Shore Dive - Things to look out for

[colin goh]

I'm a begginer planning to do my first shore dive. Sounds easy but if I run thru the process in my mind, it may not be as simple.

I assume everything are set up on shore & we walk towards the sea with the weight on our shoulders. One should be able to manage with all that weight, walking on soft sand.

Questions
Entry
a. When do we put on the fins?
b. Do we start swimming out immediately or do we walk some more with fins on?
c. At what depth do we put on the mask & reg & start swimming out, assuming there are waves coming in?

Exit
d. What depth do we surface, remove the fins & walk?

Any other tips will be helpful. Thanks all!

 

[princessaprilia]

It all depends on your site. Here's what I did today.

Nice calm water, and a stairway down to the rocky entry. I took my gear down to the water edge to gear up because I'm wearing 14 mm of neoprene, so not the most flexible at this time, and it's too easy to overheat with the long walk & all the weight. I put my inflated bc into the water, walk in, put on my mask. I drag the bc & my fins to about chest deep, put on the fins, then roll into my bc. Buddy check, and we're off.

On the way back, swim to waist high again, take off fins, walk in, climb the stairs and walk to the car with all my gear still on.

If it was really windy/wavy, I usually put my bc on before going in the water, just so I can have the air in my mouth incase I get thrown around.

I find that the sooner you can get swimming in rougher conditions, the better.

Have fun & be safe.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

1. Pick a site with no or minimal waves.
2. Go with a buddy who has experience diving at that site.

Your questions about when to put on fins, when to start swimming, when to put on mask & reg, and how to exit all depend entirely on conditions at the dive site.

In some instances, you can wade casually in holding your fins, put them on in chest deep water, and swim out on the surface from there.

Other times (with a shore break), you may need to be fully geared-up, including mask, fins and regulator in mouth, and walk in backwards/sideways, timing your entry with the waves and be prepared to swim out quickly through (and under) breaking waves. In rough conditions the exit can consist of a "controlled crash" up onto the beach, crawling on all fours until out of the surf

I do not recommend diving in surf until you've had experience in mild conditions, and have had some instruction (either in class or with an experienced buddy).

Good luck and best wishes.

 

[Doc]

Good advice above- it's all variable and dependent upon local conditions- which can change from minute to minute!

On Bonaire, where there's a lot of broken coral rip-rap or "iron shre' to negotiate, I walk out in "wet shoes" (rafting shoes) or Crocs, Teva Sandals, whatever. After I am thru the surf zone, I un-clip my fins and change over to them.

You can clip the Crocs to your rig, or secure them as your navigational aid: read on...

When you shore dive, if there is current, you should well begin your dive into the current.

But the question always is... remember where we parked!

To find that point upon your return, where you should make the 90 degree turn to go back in-shore and get shallow to exit... where is that spot?

We take a small lead weight, tied to 10' of light cord. We float our Crocs (or a 1 liter plastic bottle) off of that line... in let's say... 30 feet bottom depth.

As we come back along the wall or reef, we know that if we stay in the zone of 30', we'll soon encounter our temporary road sign. The exit is just in-shore from there.

This is an excellent tip for Bonaire or any unfamiliar shore dive site.

Many people make a huge mistake and think that once they have done "a" shore dive, they have it pretty well figured out.

This:

is not this-> YouTube - Stupid exit after a dive on Gozo/Malta

 

[elan]

I cannot tell for all conditions but this is what I do. We do not get big waves in the lakes so:

I put my fins when I in the water approx chest or waist level. I have spring straps and can do it easy. Working with buckles on my Mares fins can be very tricky and I then put them on the shore and just walk backwards. I put mask on the shore and walk with mask. I put the reg before submerging but with bigger waves and surf I would put it before stepping into the water. I submerge when the depth becomes approx 6-10 ft. And surface at the same depth.

 

[ligersandtions]

I don't know what kind of conditions you have, but here in socal, we have to deal with surf on our entries and exits. There are multiple methods of entering and exiting, but this is what works for me:

I have all my gear on, except my fins which are in my hand, and watch the surf come in....time it between breakers or wait for a lull if possible. Walk in when the moment is right, fins still in hand, reg not in mouth, but ready to be put there if needed. Once I'm out of the surf zone, I don my fins (it's preferable to do this when the weight of my gear is reduced because it's mostly in the water - generally chest high water is when I put fins on).

If needed, I will toss a reg in my mouth and duck under waves....generally, if conditions are bad enough to warrant that, I'm not going out.

On the exit, swim in until you are in roughly chest high water, but still outside of the surf zone....take your fins off, time the sets, walk out of the water quickly.

 

[Teamcasa]

Each shore dive location comes with a different set of do's and dont's.
Ask a local shore diver about the conditions and recommendations for the site you plan to dive.

Basics:
First, plan your dive carefully. Go over bail-out scenarios and exit routines.
Gear up on shore, mask on (under hood in surf), regulator in mouth, fins in hand or clipped off.
Walk out to chest high water, put on fins and spot buddy. Communicate direction and descend.
Upon exiting, as you and your buddy start back to shore, remove fins in mid chest high water. Leave regulator in your mouth.
Time the waves and quickly exit.
Should you fall down, (standing back up in the surf can be very difficult in full gear) turn and swim back to deeper water and try again. Your buddy may be doing the same thing so be watchful of this.
Once on shore, if your buddy is still trying to exit, drop all your gear and go back out and help them in.

 

[colin goh]

Thank you all for the useful tips.

I'll be off to Tulamben, Bali for my dive next wk.

watch this:
YouTube - Hilarious SCUBA accident

cheers

 

[guamguy]

For my shore dives, I fully gear up on shore, walk out untill the water's about chest deep, put my fins on. Then I'll surface swim untill I get to where I want to go down. Don mask and reg and dive! We'll usually stay on scuba untill it's too shallow to swim any more, so then we'll remove our fins and walk to the beach.