cwhite6
Contributor
I thought I would post this here so hopefully newer divers like myself can take something from it. I will post what happened and follow it with lessons/observations I took from it. Yesterday morning I did a dive at La Jolla Cove in San Diego, CA. I hired a dive guide from San Diego Divers (who are awesome by the way) to take me out. My guide, Brent, is a NAUI instructor in rec and tec courses I believe. The water entry at the cove has a decently narrow area you have to exit from to avoid rocks and a sheer wall. Brent gave me a very thorough briefing and we went in. The swells were nice and manageable. We swam out a few hundred yards to the buoy and went down. This was my first time using my BP/W and a long hose setup. I loved it. After approx. 45 minutes we surfaced and began swimming to shore on our backs nice and slow. When we were about 200 feet from the shore, a huge swell came at us and before I could react it slammed us hard under water and threw us at the shore. After I surfaced I had time to take a big breath and got slammed again. I remember looking up and only seeing water above me. Not a good filling. We were being tossed about so hard I couldn't even get my reg in. When I surfaced Brent hollered at me to put my backup reg that was on a bungee in and to hold on. Then we got slammed again. This time when I surfaced I was feet from the rock wall and in a very bad spot. Brent had a hold of me by my tank and was swimming for all he had to get us to safety. I was doing the best I could, but I was honestly scared to death and breathing my tank dry very quickly. Now, I weigh something like 220 lbs and Brent might weigh 150 lbs, so he had a handful. Thankfully the lifeguards had jumped in and one grabbed me and one grabbed Brent and a snorkeler that was getting creamed also. They towed us to the shore as we got smacked again. There was a bunch of folks that got caught unaware and were getting tossed about. I cannot say enough about the lifeguards. They were awesome. When we got to shore Brent helped me up and I went to my truck shaking like a leaf. I was supposed to do two more dives, but I called my buddy and canceled. I was not going again. In the end, everyone was ok and that is what is important. So, I guess I learned the following:
1. At my stage of diving, having a dive buddy who is way more experienced than me and that I can trust pays off. Brent saved my bacon and made my dive really enjoyable, even with the crappy finish.
2. I really like my BP/W and long hose.
3. I need to tighten my straps. When the 7mm suit compressed, my wing was too loose and moving around.
4. When you see large swells coming at you, put your reg in and swim into the waves and wait until they subside before trying to get to shore.
5. The bungeed second made putting my reg in after getting tossed much easier than searching for a octo hanging off of me.
6. Conditions can change dramatically on the surface while you are below it. Be aware and have a plan to deal with them.
7. Never be scared to cancel dives. I get to dive maybe once every two months if I am lucky. I was really looking forward to doing three dives and had been excited for days about it. I think I grew as a diver to stop and realize it wasn't worth it and my mind would not have been in the other dives. Someone could get hurt if you don't pay attention.
8. Whatever they pay the life guards at La Jolla Cove is not enough. I used to think I was a strong swimmer. Those guys are light years better than me. I sent the lifeguard service an email last night telling them how wonderful they are.
1. At my stage of diving, having a dive buddy who is way more experienced than me and that I can trust pays off. Brent saved my bacon and made my dive really enjoyable, even with the crappy finish.
2. I really like my BP/W and long hose.
3. I need to tighten my straps. When the 7mm suit compressed, my wing was too loose and moving around.
4. When you see large swells coming at you, put your reg in and swim into the waves and wait until they subside before trying to get to shore.
5. The bungeed second made putting my reg in after getting tossed much easier than searching for a octo hanging off of me.
6. Conditions can change dramatically on the surface while you are below it. Be aware and have a plan to deal with them.
7. Never be scared to cancel dives. I get to dive maybe once every two months if I am lucky. I was really looking forward to doing three dives and had been excited for days about it. I think I grew as a diver to stop and realize it wasn't worth it and my mind would not have been in the other dives. Someone could get hurt if you don't pay attention.
8. Whatever they pay the life guards at La Jolla Cove is not enough. I used to think I was a strong swimmer. Those guys are light years better than me. I sent the lifeguard service an email last night telling them how wonderful they are.