Monterey CA Dive 11/8/2008

I was up in Monterey last weekend with my mother since she was going to run the Monterey Half Marathon on Sunday. I decided to give diving in Monterey a try. I have heard a lot about the nice diving Monterey had to offer. So I booked a Trip through Glenn's Aquarius II Dive Shop to do a boat dive on the Monterey Express. I brought most of my gear up in the car with me except my wetsuit, weights (rented at the dive shop) and Tank (provided on the boat).




During the boat dive, the dive crew was wonderful and the captain had a good sense of humor. There were plenty of donuts muffins and coffee provided on the boat. I got to meet several new divers. I dove in a threesome, which I don't recommend for diving and you will find out later. One of the divers was in the military stationed in San Diego and the other was a college professor at Stanford University. The boat was supposed to go to Carmel, but since they had engine problems, we just stayed in the bay, which was okay for me since I had not been diving in a while.


The first dive (dive # 78) was to around 60 feet. The Water Felt cold at first. It was around 55 degrees. The wetsuit that I rented at the dive shop did not fit me as well as the one I usually wear. It took me a little longer to get down than my buddies. My dive buddies started to swim thinking I was with them, but it was actually some other diver on the boat. I just dove with another diver on the boat. It was pretty boring since he taking lots of pictures and was moving very slowly around the pinnacle. We stayed down for around 30 minutes and made our 15 ft 3min safety stop holding onto a line that was connected to another boat 50 yards away from the Monterey Express.

I did bring my underwater camera with me, but the o ring had some issues so I did not take any pictures on my dives. Monterey bay has some nice kelp forests which you can see in the picture below.

The second dive (Dive # 79) was to around 50 feet and we all three stayed together for 30 minutes. The water was getting cold near the end of the dive. I took care of it by peeing in the wetsuit that I rented. I hope that they did not find out about this. During the dive, we saw several Decorator Crabs and that look like the one in the picture below. One of my buddies had a drysuit that was leaking and needed to go up after 30 minutes of the dive. Not much of a drysuit when it doesn't keep you dry. I was ready to go back up as well since it was so cold. I did my 3 minute safety stop and returned to the boat.


The dives were great and I did see a lot of new things that I have not seen before. Visibility was great at around 30-40 feet. However, the water was very cold. I have been thinking about getting a drysuit once I come up with the money. They are not cheap, but worth it when all you buddies diving in wetsuits are freezing.