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

04/12/2008 Brian Xavier (Avg: 2.88 Review) - Monterey State Beach has good parking and facilities. Bring quarters for parking at pier. Sand bottom- low vis dive. Saw some very big sea stars and some nice snails. Also found a nice Scubapro jet fin- size large. Nice slow beginning dive.

02/13/2005 Owen DeLong (Avg: 2.67 Review) - Commonly known as "Del Monte Beach" by locals, this is a decent beginner site and a good place for Rescue classes. If you want any real depth, you need to swim out to the concrete anchorages or beyond (a healthy surface swim). The anchorages are in about 25 feet. Conditions are about the same year round.

07/26/2004 Jesse Rorabaugh (Avg: 2.76 Review) - I went here because I heard it was one of the best places to hunt halibut. After spending two hours free diving here, I am really not sure if that is true or not. Either I don't have the experience to be able to see one when I swim over it, or they are not here any more. The site did have a charm of its own. I had never seen as extensive of a sand dollar bed, and there were dozens of small crabs, and a single large spider crab. As for fish, there is almost nothing. Near park street, at some debris that is marked by kelp in the summer I found some small fish, and at one point a huge school of thousands of baitfish swam around me.

06/24/2004 Anonymous (Avg: 3.34 Review) - The dive here is not so much the in-shore part but the two "wrecks" (a yacht and half-track) about 400yds out, the kelp gives them away in the spring/summer months. A long surface swim is needed but they are only in about 30 ft of water. The wildlife is very good, probably since the site has rarely been visited by divers. The current can be strong but the underwater trip back to the beach is pretty good with beds of Sand Dollars and Starfish scattered everywhere. Need to get in early for a parking spot.

08/04/2003 Anonymous (Avg: 2.61 Review) - We dove here with a class. This beach is much less dove than the nearby Breakwater. I was surprised at the life we saw in the sea grass and below the large floats out from the beach. I wouldn't write this off as not worth a look. Very easy beach entry, depth of 15-35 feet, very little boat traffic, although it is a big kayak entry and exit. Great for beginners.

08/18/2002 Ben Burnsed, Jr. (Avg: 3.25 Review) - This was my first time snorkeling (I did not scuba), great place to get used to the equipment and the extremely cold water! However there was little sea life around, possibly due to the number of people up and down the beach. I found a few sand dollars and crabs (at least I think they were crabs!) but the only plant life was stuff that had broken off at sea and was being dragged by the current. Also saw a scuba class of about 3-4 people out there as well. Good place to swim though...see my review of Breakwater Cove for a nearby and more fulfilling snorkel dive.

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