Deefstes
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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!
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!