Mozambique dive trip gone wrong

[Deefstes]

As diving accidents go I guess this is probably not too bad and we've got a lot to be thankful for but I thought I'd report back on a dive trip that went bad.

We visited Ponta Malongane in southern Mozambique for a long anticipated dive trip only to arrive in lashing rain and high winds which prevented any diving on day one. The second day saw the rain making way for even stronger winds and again, no diving. The third day appeared to be a fair bit nicer but the sea was still much too violent for any boat launches to be made and yet again, no diving. On the fourth (and penultimate) day of our trip we were very excited to hear that the skippers would take us out but the dive was the most horrible I've ever had. The visibility could not have been more than 3 or 5 meters and the surge was so bad that sight seeing was out of the question, it was just one long struggle to maintain visual with your buddy, not to mention the rest of the dive group.

The real screw-up came when we headed out to land again though. I'm not sure how common this practice is but in southern Africa the diving is mostly done with rigid inflatable boats doing surf launches and then coming out again by running the boat out onto the beach at moderate speed. So as we beached, and no-one can tell me why it happened, the boat came to such a violent halt on the sand that four people (including the skipper) were flung clear off the boat. They were the lucky ones. My wife was less fortunate and got thrown onto the deck of the boat while her feet were still in the straps provided. She broke her nose and her left foot in three places.

We packed up our stuff and high tailed it back to Johannesurg where she was admitted to hospital. After succesful surgery and three rods installed in her foot, she seems to be OK but will be out of action for at least two months - which means our October dive trip to Ponta do Ouro (also in southern Moz) will have to be cancelled as well.

Oh, and I believe the remaining divers did make another dive the following day and saw Nurse Sharks!

 

[almitywife]

ouch Deef - coming a cropper like that sounds horrible!

i saw a doco the other week about shark diving out your way and the surf entry was HUGE..... glad its not something i have to face

where was the gear during all of that? is it tied down or the divers wearing it??

to the mrs... hopefully you can look after her so she has a complete recovery

 

[Deefstes]

Thanks for the concern. I'll be doing my best to spoil her into full recovery. I think after her ordeal she deserves some extra pampering.

The gear was tied down in the middle of the boat. I doubt you'd really be able to safely launch or beach carrying that weight on your back.

 

[ScubaSteve]

WOW Deefstes. Sorry to hear about your poor wife. I guess you faired well enough through it so yeah, spoinling her into full recovery sounds about right. Can you still do your October trip and just not dive? I am not sure where it is but it would be a shame to have to miss it if you could avoid it.

I hope she is back at it quicker than they say.

 

[tridacna]

Jammer boet. That sounds like a horrible experience. Sorry to hear about the missus. I hope that she makes a speedy recovery. I hear that the diving is awesome there when the vis is better and the boats don't "brake" on the beach.

 

[Scubakevdm]

As diving accidents go I guess this is probably not too bad and we've got a lot to be thankful for but I thought I'd report back on a dive trip that went bad.

We visited Ponta Malongane in southern Mozambique for a long anticipated dive trip only to arrive in lashing rain and high winds which prevented any diving on day one. The second day saw the rain making way for even stronger winds and again, no diving. The third day appeared to be a fair bit nicer but the sea was still much too violent for any boat launches to be made and yet again, no diving. On the fourth (and penultimate) day of our trip we were very excited to hear that the skippers would take us out but the dive was the most horrible I've ever had. The visibility could not have been more than 3 or 5 meters and the surge was so bad that sight seeing was out of the question, it was just one long struggle to maintain visual with your buddy, not to mention the rest of the dive group.

The real screw-up came when we headed out to land again though. I'm not sure how common this practice is but in southern Africa the diving is mostly done with rigid inflatable boats doing surf launches and then coming out again by running the boat out onto the beach at moderate speed. So as we beached, and no-one can tell me why it happened, the boat came to such a violent halt on the sand that four people (including the skipper) were flung clear off the boat. They were the lucky ones. My wife was less fortunate and got thrown onto the deck of the boat while her feet were still in the straps provided. She broke her nose and her left foot in three places.

We packed up our stuff and high tailed it back to Johannesurg where she was admitted to hospital. After succesful surgery and three rods installed in her foot, she seems to be OK but will be out of action for at least two months - which means our October dive trip to Ponta do Ouro (also in southern Moz) will have to be cancelled as well.

Oh, and I believe the remaining divers did make another dive the following day and saw Nurse Sharks!

Wow, sorry to hear about your wife man! I hope she has a speedy recovery.

 

[Deefstes]

Thanks guys, yeah so far she's doing quite OK. I'm hoping that we can reschedule our October trip. If not we'll definitely go, even if my wife won't be able to dive.

 

[Ayisha]

Hope your wife has a speedy recovery!

Did that zodiac do what it was supposed to and this was a freak accident or have they had mishaps "beaching" before?
Are there any modifications they can make to make disembarking safer for everyone, rather than being potentially ejected or caught?

 

[Ken abucs]

Sorry to hear about your misadventures. It's too bad we couldn't get dive insurance for blown out dive trips.

But as for the 5 meter vis, that's about average around here in New England Lobsta Divah territory.

 

[Deefstes]

Did that zodiac do what it was supposed to and this was a freak accident or have they had mishaps "beaching" before?

I'd love to know that. I haven't been diving for very long and I certainly know very little of skipper skills so I can't comment on how common this is but I should damn well hope that it is VERY uncommon. I mean if four people, one of which is the skipper, are flung off a boat while beaching is a common occurrence I daresay this sport is WAY more dangerous than I always thought.

Obviously the dive charter would have you believe that this was just a freak accident but the more I think about it and the more people I speak to, the more I believe that it must have been due to some fault on the skipper's part. I just wish there was someone with knowledge of boating (other than the skipper) who saw the incident.

At any rate, we won't be pressing any charges but I certainly will be turning on the screws when it comes to claiming back for the dives that we didn't do. I'm hoping that, at the very least, they will refund us for this dive as well.