Robert Phillips
Contributor
Just wanted to post to see if anyone has ever had any hassles at Montage (Treasure Island) typically diving in the wintertime or when you see few other divers getting in the water.
Twice i have had a friend who had rescue services called while he was in the water and when he surfaced was asked if he was in distress. Obviously the answer was no, as he is a very experienced diver who has been diving this location for more than 10 years (before it was a resort and the easy access we have now was private property and the only way in was a long walk from Aliso Beach below the high water line.)
Last year he was diving (solo) and an 'anonymous' call was placed regarding a 'diver in distress' and when he surfaced there were crews in the water and rescue squads on site. When he asked if there was a problem he was told "we are looking for a distressed diver" the crews assumed it was him they were called for and discontinued their search after he was on the beach.
This information leads me to the question: If you had called in an emergency call, would you do it anonymously? Or would you wait until services arrived and give you report of what you observed? I can understand someone coming from the Midwest who had never seen the ocean before and watching someone enter that water and then not seeing them for over an hour thinking there was a problem, but are these the people that pay $200-$1500 a night for a room at the Montage?
Fast forward to this Sunday... My friend is diving with his brother at Montage. They surface after an hour+ dive to the same scenario: EMS on the surface with multiple divers and Harbor Patrol in the water. The get the attention of the surface personnel and ask what the problem is. "Are you in distress?" is the question posed to them. Obviously they were not in distress, but again it is assumed that they are the divers the call was made for. My friend informs them that there was no one gearing up when they went in, so it may be very possible that there are different divers in the water that may have been in distress. The same reply is received that he had gotten the year prior, "Oh, we're pretty sure you are the diver we're looking for."
Now please understand, my friend is an inactive instructor for several agencies, form basic open water to tech trimix instructor and was ready to assist both times he was approached by EMS and made it a point to let them know that at no time was he ever in distress and there was a high possibility that they were dealing with another diver or divers in distress and there was a good chance that their search was not over and was told both times the same thing. The crew were 'pretty sure' they had found the reason for the call. Never were names taken by EMS or Laguna Beach PD, but the odd thing happened this time; They were approached by Montage Security and were asked for their names for his report'. When he was told in no uncertain terms that he would not get their names, he became defensive and accused them of being 'hostile'. They were then followed to their vehicles and the security guard watched them as they de-kitted and wrote down the license plate number.
Keep in mind that this all took place on public property in the city of Laguna Beach. While the Montage Resort is an private Hotel, all the surrounding property and the beach access was given over to the public in order for them to build their resort.
The agreement made by them with the California Coastal Commission was to allow
public right of way to the ocean. This seems to me like they are trying to build up some sort of defense to come to the conclusion that Montage is a dangerous place to dive and to try to limit access to this part of the beach.
What I want to try to determine is if anyone else has had any problems with security or any uncalled for EMS responses when diving at this site. I will admit that I had to call EMS for a dive that went awry here. Fortunately it was not an issue that resulted in injury, just a miscommunicated dive plan and an unplanned solo excursion. There was also a death at this site at a later date, but was not caused by the site itself.
Sorry for the long winded post, but I was asked by my friend to post this here to see if this was common or if he was a magnet for abuse!
Twice i have had a friend who had rescue services called while he was in the water and when he surfaced was asked if he was in distress. Obviously the answer was no, as he is a very experienced diver who has been diving this location for more than 10 years (before it was a resort and the easy access we have now was private property and the only way in was a long walk from Aliso Beach below the high water line.)
Last year he was diving (solo) and an 'anonymous' call was placed regarding a 'diver in distress' and when he surfaced there were crews in the water and rescue squads on site. When he asked if there was a problem he was told "we are looking for a distressed diver" the crews assumed it was him they were called for and discontinued their search after he was on the beach.
This information leads me to the question: If you had called in an emergency call, would you do it anonymously? Or would you wait until services arrived and give you report of what you observed? I can understand someone coming from the Midwest who had never seen the ocean before and watching someone enter that water and then not seeing them for over an hour thinking there was a problem, but are these the people that pay $200-$1500 a night for a room at the Montage?
Fast forward to this Sunday... My friend is diving with his brother at Montage. They surface after an hour+ dive to the same scenario: EMS on the surface with multiple divers and Harbor Patrol in the water. The get the attention of the surface personnel and ask what the problem is. "Are you in distress?" is the question posed to them. Obviously they were not in distress, but again it is assumed that they are the divers the call was made for. My friend informs them that there was no one gearing up when they went in, so it may be very possible that there are different divers in the water that may have been in distress. The same reply is received that he had gotten the year prior, "Oh, we're pretty sure you are the diver we're looking for."
Now please understand, my friend is an inactive instructor for several agencies, form basic open water to tech trimix instructor and was ready to assist both times he was approached by EMS and made it a point to let them know that at no time was he ever in distress and there was a high possibility that they were dealing with another diver or divers in distress and there was a good chance that their search was not over and was told both times the same thing. The crew were 'pretty sure' they had found the reason for the call. Never were names taken by EMS or Laguna Beach PD, but the odd thing happened this time; They were approached by Montage Security and were asked for their names for his report'. When he was told in no uncertain terms that he would not get their names, he became defensive and accused them of being 'hostile'. They were then followed to their vehicles and the security guard watched them as they de-kitted and wrote down the license plate number.
Keep in mind that this all took place on public property in the city of Laguna Beach. While the Montage Resort is an private Hotel, all the surrounding property and the beach access was given over to the public in order for them to build their resort.
The agreement made by them with the California Coastal Commission was to allow
public right of way to the ocean. This seems to me like they are trying to build up some sort of defense to come to the conclusion that Montage is a dangerous place to dive and to try to limit access to this part of the beach.
What I want to try to determine is if anyone else has had any problems with security or any uncalled for EMS responses when diving at this site. I will admit that I had to call EMS for a dive that went awry here. Fortunately it was not an issue that resulted in injury, just a miscommunicated dive plan and an unplanned solo excursion. There was also a death at this site at a later date, but was not caused by the site itself.
Sorry for the long winded post, but I was asked by my friend to post this here to see if this was common or if he was a magnet for abuse!