Not cruise related - but WOW

[Capt_BJ]

Diver Lost Off Puerto Rico Swims Home

By Associated Press

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- A lost diver who was the subject of a U.S. Coast Guard search managed to swim 10 miles through heavy seas to safety, authorities said Thursday.

 

Marcos Calzada Colon said that at one point he followed a pod of whales because he thought they would protect him from sharks.

Colon was separated from his partner while diving for conch near the island of Culebra, off Puerto Rico's east coast, swam through heavy rain and rough waters before reaching his home island of Vieques, said Coast Guard spokesman Ricardo Castrodad.

 

Colon's partner reported him missing Tuesday afternoon and Coast Guard boats and a helicopter searched for the 40-year-old man until nightfall.

 

He said that when he got separated from his boat during the storm he ditched his diving weights and swam through the night.

 

"When I got to land, the first thing I said was: Thank you God," he said.

[cruzegirl]

Oh my god...... What a story..... I have to say that's one of my main fears as a diver.. getting seperated from the boat....Makes those guided dives even better... ;) Thank god he made it..

[Texas_Diver]

Wow...that's an incredible story! I wonder how he knew which direction to swim?

 

D.

[Starz723]

What a horror story that is and it brought me back to an very scary incident that happened to me

 

I went to Grand Cayman when they opened tourism in 1971. 1 flight a day. Hardly any tourists. No ships, no phones, no commercialization (except for the banks) 1 Holiday Inn & lots of mosquitoes. You get the picture. Incredible diving & snorkeling and a pristine island that seemed to be lost in time. Nothing near like it is today.

 

I chartered a boat for the day to snorkel to an offshore reef. There were 4 of us. I was observing squid, I wasnt aware I was in a current that was moving fast and away from the boat. By time I looked up I was alone and very very far away from the boat. I must have been face down for at least 20min to half hour. It took every bit of strength to swim near enough for anyone to see me and I was screaming for help. There was a chop in the water and quite frankly, they didnt see me or hear me. They were immersed in the reef. Capt was not looking in my direction. I was in trouble. I threw off the mask and snorkel as it was causing drag when I swam. If I hadnt been a very strong swimmer ( and young at the time) and caught myself in time, Im sure I would have drifted so far out, God knows if I would have made it back.

 

I was finally noticed when I got in ear shot of the boat and my screams were finally heard. I was literally dragged onto the boat..I had no strength to go up the ladder. No one had noticed I was missing! Everyone was into their own little world obviously.

 

As long as I live I will never forget that incident and when I snorkel now, I look up alot and never drift too far from land or a boat.

[cmdchiefthom]

Marge,

 

I may have posted this story before, but it is similar to your's. Probably eight or nine years ago, I was diving Cozumel on a stop while aboard a cruise ship. I booked the SHOREX trip for a two tank dive with my wife. It was a "cattle boat" situation, probably fourteen divers with hugely different levels of experience. To make a long story short, fourteen divers in the water, one guide? "divemaster", entry, descent, my wife has ear block at 40' ft, group vanishes into the abyss, we ascend, no boat in sight (drift dive boat):mad: , twenty to thirty minutes of shouting, waving to boats in the distance, finally I signalled a boat in the distance by flashing my the lens of my mask towards the distant boat. Boat comes:D , not ours:mad: , I refuse to board, (I leave the dance with the date that brought me), thank God for radio, they contact the boat that dropped us off, (they went fishing):confused: , our boat has no idea we're missing, they show up, (we board, I hit the Captain):D , we then head toward the final pick-up point, "divemaster has no idea we're missing", we have words, SHOREX has no clue, we surive. End of story!

[Capt_BJ]

What a horror story that is and it brought me back to an very scary incident that happened to me

 

I went to Grand Cayman when they opened tourism in 1971. 1 flight a day. Hardly any tourists. No ships, no phones, no commercialization (except for the banks) 1 Holiday Inn & lots of mosquitoes.

 

My parents first went to Cayman in 1967 - as you say, one flight a day and as I recall the Holiday Inn was there. But they stayed at a place with individual villas on the beach (not sure it is still there, don't find a name that I remember anymore) and back routinely after that. I didn't make it 'til 84

 

but CI was in the bus' b4 71 .... little known ... but

[scubaran]

Hi,

 

I guess this begs another "what to carry with me on the cruise for diving" answer. I always carry my 6ft. yellow safety sausage with me (also practice blowing it up in on the surface when I'm with my buddies back home). Along with a surface wistle (it's small but powerful and is on a mini d-ring). Along with a battery powered LED stick which I connect to the back of my tank so my dive buddy (who I usually have just met) recognizes me from the other black suited divers in the water. All take up less space than what I can put in my front pocket. I've heard too many stories like above.

 

Randall

[Sailfish]

People are left behind more often than you think! 99% are located. This happens a lot in swift current, and in large groups - happens all the time in Cozumel. Most divers are located within a short amount of time, but quite scary just the same.

 

There was a couple who got left behind in Cozumel (it happened while we were on the island to Papa Hogs - a very reputable dive op). They spent the night on the water before they were located the next morning by another dive boat. This happened a quite a while ago and I don't recal the particulars.

[Starz723]

Capt BJ

 

I stayed at the Beach Club Colony. It was villas on the beach. The only other places to stay were pvt homes on the beach that were rented out. Ask your parents about the dreadful mosquitoe problem they had. I never in my life seen anything like it. The native people were immune to them from being bitten from birth.

 

Besides the incident I mentioned above, I had two others while I was there. I was on a small boat with an outboard motor. It was my husband, myself and a guide. He was taking my husband to a fishing spot. There were reefs all over (offshore) the place with snails on it, and my DH decides it would be good for bait. We get close to the reef and hes plucking snails and then the motor stops. The waves were taking the boat back and forth. The guide was desperately trying to get the motor started..one of those pull the string motors, lol. Im screaming the boat is gonna breakup as its hitting the reef. Last wave was going to put the spine of the boat on the reef and surely would have broken it to bits. The motor started!! I was not near land and I had visions of being thrown against the reef or eaten by jaws.

 

Last incident. I had no idea about stingrays in Cayman. Stingray city didnt exist yet. lol. I went on a sunfish with my hubby, but didnt like going to far out over the reef wall where the ocean drops fathoms. Guess what, the wind took us way out over the reef wall and we capsized. We had trouble righting the sunfish.. I was getting spooked being in such deep water and having the incident of few days before with me drifting away. Also, being in such deep open water I was afraid of sharks. I started swimming back to shore and a giant ray swam directly underneath me. I think it was an eagle ray..it was HUMONGOUS. I nearly died. I thought for sure jaws was next. I had never seen a ray before and had little knowledge about them. So it scared the daylights out of me. I swam so fast that I prolly broke a swim record. I didnt go back in the water for 3 days. It took a few nice native people there to tell me not to be afraid of them. After that, I didnt swim over my head the rest of the vacation. lol Talk about a wild trip..but a memorable one and many lessons learned.

[Capt_BJ]

Ya know... that name sounds very familiar...

 

their second trip down they stayed at the Holiday Inn .... and never made the mistake again.

 

Once spousal unit became a diver, we made 2 or 3 trips a year for several from 84 on (ain't it grand to live in Miami) ..... I recall reading that Sunset House as a dive resort predates all of this....

 

Our first trip to the Brac was about '85 ... musta been like my 'rents to the big island. Thay had to move the cows to land the plane. A lil' different now ....