Body recovered - Carmel River State Beach, California

[DandyDon]

At least he did ditch his weights in an attempt to save himself.

Diver death: Man pulled unresponsive from water near Carmel River State Beach

Carmel >> A 61-year-old experienced diver from Sanger was pulled unresponsive from the water near the mouth of the Carmel River on Thursday and later was declared dead.

About 11:20 a.m., personnel from five agencies responded to a call of a diver in distress at Carmel River State Beach, according to a Cal Fire news release.

Three men were underwater in pretty mild conditions with small 15-foot swells and as clear water conditions as the area gets, said John Spooner, Cal Fire spokesman. When they surfaced, the brother of one of the other men could not be found until he was spotted floating face down a short distance from them.





They signaled from offshore and attracted attention from a passerby on Scenic Drive, who called in the emergency.

Upon arrival, two Cal Fire/Cypress FPD rescue swimmers and two California Lifeguards entered the water and made contact with the three divers. An inflatable rescue boat was launched from Whaler’s Cove by Cal Fire/Carmel Highlands FPD, and assisted the rescue in bringing the unresponsive diver to shore, where rescuers performed CPR.

According to Spooner, the unconscious diver had dropped his weight belt, indicating he knew he needed to get to the surface quickly.





The diver did not regain consciousness and was unresponsive before being transported by ambulance to Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, where he was pronounced dead. His identity has not been released.

The Cypress Fire Protection District, Carmel Highlands Fire Protection District and Pebble Beach Community Services District Fire Department assist Cal Fire in cooperative agreements to provide fire protection and public safety services. The Carmel Fire Department, California State Parks, Monterey County Sheriff’s Office and an ambulance from Carmel City responded and assisted in the rescue.

 

[Dan]

Condolences to his family & friends.

15' swell & floating face down are not helping the dire situation.

 

[Bob DBF]

...pretty mild conditions with small 15-foot swells and as clear water conditions as the area gets.

I would guess that was a misprint for 5-foot swells, and a check of NOAA offshore buoys show between 3 and 5 foot swells at that time, usually inshore is less. This would make the conditions cited seem reasonable.



Bob

 

[ScubaWithTurk]

Yeah my first thought was 15' swells aren't " pretty mild conditions" and that it had to be a misprint.

Regardless, condolences to his family and friends.

 

[AZNetEng]

Thought the same thing when I read that. 15' swells is calm in whose book???

 

[Hatul]

I'm assuming with no mention of buddy that he was diving solo. I think at that age, and I'm in the same boat, we should probably dive with a buddy because medical problems are more likely to rear their ugly heads.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

The article states that there were three divers. One of the people who commented mentioned seeing them enter the water together.

 

[Ongrade]

At that location it was probably 5' swells, it's a pretty well protected corner of Carmel bay. I dive it when the swells outside the bay are running 8-10' and its 3-4 at the entry.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

It looks like there may have been an occasional five footer. Still, not a good day to dive there.

 

[Rascaldascal]

I grew up in Carmel. My house was on Scenic Rd. right across the street from Carmel River Beach. I was taught never to swim there because it's extremely dangerous. There's a steep drop off from shore that can suck you down and there's a strong undertow. When my mother was a teenager she got caught in a freak wave there and almost drowned. Lucky for her she was a good swimmer and a lifeguard so she stayed calm and managed to swim out of it.