San Carlos Beach Sea Lion Closures – Can Scuba Instructors Teach at Breakwater?

Sea Lions at San Carlos Beach: What Monterey Scuba Instructors Need to Know

For instructors, the important question is not whether the sea lions are entertaining tourists. It is whether we can put an Open Water class in the water at Breakwater. San Carlos Beach has become a seasonal wild card, and recent years show that a large sea lion haul-out can shut down one of Monterey's most useful training sites for several weeks at a time.

For Instructors, This Is Really an Access Problem

Most Monterey instructors already know why Breakwater works so well. We know the parking, the bathrooms, the walk, the entry, the training areas and where we want to take students depending on conditions.

For Open Water checkout dives, Reactivate dives and entry-level ocean work, San Carlos Beach is simply convenient.

So when hundreds of sea lions decide they like the same beach, the practical problem is not "where can I see sea lions?"

The problem is: Can I teach my scuba class at Monterey Breakwater?

A Beach Can Look Open and Still Be Closed

This is probably the biggest source of confusion during a San Carlos Beach sea lion closure.

The animals move around.

One morning they may be packed along most of the sand. Later they may bunch up toward the Breakwater, shift toward one side, swim offshore or leave a surprisingly large section of beach looking empty.

That does not necessarily mean diver access has reopened.

The City may still have a closure in effect even when the physical situation looks much better than it did a few days earlier.

Partial Reopenings Matter to Dive Instructors

A full beach reopening is not the only thing worth watching.

If the sea lions concentrate on one portion of San Carlos Beach, the City could potentially allow access to another section while keeping people away from the animals. For instructors, that kind of partial reopening can be just as important as a full reopening.

The key is whether the area being used for student entry and exit is officially accessible and whether the required distance from the animals can realistically be maintained.

If a reopening notice says one section is open and another remains restricted, read the boundaries carefully before assuming the normal Breakwater class routine applies.

Recent Closure History Gives Us Some Perspective

Before 2024, San Carlos Beach was not regularly experiencing these large seasonal sea lion takeovers.

Then things changed.

In August 2024, a large aggregation of California sea lions occupied the beach and Monterey temporarily closed public access. That closure lasted roughly six and a half weeks.

In 2025 there were two significant events: a shorter early-summer closure and another late-summer event lasting roughly six weeks.

What the History Does — and Does Not — Tell Us

The recent pattern is useful, but I would not build a class schedule around an average.

Two of the larger late-summer closures lasted about 41 and 46 days. That tells us a major haul-out can easily disrupt Breakwater access for more than a month.

It does not mean the next closure will last 43 days.

These are wild animals following food, migration and breeding patterns. They do not leave because our checkout-diver calendar says they should.

For instructors, the historical chart is useful mainly for planning expectations: if Monterey closes San Carlos Beach because of a large sea lion aggregation, have a real backup plan rather than assuming the problem will be gone by next weekend.

Why Are So Many Sea Lions Showing Up at Breakwater?

California sea lions are nothing new to Monterey.

Anyone who has taught at Breakwater for a while is used to hearing them from the Coast Guard Pier and occasionally having a curious one buzz students underwater.

What is different is the scale of the recent beach haul-outs.

Large numbers of adult sea lions, particularly males moving north after breeding season, can travel through Monterey Bay while following productive feeding areas. San Carlos Beach apparently offers them something they like: protected water, easy haul-out access and a good food supply nearby.

Unfortunately, those are some of the same reasons scuba instructors like the site.

Pier 39 Shows How Quickly Sea Lion Numbers Can Change

Pier 39 in San Francisco gives us a much longer record of California sea lion movement. The number of animals there can swing dramatically through the year as animals migrate, feed and travel to and from breeding grounds.

That history is useful because large aggregations do not always fade slowly.

A location can go from packed with sea lions to comparatively empty in a short period once the animals decide to move.

That is why instructors should pay attention to current access notices rather than assuming that yesterday's situation will still apply next weekend.

Can We Still Teach Monterey Scuba Classes?

Yes.

A San Carlos Beach closure is not a Monterey Bay scuba closure.

It simply removes one of our most convenient training sites from the toolbox.

Alternate sites can work depending on swell, wind, entry conditions, student experience, parking and what skills need to be completed.

That decision belongs to the instructor on the day of the dives.

The mistake is trying to force a class into a site just because Breakwater is where the schedule originally said we were going.

Conditions change. Access changes. Sometimes the ocean changes the plan. Sometimes several hundred sea lions change it for us.

What I Check Before Taking a Class to San Carlos Beach

During sea lion season, I want three things before assuming we are teaching at Breakwater:

1. Official access status.
Is San Carlos Beach open, partially open or still under a City closure?

2. Actual animal location.
Even if access has reopened, are sea lions occupying the section we normally use for entry, exit or surface work?

3. Normal dive conditions.
Swell, surge, visibility, wind and student comfort still matter. A sea lion reopening does not automatically make it a good training day.

Give the Animals Room

Even after a closure is relaxed or removed, some sea lions may remain around San Carlos Beach, the Coast Guard Pier and Breakwater.

That is normal.

Seeing a sea lion underwater can be one of the highlights of a student's first Monterey dive. Walking a class through a crowded haul-out is something entirely different.

California sea lions are protected marine mammals. Follow posted City and federal guidance, give the animals plenty of room and do not put students in a situation where an entry or exit requires squeezing past them.

Breakwater Will Still Be There

For instructors, San Carlos Beach is convenient enough that losing it for several weeks is a pain.

But this is still ocean diving.

We teach students from the beginning that conditions dictate the plan. A beach closure caused by several hundred sea lions is simply another version of that lesson.

Keep an alternate site in mind, verify the current access status before the class and don't promise students Breakwater until you know Breakwater is actually available.

Eventually the animals move on, the beach opens again, and the parking lot goes back to being full of instructors, students, tanks, drysuits and somebody asking where they left their weight belt.

About the Author

Ned

PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor (OWSI)

Ned is a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor with years of experience teaching divers in Monterey Bay and along the California coast. His instructor contributions focus on practical training decisions, local dive conditions and the realities of teaching scuba in Northern California's cold-water environment.