boljakool
Contributor
I was diving in Beatrice Rock, a dive site in Anilao, Batangas in the Philippines, which is known for its very rich coral growth and abundant marine life. I was with some American guests who came to visit to look for possible dive destinations to recommend to their dive groups and customers in the US.
We first arrived at the dive site around 8:30am but the current was ripping and we had to cancel and move to another site. The first dive went well and we did our SIT near Sombrero. After we were well rested, we went back to Beatrice to see if the current somehow eased up a bit. There was still current but not as strong as when we first arrived. We asked the boat to anchor on the rock, we got it on the 3rd attempt. The dive was going well, we enjoyed the mini-trench and the surrounding abundance of different colored soft and hard corals. The reef is teeming with small reef fishes and the blue is visited by some of their bigger cousins (jacks, tuna, surgeon).
We were already going to take our Safety Stop when I saw the boat's anchor line. We planned to do the SS near the line as we might need to hold on to it when we start ascending. This is when the near miss happened... I was busy looking for small critters when I suddenly felt like somebody or something was pulling me off from the reef. I tried to struggle and swim back to the rock but I kept on getting pulled to the blue. I then tried to reach to my back...then I felt that I grabbed something.... the anchor line!!! Apparently, it got pulled from the rock due to the strong current. I was able to get myself free from being pulled further and managed to swim back to my buddies. We completed our SS and I surfaced still shaken but laughing that I survived to tell this story.
I'm lucky that the anchor did not hit me smack on the face or got hooked in my mouth! It also did not do any damage on my regulator or my bcd.
Lesson learned: when diving in strong current, stay clear from the anchor's path in case it gets loose.
I'm thankful that I can still dive another day!
Dive safe!
We first arrived at the dive site around 8:30am but the current was ripping and we had to cancel and move to another site. The first dive went well and we did our SIT near Sombrero. After we were well rested, we went back to Beatrice to see if the current somehow eased up a bit. There was still current but not as strong as when we first arrived. We asked the boat to anchor on the rock, we got it on the 3rd attempt. The dive was going well, we enjoyed the mini-trench and the surrounding abundance of different colored soft and hard corals. The reef is teeming with small reef fishes and the blue is visited by some of their bigger cousins (jacks, tuna, surgeon).
We were already going to take our Safety Stop when I saw the boat's anchor line. We planned to do the SS near the line as we might need to hold on to it when we start ascending. This is when the near miss happened... I was busy looking for small critters when I suddenly felt like somebody or something was pulling me off from the reef. I tried to struggle and swim back to the rock but I kept on getting pulled to the blue. I then tried to reach to my back...then I felt that I grabbed something.... the anchor line!!! Apparently, it got pulled from the rock due to the strong current. I was able to get myself free from being pulled further and managed to swim back to my buddies. We completed our SS and I surfaced still shaken but laughing that I survived to tell this story.
I'm lucky that the anchor did not hit me smack on the face or got hooked in my mouth! It also did not do any damage on my regulator or my bcd.
Lesson learned: when diving in strong current, stay clear from the anchor's path in case it gets loose.
I'm thankful that I can still dive another day!
Dive safe!
