Orlandosjm
United States
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Nº40
Date: 2016-07-02 - 14:00
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Max Depth: 11.3m Duration: 16mins
Dive Location
- Surface interval:60 mins
- Temp: Surf 29°C Bottom 29°C
- Dive type : Recreational, Reef
- Visibility: Average Water: Salt
Specific gear used
- Mask: Sopras sub - Mask
- Fins: Pro Light -
- Boots: Sunset -
- Computer: Mares - puck
- BCD: Cressi - Start Pro BC
- Regulator: Cressi - AC
- Weights: 6.4 kg
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Recent Divers in Key Biscane Miami
Recent Pictures in Key Biscane Miami
Dive Shop & Buddies
Dive with Tarpoon Lagoon
Dive buddies:
Simone Lowson
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Dive Profile
- 1. Air
- 10L Aluminium 234 → 69 bar
- Average depth: 7.5m
Data provided by EOL.org
Species Identified
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Simone finally splashed in with me and we held onto the trailing line of the boat while she prepared to go under. I turned on my dive computer and we slowly descended under the water. Simone takes a little bit of time to equalize so it took us about five minutes to get down to the bottom which was only at about 40 feet. Unfortunately, at that time we went down to Baron sand and I could not see the Neptune memorial anywhere in any direction. I kept a strong eye on Simone to make sure that she was comfortable and never let go of her hand the entire time. She was doing just fine and we got to the seafloor and started paddling in the direction that I thought the memorial was at. The whole time I was keeping an eye on Simone and not being in a rush but just kind of sauntering along as I did not want her to become anxious. We were down on the bottom for about five minutes when Simone decided that she wanted to send as we were not finding the dive spot. We did our normal three-minute safeties stop at 15 feet before service saying on the ocean.
To my surprise we were about 200 yards off of the stern of the dive boat, well away from where we should have been diving. Apparently, the current had pushed us away from the boat while Simone was equalizing and I wasn't paying attention to where we were going as I was focused only on her. The waves were at about 2 to 3 feet intermittent though not so terrible that we weren't that we were in any kind of trouble. However, Simone immediately had an anxiety attack as the waves kept rushing over her face since her BC it was not keeping her high enough out of the water. I could see the panicked look in her eye and she was starting to thrash around and take her regulator out of her mouth trying to get large gasps of air. This would not of been a problem but the waves every 20 seconds or so came over her head and over her face which made her even more hysterical. She kept pulling her regulator out of her mouth. I worked on getting her to where she was at least semi-manageable and then with one hand I held onto a D ring on her BC and started paddling my way towards the boat. I knew it was going to be a long time and probably a semi futile effort but I think it helped Simone to know that we were doing something to get back on board. I was kicking away and the boat did not seem like it was getting any closer but I just kept going. I could hear Simone gasping and screaming and I knew she was OK as long as I could hear that she was breathing. I just needed to keep her breathing and I knew she would be just fine even though the situation seemed quite desperate to her.
Naturally, time compresses during these events and it felt like it was forever paddling away trying to get to the boat but at one point out of nowhere one of the crew of the boat showed up with a line that lead back. At the end of the line was a huge foot and a half wide buoy which I attempted to give to Simone to keep her a little further out of the water but she was not interested and just kept hyperventilating. I gave Simone my rubber bungee that I had attached to my BC to hold on as I dragged both of us back to the boat. I worked my way along the line handover hand glancing back occasionally to make sure Simone was there. The crew member that had come out to us was trailing behind us casually watching what was going on. I would glance up occasionally and look at the boat which didn't seem to be getting any closer but I just kept going handover hand on the rope knowing that eventually I would make it. Simone was lying on her back holding onto my BC with one hand so I knew she would be fine once we made it on the boat. She pretty much hyperventilated the entire way.
It seemed to take hours to get back to the boat but I finally got her onto the ladder where she stood as the Dive Boat Captain talked her down from her anxiety. I knew, at that point, she was fine and I boarded the boat on the starboard ladder taking off my equipment and securing the tank with a bungee. I made my way to the back of the boat where Simone was still hysterical even as the Captain was attempting to talk her down. I pulled her onto the boat and held her as we walked over to our spot and sat down. She was calming down finally and just kept apologizing. I held her for quite a while until I could sense her breathing going back to normal. All was fine now and she was safe. I did some calculating later and discovered that we were in the water for 10 to 15 minutes though it definitely seemed to take longer.