freewillie
Contributor
What are the worst conditions you have dived in, and what did you learn?
A little while ago I tagged along for my friend and his son's second OW certification dives. In retrospect we should have cancelled the dive, but he was eager to complete his certification before his upcoming trip to Hawaii. Conditions were suspect before we got in the water. During predive briefing the waves were already at 2-3 feet. Having dived in moderate surf before I wasn't too concerned with the waves. My dive instructor was actually glad to have me along since that made 4 divers, each with a buddy. That also meant my instructor had a certified diver with one of his students while he worked on skills with other student.
Getting out was pretty uneventful. We timed the sets, and everyone got past the surf zone without getting tumbled and without incident. As we got out to the drop down point there was quite a bit of swells even at the surface. My friend actually got a little sea sick at the surface bobbing up and down. Mike, the instructor dropped down first and set the dive float. We then dropped down as a group. I stayed with my friend and Mike took his son to work on skills. Visibility at best was under 10 feet. We then started to experience quite a bit of surge. It became difficult to stay in one place on the sandy bottom. Just kneeling there was becoming difficult and the surge was really pushing us back and forth. At one point the rope to the dive float actually was pulled up out of the sand.
At some point we started swimming along trying to get in a short dive. Visibility by this point was getting worse. I could barely make out Mike's fins even at about an arm's length ahead of me. At this point Mike turns around and looks at us, then give us the thumbs down sign to call the dive. As we head in we find that the waves have now really picked up. As we get closer to shore the waves are now about 4-6 feet. I wait with my buddy's son while Mike takes my friend in first. Mike then comes back, buddies up with the son, and I head in next to them. I make it to shore okay, didn't get tumbled but came close when large wave breaks on me. I was lucky to have good grip on my fin because the wave almost took them out of my hands. The son gets hit with the same wave, gets tumbled, and loses his brand new prescription mask and a fin the process. Mike our instructor is right there to pick him up and we get out on the beach minus some gear.
In retrospect we should have called the dive before we got in the water. Now, having been out in big surf and diving with lots of surge I have a little experience, but that tells me conditions suck anyways and it's better to come back when viz and conditions are better. Sometimes the best decision is before you even get in the water. Also, pressure from an artificial time frame can make you attempt something you would not have done otherwise. Wanting to complete the dives before going to Hawaii prompted us to try.
In our defense, the waves were manageable when we started the dive. I've been in those size waves before and have handled them no problems. We just didnt' expect them to get bigger during the dive. The tides weren't moving very much and we weren't in long enough for the tidal surge to contribute. Leads to point number two, conditions can change and you have to be aware of them and adjust. We called our dive immediately when surge and viz dropped.
The good new is we eventually got the fin back when it floated back to shore in the surf. Someone actually found the mask the next day and returned it to the dive shop so King Neptune was kind enough to return the gear.
In the future I'll be sure to wait for better conditions. At least I know what it's like and have the experience of large surf.
Fun and safe diving.
A little while ago I tagged along for my friend and his son's second OW certification dives. In retrospect we should have cancelled the dive, but he was eager to complete his certification before his upcoming trip to Hawaii. Conditions were suspect before we got in the water. During predive briefing the waves were already at 2-3 feet. Having dived in moderate surf before I wasn't too concerned with the waves. My dive instructor was actually glad to have me along since that made 4 divers, each with a buddy. That also meant my instructor had a certified diver with one of his students while he worked on skills with other student.
Getting out was pretty uneventful. We timed the sets, and everyone got past the surf zone without getting tumbled and without incident. As we got out to the drop down point there was quite a bit of swells even at the surface. My friend actually got a little sea sick at the surface bobbing up and down. Mike, the instructor dropped down first and set the dive float. We then dropped down as a group. I stayed with my friend and Mike took his son to work on skills. Visibility at best was under 10 feet. We then started to experience quite a bit of surge. It became difficult to stay in one place on the sandy bottom. Just kneeling there was becoming difficult and the surge was really pushing us back and forth. At one point the rope to the dive float actually was pulled up out of the sand.
At some point we started swimming along trying to get in a short dive. Visibility by this point was getting worse. I could barely make out Mike's fins even at about an arm's length ahead of me. At this point Mike turns around and looks at us, then give us the thumbs down sign to call the dive. As we head in we find that the waves have now really picked up. As we get closer to shore the waves are now about 4-6 feet. I wait with my buddy's son while Mike takes my friend in first. Mike then comes back, buddies up with the son, and I head in next to them. I make it to shore okay, didn't get tumbled but came close when large wave breaks on me. I was lucky to have good grip on my fin because the wave almost took them out of my hands. The son gets hit with the same wave, gets tumbled, and loses his brand new prescription mask and a fin the process. Mike our instructor is right there to pick him up and we get out on the beach minus some gear.
In retrospect we should have called the dive before we got in the water. Now, having been out in big surf and diving with lots of surge I have a little experience, but that tells me conditions suck anyways and it's better to come back when viz and conditions are better. Sometimes the best decision is before you even get in the water. Also, pressure from an artificial time frame can make you attempt something you would not have done otherwise. Wanting to complete the dives before going to Hawaii prompted us to try.
In our defense, the waves were manageable when we started the dive. I've been in those size waves before and have handled them no problems. We just didnt' expect them to get bigger during the dive. The tides weren't moving very much and we weren't in long enough for the tidal surge to contribute. Leads to point number two, conditions can change and you have to be aware of them and adjust. We called our dive immediately when surge and viz dropped.
The good new is we eventually got the fin back when it floated back to shore in the surf. Someone actually found the mask the next day and returned it to the dive shop so King Neptune was kind enough to return the gear.
In the future I'll be sure to wait for better conditions. At least I know what it's like and have the experience of large surf.
Fun and safe diving.