The Pinnacle Of West Coast Technical Diving

[Cthippo]

If there is "a pinnacle of West Coast tech diving," it is Monastery.

Tell me more...

 

[justinthedeeps]

Old-timers around here talk about doing seriously deep coldwater seamounts on OC trimix ~30 years ago... so it's done--and too extreme (including expenses) to be repeated? Serious orgs moved on to remote sensing and AUVs

Are people still doing seriously deep SCUBA exploration dives off the West Coast of North America? Any deep natural reefs? Or just a few wrecks and oil rigs?

Maybe the Cal Academy ichthyologists?

Is it happening, but not getting the hype levels of Bikini, Mediterranean ?

There is a quite savvy GUE group in the Bay Area? Noticed they surveyed Point Lobos really well. Anything else steep & deep?

 

[justinthedeeps]

This is the only one I could find: PRIVATE CHARTER - MATTERHORN SEAMOUNT TECHNICAL DIVE DAY - ZEN DIVE CO

Seems quite cheap ($300pp) vs. the cost of running a charter

 

[justinthedeeps]

Anybody got more recent pics than this?

https://www.decompression.org/maiken/images_SB_Alps/matterhorn_picture1.jpg

 

[justinthedeeps]

NOAA DEM/BAG resolution isn't great there but it looks worthy. Purplish Mod2 & yellowish Mod3 depths

Santa Barbara Is. looks cool too

 

[justinthedeeps]

If there is "a pinnacle of West Coast tech diving," it is Monastery.

Is this referring to Monterey?
Is there still clean rock reef at depth? How is the biodiversity?
NOAA re-render here purplish Mod2 & yellowish Mod3 depths

 

[lostsheep]

Monterey / Carmel diving is cold, bad viz, theres zero reef, zero life, no parking, and the locals are rude…definitely don’t dive here

 

[justinthedeeps]

We made sure to dive Lobos in surgy surf conditions, so that it would look and feel like Sydney, and have vis as bad as Seattle.
We don't actually want to see those great whites stalking around

 

[Tassi Devil Diver]

Anybody got more recent pics than this?

Would love to see more photos video of this deep pinnacle environment.

Old-timers around here talk about doing seriously deep coldwater seamounts on OC trimix ~30 years ago... so it's done--and too extreme (including expenses) to be repeated? Serious orgs moved on to remote sensing and AUVs

Diving, exploring and documenting deep offshore reefs is my passion, while wreck diving gets the attention, deep reef exploration has the potential to be very rewarding.

Down here in Tasmanian exploring reefs in the 60-100m range, we have found giant black corals approaching 4m high that had previously not been observed before (missed by AUV's and towed cameras on predetermined transects on the same reef) and fish that have rarely been observed in-situ or only in grainy/blurred AUV stills.

While this stuff can be achieved with towed cameras and AUV's, there is much to be gained from the observations made by divers taking pictures and video.

There are opportunities for technical divers to partner with research institutes to enhance the data they collect with AUVs and exchange data observations such providing detailed multibeam bathymetry and creatures to look out for and sample.

 

[mr_v]

Old-timers around here talk about doing seriously deep coldwater seamounts on OC trimix ~30 years ago... so it's done--and too extreme (including expenses) to be repeated? Serious orgs moved on to remote sensing and AUVs

Are people still doing seriously deep SCUBA exploration dives off the West Coast of North America? Any deep natural reefs? Or just a few wrecks and oil rigs?

Maybe the Cal Academy ichthyologists?

Is it happening, but not getting the hype levels of Bikini, Mediterranean ?

There is a quite savvy GUE group in the Bay Area? Noticed they surveyed Point Lobos really well. Anything else steep & deep?

There is a ton of stuff that is steep and deep. Unfortunately, Monterey's dive shops are not CCR friendly. No CCR tanks for rent, hard to find trimix and sorb. Most people learn to dive in Monterey so that they can dive on vacation in tropical waters. And that is a really bad idea. I remember a class where one pour soul subjected herself to 3' viz in 53F water so that she could enjoy diving in the tropics. If you want to dive only tropics, learn to dive in the tropics...

To see good stuff in Monterey, you get a friend with a Zodiac. Have your bud launch at Point Lobos and then head over to Twin Peaks. Exceptional viz on a good day. You may see a great white, too. I haven't seen a great white myself, but I have seen a diver who saw a great white. Rumor has it, the person went through 80CF in a few minutes.

Another alternative is to get a decent scooter and ride it out from Point Lobos into Monastery. Unfortunately, launching from either South or North Monastery isn't ideal due to logistics/hiking required.

But once you hit the wall, you can go as deep as your sense of adventure will let you. On the way, you'll see a ton of wild life, kelp forests, and seals who will dive with you. I kid you not. Do a night dive in that area, and seals will come with you to use your lights hunting. That was one of my best dives ever. ~2 hours at 30' hunting with a seal. You shine at fish, seals eat the fist, and then... get back in line with you to get more food ;-)

If I had to choose between diving SE FL or Central Cal for the rest of my life, Central Cal would be it. No brainer.