Staying Home Sucks, home
Monterey Bay 2 2017-11-14
McAbee Beach. Photo: F ASTILY, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

McAbee Beach

Dive site · United States

Advanced divers and up

Is it worth the trip?

37Poor out of 100 for your dates

Stay home

2 days tie for best

Each day of your trip, out of 100

Tue 3 · 37 out of 100

Sea
1.0 m
Wind
10 kn
Gusts
21kn
Air
17°C

Wed 4 · 27 out of 100

Sea
1.3 m
Wind
3 kn
Gusts
7kn
Air
18°C

Thu 5 · 44 out of 100

Sea
0.9 m
Wind
3 kn
Gusts
12kn
Air
20°C

Fri 6 · 28 out of 100

Sea
1.2 m
Wind
4 kn
Gusts
8kn
Air
19°C

Sat 7 · 27 out of 100

Sea
1.4 m
Wind
3 kn
Gusts
17kn
Air
21°C

Sun 8 · 44 out of 100

Sea
0.9 m
Wind
5 kn
Gusts
12kn
Air
23°C

Mon 9 · 31 out of 100

Sea
1.1 m
Wind
1 kn
Gusts
6kn
Air
22°C

Tap a day for sea, wind and water. Full forecast

Forecast: next 9 days

Full forecast
  1. Mon 247, fair
  2. Tue 337, poor
  3. Wed 427, poor
  4. Thu 544, poor
  5. Fri 628, poor
  6. Sat 727, poor
  7. Sun 844, poor
  8. Mon 931, poor
  9. Tue 1027, poor

The site in six facts

  • Down to 14 mits deepest
  • From the shorehow you get in
  • Advancedand up
  • Water 14 °C7 mm semi-dry or a drysuit
  • Faces Nswell from there reaches it
  • Best Jul–Aug7 good days in 7

Full forecast

every day, every number

Suits Advanced divers and up, as a dive guide states it. Scored for Advanced divers.

Sea and wind forecast and score for each day at McAbee Beach
DayScoreSeaWindGustsAir
Mon 2Nov47, fair0.8 m4 kn6kn18°C
Tue 3Nov37, poor1.0 m10 kn21kn17°C
Wed 4Nov27, poor1.3 m3 kn7kn18°C
Thu 5Nov44, poor0.9 m3 kn12kn20°C
Fri 6Nov28, poor1.2 m4 kn8kn19°C
Sat 7Nov27, poor1.4 m3 kn17kn21°C
Sun 8Nov44, poor0.9 m5 kn12kn23°C
Mon 9Nov31, poor1.1 m1 kn6kn22°C
Tue 10Nov27, poor1.2 m8 kn16knboats in18°C

Sea is the waves near the site, in metres; wind and gusts in knots. "Boats in": gusts that keep dive boats in. More

Tide

  • Mon 2 NovHigh 05:24 +0.5 mLow 10:40 −0.1 mHigh 16:13 +0.6 mLow 23:14 −0.9 m
  • Tue 3 NovHigh 06:06 +0.6 mLow 11:57 −0.3 mHigh 17:37 +0.5 m
  • Wed 4 NovLow 00:07 −0.8 mHigh 06:44 +0.7 mLow 12:58 −0.5 mHigh 18:52 +0.5 m

Local clock times; heights about mean sea level. On open coasts the times are usually within a quarter of an hour; in bays, estuaries and on the Gulf of Mexico they can be an hour or more out. Slack water, the safest time to dive where there is current, is about half an hour either side of each high and low. Tide: EOT20 global ocean tide model, Hart-Davis et al. 2021, DGFI-TUM (doi:10.17882/79489), CC BY 4.0. Times and heights computed by us. A model, not a tide table: check a local table before you go.

Forecast updated . It refreshes every three hours. Forecast data: ECMWF, DWD, Météo-France and NOAA, served by Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0). Changed by us. Generated using E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information.

Best time to go

best Jul–Aug

Good diving days in a typical week, each month, for Advanced divers, from 2016 on (ERA5 history scored the same way).

  1. Jan2of 7: a trip from Sat 2 Jan
  2. Feb3of 7: a trip from Sat 6 Feb
  3. Mar4of 7: a trip from Sat 6 Mar
  4. Apr4of 7: a trip from Sat 3 Apr
  5. May5of 7: a trip from Sat 1 May
  6. Jun6of 7: a trip from Sat 5 Jun
  7. Jul7of 7: a trip from Sat 3 Jul
  8. Aug7of 7: a trip from Sat 7 Aug
  9. Sep6of 7: a trip from Sat 4 Sept
  10. Oct5of 7: a trip from Sat 2 Oct
  11. Nov4of 7: a trip from Tue 3 Nov
  12. Dec3of 7: a trip from Sat 5 Dec

Tap a month to see this spot for a trip then.

Typical, not a forecast: the sea and the mean wind of each day, with no gusts or rain in the history.

Map

the site, its town, photos

Each place wears its best day on these dates: green good, amber fair, pale red poor, as the key says.

The map needs JavaScript. Every place on it is listed on this page, and each place's page links to Google Maps.

