Shore entry/exit can be really challenging and dangerous!

[Z Gear]

I usually like to dive the La Jolla Cove or the marine room and La jolla canyon spot. The entry there is pretty easy usually small and calm. It is primarily sheltered from the southern summer swells. Mostly everyone who goes in walks in chest deep,with BC inflated, puts their fins on and proceeds to kick out past the surf line. Their are a lot of divers who frequent this spot. A few weeks ago, the swell changed direction and hit the La Jolla shores area. Most of the divers I saw didn't have a clue as to how to get out. They were all getting pushed around by the surf trying to get their fins on. Eventually they got pushed all the way to the sand where they tried to stand up and make their way back to their cars. I spoke to one and he said that their was no break in the sets and it was to hard to make it out, for him and his group. They had a lot of big camera gear on them which probably did not help.

I proceeded to to take a look and see if I could approach this differently than what was taught to me at my OW training. I noticed that the tide was getting higher. I told my dive buddy that we should go in with BC deflated, mask on, regulator in mouth, and walk in backwards with the fins on. I told him that I was going to check for obstructions or dips on the sandy bottom first before walking out. After we timed the surf and waited for a tiny break in the surf, we walked out backwards, we got about waist deep when the surf started picking up. We dropped down grabbed on to the sandy bottom and crawled using our hands and kicked out.I was also trying to time the surge, to use as momentum to help get me out past the surf quicker.

The surf was 4 to 5 feet with an occasional large breaker, but the only reason that I even attempted it was because they were not pounding the sand. The higher tide made the condition possible for us to safely get out. Although we had to drop down quickly and make our way towards deeper water using this method. We had also agreed prior, to surface at 12 feet were we could meet up and kick out the rest of the way on the surface.

I am pretty sure that this was a good method of getting out during rough conditions, but I would like those experienced in shore entry and exits to tell me how they prefer to perform this type of dive.

 

[diversteve]

I actually was trained decades ago at La Jolla Shores to walk out backward similarly to what you describe. I believe the only difference was we had some air in our BC's and once we were floating we laid on our backs and kicked out slowly. The only problem is that a rogue wave may take your mask off without you seeing it.

I don't remember any more details as that's probably the first and only time I did that. Maybe once in Maui a few years later - certain times of the year it gets pretty choppy.

 

[victor]

Congratulations on working out how to do the entry.
I sugest that next time you also think about the exit before entering the water.
I speak from experience. Lack of local knowledge off the coast of Durban I made it out for an early morning swim, conditions were rough but ok. 20 minutes later the surf was up and dumping straignt on to the sand. I hung out for about 10 minutes waiting for a break in the sets. The lifeguards had arrived by then and being a macho I did not want to be rescued so I made a break for the beach. Rolled about a few times and sand in most orrifices I made it out. Not pleasent.

So remember, it's not only the entry but the exit thats important. Get local knowledge, if they don't want to go in thumb the dive.

 

[Z Gear]

Congratulations on working out how to do the entry.
I sugest that next time you also think about the exit before entering the water.
I speak from experience. Lack of local knowledge off the coast of Durban I made it out for an early morning swim, conditions were rough but ok. 20 minutes later the surf was up and dumping straight on to the sand. I hung out for about 10 minutes waiting for a break in the sets. The lifeguards had arrived by then and being a macho I did not want to be rescued so I made a break for the beach. Rolled about a few times and sand in most orrifices I made it out. Not pleasent.

So remember, it's not only the entry but the exit thats important. Get local knowledge, if they don't want to go in thumb the dive.

I admit that we did not discuss the exit when we were planing out how to perform our entry. But we did go over it once we surfaced at 15 feet. We marked our heading as to exactly were we wanted to exit and we dropped back down. As we got closer to shore we began to again use the surge momentum while using our hands to pull ourselves closer to the beach. When we got to about 4 feet we stood up and then took off our fins. I forgot to ask if this was a good method or is it wiser to inflate the bc then take the fins off. Another thought of mine was perhaps I could have inflated the BC, then taken my fins off under water and then stood up. Which if any of these would you have done or if you have a better method can you advise?

