DivemasterDennis-

So how many of you would rather not use a buoy and dive flag when diving from shore? I see by the show of hands that the nearly all of us would rather not bother with this piece of equipment. I know I feel that way. However, Debbie and I got a lesson in why it is a good thing to use a dive flag this past week while shore diving in Maui. A few days before our arrival, a large catamaran had been blown aground near a favorite Maui shore diving site, Black Rock.
We planned to dive the site on Friday, and did. Hawaii is pretty strict about dive flag use , but Black Rock has always been an exception. However, on advice of a local dive shop we took the buoy and flag. As we approached the site from the south, about 25 feet down, I felt a tug on the line up to the flag. I looked up and saw a paddle boarder apparently snagged on our line. I un-snagged it and proceeded on my way, only to feel a tug a moment later. I looked up again, and it was clear the person on the board was holding and tugging on the line. We surfaced and the person on the board, who was very nice, informed us that there would be a salvage operation starting, and that cables would be running from the salvage boat to the shore "wreck", towing large pieces of it where were diving. The plan was to cut the boat up. (Ouch- it was a very nice and very big catamaran- close to fifty feet in length) He explained the "unsafe zone", and so we proceeded on our way, enjoyed the dive site, and exited from a different place, avoiding the hazard of the salvage boat and cables and debris from the operation. If we had no flag we would not have learned of the hazard, and could have faced some real problems that would not have been observable until they presented a real danger.
We used the dive flag for all our shore dives the rest of the week, and though we did not get any further "calls" from the surface, we also did not have any close encounters with passing boats. People on shore knew we were in the water, and when we got out. As we did not have our own "shore guy," it was important that someone notice if we entered the ocean but never returned. AN added bonus was that we did not receive any tickets or fines for violating the dive flag laws of the state.
Dive flags can be a pain, especially on windy days when the waves tug on the line, and can tip over an under weighted buoy. They can be a distraction, even if tied off to a rock or dead coral head. However, Debbie and I were glad we had one and used it on that February morning. We intend to keep using one whenever we dive from shore. I hope all of you will too.
DivemasterDennis