1st Shore Dive

[twinpop]

I did my 1st shore dive, sunday at cress/mountain in laguna. did not go well to say the least. The group I dove with, South Coast Divers, was great, big kudos to all who helped the newbie out. Waves got quite a bit bigger while we were under - made my 1st attempt at exiting really fun - lol. They all said it was a crappy day - not to equate this with the normal shore dive. I was thinking of doing the wrinkles dive next week in la jolla, where can i get info on the type of surf and gen. info on the dive.

Thanks again to all the South Coast Divers out there!

Kevin

 

[scottfiji]

Congratulations!
sounds like everything went well to me, you entered, did a dive, and exited. sounds like you didn't forget your fins or weights. what didn't go well?

scott

 

[twinpop]

lost my reg under water, had a panic attack, wanted to shoot to the surface, really bad time exiting. I took it as a learning experience, i am sorta glad I had some problems - had to correct them and go on with the dive - just made for a crappy dive for my buddy. and yes, i entered, dove snd exited - did not stay there and become fish food. so yes, I guess it was a good dive. I did get to see some cool stuff - everytime I dive I see more and more new stuff.

 

[fishoutawater]

Hi twinpop
I got my C card at Laguna Sea Sports. Did my first dives at Shaws Cove.
You and me didn't exactly pick the easiest places to learn scuba, but look at it this way. If you can handle those surf entries and exits, then you can do just about any type of recreational diving.
But it does sound like you need to practice and get more comfortable with your gear. Just practice finding your reg several times until it becomes automatic. Tilt to your right, swing right arm under, it's there. Sometimes during a dive, I throw my reg away, reach back and grab it. Or maybe I'll use my octo for part of the dive, then switch back. Just stayin comfy with it.
And try to remember: Shooting for the surface is never the answer. Gotta fix your problem right where you're at.

 

[BrianS]

La Jolla is a good spot for a shore dive, usually low tide. Only bad thing is you have to surface swim far to get to a decent depth.

 

[Frank O]

I did my 1st shore dive, sunday at cress/mountain in laguna. ... Waves got quite a bit bigger while we were under - made my 1st attempt at exiting really fun - lol. They all said it was a crappy day - not to equate this with the normal shore dive.

Hi Kevin, I did a dive Sunday morning at Crescent Bay in Laguna, and noticed the same thing -- waves significantly amped up between the time we entered around 7 a.m. and when we exited a little over an hour later. Underwater conditions were so-so at best -- maybe 10-foot vis, but a good bit of surge.

On a positive note, though those waves can get you, most of the sandy beaches around Laguna are fairly easy to walk out of. By contrast I did a dive Friday at Pt. Vicente in Palos Verdes, and I find those cobblestone beaches really challenging -- my balance is iffy at best -- always seem to end up crawling out. (Though, remarkably, Friday I didn't.)

When I have bad dives, I usually try to use them to ask myself if there is anything I can improve ... how to respond to gear problems underwater ... timing entry and exit ... etc. As others pointed out, you survived!

 

[Raskal311]

hahaha.. now try doing it at night

 

[headhunter]

Sounds like you did just fine!

That's why you want to start out on sandy beaches. They are much more forgiving than the rocky ones.

There is more info about our Wrinkles Dive in La Jolla this Saturday here:

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=108393

I'm not sure what the best place online is to check conditions for San Diego/La Jolla, but I find that these sites are not always that accurate too far in advance anyway.

La Jolla Shores is a great place to practice your beach entries. It's nice and sandy.

Hope you can make it down on Saturday. It will be nice to meet you and I'm sure you'll find plenty of people to dive with.

Christian

 

[Lexy]

I'd like to offer my 2 cents for what it's worth --
First, shore diving isn't easy. I remember posting a thread out here about a year ago venting my frustrations with getting tumbled, knocked on my arse, losing my gear to the ocean, having to crawl out of the surfzone, etc.

• Have you ever just gone to the beach and played in the waves? Or just watched the waves come in? I found simply playing in the waves (no gear, except maybe fins and snorkle) & spending time watching the wave sets made a big impact in my shore diving experience. I learned to work with the wave motion to bring me in and out of the surf zone.

• What size tank are you using? Maybe your tank is hindering your ability to swiftly and comfortably get out of the surf zone? Personally, I started diving with AL80 and quickly learned that it was big and bulky, dangling past my back. I continually got rolled and had to crawl out. That stopped as soon as I purchased a Steel 80 - shorter height & dropped lead.

• Get knocked down and get up again! Practice, practice and more practice. I really enjoy going out with the South Coast Divers and the folks on this board. No BS and no attitudes... Shore diving is incredibly rewarding, challenging and great exercise.

Don't give up! But do use caution on high surf days... if the conditions look bad, then don't dive. Go enjoy breakfast or lunch with new dive buddies instead.

 

[fishoutawater]

When I got certified out at Shaw's Cove, I remember the instructor saying something about the waves coming in sets of seven. Something about the seventh of each set being the largest, and to back into it after that seventh wave when the waves were smaller?
Anybody know anything about this?

One of the other students father had a large cabin cruiser there too. He was gracious enough to let the entire class practice boat entries and exits with it. Lemme tell ya, getting back into the boat was very exciting. The swells were maybe five or six feet high. Kinda scary seeing the boat's platform crashing down towards your head, then grabbing hold of it as it goes down into the trough, and hang on for dear life on its way back up. You have to take one fin off so you can put your other foot on the ladder, and still be able to swim with the other. Man that was fun!