 

[g1138]

If you fall in a surf zone, make like you meant to do it. Take some air out of your BC and lay flat on the sand, head pointed out to sea, knees and fins dug in, and butt up a little.
Keep hold of your mask every time the wave comes to hit. And look down into the sand, so you have less of a chance to lose your mask.
Very similar to how the Troubleshooters do on Carrier launches, in order to avoid being blown down the deck:
View at 20seconds
[video=youtube_share;-B_U_dQWkMo]http://youtu.be/-B_U_dQWkMo[/video]

When the wave crashes over you, it will try to pick you off the sand and tumble you. This is why you deflate your BC and keep your head down/butt up. Once the initial crash subsides, you crawl/kick out. If the water line begins to leave you high & dry, make sure you get your hands and knees under you so you can immediately start crawling. Put yourself in another good position for another wave break, hopefully one that won't leave you high and dry, and repeat.

The idea is to keep your front side low, so water doesn't enter and push you up.

Alternatively you can go the opposite direction back to shore to reset. For that I would recommend laying mostly prone for the wave break, but one knee propped up slightly to keep your regs out of the sand.
Snorkel or reg could be used, it depends on your skill set. With a reg in, you do want to exhale slightly on wave breaks because of the sudden increase in pressure with each break. It will minimize an over expansion injury.


When I was being trained and later helping to train divers at our field research station in Big Sur, this is how some of us entered in 4-8ft waves on the rocky beach. You either got hammered on the slippery rocks walking out with fins on, or you did a San Diego Scientific Dive Entry.
Laying on the rocks letting the wave crash over you, you then duck dived under each wave for 50ft until you got past shorebreak. BC's were usually fully deflated for this. Weighting was important too. You wanted to be properly weighted.
Being overweighted would be dangerous in this case.

Back in the day, I was told, this was the wave entry of choice in California if you didn't own a Surf Mat. Back when they were using backpacks or just web strappings on a tank; no BC.

Plenty of risks involved with this sort of advanced entry. I wouldn't recommend it unless you're calm swimming without a mask, finding your inflator blind, and staying calm in a churning laundry machine. Because worst case scenario, that's what could happen. If the waves are big enough to dictate this entry as a way to make entries easier, I would usually call the dive.

---------- Post added October 17th, 2014 at 11:53 AM ----------

I admit that we did not discuss the exit when we were planing out how to perform our entry. But we did go over it once we surfaced at 15 feet. We marked our heading as to exactly were we wanted to exit and we dropped back down. As we got closer to shore we began to again use the surge momentum while using our hands to pull ourselves closer to the beach. When we got to about 4 feet we stood up and then took off our fins. I forgot to ask if this was a good method or is it wiser to inflate the bc then take the fins off. Another thought of mine was perhaps I could have inflated the BC, then taken my fins off under water and then stood up. Which if any of these would you have done or if you have a better method can you advise?

It honestly comes down to intuition. Inflating your BC makes you a styrofoam cup. Toss a rock into the break and it stays put mostly. Toss a floaty cup and it gets tumbled and smashed.

I'll choose to start taking my fins off when I can touch the bottom with flat feet and bend slightly at the knees. From there when the wave comes, the water line will sink for a quick second. If I'm not fully prepped for that I can still recover because at that point the water line usually doesn't get too low from my starting point. If it sinks too low I end up falling because essentially it's like being in a half squat and someone putting 100lbs on your back. So like I said, intuition for the site and your own abilities. Every site can be different too, and the day/ocean conditions can make the same site different. That's why you spend 10mins looking at the ocean before you get geared up or even talk about your dive plan.
Opposite of that, if the water surges higher, I don't want to lose my footing, otherwise I'm a floaty cup.
If it gets higher than chest level, you better have fins on.

For fins off exits, I'll inflate my BC, lay on my back and go Figure 4 to take my fins off. If there are any waves, I have a timelimit of 10seconds to get fins off. Anymore time and you're always taking waves; time between sets generally don't last longer than 10 seconds.
Same with entries, time limit of 10seconds. Anymore and you're going to end up crawling anyways.


Time yourself to go in between sets.
If I have to exit with fins on, I'm crawling out. Because often times you're so slow walking that you're going to end up on your hands and knees after the next set of waves catches up to you.

