoy!


Wristshot

 

[divenut2001]

It's also very cold, between 48f-55f. 7mil wet suit or dry suit needed.

Jim

 

[ZenSquirrel]

It's also very cold, between 48f-55f. 7mil wet suit or dry suit needed.

Jim

Yes, I noticed that everybody seemed to be wearing drysuits. That's fine, the Lake
gets down to 52 in the winter. When I think about diving in Dec, I usually imagine
myself in the drysuit. I hate them, but it's better than freezing!

 

[scubapro50]

Don't give up on texas dive sights .... go to www.divetexas.com for a list of places you may want to try and other things going on underwater in the lone star state

 

[CALI68]

Yes, I noticed that everybody seemed to be wearing drysuits. That's fine, the Lake
gets down to 52 in the winter. When I think about diving in Dec, I usually imagine
myself in the drysuit. I hate them, but it's better than freezing!

Yea, a Drysuit is the way to go here no matter what time of year IMO. Here's how I minimize bulk and maximize warmth: I use this awesome ST1000 Undersuit from Andy's that's really stretchy and very very light weight but at the same time it's also pretty warm for a suit that only has 100 weight stretch Thinsulate (Andy's rate it from 38 degrees to 60). The clincher is that I mount a 7 CF Argon bottle to my Back Plate (with Halcyon mounting straps) and that really makes for an all around comfortable Drysuit rig. Less bulk but still warm...enough.

 

[Ben_ca]

Add this to your bookmarks...The Breakwater (San Carlos Beach) I never tire of this site.
It's also a good place to start... On weekends there's a lot of classes but then again it's easy to pick up a buddy if you can't find one ahead of time..... And if you run into trouble there's probably about 30 rescue qualified diver's right there LOL
Ben V

http://www.californiacoastline.org/cgi-bin/image.cgi?image=13677&mode=sequential&flags=0&year=2002