Vegan Shark
Contributor
We all love diving, but I'm sure everyone has a dive they regret making. What's yours?
I was dieing to get my new double 14Ls wet (steel 100s), and anxiously checked weather and swell models all week. A typhoon in the Philippines was screwing up our weather, but it looked like Sunday would be much calmer. So I woke up early and headed to the nearby seawall--a site usually filled with divers, but this morning there was not a single diver in sight. Only 100 or so surfers. I took a look at the waves smashing into the stair entry, and then the beasts the surfers were riding a little further out, and thought "eff this."
But having already suited up, and waited all week, I couldn't give up. I stayed around, watching for a couple hours, hoping the waves would die down like the swell models said they would. Finally I geared up and headed down the stairs, but lost confidence that I could make it without slipping and losing my fins with the waves pounding into me. A dive guide and two students soon appeared behind, and after seeing me retreat the dive guide started second guessing herself, and went back to call her boss. He showed up 20 min later, said it was fine, and got into freediving gear to help the 3 divers in and hold them steady. I watched them swim out, ragg-dolled time and time again by 7 ft waves they couldn't get under since it was too shallow. And once again I thought eff that.
But eventually I convinced myself to head in. Now it was low tide, so shallow that it was more rock climbing than diving, latch onto rocks and pull forward just to keep from getting tossed up and back to shore. I'm not sure if it was the stress, or Japan makes bizarre positively buoyant steel tanks, but even with full double 100s, in a wetsuit, I could barely sink. If I got within 20ft of the surface I would pop up instantly. Tired of fighting the swell and buoyancy issues, I called the dive after 12 min. Planned on crawling back through the shallows, but buoyancy issues took me to the surface further out, and I rose right in the middle of a giant wave, with a surfboard grazing my head. That could've been really ugly. I lectured myself all the way back to shore, and got to enjoy crawling hands and knees up the stairs. Beach crawl exits, sure I don't mind those, but stairs? At least I had a new experience.
Not the worst dive I've had by any means, but just one of those lessons in learning to listen to your instincts. I know plenty of people have died diving in conditions they shouldn't have, because they drove a long way to the site and didn't want to waste their time, etc. For me the lesson was that new gear and ****ty conditions just don't match. There's always tomorrow, no shame in saying screw it and heading home. Blowing bubbles isn't always worth it.
I was dieing to get my new double 14Ls wet (steel 100s), and anxiously checked weather and swell models all week. A typhoon in the Philippines was screwing up our weather, but it looked like Sunday would be much calmer. So I woke up early and headed to the nearby seawall--a site usually filled with divers, but this morning there was not a single diver in sight. Only 100 or so surfers. I took a look at the waves smashing into the stair entry, and then the beasts the surfers were riding a little further out, and thought "eff this."
But having already suited up, and waited all week, I couldn't give up. I stayed around, watching for a couple hours, hoping the waves would die down like the swell models said they would. Finally I geared up and headed down the stairs, but lost confidence that I could make it without slipping and losing my fins with the waves pounding into me. A dive guide and two students soon appeared behind, and after seeing me retreat the dive guide started second guessing herself, and went back to call her boss. He showed up 20 min later, said it was fine, and got into freediving gear to help the 3 divers in and hold them steady. I watched them swim out, ragg-dolled time and time again by 7 ft waves they couldn't get under since it was too shallow. And once again I thought eff that.
But eventually I convinced myself to head in. Now it was low tide, so shallow that it was more rock climbing than diving, latch onto rocks and pull forward just to keep from getting tossed up and back to shore. I'm not sure if it was the stress, or Japan makes bizarre positively buoyant steel tanks, but even with full double 100s, in a wetsuit, I could barely sink. If I got within 20ft of the surface I would pop up instantly. Tired of fighting the swell and buoyancy issues, I called the dive after 12 min. Planned on crawling back through the shallows, but buoyancy issues took me to the surface further out, and I rose right in the middle of a giant wave, with a surfboard grazing my head. That could've been really ugly. I lectured myself all the way back to shore, and got to enjoy crawling hands and knees up the stairs. Beach crawl exits, sure I don't mind those, but stairs? At least I had a new experience.
Not the worst dive I've had by any means, but just one of those lessons in learning to listen to your instincts. I know plenty of people have died diving in conditions they shouldn't have, because they drove a long way to the site and didn't want to waste their time, etc. For me the lesson was that new gear and ****ty conditions just don't match. There's always tomorrow, no shame in saying screw it and heading home. Blowing bubbles isn't always worth it.