Graceful surf entries/exits..

[MissyP]

Do they exist?? As a new diver in coastal California, I'm getting frustrated with doing shore dives because I always seem to end up on my rear end in the surf :lookaroun Everyone swears that "their" way is best- crawling out on hands & knees, walking backwards, walking out with fins on, taking fins off in knee deep water, etc.. I'm trying to find out what works for ME, but I'm losing my patience with shore diving! Does dealing with the surf get easier with time & experience, or am I doomed to be a boat diver?

 

[immersed]

If your vision of grace is gliding over the surface of the water like a bird looking for food, you may be disappointed. If you can accept grace as a sliding scale with the idea of 'grace under the circumstances', then that is achievable and yes, it gets better with experience.

I admit that boat diving is luxurious in comparison - there's just nothing like throwing your arms back and having a deckhand slip your bc on you. It's more expensive though, unless you have a friend who has a boat and won't even accept gas money, and you're likely going to miss out on a lot of opportunities and cool stuff if you never shore dive again.

My last shore dive was the worst entry I've ever experienced. It was the last night dive for my night specialty and the instructor wanted us to earn the card, so he picked a challenging site. We entered with fins off, and when I was trying to put them on I was getting buffeted about so much that at one point I started to panic. I leaned back, did nothing, became one with the ocean and had an awesome dive. I saw a huge synapted cucumber, which I hadn't seen before, and a type of crab that I hadn't seen before.

One of my dive buddies told me to stand and watch the surf for a while to get its rhythm. Then you can work with it instead of against it during your entry. I think that has helped a little, although he is much better at it than I.

An instructor told me to walk in sideways in stronger surf. If you spread your feet apart a little and keep your knees flexed, you're more stable and you can respond to the wave action. I've done both fins on and fins off entries, and which is going to work better depends on the surf and the terrain. I prefer to put fins on first in stronger surf because it's so much harder to put them on when you're getting buffeted head over heels. If the terrain has large obstacles, I prefer fins off so that my feet can feel for them.

On exits, I swim as far inland as I possibly can, then I let the waves carry me in even further. I sit back on my knees, toss my weights up on the shore (weights can get swept away, so you have to be judicious) and remove my fins. I've found that it's easier for me to just walk out with bc still on and strapped than to carry (or drag) it.

There's also looking graceful as opposed to feeling graceful. When the sea is trying its best to spit you back onto land you may not feel particularly graceful, but you can still look it. If whatever you try keeps landing you on your rear end, you can project attitude and make it look like that's your style and intention. Combined with paying attention to surf rhythm, you may at times find that it's the easiest way to do the entry (lift scoot pause, lift scoot scoot pause).

Try to keep your patience and give it a bit more time. And of course you can always pick and choose the shore dives you want to do; if the surf looks too rough, skip it and dive another day.

 

[Diver0001]

...never mind... misread the question.

 

[cool_hardware52]

My goal is not grace, it's simple survival Kinda like airplanes and landings, the "good" ones you walk away from.

You need to consider if you will need to duck under any of the surf. If so you do not want any air in the BC. If you are approaching the breaker line, and aren't going to make it, the bottom is your freind. Reg in, and hug the bottom. Having air in the BC is to risk a trip "over the falls"

On the way out of the water, if you are uncertain as to the size and period of the surf, follow the bottom up to about ~15 ft, and hold while you watch your depth gauge. If it's swinging from ~15-18 and back all is well. If it's swinging from 15-20+ your exit will be more entertaining.

Like all things practice helps.

Regards,



Tobin George

 

[Charlie99]

Everyone swears that "their" way is best- crawling out on hands & knees, walking backwards, walking out with fins on, taking fins off in knee deep water, etc.. I'm trying to find out what works for ME, but I'm losing my patience with shore diving! Does dealing with the surf get easier with time & experience, or am I doomed to be a boat diver?

It definitely gets easier with time & experience.

Perhaps more important than finding out what works for you, is finding out what works FOR THAT DIVESITE. A fast sloping entry has different wave action than a gently sloped entry.

I find that a key factor is how deep the water is where the shore break occurs.

If it's more than chest high, then you can put fins on inside the surf, then swim out on the bottom. If the break is shallow, then there either isn't enough surf to worry about, or it's one of those places where fins-on backward shuffle and staying on the surface works.

When the shorebreak is in chest high water, I just grit my teeth, wait until a big set of swells pass, then walk out, quickly put on fins, and hit the bottom. If a breaking swell is going to hit me in waist or chest high water, I've had best luck with turning sideways, crouching a bit, then leaning into the wave with legs a couple feet apart, and with the inshore leg firmly planted. If you get rolled, just hold onto mask and fins as well as you can. Don't bother standing up, or getting off the bottom, just slip on fins and head out.

--------

I've always found that coming back into shore is much easier. In a lot of places, hugging the bottom and using the surge to judge wave sets helps. Most of the time I just stay on the bottom and come in on the backside of a swell until I'm in only 3 or 4' of water

 

[Rick Inman]

A good shore entry/exit is like a good plane landing...

 

[MissyP]

It definitely gets easier with time & experience.

Perh

Thanks for the replies.. I made it through 2 entries & exits today without so much as a stumble... of course the conditions were very good... but nevertheless, it was a confidence booster :35:

 

[carbon]

On the way out of the water, if you are uncertain as to the size and period of the surf, follow the bottom up to about ~15 ft, and hold while you watch your depth gauge. If it's swinging from ~15-18 and back all is well.

If it's swinging from 15-20+ your exit will be more entertaining.

Hey Tobin,

Entertaining?

I never heard exits described as "entertaining". Come to think of it, considering the complete lack of grace in my exits, might be why all those folks are laughing every time I get out of the water.

Cheers,
Carbon

 

[Damselfish]

He didn't say who it was entertaining for ...

 

[cool_hardware52]

He didn't say who it was entertaining for ...

Exactly!