Butt kicked in So. CA rough surf

[Fuzzmutton]

Here is my lesson learned, for what it's worth, I post these stupid things I do not to be flamed for my stellar ignorance, but to serve as an example and warning to other newbies

I have been diving mostly Breakwater in Monterey but over the holidays I went to San Diego with my husband. The weather was crappy most of the week and La Jolla Shores, where we wanted to do our first dive, was not diveable. By Friday it looked "OK" and we went out there. There were some tech divers out there with doubles on trying to get past the surf and they seemed to be having a problem. I talked to a guy that was taking his gear off along the wall and he said he lost his fin in the surf and had to abort his dive before it started (our first warning things were rough).

Hubby and I made our plans. Normally we enter the water with fins off but he said we needed to go in with fins on, I balked but was overruled. If we had been taught how to make an entry of this sort we had forgotten it, we did everything wrong. I did NOT have my reg in my mouth! I entered slightly backward so I could walk in my fins and the waves hit me like a freight train. I couldn't keep on my feet, I fell and my buddy was gone; then I was underwater with my mask knocked askew by the next wave that hit me full in the face! I grabbed my mask with one hand and was trying to stand up but couldn't. So, here I am underwater with no reg. I'm groping but I can't find it and I think to myself if I can't find that sucker soon I'm gonna just use my octo! After what seems like forever I find it!! But, I'm hyperventilating, trying to get out of the surf zone and I don't know to duck under the swells because I'm not used to water that rough (yeah, poor me ).

It took me awhile to stop hyperventilating. I had signaled to my hubby once we got past all the rough crap that I didn't want to dive because I had just had, not a full-blown panic attack, but a situation where I did feel scared to death. I say I was not fully panicked becaused I : a) held on to my mask, b) knew to grab octo if reg. couldn't be found and c) realized I was hyperventilating and needed to stop. He pretends not to see my signal to go in and we continue our dive.

:no Bottom line. We should have brushed up on our entry/exit technique for a different area. We went back to our trailer, read up, went back the next day and did it perfectly.

 

[Midnight Star]

I'm not for shore entry either when the surf's really up. I tried a "fins on in the surf maneveur" last time ... needless to say, that along with looking absolutely rediculous, it didn't quite work as expected! When the waves came in, in waist deep water, I turned sideways with a slight squat - I figured the less it hit, the less force i'd have to deal with. If the wave came in really strong, I had to lean into it, to keep from getting knocked over!

Oh, that was mess, let me tell you ...

 

[Hank49]

The best way to get through the impact zone is to swim and dive under oncoming, breaking waves. When the wave thumps you, hold you reg in your mouth for a second or so like when you giant stride enter off a boat. Kick hard and before you know it, you're outside.
But if the waves are bigger than 6 feet faces, you'll have to negotiate coming back in and you have to come with the waves because where the waves aren't breaking, there will likely be a rip going back out, which will be hard to swim against. Stay flat swimming in. Standing up, you'll just get knocked down.
This is one scenario however, for a sandy beach. There are many different conditions that the sea can dish up and many different bottom types. Best to go with a local to teach you that specific site under those conditions.....and on many days, leave the dive gear at home and bring your surfboard.

 

[Mo2vation]

Hey Fuzz - welcome to SoCal Surf School!

First - I'm so glad you're OK.

Second - being scared is a very good thing. I've done hundreds of surf entries in SoCal, and I still get a little puckered if the waves are more than knee high.

I routinely enter surf that is waist and occasionally shoulder high - almost always at night. Its not easy, and it takes lots of practice. A few pointers we give:

1) Mask always on. Some prefer mask on under the hood, so they don't get "Daffyed" (think Daffy Duck with his bill spun half way 'round his melon) or knocked off completely.

2) Waves over ankle high mean reg is in. This is not negotiable. We dive DIR, so we've got the primary clipped off and are breathing off the necklace.

3) Fins in hand. We never, ever do an entry with fins on. A fin clip is essential when clamboring over rocks, as it gives you one or two free hands. I see people go in with fins on, waddling backwards... or worse - forwards. Its not good.

