|EXHIBIT 31.1



CERTIFICATIONS
UNDER SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002REGARDING
THE ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2003

I,
Nick Ventimiglia, certify that:

1.
I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K of Central Coast Bancorp;

2. Based
on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a  material fact or
omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements  made, in light of the
circumstances under which such statements were made, not  misleading with respect to the
period covered by this report;

3. Based
on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information  included in
this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial  condition, results of
operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and  for, the periods presented in
this report;



4. The
registrants other certifying officer) and I are responsible for
establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in
Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant and have:
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| | (a)
Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure
controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that
material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated
subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly
during the period in which this report is being prepared;
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| | (b)
Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrants disclosure controls and
procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness
of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered
by this report based on such evaluation; and
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| | (c)
Disclosed in this report any change in the registrants internal control
over financial reporting that occurred during the registrants most recent
fiscal quarter (the registrants fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an
annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to
materially affect, the registrants internal control over financial
reporting; and
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|5. The
registrants other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our
most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the
registrants auditors and the audit committee of the registrants
board of directors :
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| | (a)
All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation
of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to
adversely affect the registrants ability to record, process, summarize and
report financial information; and
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| | (b)
Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees
who have a significant role in the registrants internal control over
financial reporting.                                                                                               

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|Date:  February 23, 2004 | 
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