Quarry fatality - Tavernier Florida

[TSandM]

We had a death here a few years back, where a husband and wife team had surfaced away from the only exit point, and were WADING back to it in their gear -- the wife somehow lost her balance and fell and ended up underwater, and drowned. I don't remember the details, except that they weren't even diving at the time.

I have had a couple of occasions where we went out as a team of three, and one person had a problem before descending and decided to return to the shore, and the others have proceeded with the dive. I don't condone it, but having been the diver who swam back to shore, I know I felt that what I was doing was safe. On the other hand, the only injury I have ever had diving was a fall getting OUT of the water, and one which resulted in a fractured eye socket. It would have been very difficult to have coped with that alone.

 

[deeper thoughts]

walter there are 2 quarrys in tavernier, the 1st between the wild bird center and hammer point visible from the overseas highway(oceanside with rock boulders on the entrance, mm93). the 2nd off burton drive on the way to HH park. check the google sattelite map and you'll see they are close by each other. unverified, however, i heard the incident was the quarry off OH, mm93,,,


reefman
key largo

Thnx.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

One of the incidents I looked at while developing my "Failure of the Buddy System" presentation was a newly certed husband wife team on the surface in Florida swimming to shore after a dive. He got a littel bit ahead, turned around and she was gone. Found on the bottom two hours later by another buddy pair not diving with them. It was one thing that really reinforced my policy of not allowing students to separate during swim tests. It is not a race. Unless I'm solo, if my buddy gets out I'm not going down to wait. If I have to get out I want them on the surface, preferably on something solid so that there is no chance of them slipping under for any reason. Not always possible on boat dives but for shore diving, yeah they can do that.

 

[KeysCuda]

walter there are 2 quarrys in tavernier, the 1st between the wild bird center and hammer point visible from the overseas highway(oceanside with rock boulders on the entrance, mm93). the 2nd off burton drive on the way to HH park. check the google sattelite map and you'll see they are close by each other. unverified, however, i heard the incident was the quarry off OH, mm93,,,


reefman
key largo

I live within walking distance (if I wasn't lazy) of that mm 93.4 quarry, and I have no desire to get wet there at all.
Drove by there Sunday around 2 p.m. and saw a car parked at the entrance. Says I to my sweetie, "What do people do back there?"
Four hours later, the car was still there. "Huh," says I.
Then word of this came out...
I'm pretty sure that's state-owned land but the only road into it is blocked by a gate. So people park just off U.S. 1 and hoof it down a gouged dirt road. Not that far, though. Surprised to hear its 40 feet deep. Can't imagine there's anything to see, or much viz, but since I've never been in there, I could be wrong.
My only guess was that they came down from Tennessee and either were doing a gear check before a boat dive next day, or got blown out. Which doesn't make sense because Sunday was nice, except for a full-moon low tide.



l

 

[deeper thoughts]

I live within walking distance (if I wasn't lazy) of that mm 93.4 quarry, and I have no desire to get wet there at all.
Drove by there Sunday around 2 p.m. and saw a car parked at the entrance. Says I to my sweetie, "What do people do back there?"
Four hours later, the car was still there. "Huh," says I.
Then word of this came out...
I'm pretty sure that's state-owned land but the only road into it is blocked by a gate. So people park just off U.S. 1 and hoof it down a gouged dirt road. Not that far, though. Surprised to hear its 40 feet deep. Can't imagine there's anything to see, or much viz, but since I've never been in there, I could be wrong.
My only guess was that they came down from Tennessee and either were doing a gear check before a boat dive next day, or got blown out. Which doesn't make sense because Sunday was nice, except for a full-moon low tide.



l

Now that i know where it is, we have been there on a garden tour. One of the houses backs up right to the lake(quarry).
Never thought about diving it

 

[KeysCuda]

Now that i know where it is, we have been there on a garden tour. One of the houses backs up right to the lake(quarry).
Never thought about diving it

If it's the quarry that I assume it is (not the Burton Drive one), it's 3 tenths of a mile south of the Bird Center, but on the oceanside, amidst a stretch of green. Pretty close to Dove Creek and Dove Sound (but apparently no channel linking them).

 

[reefman]

If it's the quarry that I assume it is (not the Burton Drive one), it's 3 tenths of a mile south of the Bird Center, but on the oceanside, amidst a stretch of green. Pretty close to Dove Creek and Dove Sound (but apparently no channel linking them).

thats the one(not off burton dr). resided here over 20 yrs and iv'e never heard of anyone diving that quarry until this incident. iv'e never even observed anyone in that blocked off area,,,,


reefman
key largo

 

[KeysCuda]

thats the one(not off burton dr). resided here over 20 yrs and iv'e never heard of anyone diving that quarry until this incident. iv'e never even observed anyone in that blocked off area,,,,


reefman
key largo

Agreed.
When there are so many cool places to dive in the Keys...
But the initial reports make it sound like these folks had some previous knowledge of the quarry. Heck, how else would they know it's there?
I know people come down hankering to jump in for a shore dive, and there just isn't much.

I have seen people back there. Dog walkers and gosh knows what else. For a time a couple months ago, there was a car parked there every day (not continuously).
But divers, no.