Diver Reviews:    (Please share your own experiences by clicking here!)

04/25/2008 Kara - Director Ceres Pathfinder Club (Avg: 3.00 Review) - Many people have died at this beach!! Do not under estimate the warnings!! Two of my friends drowned there 5 weeks ago.

12/28/2007 Chris 'Truckindiver' Easly (Avg: 4.35 Review) - I came to this site looking for info on the diver who drowned here this afternoon. I dived this place at least 12 times in the last 2 months. I have blown off 2 dives here because it was very rough. The diver was a dive master, so his ego may have been bigger than his skills. THIS PLACE IS DANGEROUS. I have not dove here in about two weeks as it has been too big to get in or out, today notwithstanding. I have entered with small waves and came out with large waves breaking on the shore. Do not get me wrong; this place is great. The seal pups that have been living on the north side love to come and play tug-of-war or tag or pull-the-fins-and-gloves-off. Some tips for diving this place. Watch the conditions for a little while. The swell comes up fast here (ready to go, gear up, too big to go). Enter and exit with reg in your mouth. Exit with enough air (500 lbs), as the surge is strong enough to move you backwards while kicking hard. Watch the shore break and enter/exit between waves. It is very steep, so in two or three steps you will not be able to touch the bottom, and I'm 6 ft. So be careful, keep your wits about yourself, and it's best if you have second thoughts or doubts do not do it since there are other great places to dive in Monterey.

11/24/2007 A1 (Avg: 3.77 Review) - Monastery beach is often as difficult as people say, but just as often not. I did my rescue diver class off this beach when it was a very calm weekend, so not nearly as challenging as that might sound. I have gone diving here many times. I also have driven to the beach many times with dive gear, taken a good look and then driven to another beach. The real secret to diving this site is to dive a different one if conditions are going to turn an otherwise fine diving experience into an epic battle of man-against-nature. This beach is fully exposed to the full force of any waves coming in off the ocean, so when in doubt come back another day. Finding out that the surf is larger than you are prepared to deal with while getting pounded by water and wearing a hundred pounds of gear is too late. That said, I disagree that this is an advanced diver only site. I have seen the waves on the beach come in only ankle high. On such days, almost any diver could tackle the dive, as long as they can be honest with themselves about what kind of day they are looking at before donning gear. Other than the entry, the other challenging part of the dive is the wall, where the Continental shelf drops to the blue black depths of the canyon about 300 ft offshore. This is a spectacular sight, but does demand a certain level of buoyancy control. For brand new divers you will want to wait until you can consistently maintain your neutral buoyancy before taking a look here, but it is definitely worth a good look or three. Short of the wall, the kelp forest is fantastic. The exposure that makes this dive difficult half the time, also keeps the visibility better than average.

10/29/2007 Sara (Avg: 4.02 Review) - I am new to diving & my husband pushed me into doing this on my 36th birthday. I am absolutely hooked!! Loved it and I even got close to a 5' Angel Shark. There was so much to see and enjoy. We did 3 dives and went as deep as 89' (with an instructor). I had difficulty getting out the 2nd dive and pretty much learned to respect the power of the ocean. I really started to enjoy it better once I left the feeling of 'controlling it' go. On my last shore entry I put my regulator in my mouth, mask on, waited for the right series of little waves and swam like hell to get in and on my knees for the crawl in. I'm still finding the Monastery Marbles in my gear though. :)

07/30/2007 Leon Jon (Avg: 4.19 Review) - Monastery Beach near Point Lobos is the best shore dive site in the Monterey area. It is about a 15-minute car ride south of Monterey. Note: the entry and exit is treacherous and has injured very experienced divers. This beach has spawned the infamous "Monastery Crawl" that we teach to new divers in the Open Water class. If you dive here, you should dive only with an experienced diver who knows the site and the entry/exit procedures. I have seen whales, dolphins, sharks, sea lions on this dive. There is a great kelp forest on the north side. About 300 yards offshore, the depths drop into the Monterey Channel.

