Rip current on beach dive

[TheVinstigator]

I wasn`t so sure I wanted to post this but I learned from it and figured someone else could too. My "buddy" and I got geared up at our cars and walked to the beach about 150 yards away, we were going to dive an Inlet Jetty on the ocean side at low tide. When we got to the waters edge I stopped to go over my gear and check things out, I took off my BC because I forgot to turn on my air. When I looked up my buddy was about 50 yards out and looking back. I donned my BC and proceded to enter the water.
At about sternum deep water I was attempting to put on my fins and was knocked over by a large wave, I did not have my reg in yet so I got a mouthfull of water. Trying to swim with all my gear, against the rip, and with no fins was very exhausting. I was finally washed to the jetty rocks and was attempting to don my fins when another large wave knocked me over, this time I had my reg in place but still no fins. Finally got my fins on and turned to see my buddy out at the end of the jetty (150 yards out) the rip was very strong here so I tried swimming under the surface. It seemed like for every kick cycle, I was moving backwards so I got to the jetty rocks and I signaled to my buddy I was heading back. Trying to swim against the rip was exhausting, when I finally got to the beach I was wiped out. I turned to look for my buddy and didn`t see him. Finally he surfaced out about 100 yards and returned to the beach. The rip had caught him at 100 yards out and he burned through 1400 psi of air trying to return to the beach.
I appreciate all comments and feedback. Is this a common tide (low) for rip currents?

 

[Walter]

Don't swim against a rip current. Swim across it, you'll soon be out of its grip and you'll be able to swim back much more easily.

 

[dsteding]

Jetties at low tide with surf will have offshore rips against them fairly regularly. Reasons are two-fold: (1) the surf zone is draining with the lowering tide, and (2) surf brings water into the surf zone and has to go somewhere. Ususally, that water would move laterally (parallel to the beach) and then turn out in a rip current, jetties will disrupt the lateral movement and set up a concentrated rip.

Before getting in the water, assess the currents. Rips will have a boiling surface to them and often times will be brown with fine sand. For us surfers, we'll actually use them to get out beyond the surf quickly-they can be like moving sidewalks. Jump in it, paddle straight out with the rip, and you are beyond the surf line very quickly.

For a scuba diver you should think of two things. One, if you've looked at the currents, anticipate that rip before you get in the water, so that if you do get in it, your gear is in place and you are ready to deal with it (as you learned). Second, as the previous poster indicated, either swim across, not against the rip, or, if your goal was to get out beyond the jetty to do your dive, relax and enjoy the ride. Depending on the site, and where you intend to dive, it will likely spit you out a bit beyond the jetty. I grew up surfing jetties fairly regularly and have never seen a rip that continued for much longer than say 50 feet past the end of a jetty.

Now, take this advice with a grain of salt. Your goal may have been to dive the jetty itself. If so, these conditions make that dive a no-go. Write the tide and surf data in your log book, so you don't try the dive under similar conditions.

As an example, there is a dive site up here where the current runs into a jetty at depth and splits, half going out to along the jetty. What drives this current is large tidal swings in Puget Sound, and to a lesser extent windswell, but the principles are the same. If you get stuck in that current, you actually get swept around the jetty and into a zone where a big ole' ferry docks. Bad juju. But, the general plan there is to stay submerged and go through the zone at depth. So, know your sites and the consequence of being moved quickly offshore.

This also means it would be a good idea to carry your basic rescue equipment like a SMB and other appropriate gear, and work into your pre-dive planning options for if things hit the fan.

 

[Charlie99]

A typical longshore current running parallel to the beach can generate a strong offshore-going current on the upcurrent side of the jetty, independent of tide levels.

You typically have a longshore current when the swells are coming into the beach at an angle rather than straight in.

Particularly around jetties and bridges, other local divers can be great sources of info on what to expect.

As you have probably already figured out, it's a good practice to have your reg in your mouth whenever you are in the water. If you don't want to drain your tank while walking around in the water, you can hold it with your teeth and kind of breathe around it, but it will instantly be available as soon as you close your mouth onto the mouthpiece.

 

[Taipeidiver]

Assuming you and your buddy might have been swept out and unable to regain the shore, did you have any procedure in place for alerting the authorities?

When shore diving here we have a land based lookout to keep watch for our return whenever possible (my girlfriend is a non-diver and is normally quite happy to bask on the rocks in return for an hour or two of snorkelling) or, if no lookout is available, make arrangements to call in with a friend once a dive is complete. Basically, you call a friend shortly before entering the water and give outline details of the dive site and plan and then call back again once the dive is complete. If we don't call back within a reasonable time for the dive plan then the friend will call the emergency services to initiate a search.

 

[DanBo]

>> If you don't want to drain your tank while walking around in the water, you can hold it with your teeth and kind of breathe around it, but it will instantly be available as soon as you close your mouth onto the mouthpiece.<<

:lol: Thanks, I like this idea of yours. This one goes in my books...

Dive Safe,

Dan

 

[Hank49]

If you're comfortable with it, just let the rip take you out to the deep water. That's where you want to be diving anyway and the rip will dicipate and lose it's strength. If the surf is large, it's really the best way to get outside. The rip can be your friend. As Walter said though, just don't try to swim against it coming back in.

 

[Charlie99]

If you're comfortable with it, just let the rip take you out to the deep water. That's where you want to be diving anyway and the rip will dicipate and lose it's strength. ...... just don't try to swim against it coming back in.

Good advice, IF IT WERE REALLY A CLASSIC RIP CURRENT that the original poster encountered. My bet is that what he really ran up against was a longshore current that was diverted by the jetty. There's a good chance that the easiest way out of that would be to come back in on the downcurrent side of the jetty. Dive flags and surface marker buoys are important, because that exit strategy might take you across a boat channel.

If when standing on the beach, the surf is coming in from the right rather than straight in, then there will be a general current right to left. If the jetty is on your left, the current will come up against that jetty and turn into an outgoing current.

 

[Hank49]

Good advice, IF IT WERE REALLY A CLASSIC RIP CURRENT that the original poster encountered. My bet is that what he really ran up against was a longshore current that was diverted by the jetty. There's a good chance that the easiest way out of that would be to come back in on the downcurrent side of the jetty. Dive flags and surface marker buoys are important, because that exit strategy might take you across a boat channel.

If when standing on the beach, the surf is coming in from the right rather than straight in, then there will be a general current right to left. If the jetty is on your left, the current will come up against that jetty and turn into an outgoing current.

OK, but in either case, he should have let it take him as he swam across it and he shouldn't have tried to swim against it. I used to surf a place on Kauai just like what you're decribing. The outgoing current was only about 8-10 yards wide on pretty big days....where I wouldn't have been thinking of diving... along a manmade rock jetty. Cross it and the waves are pushing you back to shore. Of course you have to get far enough down the beach to give you time to cross the long shore before it gets you back to the rip.

 

[yak]

You might also want to consider spring straps on your fins if you do a lot of surf entries. They're quick & easy to don/doff.