Butt kicked in So. CA rough surf

[Divmstr223]

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.

Hey Fuzz...thanks for posting your experience. :14:

Just wanted to elude to a few things I highlighted above:

#1 No one overrules you...you dive to your comfort zone, period. Don't let peer pressure, or hubby pressure in this case, intimidate you.

#2 Once you gave the sign to THUMB the dive, that's the end of the it. Safety is of the utmost importance and your hubby needs to be aware of that. If he is not sensitive to your safety and how nervous/scared you are in certain situations, MAKE HIM AWARE and be a good team together. Don't let him blow off your signals of a distressed diver.

Being a SoCal guy and learning to dive on the beaches of Laguna and La Jolla Shores, I've come to a few conlcusions in my experiences.

- Before going into the water...be patient..watch the sets come in..get a feel for how big the waves are and how often the are coming in, and then go.

- Anyone is susceptible to being pummeled by a large, or not so large wave.

- Anyone who can dive, can dive in rough surf. It's not difficult, there is just more planning and patience involved.

*Don't be in a rush to get out there. But don't hesitate when a window of opportunity is there to get out past the surf.

*Don't turn your back on the waves coming in, which means don't don your fins and walk backward. Always dive underneath the wave with reg and mask on, and continue on. Unless of course the waves are ankle beaters.

*Even if you've gone out too far and can't stand anymore, you can still don your fins with ease, it just takes a bit of practice. Like all of us who dive the beach alot, we know that you have footing one sec, then it's gone the next as the water rises with the next wave.

*Don't turn your back on the waves when coming in to shore either. It's a common reflex to avoid danger and go the opposite way of it (towards shore). But in diving rough surf, sometimes the best way to avoid danger is to go straight at it. When exiting and you see a large wave forming behind you, don't continue away from it, go back toward it and dive under. Surface again and make your way to shore. Repeat as many times as necessary, and quickly take off your fins when the opportunity presents itself.

Even the experienced divers get surprised once in a while and eat dirt... It just takes practice and patience. Hope your next time down is a much smoother experience.

 

[Deuces]

We are going to try to hit some different spots in Monterey on the weekends in the meantime, as a way of "building up to it". I'm such a weiner:shakehead

If conditions are right, Monastery is really not a bear as it seems. You can go down there, and if the seas look too much for you, then heck, you've got Coral, Otter, Lover's, etc. Many times it can be so calm it's like a lake without even kneeslappers.

Living there helps since you can just take an extra 15 mins to swing by and see. Then if it's Lake Monastery, you won't have to fight the surf. Just watch the 7 ft. drop.

 

[TSandM]

Is it just my limited personal experience, or is it significantly harder to do surf exits than entrances?

 

[Divmstr223]

Is it just my limited personal experience, or is it significantly harder to do surf exits than entrances?

It's not just you, I agree 150%

 

[D_B]

Whats so hard about washing up on the beach on your back like a turtle?


I cant beleave how many people I see remove there reg while coming in and are still in the waves

 

[TSandM]

When I got rolled in the Monastery surf, I tried to relax and tell myself I had a regulator and I had plenty of gas (which I did). That worked until the reg got sand in it and freeflowed and wouldn't stop. Then I started thinking that I no longer had plenty of gas, and the anxiety level went up several notches.

Honestly, if I hadn't had a dive buddy over 6 feet tall and gifted with Schwarzenegger-type strength, I'm not sure what would have happened . . . I eyed surf suspiciously before, but now I have a VERY healthy respect for what waves no higher than my knees can do to me.

 

[KMD]

When I got rolled in the Monastery surf, I tried to relax and tell myself I had a regulator and I had plenty of gas (which I did). That worked until the reg got sand in it and freeflowed and wouldn't stop. Then I started thinking that I no longer had plenty of gas, and the anxiety level went up several notches.

Honestly, if I hadn't had a dive buddy over 6 feet tall and gifted with Schwarzenegger-type strength, I'm not sure what would have happened . . . I eyed surf suspiciously before, but now I have a VERY healthy respect for what waves no higher than my knees can do to me.

I honestly feel bad about the experience. I mean here we are hosting a dive team from up north and showing them the sites and here I go and get a bit navigationally challenged and get a bit to close in to the rocks on the return trip back in and then one of the two buddies gets rolled in the surf. Not one of my better days. :shakehead

We did our rescue carries over at monestary on a day almost twice as bad and my body still aches from the experience.

As far as waves go, well, water weighs in at 64 pounds per cubic foot. Take your average wave and estimate how many cuft of water is moving around, by and over you. In the end, nobody is strong enough to stand up to it. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow.

 

[uspap]

I had a friend fracture his neck body surfing at Monastary.
Personaly I prefer the exit to the entry. I have found a technique that won't get you tumbled. Like I said, with my knees I can't walk out. To me North will hand your ***** to you more often than South. TSandM I have gotten too close to the rocks as well. Once. That was enough. The site is sure worth the effort after you know the ropes. Fuzz, If your dive buddy wants to enter one way and you another there is nothing wrong with that. Does he get spanked by the surf as well? I seem to remember he does. Do what works for you. I admire you guys for the fact that you keep trying. Try a boat dive from Gilroy scuba with Sanctuary. You owe yourself a little piece of heaven after so many shore dives. You have to see the better side of Monterey besides breakwater. Maybe for your next shore dive do Lobos. Pick your day the way I said to in the past and it should be good. Of course I work for myself and can choose my dive days. My wish for you is 6 inch waves at Monatary with 50 foot viz and zero surge. It happens.

 

[TSandM]

I would certainly agree that Monastery is well worth doing, if the conditions are favorable. It was a really beautiful dive!

KMD, don't kick yourself. I thought the surge in the rocks was kind of fun, as well as looking at the absolutely beautiful algae streaming off the rocks in the moving water. Looked like mermaid's hair. And it certainly was NOT your fault that I ended up as flotsam at the end of the dive!