11/25/2006 Steven (Avg: 4.31 Review) - I am new to diving and was taking my Advanced diving course. We swam out to the kelp line and dropped to about 25 feet. The visibility was about 20 to 30 feet and we went down to 93 feet, stayed on the wall for 5 minutes then started back to shore. There were lots to see. The entry and exit were very easy but do not be fooled as things can change very fast here. On our second dive we stayed on the south side of the cove because the wind and surf came up. This site has given me the excitement to explore others along the California coast.

11/12/2006 3LilMonkeys (Avg: 3.58 Review) - I've been diving the Monterey Bay for about a year now and finally got around to Monastery. Wish I would have done it much sooner as this site is awesome. The entry was challenging but not as rough as I had thought it would be. I can definitely see how it can get really bad really quick. Marine life is the best I have seen in the Monterey Bay-- shot a nice lingcod and saw several others. The things I didn't care for on this site were: the sand (it is the perfect size to get into everything and jam it up good); a healthy surface swim; and the fact that I lost my favorite gun! Long story but my own stupid fault. There is a nice AB Biller 42" in about 50' of water for some lucky SOB to find. The rapidly dropping bottom contour is impressive, but make sure to have a dive plan everyone agrees to before exploring the drop. This site was awesome at 30' and at 110'. This is a great spot but make sure you know what the conditions are forecast, and do a good site survey before entering your first time.

08/26/2006 James in Spokane (Avg: 3.69 Review) - After reading the last reviewer's comments I couldn't help but be a little cautious coming to this site. I had none of the problems he reported but I dove it on slack tide with no shore break. Nice site, but definitely not for beginner or intermediate divers or divers on their first open water dive after certification.

07/03/2006 BR (Avg: 3.81 Review) - I am a brand new diver - this was my first dive after certification. We planned two dives, one in the morning, one in the early afternoon. We got in at low tide, around 10:30, and entry was a bit challenging, but manageable. The dive itself was glorious. Saw lots of fish, lots of marine life in general. We swam with dolphins!! It does get deep fast and we went down to 90-100 feet. It was awesome. The swim back was slow and we ran into occasional algae. The exit was a definite crawl, and quite tiring. The sand on that beach is just the right size to jam your regulator while being very hard to get out. For the second dive my regulator was jammed (we cleaned it up) and we were on our way for a second dive. The surf had gotten significantly worse. Entry was challenging, and I tested everything then went in. While they worked outside the water, in the water, both my regulators failed - I think it was a mix of coarse sand getting dislodged from hiding places and jamming my valves, and a mistake I made while putting my octopus back together. Needless to say, I decided to head back out, again crawling out. I almost died. I am a reasonably strong guy (mid-thirties, active, used to play rugby internationally). I got knocked by two huge waves, swallowed a ton of sea water, crawled some of the way and ended up in the surf utterly unable to move at all. A kind soul on the beach came my rescue, and help hold me against undertow that was sucking me back in. I did not read this page before diving there, but let my story be a reminder: THIS BEACH IS NOT FOR NOVICES or people not in great shape…

05/24/2006 Dan from Edmonds (Avg: 3.40 Review) - Monastery Beach is one of the most amazing dives and continues to be one of my all time favorites. My first experience summer of '76 we encountered a large number of Basking Sharks, dwarfed only by greater number of divers anxious to see and photograph these animals. However, my fondest memory was swimming through tall kelp forest and viewing some rather large pelagics swimming in the deep abyss below. An advanced dive for sure, but well worth it.

12/01/2005 Brian Xavier (Avg: 3.76 Review) - I dove Monastery Beach with my friend Dan Angel from Oakland. It was a flat day so we had no trouble getting out. Viz was not too good. We tried to find the ledge to look off into deep water, but no viz. Had a great dive but, since I dive alone much of the time with a pony tank, I do not dive Monastery. Dive this site on a flat day, as the swell can be very dangerous.

