PhotoTJ
Contributor
- Messages
- 3,312
- Reaction score
- 17
- # of dives
- I just don't log dives
SoCalAJ and I decided to try diving our little 'mini Gibralter' today, we do some pretty hairy beach dives, so we figured no big deal.
OOPS!
Well, we arrived as the sun was setting, rigged up and began our climb down to the water. Oh, did I forget to mention the only way to the water is down an embankment? We should have guessed we were in trouble when a mountianeering class stopped to watch our decent. And take photos.
We get to the water, do a fairly easy rock entry, (as rock entries go!), and decend to about 15 feet. To a sand flat. The Sahara is a lush oaisis, teeming with life compared to this place. Oh, how exciting! A crab! And a 2 inch fish! After 20 minutes of this, by mutual boredom, we thumb the dive.
As we swim to our exit point, I realize that the surf has gone from slightly large to f***ing huge! Oh, don't get me wrong, we can exit, but we'll die, smacked onto rocks at just under 80 mph, with the Pacific helpfully pushing us along.
Looks like we're going to have to swim around the rock, against the current, to a sandy beach. Not to worry, it's only a mile or so up stream.
At this point, there was a lull in the surf, and making hay while the sun shines, we scramble onto the rocks, not breaking more than five bones between us.
Scaling a fifty foot cliff in the dark while wearing full scuba gear is up for olympic consideration as an extreme sport next year, I'm told, if that is indeed the case, say hello to the gold and silver medalist's!
As I write this, (well, actually I'm dictating, every inch of me is already sore, including my finger tips), there may be some of you who are considering this exciting dive.
To those few, I offer this advice:
DON'T TRY IT, YOU FOOL, DON'T TRY IT!
Cheers,
PhotoTJ
OOPS!
Well, we arrived as the sun was setting, rigged up and began our climb down to the water. Oh, did I forget to mention the only way to the water is down an embankment? We should have guessed we were in trouble when a mountianeering class stopped to watch our decent. And take photos.
We get to the water, do a fairly easy rock entry, (as rock entries go!), and decend to about 15 feet. To a sand flat. The Sahara is a lush oaisis, teeming with life compared to this place. Oh, how exciting! A crab! And a 2 inch fish! After 20 minutes of this, by mutual boredom, we thumb the dive.
As we swim to our exit point, I realize that the surf has gone from slightly large to f***ing huge! Oh, don't get me wrong, we can exit, but we'll die, smacked onto rocks at just under 80 mph, with the Pacific helpfully pushing us along.
Looks like we're going to have to swim around the rock, against the current, to a sandy beach. Not to worry, it's only a mile or so up stream.
At this point, there was a lull in the surf, and making hay while the sun shines, we scramble onto the rocks, not breaking more than five bones between us.
Scaling a fifty foot cliff in the dark while wearing full scuba gear is up for olympic consideration as an extreme sport next year, I'm told, if that is indeed the case, say hello to the gold and silver medalist's!
As I write this, (well, actually I'm dictating, every inch of me is already sore, including my finger tips), there may be some of you who are considering this exciting dive.
To those few, I offer this advice:
DON'T TRY IT, YOU FOOL, DON'T TRY IT!
Cheers,
PhotoTJ
