Shore diving advice

[SteveTW]

Good morning to all.
I'm down here in Chincoteague, Va. and would like to get some time in doing a shore dive solo. I'm only planning to go out maybe 1000' and no more than 25' deep. Never did a shore dive or solo but I'd like to give it a try.

Could you give me some advice on the best entry with slight wave action? Thanks for any help.
Steve

 

[Doc]

Depends upon the structure of the bottom. What are you stepping upon?

A lot depends upon the size and weight of the diver and the "face" that he presents to the incoming waves. Many people just walk in backwards with fins on and ready to go.

BTW- a 1000 foot swim adds up to 2000' round trip. That's quite a walk in the woods.

 

[Mr Carcharodon]

Consider the waves, the bottom composition, and slope. If you can just walk out into the water and put your fins on that is often the easiest way to go. If there is potential of getting knocked over in the surf zone and you are confident you will have more than a couple feet of water then fins on may be a better option. Sometimes one fin on, and one off is a way to give you options to walk or swim over the bottom. Generally getting through the surf zone as quickly as possible is a good idea since entries and exits are one of the more likely place to have an accident.

If there are waves present as little cross section to them as possible. If you are staring at the face of a wave that is anywhere near your height, or higher dive into it head first or you will get tumbled.

Finally there is the issue of having your regulator in or out. Some have argued that there is risk of embolizing with breathing off the regulator in the surf zone. I think that can be dealt with by being aware of the waves and not taking a big breath in a wave. Breath hold may be safer if the wave frequency is low enough. There was tragically a case of a diver drowning on entry in this area. If you have your regulator in your mouth and have a problem in the surf zone you can sink to the bottom and have an hour to sort things out. At a worst case you could crawl back to the beach.

 

[Alex777]

Please don't take this the wrong way - I am trying to be helpful.

I think the very fact that you have felt the need to ask this question in an internet forum means you should get more experience before trying a solo dive.

 

[SteveTW]

Thanks to all. The bottom is all sand and pretty smooth with nothing in the way. Only 2' waves so getting in is no problem at all. I'm really tempted to give it a try but might not do it. I'm confident it what I do even though I only have 21 dives to my name.

Thanks, Steve

 

[Inalara]

As Alex777 put it, this is meant to be in the nicest way helpful advice, because when it comes down to it, you will have the ultimate decision on what you do and each of us accept different levels of risk.

Part of diving (to me) is learned behaviour and repetition of muscle memory, teaching yourself what you hope will become "instinctive learned responses", that way when something goes wrong, you have a better chance of survival.

What I mean by this (for example) is that I may practise flooding/removing mask each dive, swopping regs to back up and then back again each dive etc, so that if something happens, you have that mental and muscle memory to fall back on.

Because until something goes wrong, and we all hope it never will, you never know how you will react; but being able to partially rely on the muscle memory of practised skills (I call it creating the diving instinct) can make the difference when things go wrong.

So the question I would ask myself in that situation, is after 21 dives, do you have that automatic muscle memory and experience of things going wrong?

Have you had the time to practise a skill as you swam along on each dive until it was boring and routine or have you not really done any since the course?

Diving in new and untried situations increases mental stress, even if you don't realise it at the time. which increases the chance of mistakes/risks happening.

And it sounds from the post (and apologies if I am wrong) that its a potenitally a new dive site, new area, first shore dive, first solo dive and then if the answer to the question above is not really, that's the 5th item that could add to increased stress for the dive.

I know, for me, that would equate to a big red flag and I'd look to see if I could reduce those "stress factors" down, but as I said to start, we all have our own level of acceptable risk, and I accept I am a different diver to you, but that's just the thought pattern I'd go through if I was considering the same dive.

What ever you choose, may you have many years of safe happy diving

 

[kdsubmerged]

why not try something new like this with a buddy. let someone else have fun too. plus it'll allow you to orientate the dive site. one less thing to think about on a solo

 

[SteveTW]

Thanks to ALL!
I'm back in New Jersey and held off on my first solo & shore dive. You talked me out of it.
I'll get some shore dives in, here in NJ, then maybe give it a try next year.
Again THANKS TO ALL.
Steve

 

[Jaycen2001]

usually, if there are waves bigger then 2 feet, shore dives in VA/NC arnt worth it. its gets too stirred up on he bottom to see anything really. I shore dive about 1 time a week all summer. rarely have a problem, just watch out for currents. on the OBX they can get bad, quick. I go in with no fins. reg in a position where i can get it quickly if i need it. put fins on past breakers. and start swimming =) Buddy very nice, because if there is ever a problem, they can drag your butt back to shore.

p.s. any light east winds is the best time for a shore dive. pushes that nice clear warm ocean water up on the beach. and brings the ocean fishes in. its pretty easy but like everyone says, buddy and caution is crucial.