04/24/2005 Kendall Roberg (Avg: 4.24 Review) - Great Dive! We dropped down about 50 yards off shore and followed a path to the rocks on the left. We went from 20 to 104 feet then looped around to where we started. There was tons to see. I have not dove much but this was the best dive I have been on! Where we stopped at 104 is called 'the wall', there is a nice ledge there to stand on and look down. Drops to 1000+ feet after that. Great dive!

02/13/2005 Andy Gottscho (Avg: 3.93 Review) - This is a beautiful site, very popular for spearfishing and diving. Lots of harbor seals, lingcod, cabezon, blue rockfish, kelp rockfish, perch, colorful anemones, and sunflower stars. Fish are used to being hunted and the bigger blue rockfish are usually wary! Much bigger fish can be found next door at Point Lobos. Big leopard sharks have been sighted here! As you know, the beach entry /exit can be dangerous. There is actually a more protected, little-known entry just northeast of the main beach. It is a small sandy beach nestled among the rocky shore; you can easily see it from the water. You need to hike down the private driveway just north of the beach and take the dirt trail a few hundred yards. This entry is not suitable for scuba divers because you need to scale down a short but steep rocky slope to access the small beach; difficult to do with heavy weights and tanks. For freedivers and spearfishermen, however, this entry/exit is much easier and safer than attempting to enter from the main beach. Viz here can be good; on a calm day this site is phenomenal! This is my favorite spearfishing/freediving spot. If you want to practice deep freediving you can go as deep as you want! Have a good buddy with you!

07/18/2004 Bill Stohler (Avg: 3.92 Review) - When the surf is small, this site provides easy access to the Monterey Submarine Canyon. If you drop out by the wash rock, and continue seaward, you will be following the wall down as deep as you want to go! This is a great wall dive, with a huge kelp forest to keep you occupied during the later parts of the dive. Great biodiversity. Just watch the swell on days when it's not flat as there's a dangerous shore break. Typically good vis, but occasionally, there's a plankton bloom (green pea soup).

02/11/2004 Brian (Avg: 3.73 Review) - This was our first time at Monastery and it was an experience I won't soon forget for 2 reasons: The excellent diving and the major thrashing I took from old Neptune! We entered the water at 10am and it didn't look too bad but I got knocked off balance and then I thought I got hit by a bus but it was a wave!! After three sets of limp-bodied cartwheels, I finally swallowed so much water the waves couldn't pick me up any longer and I was able to crawl out of its grasp. I got back on the horse, as they say, and tried it again. That's when I realized I had rocks in my reg....so I switched to my snorkel since I was past the bad part and took a big breath and inhaled a few more rocks...lol After hacking up some of the rocks I was able to continue and try to find out why my mask was flooding instantly… obviously it was the rocks stuck in the purge valve… so after digging rocks out of many places, I caught up with my buddy and we proceeded to have an awesome dive with plenty of scenery. We got played with by a sea lion, saw a really neat spanish shawl nudibranch and hit 144' with plenty of abyss below us but that was enough for one day!!! A truly awesome dive and major respect for the surf here.

06/30/2003 Eric 'Spoon' Carvaho (Avg: 4.04 Review) - This is where I do most my deep dives. I totally love this dive site, and by far is the best site I been to in CA yet. Entry and Exit is by far the suckiest, but the benefits far out way it. Always have great vis here. Be prepared to do the Monastery crawl to get out, though I've been pretty lucky walking out!

11/14/2002 Debbie (Avg: 3.64 Review) - This was by far the best California dive I've done to date! There was something to see everywhere you turned! The kelp forest was wonderful. Watch the waves coming back into shore. Make sure you hug the north end of the beach as there is a mean under tow just as the wave breaks on shore. Can't wait to do this dive again!

