Best way to enter water from the shore

[RXTdiver]

The hardest lesson to learn in diving is when not to dive. If the waves are overhead, it's likely going to be poor visibility, surge, and a rough exit.

Yes. I have thought about this a lot over the last few days. Although I really wanted to dive offshore, if you know deep down inside that the conditions are unfavorable, you shouldn't dive. There is always another day. It's just not worth risking your life. Your life is far more important than diving.

 

[RXTdiver]

I try to get horizontal as quick as I can, even if it is wicked shallow.

I think this is the way to go. Why stand up against incoming waves and exert a lot of effort and energy if you don't have to?

Thank you for pointing this out.

 

[tridacna]

I tried again earlier today. This time the waves were a lot smaller. I made it past the waves so I was glad I did that.

To deal with the anxiety and panic, I decided to just float and get used to things.

I wasn't too far off shore. I came back in to the point where I can stand on the ground again. This made me feel better and more in control.

Then I decided to come back on shore. To my surprise I noticed my fins were no longer clipped to my D-ring on my BCD with one of these. I couldn't believe it. How did these come off? I didn't even try to put them on.

I bought them only two days ago. That's $120 gone and I did t get to use them.

I'm coming back to the OBX in two months so I plan on trying again.

Although this experience was very frustrating, I'm glad I kept trying, but I told myself to be concerned with only one thing at a time and take your time. As long as the regulator is in your mouth, you'll be ok.

I also put my face underwater and started to breathe a bit. I think that helped me to overcome the anxiety (exposing yourself to your fears) little by little.

I use a very lsrge carabiner with a locking hinge to attach my fins. Much better than that doodad.

 

[TheCatFish]

my 2psi, i think crawling in, negative, is a good approach a lot of the time. Again, YMMV depending on your location.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

 

[SakeKura]

I just got home from shore dives, the waves were pretty consistent without much of a lull. Made getting our fins on a challenge but something I really had some fun with was just submarining the waves. BCD was partially inflated to help me pop back up but it made it a lot more manageable to just let it pass over. Mask on, reg in or handy if you want but you shouldn't be down for more than a few seconds. There was not a ton of surge today though. Not sure how it is for you.

Once out past the break it was cool to just get swept up and over them and it got a lot more relaxing.

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

My .02 is to learn to read the ocean and plan the timing of your entry. My experience is that the sets typically run in sevens. Get your fins on between sets and then kick hard to get past the breakers. Keep your reg in your cakehole.

 

[Tassie_Rohan]

Inflate BC, wade out until BC starts supporting your weight (waist/chest deep), put fins on, deflate BC and get horizontal close to bottom then swim out on compass bearing. Exit is opposite, clipping fins off using a carbineer.

If it's too rough to do the above then the other option is simple: don't dive there. If you have to do crawling entries and exits then I'd suggest your day is better spent elsewhere.

Learn to review swell, wind and waves on Windy.com and understand what parts of the coastline will be sheltered for given conditions: local knowledge helps a lot here.

Have an alternative site in mind that you can switch to when you arrive and see conditions. I recently watched a bunch of very determined divers get repeatedly knocked over and swept back up the beach by 1m+ southerly surf at the exposed northern end of a beach: when the southern end was sheltered and flat calm.

Cheers
Rohan.

 

[rx7diver]

I'm trying to shore dive at the Outer Banks. The last 2 days the waves were too choppy so I didn't go. Today was better, but I was still surprised how hard it was, so I stopped.

When a wave would knock me over and pass over me some panic started to set it. Then I would get up and try again. I just couldn't get past the waves.

What is the best way to get past these waves? When you enter the water, should the BCD be inflated or deflated (some sources say inflated, others say deflated).

Is it a good idea to actually enter on your hands and knees?

Are there any experienced divers (divers experienced diving the site you're attempting to dive) you can link up with? If so, you can learn from them how they do it. If there is a nearby dive shop, you can probably learn about local divers who you can link up with.

rx7diver

 

[TMHeimer]

I try to get horizontal as quick as I can, even if it is wicked shallow.

I've often done that too, sometimes in 1-2 feet of water carefully pulling myself over rocks. ALWAYS thinking of how much harder that will be exiting if I feel that walking out is not an option on slippery rocks. I'd guess you have some similar sites in Maine as here in NS. At 71 I do none of that sort of thing anymore.