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How to make safe shore entries
Sometimes the hardest part of the dive up here.
Here in New England, especially on Cape Ann, the surf line can be quite rough in some areas. If you're not comfortable working your way past a 2-4 foot surfline you may miss some of the nicer spots Cape Ann has to offer. Often a good plan of attack can help you through the surfline safely and quickly. In this "how to" we will discuss ways to "beat the surf".
The first thing you want to consider when you approach a dive site before any gear even comes out of the car is the entry. This is the best time to evaluate certain conditions of the dive. Good questions to ask are "Is the tide high or low?, Is there a current?, How is the wind affecting the conditions?, Is the wind meant to change (by the way, always check conditions before you leave, wind speed & direction being of primary importance. My 2 favorite weather sites are wunderground.com and NOAA). The size of the surf is the biggest factor to consider when doing a shore entry. So, lets talk about that.
Large surf can turn a generally simple entry into a catastrophic disaster in a matter of very uncomfortable seconds. Though your floundering in the littoral zone may be hilarious to your dive buddies, I can bet that it will not only be uncomfortable for you, But it could also be quite scary. So lets talk about a good way to get you through it. The best thing you can do is get all your gear together in a simple and easy manner. Make sure that you can reach and manipulate all your gear without much fuss and without having to search for too long for it. I will 9 times out of 10 keep my fins on my wrist and enter that way. Be sure that you have air in your bc so you can float and your snorkel, or reg if you're more comfortable, in your mouth to breathe. Put your fins on once you can float and swim comfortably. This is a safe way to get past the Surf zone quickly since most entries around here with big surf get deep fairly quickly.
In fact the large surf in the Cape Ann area can often be attributed to what we refer to as "colapsing breakers". This is a phenominon where the water rushing in hits a mostly vertical wall creating a surfline. The result is a turbulent shoreline with a much calmer ocean. Trust me... the chalenge is just getting to the ocean as quickly and safely as possible. Once there it's smooth sailing. Good habits to get into to ensure smooth entries would include Complete gear checks after assembly as well as complete buddy checks by the diver who is gonna be your buddy. While we are on the topic of buddies another way to make your entry easier is to stay with your buddy. A buddy can be an unimaginable amount of help during a more difficult entry.
The last thing I want to discuss here is the descision to dive or not. Remeber that if you or your buddy feels the conditions are past their experience then why would you want to put a friend or yourself through that torment or into a dangerous situation. Remember, the ocean isn't going anywhere... soon.
©East Coast Divers 2010