Welcome to the Monterey Bay!

The Monterey Bay is a very special place and home to some of the best diving on the West Coast. What makes this divot in the coastline so special is that just offshore lies a Grand Canyon-sized depression called the Monterey Trench. This mile-deep slash is one of the largest trenches in the world and it acts as a reservoir for the cold, nutrient rich water that periodically gets forced to the surface near shore by prevailing winds. Those nutrients feed plankton and algae which drive an incredibly productive and diverse ecosystem as well as the famous kelp forests which create food and habitat in a truly unique ecosystem. Whereas diving a coral reef is like gliding over a meadow of wildflowers, diving a kelp forest is like flying through a rain forest.

The incredible productivity created by the deep water upwelling sustained Native Americans who ate fish, shellfish and marine mammals for thousands of years before the Spanish started to arrive in the mid 1500s. By the 1600s, a permanent Mission and Spanish settlement was established and, for a time, Monterey was the capitol of Spanish Alta California. Russian fur traders hunted otters and seals for their dense pelts and raided the coast of California nearly bare of wildlife by the early 1800s and about the same time, Chinese communities were founded all along the coast to fish and feed the growing population of Californios. Hopkins Marine Lab stands on the site of one of the oldest Chinatowns on the West Coast. Soon after the Spanish American War, California was ceded to the United States and an influx of new Anglo settlers flooded the region. In the 1920s and 30s, a strip of fish canning plants called Cannery Row was a major economic driver in the region turning massive shoals of sardines into jobs, money and stink. When the sardines disappeared, the canneries closed- the last one shuttered in 1973- and despite the marketing you won't find a Monterey can of sardines anywhere. With the creation of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the region began to shift its economic might away from extraction and towards education and tourism. Now with over a dozen Marine Protected Areas, strict fishing rules in place and a recovering sea otter population, the kelp forests and the ecosystems that depend on them have been recovering in a rare ecological success story and the community has been making money by helping the public watch the transformation.

In the past several years, this success has been jeopardized by a mysterious confluence of events. Purple sea urchin reproduction spiked. A giant mass of unusually warm water hovered over the Pacific Northwest and this coincided with a massive, unprecedented die-off of sea stars along the Pacific Coast of North America. The purple urchin population grew up and the adults began to mow down kelp forest by the acre. For the past five years, the two major species of Central California kelp species have been decimated, replacing the beautiful and essential forest with dull urchin barrens that lack food and hiding places for many local species.

Wildlife

Divers from all over the world come to Monterey to experience the kelp forests we have here. Giant kelp, being the foundation of the ecosystem here, creates habitat and provides food for a plethora of marine animals. From the top of the canopy down to the rocks, marine life can be found in every part of the water column. On the surface, you'll find marine birds such as egrets perched above looking for their next meal, and cormorants, unique birds that dive for their food. On the kelp, there will be invertebrates who dare to climb. Nudibranchs, kelp crabs, and snails taking residence within the stalks. Right underneath the canopy you'll see rockfish schools weaving through the forests and feeding on what lives in the kelp.

Below at sea floor level, large rock structure riddled with caves and holes are covered in a lush understory. A colorful palette of red algae, orange / yellow / purple anemones, and sea palms give camouflage to a cryptic community who lie in wait for their next meals. Take a look in the holes with flashlights next time, you'll see different types of lings, sculpins, and rockfish. Embedded into the rocky reef you'll find scallops, many sea stars reaching out from beneath the rocks. Between the rocky reefs, there are plants and animals that make up a sandy community. As you traverse these vast fields, you'll see that it is not just sand. Masses of sand-dollars huddled together, slowly moving, making tracks in the sand. tall sea grass that waves in the surf acting as a nursery for all kinds of perch fish, young and adult alike. Protruding out of the sand are multitudes of tube anemones with their tentacles spread out for feeding, moving among their stalks are crabs, sea stars, nudibranches, and some flat fish. Even if there is nothing but sand, take a closer look, sometimes in the craters or mounds there will be something resting by it. Seasonally we'll see halibut and regularly rays hovering over the sand. The above description is a brief description of the wildlife that Monterey has to offer. With numerous rock structures and the canyon being close by; every site in Monterey to Carmel to Big Sur is completely different from the other. Offering different types of habitat and higher chances to see a certain species.

Planning your Dive

• Weather: Monterey has mild weather changes throughout the year. During the day the weather is usually in the mid 60s(°F) , at night it is in the high 40s (°F). Surprisingly, a majority of the summer days are cloudy with a marine layer covering the bay; slowly being burned off as the day goes on. In the fall, it is much warmer, like what a summer should be.
• Conditions: Use this video to understand how to read condition reports. The water temperature at the surface is usually in the mid 50°F/10°C, with lows as far as 46°F /7.7°C and as warm as 62°F/16.6°C. Divers usually experience much colder waters when an upwelling event has occurred. Swell and wind conditions vary each day and sometimes change in the same day. They also drive into the bay from a north western orientation. Typically on bigger swell days it is better to dive in the San Carlos to Pt. Pinos area, but when the swell is low the Carmel and Big Sur areas become more available to dive. There are observations you can make to determine if conditions will worsen or better. A large one is using white caps as a gauge for wind. In the distance you will see waves toppling over themselves frothing with white water, hence the name "white caps", usually a good indication that the winds are strong. However, if the caps disappear later in the day, it's a indication that wind has died down.
• Visibility: Generally speaking, visibility is low in the summer when long days of sunshine help create a green haze of algae near the surface but there isn't yet a good way to test visibility without getting in the water. Call a local dive shop to see if they have any reports or become a member of a Facebook group like Monterey County Dive Reports.

Safety

Support your local hyperbaric chamber! The Pacific Grove Hyperbaric Chamber is the only one of its kind on the Central Coast. It has and will continue to save lives thanks to volunteer efforts. Purchase dive insurance through DAN

Spearfishing

Monterey Bay has abundant wildlife and that's principally because of strict management and a network of Marine Protected Areas. Follow the rules, make sure your fishing license is up to date and be a respectful steward of the environment and we'll make sure that we can have an incredible marine resource to show the youngin's coming up. Stop by the local CDFW Monterey Regional Office to learn more in person or visit their website. If you see someone breaking the rules, do the environment and the fishing community a favor by reporting illegal poaching or polluting activity to CAL-TIP at (800)541-4591.