Welcome to your final preparation guide for your PADI Open Water certification dives in Monterey! If you have finished your pool work and e-learning, you are technically ready, but Monterey’s cold, nutrient-rich waters add a layer of complexity that pool training simply can’t replicate. This weekend, you will complete four dives over two days—typically two on Saturday and two on Sunday. Here is a detailed, step-by-step breakdown of what to expect, the specific skills you will be tested on, and how to handle the unique challenges of diving in the Golden State.
The Monterey Factor: What to Expect Before You Splash
Before we get to the skills, let’s talk environment. You will likely be diving at San Carlos Beach (the Breakwater) or potentially McAbee Beach. The water temperature will be in the low-to-mid 50s Fahrenheit. This means you will be wearing a thick 7mm wetsuit (often a “farmer john” style with a jacket over it), a hood, booties, and thick neoprene gloves.
Pro Tip:
Everything is harder in thick gloves. Your dexterity will be reduced, so when you practice skills like mask removal or weight belt dropping, do it slowly and deliberately. The extra neoprene also makes you much more buoyant, so you will be wearing significantly more lead weight than you did in the pool.
Day 1: Acclimatization and Building Confidence
Dive 1: The "Get Comfortable" Dive
The first dive is designed to transition you from the pool to the ocean. You won't be overloaded with complex skills underwater; the focus is on applying what you know to the real world.
Surface Skills:
- Gear Assembly & Buddy Check: You will set up your own gear. Do not rush. In Monterey, double-check that your hood is tucked in and your seals are smooth to prevent cold water flushing.
- Weight Check: You will enter the water and do a buoyancy check at the surface to ensure you have enough weight to sink.
- Snorkel/Regulator Exchange: You may be asked to switch between your snorkel and regulator at the surface without lifting your face from the water.
Underwater Skills:
- Controlled Descent: You will descend using a reference line (usually a buoy line). The goal is to go down slowly without crashing into the bottom. Equalize your ears early and often—cold water can sometimes make equalization feel different.
- Trim and Swimming: You will explore the site. Your instructor is watching your buoyancy. Try to stay off the sandy bottom to avoid stirring up visibility.
- Ascent: You will perform a proper ascent, staying close to your buddy and adhering to a safe ascent rate.
Dive 2: The Skill Circuit
After a surface interval (bring warm clothes and hot tea!), you’ll head back in for Dive 2. This is often the "workhorse" dive where many specific skills are tested.
Surface Skills:
- Tired Diver Tow: You will practice towing your buddy for 25 yards while wearing full gear. In the ocean, use the swell to your advantage and pace yourself.
- Cramp Removal: You will demonstrate how to release a cramp on yourself and your buddy—a very real skill needed in cold water kicking!
Underwater Skills:
- Neutral Buoyancy (Fin Pivot): You will lie on the bottom and gently inflate your BCD until you pivot up on your fin tips as you inhale and sink as you exhale. This teaches you how breath affects buoyancy.
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Mask Clearing: You will likely perform a partial and fully flooded mask clear.
Monterey Note: When cold water hits your face, it can be a shock (the "mammalian dive reflex"). Just breathe calmly. If your mask fogs up, let a little water in to clear it, then blast it out.
- Regulator Recovery: You will simulate losing your regulator and use the sweep or reach method to recover it.
- Alternate Air Source Use: You will signal "out of air" to your buddy, secure their alternate air source, and breathe from it stationary for at least 30 seconds. This tests your ability to stay calm and manage air sharing.
Day 2: Advanced Skills and Exploration
Dive 3: Navigation and Precision
By Sunday, you should feel more accustomed to the cold and the gear.
Underwater Skills:
- C.E.S.A. (Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascent): This is the big one. You will simulate an out-of-air emergency where your buddy is too far away. You will swim horizontally along the bottom (simulating a vertical ascent) for about 30 feet while exhaling a continuous sound (like "ahhhh") to show you are not holding your breath.
