Diving SoCal and Monterey Bay

[phrenicnerve]

Alright so I am going to get out and do some diving soon. Hoping to book a trip on June, 10th to Farnsworth Bank, another trip June 17th to Oil Rigs, and then the weekend of the 24th I will be in Monterey, Ca and am hoping to set up a 1-2 tank dive tour w/ a local guide.

Anyone familiar with dive spots around Monterey that I should NOT MISS?




...still looking at Cabo, Mexico for August. Not terriby excited about the diving but am not going to miss the opportunity since I will be there anyway. The sport fishing really depends on how much you can spend - I'm thinking of spending a little more to get on a nicer boat that is doing catch and release Marlin fishing.

[phrenicnerve]

Also, I have decided to start stashing money away for a trip to the Maldives. Oh my that place looks unbelievable!

Anyone got more to say about the Maldives?



Whooo hooo!!!

[The Publisher]

Phrenic,

I dove Cabo years ago and was disappointed. The whole place is designed to bleed tourists.

Cabo Pulmo is better diving. Amigos del Mar is well regarded as a dive operation.

As to fishing, it is WAY overpriced in Cabo. Loreto is better fishing for 50% less.

I've caught marlin in Cabo. I had more fun catching a 40 lb yellowfin tuna at the entrance to the marina than I did catching the 120lb marlin.

There are pangas or skiffs, where they will try to ream you for $250-$350 for the day, or the larger cruisers, which they will try to get $400-$500 for.

I'd rather just catch them all on video now.....

[Sarah]

Phrenic,

There is a Maldives dive video posted here

[phrenicnerve]

Yep that will work, and I'll bet it gets even better. I was also reading that it is a great place to dive with sharks.

Did anyone else put in an entry for the Discovery HD 1080 trip? That would be something I really wish I could do. If you missed it, there was a contest to put in a daily entry to have the opportunity to travel to the Carribean with the Discovery Channel dive crew to film shark week for this summer. I want to win so bad it hurts.

[phrenicnerve]

Sounds like I'll have to be careful. I work with some guys that go down there to fish often, so I should be able to get the names and numbers for reputable boats and what exactly it should cost. The pongas don't really sound fun - baking in the sun, ending up with fish you don't want to consume which makes killing them a waste...that's the main reason I would pay more to do catch and release marlin fishing. If I can find a reasonable solution where we are covered, and the fish buried in ice - I will do it. After all Cabo is world famous for fishing, and I hear the chefs at the resort are usually happy to prepare it for you. Being nickel and dimed for everything is annoying but inevitable in a resort town.

In the meantime I checked out Amigos del Mar and they have a dive package that looks good to me:

"The Slam Dunk Package"
Three Days of Diving - 1 two tank day Local Diving, 1 two tank "Across The Bay Trip", 1 two tank Cabo Pulmo Day = $269

...I can see myself going for this what do you guys think?

[Sarah]

That sounds like a decent deal. Avoid a dive to the "Sand Falls".

[phrenicnerve]

I'll make 'em work for the extra dough: "hey listen when we get down there, could you roll up into a ball and roll yourself down sand falls?"

[Sarah]

Tell them you saw a video of a coconut octopus rolling up into a ball on
ScubaMagazine.net and you promised you'd bring home some footage, lol