4) Hank is right - going under a roller is the best course of action.

5) On the exit, there is no dishonor in coming out on your hands and knees!


We've hosted many visiting experienced divers in SoCal to our local dive sites, only to have them pounded. The surf zone is a sprint - if you can't get through fast, you're going to get into trouble.

People who poo poo fitness and diving must be quarry divers. It takes strength, agility and stamina to get in and out of the surf. You can't do this well if you're out of shape.


I'm glad you're OK - getting rolled (water-sand-sky water-sand-sky) and doing the wheelbarrow as you're getting pushed into the shore is scary as hell. I shutter just reading your report. LJS can be snarly. The locals there are all star surf students.

---
Ken

 

[Fuzzmutton]

Best to go with a local to teach you that specific site under those conditions.....and on many days, leave the dive gear at home and bring your surfboard.

The tech divers that we saw getting rolled around on the beach were from AZ and they had gotten a guide for the occasion. Two lost a fin going in. We mulled it over but we had looked at maps of the area and it looked pretty straightforward. Once in the water hubby was able to drop us down right next to the ledge that we wanted to explore due to some excellant directions we had been given.

Thanks Ken, I always wondered what "Daffyed" meant. Great advice, too. I have a fin clip and I love it, wish I had used it Waves were waist deep that day, can't imagine shoulder deep. I am going to the gym this afternoon (no kidding) to start on a program to start strengthening my legs so I can get off my butt when I get knocked down by a wave!

 

[Fuzzmutton]

Hank49-

I didn't mean to make it sound like I was against guides. I think it's a good idea. Hubby and I were going to do a night dive in the same area and didn't because the guide we contacted flaked on us. We didn't feel it was appropriate or safe to dive an unfamiliar area at night without a guide or local.

Fuzz

 

[Teamcasa]

When I was a young (and dumb and poor) teenage diver here in SoCal, surf diving was our main point of entry. We tried many different techniques, fins on, fins off, swimming, crawling and rafting our gear out in an old truck tire inner tube. One other method that worked pretty good was too use one fin, cut kind of short for getting out and then switching to the regular fins. We would attach the extra surf fin to the inner tube or clip it to our dive flag float.


Now, as a much older, out-of-shape, diver, surf entries are much tougher. However, the techniques remain the same. Fins off, regulator in, mask on and dive under the waves. Swim out past the breakers and don your fins. Clip them together and hold them or even clip them to the (within reach) back of your bc. I still like using the inner tube, and extra fin but I doubt its and DIR technique.

Dave

 

[redacted]

2) We dive DIR, so we've got the primary clipped off and are breathing off the necklace.

Ken

Why? I guess with a bungeed alt, this would keep it from getting ripped away and inaccessable.

 

[Mo2vation]

When I was a young (and dumb and poor) teenage diver here in SoCal, surf diving was our main point of entry. We tried many different techniques, fins on, fins off, swimming, crawling and rafting our gear out in an old truck tire inner tube. One other method that worked pretty good was too use one fin, cut kind of short for getting out and then switching to the regular fins. We would attach the extra surf fin to the inner tube or clip it to our dive flag float.


Now, as a much older, out-of-shape, diver, surf entries are much tougher. However, the techniques remain the same. Fins off, regulator in, mask on and dive under the waves. Swim out past the breakers and don your fins. Clip them together and hold them or even clip them to the (within reach) back of your bc. I still like using the inner tube, and extra fin but I doubt its and DIR technique.

Dave

What happens to the innertube once you're out? You can't drag it around like a float in FL, as we have kelp. Do you send it back to shore?

Ken

 

[Mo2vation]

Why? I guess with a bungeed alt, this would keep it from getting ripped away and inaccessable.

You always have one that is bolted to you if you get rolled and spit the back up, or the necklace gets pulled off, etc.

I don't know what the official DIR stance is on surf entries (like I care) - but over hundreds and hundreds of entries and exits, this is the method serveral of us DIR types have come up with.

---
Ken