Monterey Trip - Summer 2008

We went diving in California May 19-23, 2008. See our pictures.


Note: only club members who had paid their membership dues ($10 for USU students, faculty, or staff, and $20 if no USU affiliation) were allowed to come on the trip (we needed to fund the club somehow!)

The USU Scuba club took a trip to Monterey, CA. The entire trip was 8 days long, with 5 days of diving in Monterey (Mon-Fri). We left on Saturday, May 17th, and arrived in Monterey mid-day on Sunday. Monterey is about a 14 hour drive from Logan (see Google directions). Despite fierce winds Wednesday and Thursday, we managed to arrange 10 dives throughout the week (3 Mon, 3 Tue, 1 Wed, 1 Thu, 2 Fri). We also received free admission to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and a tour of the Hopkins Marine Station.

Divers arrived in Monterey with all their gear. Directions, carpooling information, and options for gear rental were discussed at our planning meeting (which was April 16th). Due to the extended nature of the trip, it was cheaper to rent in Utah for the entire trip rather than paying California prices.

The water in Monterey was cold (~51°F). Everyone had appropriate thermal gear, including a thick wetsuit, gloves, boots, and a hood or hooded vest.

Club members did not need to have prior ocean or shore diving experience to come, but were expected to be involved with the group while in Monterey for local site orientations, safety instruction, etc.

Costs were kept to a minimum to facilitate maximum participation. We stayed four to a room (two beds) at the Lone Oak Lodge, one of the nicest motels in the area. Costs for each room were $60 plus taxes each night, which came out to about $17 per person per night ($102 for the whole trip).

Here's a breakdown of our costs. Some of our members may have paid more than this, depending on their specific expenditures:

Expense Approximate Cost
Travel (shared cost of gas, per person) $75-125
Lodging (shared, total cost per person) $102 (motel, 6 nights)
Tank air fills $4 per dive
Food (groceries, fast food/restaurants) $90
APPROXIMATE TOTAL $275-$350

So, why did we drive so far to go diving? Well, while Utah has some nice dive sites, there are actually things to see in the ocean! We were diving with seals, sea lions, and sea otters; swimming through schools of fish, and seeing some of the most colorful invertebrate life in the world! Kelp forests contain an amazing variety of living things, most of which you'd never see without heading to the ocean. See our pictures here.

We'll likely be leading another trip to Monterey during the summer (or spring break) of 2009, so stay tuned!


Additional Monterey information is available at the following sites: