Tell me about surf entries and exits

[Chavodel8en]

The exit is generally to doff fins outside of the surf zone, and walk out, mask on reg in. If you get knocked down, make a decision as to whether its better to get back up or just go ahead and crawl out.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Exiting at Monastery involves crawling out when the surf is up. The undertow and Monsterberries (pebbles) make walking out difficult. Avoid the center of the beach. Pick a better day to dive.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Exiting at Monastery involves crawling out when the surf is up. The undertow and Monsterberries (pebbles) make walking out difficult. Avoid the center of the beach. Pick a better day to dive.

Yeah! Crawl out baby!
The only thing I can add to that is have your BC empty of air otherwise one of those waves will pick you up and slam you down hard. I have the same philosophy about going in negative and coming out negative. I learned this by watching some divers come in once at Laguna Beach. I was visiting friends and we went to Laguna for the day just to hang out. It was late morning and divers were coming back in after the surf had increased significantly while they were out. There were probably six divers total that were coming in. I watched a dude get absolutely slammed by an 8' wave and the life guard had to go out and drag him in. At that point the life guard closed the beach to diving. Then I saw another guy coming in and I thought oh boy here goes. But then the diver was gone out of sight? The life guard was looking for him and wasn't seeing him. So the waves are crashing and few minutes later here comes this dude crawling out up the beach very successfully and very easily. He dumped out all his air outside of the surf zone went down and crawled out on the bottom letting the waves go over him.
I though wow! That's how to do it, and I never forgot that.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

The absolute worst thing that can happen is not having propulsion in the worst part of the surf zone. Taking fins off outside and trying to beach climb that spot is a recipe for disaster. If you get sucked back in to water that is over your head and have no fins on, you're screwed! Your feet are worthless without fins on. You better hope someone is on shore and strong enough to drag your ass out.
Just crawl out with everything on.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

 

[Still Kicking]

I finally had to give up diving at OML last year.
It’s a beautiful dive whether you enter at the point or the cove, but after over a hundred dives there I have seen to many injuries and the rock scramble to enter at the point just became to tricky for me.
Even an entry and exit at the cove can be quite “challenging” unless conditions are “doable” as our leader Reverend AL used to say.
But it is a beautiful dive when conditions are “doable”.

I remember taking my son snorkeling there before he was old enough to get certified -- probably 9 or 10 years old. It was definitely a "doable" day. We went out from the point and when it was time to head in, we were hanging out on the surface outside the surf zone. I was looking out to sea, watching the swells and explaining the importance of waiting to carefully time our exit. After a minute or two I spotted a good lull and turned around to tell him to quickly kick in only to find him sitting high and dry on a rock smiling at me. Ah, the impetuosity of youth!

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Seeing those makes me homesick for shore diving entry/exits.
I need to go out and do that soon, it makes it feel real!
I just love it

 

[rjack321]

I'm down on the Oregon coast for another week and am hoping to not come home with the air in my tanks I arrived with. Unfortunately diving doesn't seem to be a thing here and so finding a site has proven difficult. Odds are if I can get in the water it will be a beach entry into surf and then go explore some rocks looking for critters.

So tell me about surf entries and exits. What works, what doesn't, and what should I look out for?

If you're solo and/or without any local knowledge you might just pick one of the (rare) baby diver sites cause there's more to the OR coast than just surf - the rips and currents can be obscene. Oregon Dive Sites

 

[TMHeimer]

Scuba diver must be always wearing a shortie

I've done that on occasion in the panhandle ("tundra") in Jan. And on rare occasions here in NOVA SCOTIA. But not always.....

 

[pauldw]

I just thunk of sumthin! If you're still on the coast and there's time to arrange it, Eugene Skin Divers Supply does Oregon Coast Aquarium dives. At least they used to. With sharks and stuff. Although playing with the sturgeon is unexpectedly fun.