Woman Rescued Through Huge Waves in Playa Del Carmen

Scuba diving is an amazing sport. Those who do it can tell amazing stories about creatures they have seen below the waves. From tiny little animals and plants under a quarter inch long, to giant animals the size of a bus! Along with exploring the sea floor for gorgeous corals, sponge, turtles and thousands of different types of beautiful fish in both cold and warm water, Brent and Elsa love every aspect of scuba diving. On a recent vacation in Playa Del Carmen Mexico to celebrate their wedding, Brent and Elsa also had some scuba diving friends along. Planning ahead is very important with the sport of scuba, to be organized is of utmost importance. The weather was not co-operating as everyone had hoped, but the dive company had assured everyone that the port was open and diving was a GO! Heading out into the larger than hoped for waves made for quite the journey. Topping out at approximately five feet, the 25 foot panga boat seemed to be handling the waves fairly well. “It is about a 20 minute boat ride to the dive site “ the dive guide Dave mentioned to everyone. Tossing and yawing, the relatively small panga boat was under the mercy of the growing swells on the ocean. Increasing winds were whisking off the tops of the waves. Hanging on tight for the voyage, all the divers seemed to be handling the rough seas fairly well, but the bride, Elsa was becoming more uneasy with the boat ride. Before departing, Elsa had take a motion sickness pill, but it was seeming the pill was not quite doing its job. Slightly nauseated, Elsa mentioned to her husband that she wasn’t feeling well and not sure about diving. Generally when one is nauseated aboard a dive boat, once in the water the nausea subsides, so that was what Brent mentioned to Elsa. Arriving at the dive site, everyone was still feeling not too bad. Dive gear organized and donned, everyone did a back roll into the water and descended to the sea floor to a depth of around 55 feet. Immediately there was a noticeably strong current, not one that you could swim against. All the divers and the guide formed a group and flowed with the current in whatever direction it chose to take them. Thirty minutes later it was time to surface so everyone followed the dive guides lead and heading to the top. Still rough above, Brent and Elsa were the first to reach the boat. Elsa immediately began to vomit. Having her buoyancy compensator vest inflated, she was safe, but not happy. Everyone aboard, it was time to head to the next dive site. Dave the guide mentioned the distance to the site and Elsa immediately spoke up stating” I am done! I can’t handle this anymore so please take me to the beach!” The guide spoke with Brent and Elsa and made sure that’s what they wanted, and Elsa confirmed.”Yes I have to go ashore, I can’t handle these waves”. The drop off planned, Elsa put on her mask and swim fins. The boat Captain approaches as close as possible to the shore but very large waves did not allow a drop off closer than two hundred yards. Elsa swam hard and made it to the beach while everyone aboard watched and made sure she was safely ashore. After their second dive complete, the captain made his way to pick up Elsa from the shore. Once again high surf did not allow a direct beach pickup. Realizing Elsa would not be able to make her way through the huge waves and swim herself to the boat, a plan was made. Dave the guide took control. He prepared Elsas buoyancy compensator for her to use for flotation during the rescue and swam it to her. Once on the beach, Elsa put on the bcd, fins, and they entered the surf. Dave began towing Elsa in a way knows as a DIVER TOW. Fighting the large waves, they slowly made it into calmer waters. Throwing a rope with a float on the end made it easier for them to be towed directly to the boat once in a safe area. Captain made a great throw which made for a great rescue. Lessons learned, one can always cancel a dive if you do not feel safe on the water. A great ending other than one sick diver. Elsa was grateful to everyone but glad to be back on shore.