Shore dive in heavy surf

[Dtaine]

I was at Dania Beach today (technically yesterday) for the first shore dive I've ever done. It also happened to be the first dives beyond OW certification for a few friends of mine. I figured it would be an easy dive with a nice relaxing time at the beach - and I'll tell you I was surprised by how new of an experience it was.

Things started out with a 100 yard walk or so from the parking lot. Lesson learned, next time bring a cart to put gear in and don't put the wetsuit on in the blazing sun before taking that hike.

After that hike did the standard buddy check (got some interesting questions about my bp/w setup) and reviewed the dive plan. Sounded simple, swim out a bit, drop down and do a nice, long, 20 fsw dive parallel to the shore. Well, 5 foot surf will complicate things.

A little ways out from shore (could just hit the bottom between swells, and I'm about 6'2'') my friend's tank falls out of the cambands and is hanging beneath her bc. Myself and another friend got it secure in about 5 minutes, and we both got pummeled by the surf in the process. A little farther out and his tank does the same. Same deal, 5 minutes and mouthfuls of saltwater. It's clear our equipment check could've used some work.

We all get out to a point where it's deep enough to dive and drop down. I was thinking nothing else could possible go wrong. Well, no sooner do I get to 20 feet does my mask fog up completely. So I partially flood it with a bit of water to clear it, which works, but in the 15 to 20 seconds it took me to do that I lost sight of everyone else (~ 5 foot vis, 10 at some parts of the dive). I knew the dive plan so I swam in the direction I knew everyone went, after a minute of not seeing anybody I surfaced. I looked around for the surface marker being pulled by another member of the group, but with the surf I couldn't find it.

So I waited for a few minutes to see if my buddy would surface, as I expected he did, we met up and continued the dive (although neither of us could spot the main group). For the most part it was uneventful, saw a nice puffer, and it lasted about 50 minutes. I actually enjoyed the effect of the surface swells on our dive (at least while we were at 20 feet).

So why do I care to share this experience with all of you? Well, hopefully some newer divers like myself out there will be able to take a few lessons away from the odd chain of events that occurred (having solid equipment checks, and having a plan in case of buddy separation), and some of the experienced divers can get a good laugh at my first attempt at shore diving. I'm definitely sure it was hilarious for anyone on the beach watching my exit.:eyes:

 

[catra8104]

Sounds like you already figured out how important a good equipment/buddy check is... I had my first rough surf this weekend too.. Thankfully no mishaps especially since we were diving from a boat (hate to think about a tank slipping out would do there)...

From the DVD & class I remember info about coming in as close to shore as possible before standing in rough surf..

Glad you had fun, I know I had a blast... I'm sure others will chime in here as well...

 

[TCMav]

I started 'beach' diving in Okinawa.. For five years I saw all types of surf and used various entries at different dive sites. One place called the toilet bowl was a giant bowl of coral with an opening about 10 feet wide at one side of the bowl. At low tide you walked right up to the opening and waited for a wave and giant strided right into the water. It was getting out and climbing up that was the trick..At high tide, you had to time it just right so that when the bowl was flushing, you flushed with it and kicked like hell before you were sucked back in. After all that... I am sure happy to boat dive now!!!!!

 

[rstofer]

I hate beach dives. Even simple entry/exit beach dives. It is my plan to get a boat in the very near future suitable for 4 divers, 8 tanks and a passenger.

Richard

 

[don Francisco]

I'm glad you had a decent dive. If you managed your exit without crawling on your hands and knees for the last few yards you did better than I did on some of my first encounters with surf.
I guess thats why wetsuits have reinforced kneepads.

About the cambands slipping. I don't know if you did this or not, but it helps to wet the band first. The bands stretch a bit when they get wet, so a band that was tight while dry might be slack when it's wet.

Also when you suit up, look at the angle of the band across the tank. If not truly tight a tank will slip down slightly when you stand causing the band to cross the tank at a slight angle. Repeated back and forth forces in the surf eventually cause it to work itself out of the strap. A tight tank strap will go straight across the tank (the shortest distance) even whan you're standing, telling you at a glance that it's OK.

 

[ligersandtions]

Most of my dives are shore dives (I'm cheap!). My best suggestion to you is to check out the conditions before you even think about getting your gear out of your car. If you look at the surf and think something along the lines of, "whoa! That looks a little scary!" then maybe you should call the dive before you go any further....especially if this is one of the first post-cert dives for some of your buddies.

If the surf looks fine, and the entry/exit looks manageable, THEN get your gear and get ready to go. As you mentioned, carting it to the entry may be a good idea, although being efficient about getting geared up and ready to go in a minimum amount of time also works well. And of course the buddy checks....

But the big point here is to check out the conditions BEFORE you gear up. Getting your butt kicked in the surf is not fun, so if you can avoid it, do!

 

[Teamcasa]

If you do any amount of beach diving (different than *shore entry), you are going to spend your share of time in the Kenmore. In order to minimize problems, gear checks need to be more rigorous, and skills need constant maintenance. Youth and fitness are a big plus!

I used to not care how high the surf was when I was a young knucklehead. Now the muscles ache longer, joints are twisted easier and for some reason, my gear weighs a whole lot more.

For me, surf crashing any higher than 2' makes the dive day done. Chances are with higher surf, the vis won’t be worth the effort getting in and more importantly, out.

*shore entry is generally in a protected area, no surf.

 

[soamelt]

My first beach dive was at Dania Beach also about two months ago. 10' foot vis and 3-5' seas by the time we were ready to leave. Newbie mistake was coming up with 500 PSI at the second reef about 300 yards out. I've learned to try to avoid the long surface swim after that. I ended up having to tow my buddy about 200 yards back in. She wanted me to leave her out there.

It must have been rough for you on Sunday, I went out on at LBTS on Friday (first night dive, also a shore dive) night which was rough and the seas were supposed to be building all weekend. 2-3' seas to start, but couldn't see the buoys by the end of the dive when we surfaced, easy 3-5'. That time we ended swimming back on the surface since the surface current was taking us in. It was the first time I've for me that it was easier on top then the bottom (don't know why that sounds dirtier than it is). It was also not too long after low tide and the surge was killing us. We were only 9' on top of the reef, not much room for error with such a strong surge. I did have to crawl on my hands and knees in knee deep water since the waves were coming up to my chest and knocking me over.

To add to your lessons for the shore dives -

- Have enough air to swim back to shore under water, although the surface could be easier.
- Don't go in rough seas (you would think that would be an obvious one)
- Try to plan around the tides; high tide is probably going to be better for vis and depth on those shallow dives.

 

[djtimmy77]

My plan is only to shore dive in South Florida in the summer. No waves and good visibility.

 

[OBXDIVEGUY]

Ugghh.. Sorry you had such a crappy experience, but at least you learned a bunch from it. The last couple days out there would not have been the best time for ya'll to try a beach dive.

FYI, there's a big group of avid beach divers here and we head to Dania a bunch. Tag along with us anytime you'd like, and we'd be happy to help you out. We enjoy taking new folks out and helping 'em.