Body recovered off of Destin Florida

[DandyDon]

Sounds like the two took turns going in solo...

From Dive team recovers body of Fort Walton Beach man by jetties

The body of a Fort Walton Beach man was recovered shortly after 1 p.m. this afternoon by the Okaloosa Sheriff’s Dive Team, after it was discovered by an Escambia County Search and Rescue crew. The Okaloosa Sheriff’s Office and multiple other agencies had been searching the waters around Destin’s East Pass following reports that swimmer went missing near the East Jetties Thursday afternoon. 22-year old Stephon Noray of Waters Circle and a friend had rented scuba gear earlier in the day Thursday. Noray’s friend says he went out diving and last saw Noray on the beach around 2 p.m. When he came up later, Noray was not there, but his belongings remained. He initially assumed Noray had gone to his car.
Some witnesses who had noticed a swimmer struggling in the water told deputies they swam out to help, but could not locate anyone and a Coast Guard boat arrived.
The Sheriff’s Office Marine Unit, Coast Guard, Destin Beach Safety, and Florida Fish and Wildlife conducted a search for Noray until dark Friday night with no success and resumed the search this morning.
The body was located shortly after one p.m. about one-hundred feet north and west of the L-jetty off the East Jetties in Destin. The Medical Examiner’s Office will conduct an autopsy.

 

[koozemani]

Don you've definitely found your niche, CO and accidents.

Not a whole to go on, but there are some obvious topics for discussion the most obvious being not diving in a buddy pair.

 

[DandyDon]

Don you've definitely found your niche, CO and accidents.

Not a whole to go on, but there are some obvious topics for discussion the most obvious being not diving in a buddy pair.

I guess that realizing how lucky I've been to survive decades of stupid behaviors has lead me to look for ways to be more cautious. I also have some trip shopping skills.

We don't know anything about the divers other than their apparent disregard for buddy diving, based on news reports - which sometimes seem nearly worthless. If he was the struggling swimmer mentioned in the story, it could be a combination of overweighted in unfamiliar rental gear and inability to drop weights - dead divers all too often found with weights intact.

 

[koozemani]

That was the second thing I was going to mention. Unfamiliarity with the rented gear.

 

[bleeb]

I read this as the non-diving buddy being the victim.

Noray’s friend says he went out diving and last saw Noray on the beach around 2 p.m. When he came up later, Noray was not there

 

[DandyDon]

I read this as the non-diving buddy being the victim.

I wondered if maybe they only rented one set of gear, since the surviving diver had thought the deceased had simply gone back to the car. Then saw this...

From Body of Missing Scuba Diver Recovered

Destin- The body of a missing scuba diver was located by search and rescue teams Saturday afternoon near the East Jetties in Destin after a two day search by air, land, and water.

continued... ​

 

[ScubaSteve1962]

From reading the story you can't tell whether he was diving or swimming. Maybe "Missing Scuba Diver" makes a better headline than "Missing Swimmer". What belongings were on the beach to make his friend assume he went back to the car? If they were diving together I would assume they would consist of tank, fins, wet-suit and other diving gear.

 

[mike_s]

I wonder if the 2nd person was diving or was just a friend that was hanging out on the beach.

It's very common for people to go "hang out on the beach" on the inside of the Jetty at East Pass. It's a very nice beach with very calm flat water. great for kids who you want to let splash in the water with no waves or undertow.



I will also note that the incoming/outgoing tide currents could have affected him on the dive. They can be VERY STRONG. And of course the tide tables aren't always "spot on" with timing.

I've done dive there before where the tides were off the printed tables and you pretty much had to "pull yourself along the rocks" because the current were so strong.

 

[Jax]

First, it was a scuba diver that was recovered, and the survivor was scuba diving.

So, using common sense, two divers, each solo.


C'mon, folks, you don't expect the news reports to be accurate, do you?

 

[no woryz]

It was 1 scuba diver with 1 set of gear... the victim was buddy breathing w/out fins from the scuba diver... seems they separated and the victim never made it back to shore...