One dead, one injured - Oahu, Hawaii

[DandyDon]

Diver dies after being pulled from West Oahu waters

HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - Ocean Safety crews alongside EMS personnel worked to save the life of a man in his 40s Saturday.

Unfortunately, the Office of the Medical Examiner confirmed the diver died Saturday afternoon.

First responders rushed to Tracks Beach near the Kahe Power Plant. There, they found an unresponsive man who was brought to shore by friends. Bystanders started CPR on the man until emergency crews arrived.

The man was taken to a hospital in critical condition. A second man in his 30s also required medical attention.

Officials say he was hospitalized in serious condition.

Both men are said to be local residents and were diving at the time. Ocean conditions said waves were reported to be about 4 to 5 feet at the time they became distressed in the water.

The man’s identity has not yet been released.

 

[Ukmc]

This is very sad. So young. It is unlikely this death is from natural causes since whatever the cause was seemed to have effected both divers.

 

[HKGuns]

RIP - Hopefully the seriously injured will fully recover physically.

This might deserve a separate thread, but a statement in the article raised a question in my mind.

I'm sure the answer is "it depends" but what is considered too rough to dive in the Ocean?

1. Boat dive, at what point do you call it?

2. Shore dive, at what point do you call it?

 

[DandyDon]

Still no word online about what caused such a serious incident. The deceased has been identified as Amden Moses of Waianae. No updates on the other, seriously injured diver.

Man who died after being pulled from ocean in Nanakuli identified

 

[Jcp2]

I can only speak from my own experience, but that's a relatively shallow shore dive with an entry and exit that can be a little tricky if they were using the one by the parking lot. Small waves coming in from the northwest can be amplified significantly in the small channel between a concrete wall on the north and rough rocky lava cliffs on the south. There is a power plant water exhaust that has fairly stiff current that can send you way out west if you get caught in the flow. Going north across some featureless bottom can get you to a shallow reef structure with undercut caves that reef sharks hide in. Going quite a bit northwest can get you into spinner dolphin resting territory. The depth is not more than 30-35 feet.

 

[HKGuns]

The depth is not more than 30-35 feet.

While literally anything is possible, that shallow would appear to minimize the chances they got bent. Trying to avoid the natural speculation, but both of them having issues seems strange, especially at those depths. I sure hope the real story comes out, hopefully from the survivor.

 

[sea_ledford]

RIP - Hopefully the seriously injured will fully recover physically.

This might deserve a separate thread, but a statement in the article raised a question in my mind.

I'm sure the answer is "it depends" but what is considered too rough to dive in the Ocean?

1. Boat dive, at what point do you call it?

2. Shore dive, at what point do you call it?

Different areas have dramatically different conditions, even at the same wave height. When I was in Hawaii, on the right day we could dive with 8-10 foot seas and have it be awesome. But the wave period was 20 seconds, so it was like rolling hills, not breaking waves (boat diving not shore diving). In the Gulf of Mexico 4-6 is getting pretty sketchy, even on bigger boats. But the wave period is about 6 seconds, the slamming can be brutal on a boat, and if your ladder is at the back, it starts coming completely out of the water.

The other thing to know with Hawaii wave heights, is they typically measure wave height from the BACK of the wave, not the face like everyone else. If the report is 4-5 foot Hawaiian style from shore, those are some huge waves with 8-10 foot faces.

-Chris

 

[HKGuns]

Different areas have dramatically different conditions, even at the same wave height. When I was in Hawaii, on the right day we could dive with 8-10 foot seas and have it be awesome. But the wave period was 20 seconds, so it was like rolling hills, not breaking waves (boat diving not shore diving). In the Gulf of Mexico 4-6 is getting pretty sketchy, even on bigger boats. But the wave period is about 6 seconds, the slamming can be brutal on a boat, and if your ladder is at the back, it starts coming completely out of the water.

The other thing to know with Hawaii wave heights, is they typically measure wave height from the BACK of the wave, not the face like everyone else. If the report is 4-5 foot Hawaiian style from shore, those are some huge waves with 8-10 foot faces.

-Chris

Thanks for your input as a Captain. I was in India and the Captain and DM called a dive as we were unable to maintain an anchor hold on the dive site. It was a pretty rough ride out to the site, so I think they made the correct, safe call.

I'm not a good wave height estimator but we were bouncing from crest to crest pretty roughly. 10 feet seems a reasonable guess in my situation.