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Scuba Forum / General / July 2006Proper Surf Entry Technique
Greetings, I was initially taught to hold your fins in each hand and leave your mask around your neck while entering rough surf (southern california rough). At 4/5 ft. swells, doing so I was able to enter the surf without any problems whatsoever. Over the wave or really low under the wave. I did a surf today at Redondo and the waves were about 8 ft. Here, we had to enter with fins on and mask on with snorkel in mouth. It seems the water really wants to catch your fins and push you around and if you aren't holding your mask you'll lose it. I can see arguments for both cases. If you are holding your fins and you take a heavy wave and let go then you've just lost one of $199 and $90 spring straps (in my case) fins or both. The water really pushes around the neck if you get caught in it and the force might break a strap (as happened with another individual). On the other hand, if you're not holding your fins your holding your mask and still might lose it if your elbow bumps the sand then your mask is either 1) loose or 2) in your hand and now you need that hand for something, let go, and lose your $55 mask and $40 exotic strap. Personally, I feel much more comfortable with holding fins in hands and mask around neck when entering surch and just donning the gear when past the waves. However, I must concede, it seems no matter what approach you take, you can still lose gear. So why not do what you are more comfortable with (in general, obviously, our instructors want us to do it their way and that's fine, I'm open to different approachs, but I'm talking about in general, outside of instruction or ADP)? What do people here think? Thanks, Shawn > So why not do what you are more comfortable with . . . Why not indeed. You've considered methods preferred by others. You understand the whys and why nots of each. You are well equipped with knowldge and, presumably, some experience. You are as qualified, perhaps better qualified, than anyone else, including those in this group, to decide what is right for you. Gathing information, considering options and making risk and risk prevention choices is your obligation to yourself, your family and, like it or not, the diving community as a whole. > (in general, obviously, our instructors want us to do it their way and > that's fine . . . It that's true, it certainly is not fine. An instructor's job is to present you with information, to teach you a way, or a variety of ways to dive safely. It is not their job to get you to do it their way and, if they're a good instructor, they know it. If yours doesn't, find a new instructor. If the agency he represents doesn't know it, find another agency. > What do people here think? I think you'll do fine. Lee > I did a surf today at Redondo and the waves were about 8 ft. ... > What do people here think? I think you might want to get a t-shirt. http://www.divebums.com/Products.html > I did a surf today at Redondo and the waves were about 8 ft. Here, we had > to enter with fins on and mask on with snorkel in mouth. It seems the water > really wants to catch your fins and push you around and if you aren't > holding your mask you'll lose it. 8 ft surf? Damn, I would be tempted to just get on my hand and knees and try crawling into the surf with my reg in my mouth... I've had less surf than that cause me to crawl back ashore after a dive... Frankly, I suspect that with 8 ft surf, I would be more inclined to just sit on the beach with a cooler of beer and watch the divers who did attempt the entry get stripped of gear and tossed around... But 'ell, I'm on the Gulf Coast and 8 ft surf around here means that a hurricane is right off the coast and I should be looking for higher ground anyway... > But 'ell, I'm on the Gulf Coast and 8 ft surf around here means that a > hurricane is right off the coast and I should be looking for higher > ground anyway... Don't worry next time, you can stay and dive, Darwin will protect you..... ;-) >> I did a surf today at Redondo and the waves were about 8 ft. Here, we had >> to enter with fins on and mask on with snorkel in mouth. It seems the water [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > hurricane is right off the coast and I should be looking for higher > ground anyway... That's what most of us do. However, there are nuances. If you have big surf that is very regular, with a very long period, it can be reasonably easy to manage. I think the worst I've experienced was medium high surf, about 3-4 feet, but there were two different sources, so the period was very short and irregular. There was white water everywhere, the waves packed a really good punch, with turbulence all the way to the bottom, a really wide surf zone. We couldn't go under, we couldn't go over and it was enough work going through that we were working hard and over-breathing our regs. Even beyond the surf zone, bobbing up and down in the chop was taxing. On the other hand, coming back in was easy. > On the other hand, coming back in was easy. Yeah, I've been washed ashore like a piece of flotsam too... Don't go through the surf in 8 ft seas, it's usually way easier coming in than going out. Don't be afraid to call the dive and go somewhere else. I don't recall ever attempting anything over 4 ft, and that's only at high tide when you can swim over the reef. However, I have had conditions change while diving and come up to 12 ft seas--gnads didn't drop for days... Having done maybe 8-900 surf entries over shin-bashin', ankle-snappin', toe-jabbin', urchin-stabbin' reef on Okinawa, the general rule is "foamy surf be bad." Generally, if tide is up, forearm through fin straps (leaves hand free if/when you fall), mask on, snorkel at the ready. Big wave coming? Turn your back or go sideways at it, hand over mask, as the water can easily pop your strap up over your head. When on the reef, don't step unless you can see where you are stepping. I generally won't fin up until I can't walk/reef dance anymore. Be quick gettin' them fins on, son. I've never subscribed to the old "walk in backwards with fins on thing." Waves normally come in sets of seven. Have done only a few sand beach entries (like Redundo?), so YMMV. I love to beach dive, although it is a bit more physically taxing. Nothing wrong with a little PT before a dive, eh? Oh, the vast majority of the reef you walk over on Oki is dead, but there are some spots in the shallows with live stuff, hence the "only step where you can see" thing.  SignatureRapid Rick "Just Dive, Baby" > I did a surf today at Redondo and the waves were about 8 ft. snipped to > What do people here think? > I've never subscribed to the old "walk in backwards with fins on thing." It works fine if the conditions are right. All of my surf entry diving has been on a sand bottom. The reefs I was heading to were 100 yards or more from shore. By the time I was over the reef, it was deep enough that the surf was no longer the kind of problem it is for you. What you describe sounds like a plan for the kind of diving you do. It simply would not work for me. For starters, my fins don't have straps. The safest place for them is on my feet, hence the walk in backwards, etc. The real answer to the question is, do it however it works for you, where you are diving. My method would not work well for you, where you are. Yours would not work well for me, where I am. Lee >> I've never subscribed to the old "walk in backwards with fins on thing." > [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > Lee Entering in the surf is something we have to do a lot here in New England. Generally, it isn't too hard to get past the bigger rollers carrying the fins and then putting them on. In most cases, I tend to put them on at the shore, and swim through the waves. Then again, a lot of our entries are on fairly flat beaches where there isn't too much of a break to the waves. As always, YMMV. > What you describe sounds like a plan for the kind of diving you do. It > simply would not work for me. For starters, my fins don't have straps. > The safest place for them is on my feet, hence the walk in backwards, etc. I figured out why we did surf entry that way after I went back. Its because the ground drops off to 70 ft. so quickly that there's not floor when your still taking waves, hence it is useful to have your fins on when you reach that drop and start kicking away. Thanks, Shawn |
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