 

[Z Gear]

If you fall in a surf zone, make like you meant to do it. Take some air out of your BC and lay flat on the sand, head pointed out to sea, knees and fins dug in, and butt up a little.
Keep hold of your mask every time the wave comes to hit. And look down into the sand, so you have less of a chance to lose your mask.
Very similar to how the Troubleshooters do on Carrier launches, in order to avoid being blown down the deck:
[video=youtube_share;-B_U_dQWkMo]http://youtu.be/-B_U_dQWkMo[/video]

When the wave crashes over you, it will try to pick you off the sand and tumble you. This is why you deflate your BC and keep your head down/butt up. Once the initial crash subsides, you crawl/kick out. If the water line begins to leave you high & dry, make sure you get your hands and knees under you so you can immediately start crawling. Put yourself in another good position for another wave break, hopefully one that won't leave you high and dry, and repeat.

The idea is to keep your front side low, so water doesn't enter and push you up.

Alternatively you can go the opposite direction back to shore to reset. For that I would recommend laying mostly prone for the wave break, but one knee propped up slightly to keep your regs out of the sand.
Snorkel or reg could be used, it depends on your skill set. With a reg in, you do want to exhale slightly on wave breaks because of the sudden increase in pressure with each break. It will minimize an over expansion injury.

That is similar to what I was doing,but you pointed out some great details so I could refine my entry. I'm still not sure which approach would be best for the exit in the San Diego sandy beaches. As far as going in along the bottom until I reached 4 feet or so. I would then take my fins off, and proceed to walk out.
Or would you take your fins off under water and then stand up. Also would you inflate your BC as a safety measure at this point?

When I was being trained and later helping to train divers at our field research station in Big Sur, this is how some of us entered in 4-8ft waves on the rocky beach. You either got hammered on the slippery rocks walking out with fins on, or you did a San Diego Scientific Dive Entry.
Laying on the rocks letting the wave crash over you, you then duck dived under each wave for 50ft until you got past shorebreak. BC's were usually fully deflated for this. Weighting was important too. You wanted to be properly weighted.
Being overweighted would be dangerous in this case.

Back in the day, I was told, this was the wave entry of choice in California if you didn't own a Surf Mat. Back when they were using backpacks or just web strappings on a tank; no BC.

Plenty of risks involved with this sort of advanced entry. I wouldn't recommend it unless you're calm swimming without a mask, finding your inflator blind, and staying calm in a churning laundry machine. Because worst case scenario, that's what could happen. If the waves are big enough to dictate this entry as a way to make entries easier, I would usually call the dive.

Thanks for the advise on the entry. I still have some questions regarding exit. Mainly would do the same method as the entry. Except when reaching shallow point say 4 feet I stood up and removed my fins. It was not as easy because of the constant surf was making it difficult to balance. I did manage to get them off without getting pushed over, but it wasn't easy. I think It would have been best to inflate my BC ( as a safety measure) once I reached 4 feet, then removed my fins under water and then stood up. What do you think?

 

[g1138]

I was typing a reply to that while you were typing yours. Look up a bit and you'll see my answer.

 

[Z Gear]

Thanks for answering that for me. I am sure there are some out there who don't even have a clue, when the surf picks up. I have witnessed it first hand.

 

[mrdre]

...Mostly everyone who goes in walks in chest deep,with BC inflated, puts their fins on and proceeds to kick out past the surf line....

Your BCD needs to be DEFLATED (with regulator on, of course). This way you can go under the wave, regardless how big it is. If your BC is inflated you end up on top of the wave and get slammed on the ground.

 

[freewillie]

I was taught to enter the water with a partially inflated BC. Just enough air to float if needed but no so much you couldn't duck under a wave if needed as well. Mask on and regulators in as enter the water. Wade in cautiously and place hand over mask/reg when you encounter a wave and either go over if possible but try and duck under if the wave looks like it will break on top of you. If it's a smaller wave maybe try lean into the wave and stand there as it passes. One trick I learned was to put on one fin when you get to about chest deep then start kicking out with the single fin and use the other fin kinda like a paddle to get out of the surf zone quicker.

And while I thought the cost and expense of spring straps was just a gimmick there is no way I'd shore dive with regular straps now. I even purchased a pair for my nephew who has become my regular dive buddy. He told me I shouldn't have because of the cost, I told him they were as much for my safety as his buddy as his. Before he used to sit there in the surf zone struggling to get his fins on or off. Luckily we never has really big waves but if the surf was up he would get tumbled then I'd have to go out and help. Spring straps really do make a difference in the surf zone.