|CERTIFICATIONS
UNDER SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002


REGARDING
THE QUARTERLY REPORT ON FORM 10-Q


FOR
THE QUARTER ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2005

I,
Nick Ventimiglia, certify that:
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|1. | I
have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Central Coast Bancorp;
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|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;
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|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;
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|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)) and internal control over financial  reporting (as defined in
Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f))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) Designed
such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal  control  over
financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to  provide reasonable
assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting  and the preparation of
financial statements for external purposes in accordance  with generally accepted
accounting principles;
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| | (c) 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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| | (d) 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:
November 4, 2005                 /s/ NICK VENTIMIGLIA
                                                          Nick Ventimiglia, Chief Executive Officer