09/13/2002 William E. D'Anis (Avg: 3.00 Review) - The California Congers skin diving club of Oakland, Calif., started diving the Monastery Beach area in 1954. We spent many a night sleeping on the beach and under Hwy 1 overpasses when it rained. Of course we all grew up. Now those days are gone. My deep dive of 275 feet was made with my friend Henry Reiswig (now Dr.) at Monastery Beach in era 1957. Red abalone were plentiful at the north end of the beach and, at that time, considered of less than premium value. Often we did not take the abalone. We spear fished for Ling Cod and Cabazone and had campfires at night on the beach. Our ages were young - 16 to 19 years for the most part. I was the oldest at 22, having just finished 4 years in the US Air Force. Now my diving years are over and my current hobby is radio controlled model gliders.

09/10/2002 Derek (Avg: 3.68 Review) - I dove this site for the first time after hearing how it is the best dive in the Monterey Area. I would have to agree although I have only been diving in Monterey about ten times. The entry wasn't as bad as many say it is, and I would recommend this to any beginning diver that has any sense for the strength of the ocean...make sure you are in good physical shape as well. The visibility was great--30-40 feet in most areas. I was amazed at how large some of the rocks were. The fish life was abundant--many species of rockfish, greenling, rubberlip perch, calico bass--although I didn't spot one lingcod. The highlight of the dive was looking into a large school of black rockfish, and being followed by a friendly harbor seal. This guy was hugging my dive buddy's tank for about ten seconds without him knowing...it was hilarious. The vis on this particular day was better than the south side. I will definitely be returning soon.

07/03/2002 Anonymous (Avg: 3.38 Review) - I experienced some of the best conditions ever at this site in October of 1993. The ocean was FLAT for about 8 days in the middle of the month and I was fortunate enough to make about 9 dives during that time. Diving Zen was achieved with visibility exceeding 100'. This made for incredible night diving conditions, too. BE CAREFUL, as these conditions are extremely rare for this site. I have over 50 dives at this location and most took place during average conditions, at best. Once in the water, it is a most rewarding site. The steep drop-off provides a great wall dive and there is plenty of kelp, mammals, fish and invertebrates. Safe egress is the key to success here. Be prepared to crawl (a lot), making sure your BC is EMPTY when you start. Otherwise a wave will pick you up an pound you on the steep beach. I've seen people get absolutely pummeled on average days. This is definitely an advanced site. I would not recommend ANY novice divers (even w/ advanced supervision) as this just puts both buddies at risk. Practice on the S. Monastery side before taking the plunge up the beach and enjoy!

03/08/2002 Barbara/San Francisco (Avg: 3.52 Review) - On a calm day, this is the best of CA shore diving. Moderately short surface swim to drop down in 40'. Easy navigation. Spectacular decorated walls and canyons - watch your depth and gas, can easily get into deco here. Conditions change rapidly, save gas for exit. Beach slopes sharply, treacherous exits common.

01/27/2002 Qwksvt (Avg: 3.67 Review) - Visibility depends on season (best in winter) and storm runoff. This is an ADVANCDED DIVER only beach. Divers have been killed here. Monterey marine canyon comes up very fast. Watch your depth along the wall. If you haven't practiced your beach crawl in a while do it somewhere else a few times. You will have to crawl out.

10/05/2001 Steven Goodman (Avg: 4.17 Review) - Do not dive this site without first getting some local expert advice. The surf entry and exit may not look that tough, but it is. The surf break zone is very short, and there is a lot of energy packed into a very small area. If there is even a 2 foot surf it can be tough. You want to enter as far north as possible, to get some protection from the kelp forests. You never want to enter anywhere near the center of the beach; and there is nothing to see there anyway. Once you have entered, swim out through or around the kelp to the area near the wash rock; where it gets very very deep. To exit, swim in near shore, wave goodbye to your buddy, when you hit the sand crawl crawl crawl until you get to dry sand, then look to see if your buddy needs help. If he needs help, dump your gear and do it as a snorkeler. If it is absolutely flat, this is a good place to take a beginner to get experience, but only with an experienced diver to lead, and perfect conditions.

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