One finger scrolls the page; two fingers move the map. Pins are our own positions. Map OpenFreeMap, © OpenMapTiles, data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Photos of McAbee Beach

Bigfin reef squid (Sepioteuthis lessoniana)
Photo: Evan Baldonado, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Monterey Bay 2024a
Photo: Antony-22, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Harbor Seals - Monterey, California, USA - August 1995 01
Photo: Giorgio Galeotti, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

More diving near here

5 places

About

the place in full, sources, credits

About McAbee Beach

A kelp forest dive. It goes down to 14 m. You get in from the shore. It suits Advanced divers and up, as a dive guide states it. The coast faces N: swell from the N reaches it, and wind from the S blows out to sea. 6 dive centres or shops within 10 km, the nearest 0.5 km away. The sea is about 12°C in May, its coldest month (7 mm semi-dry or a drysuit), and 15°C in August, its warmest (7 mm semi-dry or a drysuit). For Advanced divers the best months are usually July and August, with about 7 good days in 7; in January, about 2. From the weather of past years. The town to stay in is Pacific Grove. Within 5 km we also list 6 surf spots, 1 wind sports spot and 8 dive sites.

  • What it is Kelp forest.
  • How deep Down to 14 m.
  • Getting in From the shore.
  • Who it suits Suits Advanced divers and up, as a dive guide states it.
  • Dive centres 6 dive centres or shops within 10 km, the nearest 0.5 km away.

Water about 14°C: 7 mm semi-dry or a drysuit. Typical sea temperature for the time of year, not a forecast.

Visibility under 5 m. Typical for the time of year, estimated from ten years of NASA satellite water clarity, not a forecast. Clearest in Jan, Feb and Dec (about 5 m).

The score is the conditions only: the journey, the price and the partners never change it (how we score, how we earn).

Rough cost (estimate): about US$925–US$1,710 each

about US$925–US$1,710 each · 6 nights, 2 sharing: flights, taxi, stay, food.

Our estimate from typical public prices, not a quote: check the real prices before you book (where they come from). Prices are about, in US Dollar (USD): our pound figures at the European Central Bank's rate of 30 October 2026.

How we worked it out 
Rough cost per person for this trip
WhatHow we worked it outEach
Flightsreturn ORD to MRY, estimated from distance and season, 1 airline on the route, with a hold bagabout US$261–US$536
Taxiairport and back, sharedabout US$20–US$33
Stay6 nights, a mid-range double, sharedabout US$301–US$502
Food7 days eating outabout US$342–US$636
Totalabout US$925–US$1,710

Guided dives are not priced yet: we have no sourced price, so it is not in it. Prices from public sources, checked in 2026.

Where to stay: Pacific Grove

Ad Links marked Ad may pay us if you book. You pay the same, and they never change a score. How we earn

Closest

Pacific Grove

about 5 min by car · 69 places to stay

about US$114/nightcountry average

See 69 places to stay in Pacific Grove · Booking.com

About Pacific Grove its beds, food and every spot near it

About US$114 a night is our estimate of the country's average 2-star double room that month: not each town's price, and not a quote. Drives are estimates. Prices are about, in US Dollar (USD): our pound figures at the European Central Bank's rate of 30 October 2026.

Getting there: about 6h 55m

About 6h 55m door to door from Chicago

Fly ORD → MRY, direct, then 30 min by road

An estimate, one way; the journey never changes the score.

In the water

Dive centres nearby

  • On The Beach Surf Shop 0.5 km

  • Bamboo Reef Scuba Diving Centers 0.5 km

  • Cannery Row Aquatics 0.8 km

  • Enterprise Cannery 0.8 km

  • Monterey Bay Scuba 1.1 km

The nearest named dive centres and shops within 25 km, in a straight line; training agencies where the map states them. Listings, not a recommendation. Dive centres: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Credits

What you might see

Animals divers and surveys have recorded within 2 km of this site in the last 15 years. A record says someone saw it here, not that you will.

  • Swellshark Cephaloscyllium ventriosumShark

    Seen in 2507 records, mostly Jul to Sep.

  • Zalophus californianusSeal or sea lion

    Seen in 20 records.

  • Purple sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus

    Seen in 52082 records, mostly Nov.

  • Red sea urchin Mesocentrotus franciscanus

    Seen in 43469 records, mostly Nov.

  • Pisaster giganteus

    Seen in 22711 records, mostly Nov.

  • Bat star Patiria miniata

    Seen in 20385 records, mostly Nov.

  • Sebastes mystinus

    Seen in 10473 records, mostly Jul to Sep.

  • Cucumaria miniata

    Seen in 7764 records, mostly Nov.

  • Anthopleura sola

    Seen in 7611 records, mostly Nov.

  • Urticina piscivora

    Seen in 6390 records, mostly Nov.

  • Oxyjulis californica

    Seen in 5610 records, mostly Jul to Sep.

  • Sebastes atrovirens

    Seen in 5323 records, mostly Jul to Sep.

Records: OBIS (Ocean Biodiversity Information System, IOC-UNESCO), from the datasets named here, CC0 and CC BY records only. Names: WoRMS, through OBIS; common names from Wikidata. Largest datasets here: PISCO fish transects; PISCO swath transects; cfceb150-bbe2-4efb-8682-14cfc7167e7c; MARINe LTM - sea star and katharina counts and sizes; 1e3ba2fc-7d13-4a24-8619-e94b243f9d2d. Credits

This week's visibility and the current no free forecast gives. Ask a dive centre before you book.

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