Cayman Police Helicopter and Fishing Boat Rescue Divers in Trouble

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KathyV

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Police helicopter tracks down divers, WaveRunner | Cayman Compass

The location mentioned in the article "off North West Point Road" is the area north of the Seven Mile Beach in West Bay. There are some popular shore dives in that area, perhaps they were shore diving from Lighthouse Point when they got caught in the current? Whatever the circumstances - they were lucky in that a police helicopter just happened to be in the vicinity!


"The Royal Cayman Islands Police helicopter, along with civilian watercraft, managed to track down a broken-down WaveRunner, its stranded driver and a group of divers who were in difficulty, all in one Sunday afternoon rescue effort.

Everyone involved was returned to shore off North West Point Road, West Bay, in good health.

...At 5:41 p.m., while the helicopter was still in the vicinity [after assisting in the rescue of a stranded Waverunner driver], the 911 Emergency Communications Centre received a call of six divers having difficulties, also off North West Point Road. The police helicopter located all six divers about 200 yards offshore.

'They appeared to be caught in the current at that location and seemed exhausted,' a police statement on the second incident read.

The helicopter crew hailed a nearby fishing vessel and asked its operator to head toward the divers to assist. Three of the divers managed to swim to shore, the other three were taken on board the fishing craft."
 
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I guess the chances of getting swept away on a shore dive depends on your knowledge of the dive and dive plan. That is certainly a concern I would have diving off some of the islands in the Caribbean.
 
I hope there is more info on this I shore dive all the sites in that area and have never had any problem with currents or riptides.
 
I hope there is more info on this I shore dive all the sites in that area and have never had any problem with currents or riptides.

I was thinking the same thing! Perhaps some of our SB resident Cayman dive professionals like @caydiver or @FindingMenno will have the details?
 
None of us were present when this occurred, but we did hear about it. A few things to note:

This time of year is know for it's current on the northwest point sites. It can change rapidly and without warning. I've been on dives where the current has changed direction in the middle of my dive. What could have very well happened is the current was non existent or very slight at the start of the dive, and then picked up. Also possible, is they might not have recognized the strength of the current on their way out.

Bonnie's Arch is pretty well exposed on the Northwest Point. When there is current at this site, it can blow you out to sea very quickly. While current at Lighthouse Point will tend to blow you parallel with the shoreline.

Lastly, Bonnie's Arch is a dive site that is not monitored by anyone. So shore diver's surfacing in distress will have a much harder time getting someone's attention than they would at Lighthouse Point, Macabuca, or Cobalt.

Tony

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There are many times on the boat that we head that direction and when we test the current and turn back because it is too much. They were very lucky that anyone found them all.
 
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