Advanced level dives are only for those who have experience with dives in this area, are in good physical condition, and have been diving for awhile. You should have RECENT (within the last 1 or 2 months) experience with conditions similar to Monterey, and, if at all possible, you should have someone familiar with the site along the first time you go. Advanced sites include places with difficult (read " dangerous ") entries and exits, proximity to great depths, or a combination of factors that make the site more challenging than other sites in the area.
LOCATION: Scenic Drive in Carmel.
LEVEL: Advanced.
ENTRY: Beach.
DEPTH: 10-60ft (3-18m)
PARKING: On side streets.
Copper Roof gets it's name from the house that overlooks the site. This place is only divable when it's really calm. Access is from the south end of Carmel Beach. Swimming out from the beach you'll hit areas of low rocky reefs. It is pretty shallow until you get to the outer edge of the site. Consequently it is often very surgey here. There is a lot of the Bull Kelp, Nereocystis leutkenea here, and a dense understory of Pteragophora and the acid kelp, Desmarestia . When it's divable here, visibility is usually pretty good.
LOCATION: Scenic Drive south of Copper Roof.
LEVEL: Advanced.
ENTRY: Beach.
DEPTH: 10-60ft (3-18m)
PARKING: Side streets.
This is another site that is named for a unique house that overlooks it. Entry is from the beach just north of the house. Like Copper Roof, this site should only be attempted on flat calm days.
The rocky bottom goes from low cobble strewn reef in close, to higher relief rocks cut with vertical channels farther out. The flora and fauna are similar to Copper Roof. Spend time poking around in the many cracks and crevices, and you'll see a wide variety of both fish and invert life.
LOCATION: LEVEL: Advanced.
ENTRY: Beach.
DEPTH: 10-60ft. (3-18m)
PARKING: Side streets
This site is often called Stewart's Point. Like the two sites above, parking is on the streets intersecting Scenic Drive. Don't ruin things for divers here by being inconsiderate of the residents. Don't change in public view, and don't block traffic with your vehicle or gear.
At the north end of the beach is a stairway down. Always enter and exit the water from the extreme northern end, behind the rocky point, as the beach is very steep, and the surf can be really bad. Swim out around the point, and around the kelp as far as you feel comfortable with. The farther out you get, the better dive you'll have.
This site is similar to Copper Roof and Butterfly House. Closer to shore bull kelp dominates, giving way to giant kelp farther out. The bottom consists of large boulders cut by deep vertical channels, and large cobbles strewn between.
Visibility here is usually good, but can be poor after rain due to the outflow from the Carmel River. This is also another very surgey site that should be avoided if conditions are at all rough. I know a local diver who says she was actually shot all the way to the surface from the bottom by the surge here.
LOCATION: Highway 1 south of Carmel
LEVEL: Advanced.
ENTRY: Beach.
DEPTH: 20ft (6m)-Deeper than you want to go.
PARKING: Along street (Hwy 1)
Monastery Beach is actually two different dive sites, North Monastery and South Monastery. Entry is from one end of the beach or the other, NEVER from the center.
Monastery has a reputation as a dangerous beach. It's often called Mortuary Beach due to the number of deaths that have occurred here. In actuality, it's no more dangerous than the other sites listed in this category, it's just that it's dived more often by people who just aren't familiar enough with local conditions to know when to go somewhere else. Like the three previous sites, you don't want to try this place unless it's fairly calm. Like Carmel River Beach, the beach face is very steep, which makes for a short, pounding surf zone. It's this surf zone that gets people killed. Remember when you stand on the beach to assess the surf conditions, the steepness of the beach puts you much higher than the water level, so the waves will seem smaller than they are.
Always enter the water behind the kelp bed. The kelp actually does reduce some of the power of the surf. Enter with all your gear on and your reg in your mouth. Since this is such a high energy beach, the sand is more like small gravel, and Monastery Beach sand is notorious for its ability to get into everything. Make sure all the air is out of your BC. Walk in either backwards or sideways, carefully timing your entrance with the smaller sets of waves. Since the beach is so steep, and the waves break with such force, there's a good chance you'll fall down. If this happens, turn over and swim like hell AWAY from the beach. The last thing you want to do is to try to stand back up, or get out of the water. This is how people get into trouble here. They get continously tumbled by the surf, and drown. The surf zone is very narrow, and once you get beyond it you're safe, even on rough days.
What I like to do from either end of the beach is to then swim out along the edge of the kelp until I reach the outer edge of the kelp bed, and make my descent there. On the north end it's important to make your descent along a kelp frond, since the Carmel Canyon comes in here, and it's very easy to find yourself dropping into very deep water if you're not careful.
On the north end, this will put you on the wall dropping down into the canyon. The kelp starts growing at about 60 ft (18m), so if you drop down at the edge that's the depth you ought to land at. You can either go deeper then, if you want, or start working your way up. Most of the interesting stuff starts around 45ft (14m) so there's not much point in going deeper. You can work your way up to at least 30ft. (9m) on most days, and if it's really calm you can get much shallower. There is a wash rock in the middle of the kelp, and if you continue ascending along the wall, you'll come right up on it. This can be dangerous if it's rough, so watch yourself.
On the south end, the bottom slopes much more gently. It's characterized by large boulders and narrow channels that are a blast to swim through.
Whichever end you dive, the exit is the same. Come back in behind the kelp. Stop just outside the surf zone and start watching the waves, so you can time your exit with a small set. When you're ready to exit, put your reg in your mouth, dump all the air from your BC, duck down to the bottom, and start kicking in. As soon as you can, start crawling, quickly, out of the surf zone, and keep going till you're completely out of the water.
Be aware that conditions here can change rapidly, even during the time you're under water. Don't just assume that it's going to be calm when you're ready to exit, just because it was when you entered. Try to dive this site as early in the morning as you can, as conditions typically deteriorate as the day progresses. If an emergency does occur, there is a pay phone at the south end of the beach.