Harrowing Exit

[TMHeimer]

Meigs Pt., CT. I have dived there quite a few times. Extreme low tide and chop that would never deter me. Physics says that when you get to the point that tank, weights and BC are out of the water, you walk. Not easy on seaweed covered watermelon size rocks. I headed for a boulder, where I could steady myself. No go. Went down on all 4s in an attempt to avoid falling in 2' of water. Couldn't get back up. In my shorty in 72F water, I finally did, after cuts on one arm and leg. And getting upright tested me to the limit physically. I could go on, but this was my worst experience (among 2-3 others) exiting a dive. Finally got to where I could throw my fins & dive flag to "safety" on shore. Maybe this sort of situation should be taught in the OW course? Or maybe we just know it's common sense to not do the dive....

 

[scubadada]

Many divers never do a shore dive with a difficult entry and/or exit. I was certified in Southern California. Four of my 6 certification dives were off the beach. Most of my dives for the next 10 years were shore dives in LA, Orange, and San Diego Counties. Wish I had a nickel for every time I was knocked down. Quickly learned that everything needed to be secure in both directions.

Glad you're OK

 

[billt4sf]

Many divers never do a shore dive with a difficult entry and/or exit. I was certified in Southern California. Four of my 6 certification dives were off the beach. Most of my dives for the next 10 years were shore dives in LA, Orange, and San Diego Counties. Wish I had a nickel for every time I was knocked down. Quickly learned that everything needed to be secure in both directions.

Glad you're OK

That would be me.

I have learned the hard way to keep my reg in my mouth until I was safely on shore / boat. Nothing worse than being thrown back into the water when I didn't expect it and was disoriented--and on top of that, cannot breathe! No way am I doing THAT again!

- Bill

 

[boulderjohn]

Maybe this sort of situation should be taught in the OW course?

You cannot possibly teach every possible entry/exit scenario in a course, and if you tried to, you would overload the students with knowledge that they will probably never use. I simply tell them that the best way to get in and out of the water on a shore dive is entirely dependent upon the circumstances, and they have to use common sense to determine what will work best.

Here is my best story of this sort of thing.

A buddy and I were diving in Rock Lake, NM, and we decided to explore neighboring Swan Lake, which had probably not been dived in many years. The owner was hoping to open it for basic classes to complement the advanced classes being taught at Rock Lake, and we decided to give it a look. It is a spring fed sinkhole, with no clear inlet or outlet. We scouted it out first and found we could not get all the way to the shore without encountering great grass clumps surrounded by water. We could see what looked like a white rock ledge encircling the entire round lake, but it was not a rock ledge. It was silt several feet thick. Walking out without any gear, we sank to our knees.

Undeterred, we returned with our steel doubles, which we somehow managed to get on while sitting on the grassy clumps along the shore. Knowing we could not possibly walk through that silt with those heavy doubles, we filled our wings to capacity, put our regs in our mouths,.and flopped forward. We then "snorkeled" out past the silt. The exit was the reverse of that process, except we could not do a reverse plop. We crawled out onto the clumps, rolled onto our backs, becoming wedged between the clumps, and somehow wriggled out of our harnesses.

That was about 5 years ago. I suspect no one has dived there since then.

 

[BoltSnap]

I teach "advanced shore water" entries in my NAUI advanced course and part of the information gained by the student is knowing when to and when not to dive a particular site based on the water conditions (tide/current/waves) at the site. Many sites of the type you described should NOT be dove in low water/tide or when the sea condition makes it difficult to dive. I dove for almost twenty years in New England where most of my diving was from shore (mostly MA and RI) and I learned from my instructor and experience to check the tide chart and all relevant information before jumping into the ocean. Knowing how/where/when to exist the water after the end of the dive is most critical and if the timing isn't right when I am existing the water according to the dive plan, I won't go into the water and wait for the right time/conditions to go in for the dive.

 

[TMHeimer]

John, That's quite a story. I had something like that in the mud of Mississippi, but nowhere near as bad.

Yeah I hear what you're saying about OW course info. overload within the time constraints. It seemed I was always telling students to come deeper & inflate BC to don fins. I was just thinking the physics of exiting in rough situations may be mentioned. Once you get to a certain point -- like 3 feet or less-- all the weight goes on you're legs and you have to make the decision to get upright. But, there are so many things you pick up after a course of only 2 weekends.

 

[Kevrumbo]

As tax paying residents of Los Angeles & San Diego Counties, we are fortunate to have had such a class available for many years now:

"The 3R’s (Rocks, Rips and Reefs) is a series of sessions designed to orient new and update experienced divers to site specific shore based diving conditions and safe practices for popular local dive sites.

Conducted by certified Los Angeles County Scuba Instructors, the Rocks, Rips and Reefs sessions include a short educational overview covering the local dive site bathymetry, shore based entries and exits, certain aspects of the local marine environment, and other valuable, site-specific information.

Conditions permitting, the seminar is followed by an in-water demonstration and practice session that includes a skin diving tour of the actual dive site.

Conditions permitting, the seminar is followed by an in-water demonstration and practice session that includes a skin diving tour of the actual dive site.

THIS IS A FREE PUBLIC SERVICE AND THERE IS NO CHARGE FOR ATTENDING ANY OF THE SESSIONS. (Participants are responsible for any parking fees at each location.)

Participants must be in good physical condition to participate in the ocean portion of each session."

Rocks, Rips, & Reefs – 3R’s | Underwater Unit

 

[scubadada]

As tax paying residents of Los Angeles & San Diego Counties, we are fortunate to have had such a class available for many years now:

"The 3R’s (Rocks, Rips and Reefs) is a series of sessions designed to orient new and update experienced divers to site specific shore based diving conditions and safe practices for popular local dive sites.

Conducted by certified Los Angeles County Scuba Instructors, the Rocks, Rips and Reefs sessions include a short educational overview covering the local dive site bathymetry, shore based entries and exits, certain aspects of the local marine environment, and other valuable, site-specific information.

Conditions permitting, the seminar is followed by an in-water demonstration and practice session that includes a skin diving tour of the actual dive site.

Conditions permitting, the seminar is followed by an in-water demonstration and practice session that includes a skin diving tour of the actual dive site.

THIS IS A FREE PUBLIC SERVICE AND THERE IS NO CHARGE FOR ATTENDING ANY OF THE SESSIONS. (Participants are responsible for any parking fees at each location.)

Participants must be in good physical condition to participate in the ocean portion of each session."

Rocks, Rips, & Reefs – 3R’s | Underwater Unit

I was initially certified by the LACUU. I was well prepared for diving in SoCal. If I still lived in Southern California, I would be tempted to take the 3Rs, and also the Advanced Diver Diver Program. Southern Calif has some real advantages!

 

[Scared Silly]

I think everyone who shores dives at one point or another will get slapped. I have been washing machined as well as gone down on rocks and had a hell of a time getting back up. Sometimes ya just gotta get down on yer knees and grovel and hope no one else is watching.

 

[TMHeimer]

I think everyone who shores dives at one point or another will get slapped. I have been washing machined as well as gone down on rocks and had a hell of a time getting back up. Sometimes ya just gotta get down on yer knees and grovel and hope no one else is watching.

Yeah, that's the case! I think there was one guy watching this whole thing, knowing I wasn't in any real danger in 2 feet of water. When I finally was walking on land he went away.

That course in SoCal seems very good, but I assume you guys out there deal with nasty surf quite often, even if you are mostly dealing with sand.