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Mask Removal and Replacement: You will fully remove your mask, hold it, and put it back on.
Crucial Tip: In 50-degree water, your face will feel freezing instantly. Focus entirely on breathing through your regulator. Do not rush to put the mask back on; take a breath, stay calm, then replace and clear it. Check that your hood hasn't gotten under the mask skirt.
- Compass Navigation: You will swim a straight line out and back (reciprocal heading) using your compass. Trust the compass, as the green water and kelp can be disorienting.
Dive 4: The Final Polish
This is your victory lap. The instructor wants to see you planning and executing a dive like a certified diver.
Surface Skills:
- Skin Dive: You might perform a surface dive while snorkeling to demonstrate breath-hold skills (sometimes done on other dives).
Underwater Skills:
- Hovering: You will be asked to hover motionless in mid-water for 30 seconds without kicking or sculling. This is the ultimate test of buoyancy.
- Dive Planning: You and your buddy will plan the dive—setting depth and time limits—and execute that plan.
- Exploration: The rest of the dive is for you to enjoy the kelp forests. Look for sea otters, crabs, and nudibranchs!
Final Monterey Survival Tips
- Kelp If you get tangled in kelp, do not spin around. Pause, look back, and gently untangle yourself or ask your buddy for help. Snap or cut the kelp only if necessary (it snaps easily if you fold it).
- Surge Monterey often has a surge (back-and-forth water movement). Don't fight it. Let it move you, and kick when the water pushes you in the direction you want to go.
- Hydrate and Eat Cold water diving burns massive calories. Eat a good breakfast and bring snacks.
Relax, trust your training, and enjoy the incredible underwater forest. You've got this!
Backgrounder Notes
Based on the article provided, here are key facts and concepts that benefit from further explanation to deepen the reader's understanding of the training environment and techniques.
PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) This is the world's largest scuba diving training organization, responsible for setting the standardized performance requirements and safety protocols used in recreational diver certifications globally.
California Current / Upwelling The "nutrient-rich" water mentioned is the result of upwelling, a process where wind pushes surface water away, allowing deep, cold, and mineral-heavy water to rise to the surface, fueling the rapid growth of kelp and marine life.
San Carlos Beach (The Breakwater) Located in Monterey, this site is arguably the most popular training spot in Northern California because it is protected by a man-made jetty (breakwater), ensuring calm surface conditions even when the open ocean is rough.
Farmer John Wetsuit Unlike a standard one-piece wetsuit, this style consists of two pieces: a sleeveless bib (similar to overalls) and a separate jacket; this design provides a double layer of neoprene over the diver's core to maximize heat retention in cold water.
Mammalian Dive Reflex This is an involuntary physiological response common to all mammals; when cold water contacts the face, the heart rate slows and blood is shunted toward vital organs to preserve oxygen and body heat.
Valsalva Maneuver (Equalization) To "equalize early and often," divers typically pinch their nose and gently blow against it; this forces air through the Eustachian tubes into the middle ear to match the increasing water pressure outside.
C.E.S.A. (Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascent) This skill relies on Boyle's Law, which states that air expands as pressure decreases; as the diver ascends on a single breath, the air in their lungs expands, allowing them to exhale continuously without running out of air before reaching the surface.
Reciprocal Heading In underwater navigation, this is the technical term for a 180-degree turn; to calculate it, a diver adds 180 degrees to their current compass heading (if below 180) or subtracts 180 (if above) to return to their starting point.
Nudibranchs Often called "sea slugs," these are shell-less marine mollusks renowned for their vibrant, neon colors; they are a favorite sighting for Monterey divers and are often found grazing on the rocky reefs.
Surge Distinct from a current (which moves water in one direction), surge is the back-and-forth horizontal movement of water caused by the energy of waves passing overhead, typically felt most strongly in shallow waters.
Giant Kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) The specific species forming Monterey's "underwater forests," this is one of the fastest-growing organisms on Earth, capable of growing up to two feet per day and reaching heights of over 100 feet from the sea floor.
