The diving community reacts to the ebb and flow of the local scene.

Katie Rodriguez here, finding myself occasionally missing the days when I went scuba diving regularly. Back in my marine biology days, I would drive from Santa Cruz to Monterey Bay to dive at some of the classic spots, like the Breakwater (San Carlos Beach) near the marina, or at the Hopkins Marine Station when I was joining UCSC scientific diving classes.

I remember seeing nudibranchs with their neon, almost radioactive-looking colors, floating next to harbor seals in giant underwater kelp forests. I even saw a tiny squid once.

All of these memories came flooding back as I read my colleague Sloan Campi’s story in this week’s edition of the Weekly, where he writes about the shifting dive shop landscape—with the closure of one and a tragedy hitting another.

While interviewing John Richardson, owner of Monterey Bay Scuba Diving, Campi reports that Richardson has observed a similar—but more drastic—trend in Santa Cruz, where dive shop options have dwindled from four shops down to one (and a half) in the last five years.

The story also touches on what some dive shop owners speculate may be driving the attrition. One interesting comment from Richardson is that perhaps the ongoing beach closures caused by thousands of congregating sea lions (nearby the Breakwater) are contributing to the slowdown in the local diving industry. Or perhaps there are simply too many shops for too few divers these days.

Monterey Bay—when the waters are tame and visibility is good—offers some of the most amazing diving experiences I’ve ever had, its nutrient-rich waters drawing marine life you’d never expect to encounter.

The diving community knows this well, but time will tell how the diving market will ebb and flow. You can read more about the changes here.