Reddit mentions of A Diver's Guide to Monterey County

There is no Live aboard options, however I highly recommend the Aquarius dive shop, they rent great gear and have excellent guides. Figure about $100-150 a day for 2-3 tanks of diving. In cold water it’s tough to do more than 3 dives unless you are diving dry.

If you are looking for a buddy there is some great Facebook groups (Monterey Bay open scuba group is one) and people will buddy up there. I have met some great buddies from it.

There are several hotels that are diver friendly, the travel lodge even has out door sinks to rinse gear.

Water will be 55-60F down to 50F at depth.
This is a fantastic book about all the sites in the area - A Diver's Guide to Monterey County https://www.amazon.com/dp/0986257206/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_mtm3Cb8PD9H48

August can have some great swell conditions but visibly can be low with algae blooms. Carmel Bay has better visibility than Monterey Bay but has tougher entries than Monterey.

If you want liveaboard then look at Truth Aquatics out of Santa Barbra which will also go out of morro Bay to dive big sur. It’s not luxury liveaboard like an aggressor but they are good boat with great crew.

The shore diving around Monterey is great and shouldn’t be missed, the guides are reasonable, and know the area much better than diving alone.