wadedeeper
Contributor
On one nice Sunday morning, a friend and I met at a local beach and quickly realized the conditions were horrible. Surf, surge, riptides, and everything bad all at once on our favorite beach site. We were a little stunned by the conditions so we decided to head down and take a closer look. On the sand, we noticed a large group also checking out the conditions. While laughing about how bad the conditions were, two male, mid 20's divers fully suited up strolled towards us on their way out to the water. I quickly pointed out to each that the conditions were WAY too poor to even hope to get in the water let alone dive. They both told me to mind my own business and that they were used to these conditions. I expressed again that these conditions were just too poor to go in for and even if they got in, that visibility would be surprising if it were even 1'. One of them told me to go F%^& Off and mind my own business. At this point, I waited while they got rolled 3-4 times while trying to make their way into the water to see if they needed immediate help...but stupidity prevailed and they kept going. I then told my friend to keep an eye on them and I'd suit up for the rescue. Unfortunately, I had just completed teaching my friend Advanced Open water, so he wasn't yet ready to handle a rescue himself but could assist by pulling ashore and peforming CPR or calling for EMS. I got the gear on ad made my way back down within about 5 min. My friend said they just descended just outside the arch and I proceeded to wait and watch. Meanwhile the other group of people asked if I was going in too and I said only if I have to.
About 5 minutes passed before the first diver appeared at the surface calling for help and getting tossed into the rocks. I decided to ditch the dive gear and go in mask, snorkel, and fins only. Made my way through the surf and got out to the future Darwin award only to hear his buddy about 200 yards away calling for help himself. He seemed to be in less danger, just scared and disoriented so I chose to get "Dumb" back to shore first. Pulled the guy to the surf and onto shore where my buddy was ready to assist before making my way back out and after "Dumber". When I got to the same guy who told me to F%^& Off, I asked if he was ok...only to find him out of breath as he tried to swin against a rip tide while getting pulled out to sea. I then pulled him out of the rip and into shore where his buddy was. Reaching shore, I had to drag the other Future Darwin award up onto the beach as he was completely exhausted. Not trying to be mean, I started asking how they felt, drink any salt water, etc. It was then that each looked at me and apologized and said that the conditions were much worse then they thought. I then mentioned that no matter how may dives they had, conditions this bad mean staying on land. One started to argue that he was an advanced diver with 25 dives, to which I said I did 25 dives last week teaching students in my dive class. I then went on to say it doesn't matter how many dives you have, its their responsibility to be safe and judge the conditions. I asked if they even saw the rips, or surge before they went in...which they admitted they didn't. Then I proceeded to show them the signs and indications of how to tell. I then proceeded to tell them some really nice spot to go when conditions improve. As I started to walk towards the cars to get out of my gear, the group of people watching the whole incident came over to talk to me. It was then they started asking about what agency I was trained with and what level. After letting them know I was a PADI instructor and my name they told me they all worked for PADi and were there to shoot some video for an instructional video but couldn't due to conditions. Before I left, they were all really happy I got geared up since they were worried they might have to rescue "Dumb and Dumber".
about 2 weeks later I received an award and letter of recognition for the rescue the group witnessed.
Moral of the story...lose the egos people. If someone tells you something, heed the warning. I know OW divers with more dives than I ever hope to have and they know areas like the back of their hand. I may be an instructor, but I listen to all advice and heed any warnings when it comes to my life. We all need to be a better judge of the conditions and learn to see the signs. Go to the beach and look, talk to people who know how to spot them, and remember that no matter what...live to dive another day...even if that means not diving today.
About 5 minutes passed before the first diver appeared at the surface calling for help and getting tossed into the rocks. I decided to ditch the dive gear and go in mask, snorkel, and fins only. Made my way through the surf and got out to the future Darwin award only to hear his buddy about 200 yards away calling for help himself. He seemed to be in less danger, just scared and disoriented so I chose to get "Dumb" back to shore first. Pulled the guy to the surf and onto shore where my buddy was ready to assist before making my way back out and after "Dumber". When I got to the same guy who told me to F%^& Off, I asked if he was ok...only to find him out of breath as he tried to swin against a rip tide while getting pulled out to sea. I then pulled him out of the rip and into shore where his buddy was. Reaching shore, I had to drag the other Future Darwin award up onto the beach as he was completely exhausted. Not trying to be mean, I started asking how they felt, drink any salt water, etc. It was then that each looked at me and apologized and said that the conditions were much worse then they thought. I then mentioned that no matter how may dives they had, conditions this bad mean staying on land. One started to argue that he was an advanced diver with 25 dives, to which I said I did 25 dives last week teaching students in my dive class. I then went on to say it doesn't matter how many dives you have, its their responsibility to be safe and judge the conditions. I asked if they even saw the rips, or surge before they went in...which they admitted they didn't. Then I proceeded to show them the signs and indications of how to tell. I then proceeded to tell them some really nice spot to go when conditions improve. As I started to walk towards the cars to get out of my gear, the group of people watching the whole incident came over to talk to me. It was then they started asking about what agency I was trained with and what level. After letting them know I was a PADI instructor and my name they told me they all worked for PADi and were there to shoot some video for an instructional video but couldn't due to conditions. Before I left, they were all really happy I got geared up since they were worried they might have to rescue "Dumb and Dumber".
about 2 weeks later I received an award and letter of recognition for the rescue the group witnessed.
Moral of the story...lose the egos people. If someone tells you something, heed the warning. I know OW divers with more dives than I ever hope to have and they know areas like the back of their hand. I may be an instructor, but I listen to all advice and heed any warnings when it comes to my life. We all need to be a better judge of the conditions and learn to see the signs. Go to the beach and look, talk to people who know how to spot them, and remember that no matter what...live to dive another day...even if that means not diving today.
