Diver who died in Monterey a UCSC student

A San Jose man who died Thursday after scuba diving off Monastery Beach was a UC Santa Cruz student who spent the summer of 2007 working as an instructor for the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Underwater Explorers program for children.

[Rob]

So sorry to hear
Prayers out to everyone

[West Side]

Very sad.

[the dog]

Very sad story.
Sounds like he died where he loved to be and doing what he loved to do. He sounded like a truly good person. We all need more of his kind around us.

[the gipper]

This is a very sad story indeed, Please let me tell you Monestery is NOT THE PLACE TO GO DEEP. So many people have drown the over the years there. Several years ago three of my friend drowned there try to go deep. You cannot see anything below 100', if you want to go deep at least go to warm water with visabilty.

[Santa Cruz used tobe]

I've dived in Monterey and I won't do it again. It's very hard to see once you get down below 100ft. How very sad for this young man and his family. I'm glad thy're checking out his dive equipment.

[Donny B]

My sympathies to the family.

I've never been diving on the West coast, but we have our fair share of "Braille" diving back here along the eastern seaboard. Zero/low viz dives are tough enough, let alone doing it at 250 feet. This young man may have been an experienced diver, but it seems pretty obvious that the combination of depth and zero/low viz (and who know how many other adverse conditions he faced) were too much for him to handle.

[westside resident]

This is so very sad! My son is a research diver and lover of things such as this. My Heart goes out to the family of this young man and all those who know and love him.

[sympathies]

Very sorry to hear this.

I don't know if it is the typically spotty Sentinel reporting, but where were his buddies on the ascent? Why were they not together? I am not blaming anyone. I have a hard time understanding why one diver would have to go back after another if they were ascending together.

[All who wonder]

My sympathies to all who knew this diver. I met him once and was a delightful young man.

[Reality Check]

sympathies wrote:

Very sorry to hear this.
I don't know if it is the typically spotty Sentinel reporting, but where were his buddies on the ascent? Why were they not together? I am not blaming anyone. I have a hard time understanding why one diver would have to go back after another if they were ascending together.

If you've dived in Monterey you might understand. I've been at Point Lobos where I couldn't see my hand in front of my face at 30 feet. Very easy to 'lose' a dive buddy there. Still 250 is well beyond sport diving limits - with extreme activities come extreme risks. It's possible he became disoriented and lost track of his ascent. All sorts of things can happen at extreme depths.
RIP.

[KD Atlanta]

westside resident wrote:

This is so very sad! My son is a research diver and lover of things such as this. My Heart goes out to the family of this young man and all those who know and love him.

Oh, me too. My oldest is not into research at this time, but did certify out of Carmel. My offspring met the "love of my life" thru SCUBA diving. They have been diving in tropical and Austrailian waters for 15 yrs or more. Now they have children and they continue to take risks from underwater to skydiving.
Ya can't tell em what you think if you want to be part of their life.

[sympathies]

to Reality Check-- I've done a lot of diving in Monterey-- for fun and for research. I've encountered visibility that is great (10-15 ft) and awful (can't see my hand). I've also eaten the monster berries, so I know what it is like to dive at Monastery. It sounds like this young man was very experienced and truly enthusiastic about the sport.

As you mention, this person was diving beyond the sport/recreational limits. 250 ft requires additional safety precautions. I'm sorry for him, for his family, and for his buddies that this terrible accident happened. I hope it will encourage some restraint in the diving community and people will heed the safety rules.

[a stink]

I'm so sorry to hear this. RIP

[Diver Dude]

This was unfortunate, but also predictable. There is no safe diving using scuba at 250 feet. Nitrogen narcosis (narcosis=drugged) makes diving at great depth like driving drunk. Full disclosure: I have dived at Monastery hundreds of times and have had no problems, I have been using scuba for more than 30 years.