La Jolla Woman Diver in Critical Condition.

[Bubbletrubble]

La Jolla, could involve a lot of gear toting, rough seas and a long swim... it could just as easily be a very easy dive. If the former, then going back with the person calling the dive means a lot of work, and most likely not diving. An easy choice if this is your dive buddy, but not so easy if it is an insta-buddy you just met. Would be willing to bet if it was an insta-buddy, and they were joining a group, that 9 out of 10 times, the others would let the person go. Perhaps not the right thing to do, but human nature.

It sounds like Puffer Fish is familiar with La Jolla Shores diving.
To add a little more info regarding this dive site, it's the place where most San Diego classes do check-out dives. Underwater topography is gently sloping from the shore to about 45 fsw, where there is a 5-10 foot wall. On most days, very benign shore entry/exit.

It would be interesting to hear about the victim's overall dive experience, general health/medical conditions, knowledge of the dive site, familiarity with diving temperate water, experience shore diving, and number of dives done with the buddy team. It would also be useful to hear about what happened from the buddies' perspective.

FWIW, I interpret "leaky mask" as code for "I'm not comfortable with this dive" (for whatever reason). It sounds like an innocuous enough complaint, but I really pay attention when an inexperienced or out-of-practice diver says this. Combined with a comment about feeling sick, that person gets my full attention.

At this particular dive site...
If I were buddied up with an inexperienced diver who complained about "not feeling well" and wanted to head back to shore, I'd certainly accompany him/her on the return trip.
If one of my regular buddies thumbed a La Jolla Shores dive due to a leaky mask because he forgot to shave, then I think I'd be OK with letting him exit on his own. If he was "not feeling well," then I'd certainly make sure that at least one person exited with him. But that's just me...

 

[Jim Lapenta]

You either enter and exit together or you agree that if something happens you may just die alone. Kinda changes the thought process. Diving with two students this weekend we went over this every dive.

 

[DandyDon]

Don, Lots of diving accidents happen on the surface, many with people around them, many without anyone.

All we know is the location and the condition they found her. What happened may or may not have been different if the other divers had gone up with her.

I would agree, that if someone has a physical reasons for calling a dive, someone should go with them. I would also say that some conditions warrant divers staying together. But calm seas, surface safety people and no current conditions are very different.

La Jolla, could involve a lot of gear toting, rough seas and a long swim... it could just as easily be a very easy dive. If the former, then going back with the person calling the dive means a lot of work, and most likely not diving. An easy choice if this is your dive buddy, but not so easy if it is an insta-buddy you just met. Would be willing to bet if it was an insta-buddy, and they were joining a group, that 9 out of 10 times, the others would let the person go. Perhaps not the right thing to do, but human nature.

Well you are far more experienced than I, but I'm sticking with the enter & exit together. If I pickup a tagalong to our buddy pair, I like to clarify that, ask for agreement or not, see where the other stands. If she/he is a same-ocean solo-diver mindset, that's different. I can do same-ocean, but let's call it what it is.

You either enter and exit together or you agree that if something happens you may just die alone. Kinda changes the thought process. Diving with two students this weekend we went over this every dive.

I am honored to agree.

 

[donhealy]

This accident was pretty much a footnote on the San Diego morning news shows today. But you gotta believe that it got my immediate attention.

I've made over 1000 dives and have made the same mistakes that DandyDon has. I hate it but nevertheless I have. I've also seen first hand how valuable and life saving a real dive buddy can be. I personally know two people who are alive and diving today only because of their buddy.

Like the others on this thread, I take being a buddy serious and don't enjoy it when someone takes off or heads back to the boat without telling me. I go into immediate search mode and it tends to ruin the dive. I believe in giving each other space but same ocean same day is a recipe for a bad day.

 

[CaboJim]

Like Bubble Trouble, I have dived La Jolla Shores many times w/ students. It is considered to be a beginner's dive spot. However, it is a pretty long swim out to get to 20-25 fsw. The bottom is mostly sand, & you can expect some surge. The water is cold & vis is not great. Its easy to get hot in your wetsuit, because the staging area is about 40-50 yds from the shore line. After reading the article, I found it strange that the 2 other divers, she was with, didn't seem to know her. & why didn't the lifeguards get more info on the victim, from them?
Again, you will find a lot of students getting their cert dive & tourists diving here.
Let's pray that the victim has a speedy recovery....

 

[fisheater]

This incident also highlights the advisability of having ID somewhere on your body/gear. A DAN tag, for example.

 

[TSandM]

I will confess that, despite my (and my buddies') emphasis on team diving, I have very occasionally allowed someone to return to shore on the surface alone. It has always been when there is some type of gear malfunction that precludes executing the dive (never for someone not feeling well) and it has always been somewhere where the shore is nearby and trivial to exit. I never feel totally good about it, but I have done it.

I wouldn't do it in surf, or where there is any kind of difficult climb or surface or other risk to exiting and returning to the car. And I wouldn't do it anywhere where there were no other people around. And I'll also say that I have only done it with well-known buddies, whose health, physical capacity and equanimity are known to me.

It sounds like La Jolla shores is the kind of place that, apart from the surf, would meet my criteria for allowing someone to return alone. So the only red flag here was that she said she wasn't feeling well.

The point about having some identifying item on you when diving is a very good learning point from this fatality, though.

 

[Mike Boswell]

Yes, and at Fisheater's suggestion I looked into the DAN tags. $19.95 and comes in colors and has your basic info, an emergency contact, plus a signal mirror. Not a bad idea at all, especially if you are a single diver looking to join others for a dive.

https://www.diversalertnetwork.org/catalog/dantag.asp

 

[DandyDon]

Santa Rosa NM has a spring fed volcano vent that we dive to 84 ft at the grate, bell shape hole, and once you ask the tourists sitting on the steps and kids playing to move - it's a pretty easy entry and exit. Little wind, no waves or current, pretty good viz usually if the Aow classes don't stir the bottom too much. It's also where we do our dress rehearsals for the real show within recreational diving anyway, as much as we can - and we start with "We go down the steps together, get our fins on and drop to 15 ft together, bubble check while each other while my bud works on his problematic ears, descend together, blah blah blah, and we climb the steps together. Questions?"

Before I got rigid on that, a tagalong we knew thru our LDS joined us for a dive there once, everything ok until we ascended from SS thru an OW class, an then I couldn't find him. I was not going back to the car and his handicapped wife without him so I searched the hole on my 19 cf, holding the 500# in my 80 in reserve. When I surface alone, they passed the word to me that he'd left the hole alone.

One time since my bud left without a word while I was talking to some divers on the ledge. Grrr! That time I definned and climb the steps to see if he was at the pickup. He was. We talked, and we will have more preventive talks.

You divers who will let one leave the pair/team alone do what you chose and live with it. I'll stick to my hard corps agreement, thanks.

Yes, and at Fisheater's suggestion I looked into the DAN tags. $19.95 and comes in colors and has your basic info, an emergency contact, plus a signal mirror. Not a bad idea at all, especially if you are a single diver looking to join others for a dive.

https://www.diversalertnetwork.org/catalog/dantag.asp

They're a wonderful idea. I don't leave the house without my dogtag ID, much less leave town without my drivers license or dive without my DAN tag, but some do. Many probly, which is kinda amazing.

 

[Reef_Haven]

I know this point may sound trivial but, one person can't legally leave the group and return to shore unless still within 100 yards of the dive flag. I know of people being ticketed precisely for that reason. Plus, let's not forget the minimal protection a dive flag gives a diver on the surface.