Sarah Goes Scuba Diving: Shortest Dive Ever?

The Marine forecast was looking pretty iffy all week, and being that my BC was still not back from Scubapro, I was thinking it might be wiser to just stay dry for the weekend. However, a convincing call from Dan go my butt in gear and out on the road at 5:15 AM on Saturday morning, heading to Monterey on the chance that the conditions would be great.

The wind was definitely not as strong on shore as I thought it might be, given the gale wind warnings that were issued, but the clouds overhead were somewhat more ominous of the day. I arrived before Dan or Dave, so I checked out the scene along the Harbor wall where the Earth Day divers and shore clean-up brigades were setting up. The conditions didn’t seem to bad, so I went back to the Honda and was soon joined by Mike and Dave. We went to check out the Bay from the harbor wall together, and Dave decided that we could try and get in at least one dive. So back to the boat to get gear loaded and wetsuits/drysuits on. Soon my gear was onboard and set up with the tanks in the hold and I was donning my wetsuit and soon after, we were walking over to K dock to meet Mike in the boat.

Dan and I in the front, Mike and Dave driving, we cruised out of the marina, Mike tacking against the winds that were already becoming an issue in the marina. As soon as we got out of the harbor, the truest nature of the Bay became more apparent. It was going to be rough and I forgot to take Dramamine. Regardless of my fear of getting sick, we laid out into the bay, the discussion turning to which site to try. Over the swells, riding down their backs, it was soon decided that we would have to stay somewhere near the harbor, away from the mouth of the Bay in order to get any dive in – and we decided to stay at the Shale Beds / Anchor Farm.

As soon as the anchor was down, I started to feel it. My stomach bobbing around inside of me. Starring off into the horizon, picking out the Marriott just beyond the harbor I was able to get a hold of myself and begin to evaluate the dive site, conditions, etc against my feelings, comfort level and training. I was on a boat with very skilled and knowledgeable divers. One instructor, one assistant instructor and another diver who had logged a substantial number of dives – I was in more capable hands than I’ve been since my OW certification so it wasn’t that I was uncomfortable with them or that I thought they would let me be unsafe. It was that, while sitting there, the swells were increasing. No longer did they seem to be in the 8’ range, but looked more like 12’ and seemingly increasing. I wasn’t worried about the dive, I was just worried about the reentry into the boat after the dive. I voiced my concerns and after being assured that they would help me if needed, I decided to go for it. Knowing my luck, if I stayed on the boat, they’d come up raving about the gorgeous conditions. So, I started to don my gear.

Soon Dave was in the water, his fins slapping the water as he made his way down the anchor line to the bottom resting 80’ below. Dan and I followed shortly thereafter, doing a great backward roll off the side of the boat, feeling the calm sensation of twisting back towards the surface. I tried snorkeling over to the anchor line, wishing to conserve as much air as possible as to not cut Dan’s dive too short, but the swells were coming over the top of my snorkel, making breathing off my tank for the short surface swim a necessity. Soon Dan and I were heading down the anchor line, me following closely behind in order to avoid being separated. Visibility was less than optimal, being about 5-7 feet on the surface, and quickly deteriorating as we head down the line. Optimistic that it would clear, we continued, point out sea nettles that were wallowing around in the water column.

At 25’ feet we encountered Dave who was heading to the surface, thumbing the dive. According to his report, at depth the visibility was nowhere near improved, the swell causing the bottom’s silt to simply be stirred up. So, we made our way back onto the boat, got our gear off and fired the boat back up. After pulling the anchor, we headed back to the Marina, the swells increasing still, but riding back was more enjoyable as we were going with the wind, and were almost surfing along the tops of the swell. All the while my eyes trained along the horizon, still holding on to my light breakfast.

Back at shore, the boat was soon pulled out of the water and gear pulled off of it. Hanging around for a while, we then parted ways and I went off to take some photos with my new dSLR. Meeting up with Dan at the Breakwater, we watched a group of students being helped out of the water at high tide with less than optimal conditions. Dan offered to show me around Monastery which I gladly took him up on given the fact that I’ve never actually step foot on the beach despite having attended to panel discussions, etc. on how to dive at the location.

We took separate cars and I followed him out to the beach. Pulling up, we walked past Doc Wong’s new advisory signs, over the pebbly beach to the top of the steep beach. The water was beautiful, but rough. Brilliant shades of blue accented by the new season’s kelp strands, it was easy to see how beach-goers and divers alike would be drawn to this dangerous beach. Dan pointed out the best entry and exit points, as well as showing me what makes the beach so dangerous – the walls of water that comes rolling up in a tube almost, while the receding waters down the steeply angled beach pull back. It was so easy to see how dangerous it could be, and simultaneously, how attractive it would be to an unsuspecting person or child.

Leaving there, we rounded the corner to Point Lobos and went down to Whaler’s Cove which was just inundated with people. Seeing Team Kitty’s car in the parking lot with all their double tables set up, we realized they must be in the water so we stood on the rocks and looked for their bubbles, to no avail. Giving up, Dan dropped me back at my car and we parted ways. Stopping off Fremont Street on my way out of Monterey, I found my new "favorite gas station" - cheap gas (relatively speaking) and a Subway. I sat for a while and partook of my favorite sandwich - veggie delite with no cheese. YUM.

While disappointed that the diving wasn’t great (and I had to now go home and rinse all my gear), I had a great morning hanging out with such good divers who are nice enough to take a relatively new diver under their wing for the morning. It is these kinds of experiences that remind me and make me grateful to live and dive in such an awesome area where there is a general sense of community amongst the divers in the local area.

A warm thank you to Dan, Dave and Mike – you all were instrumental and encouraging, and I appreciate it immensely. I look forward to diving with you all again in the near future I hope!

Dive Stats:
1 minute at 25’ feet. Visibility approximately 3 to 5 feet. Water temperature 68 degrees. I know, not really a dive, but its funny to recount the day's events anyhow!