My buddy was Brendan, Mihn and Jason were the other buddy pair in our group of experienced divers. We descended and the visibility was poor with only 2-3 meters in some places. The dive itself was relatively uneventful but we did surface about 100M West of the steps and had to swim back to the exit.
The exit was very scary and we aborted our first attempt as a set hit us just as we got near the rocks and we found ourselves in a 2M swell of white water at that point I called an abort. Brendan was a bit shook up so we swam out to deeper water and composed ourselves. I suggested we would make one more attempt to get in and then we would have to swim around to the Monument beach. Anyway we got in comparatively easy the second time as the swell was much calmer on this attempt, timing was important.
I realized that we would have trouble getting the beginners in here so we secured our gear and got ready to guide and assist the other divers to exit the water. Minh and Jason got in relatively easy with our help as we secured them and kept an eye on the incoming surf, directing them when to hold on and when to crawl.
The dive itself was pretty uneventful and the visibility was poor
Richard and his group of 3 surfaced a long way from the exit to the East which was strange as we had overshot to the West. With 4 divers on the shore we got them in but it was quite hairy at times although no-one was injured.
We kept a look out for Marlin and her 5 novice divers but after 20 minutes of no sign we knew something had not gone to plan. Richard and Jason went around to the Leap to see if they could see them and Mihn and I waited at the Steps. We spotted 2 divers on the rocks to the East scrambling through the surf. We went down and helped them climb up at the bottom of the steps, about 150M East of the planned exit point. They were a bit shaken but not hurt. They said that the rest of the group had been having difficulty descending on their dive so they had left them. They also said that the current had forced them to the East and they could not swim against the current so they had to exit where they did. The current had obviously changed a lot earlier than predicted. High tide was 1PM but at 11:45am we had what appeared to be a strong current heading out to the West? In the worsening conditions we knew that there are no safe exits West of the Steps.
Mihn and I realised that the other group were in trouble, if the current had changed then they would be unable to exit at the Leap and the conditions were getting worse. We grabbed our mask and fins and headed around to the Leap. We met Marlin at the top of the Leap and she was visibly shaken, she had some blood on her face and she asked us if we knew anyone who had a boat. We established that we did not have access to any waterdraft in the immediate vicinity and went down to the water. We established that no one was in immediate danger and they were stuck as a group in the ocean with no possible exit. They seemed cheerful enough and no one looked to be panicking or stressed.. Richard and Jason had managed to get Marlin out on the rocks at the Leap. We could tell that it wasn't a pleasant experience and Jason had ended up falling in with the other divers and now he was out there with them without fins or a BCD. Marlin had obviously had a fairly rough exit on the rocks and did not want to attempt to get any of the novices out the same way.
Marlin called the shop and asked for advice, in the mean time Richard had called the Emergency Services (EMS) from a rock fisherman's phone. The shop advised to try to get a rope and pull them around to the Steps but the conditions were getting worse and even the Steps would have been risky in these conditions.. The EMS called back to the rock fisherman's phone several times to assess the urgency of the situation. There was no immediate danger but they had no means of exit and they were drifting towards the East (out to sea) despite swimming towards the West. After about 15 minutes the Police rescue boat arrived and pulled everyone to safety. The group were very calm and did not appear to be in any immediate danger, but if they had tried to exit in these conditions then they may have met misfortune.
A very exciting day out of the water with a strong lesson learned about the treachery of the sea and unpredictable conditions. Also I think novice divers need to have alternative exits, where possible, on either side of the entry, especially if the entry is not an exit. Luckily no one was hurt and we all gained an appreciation for the changeability of our chosen sport environment.
The Leap to The Steps Map
View The Leap and The Steps in a larger map
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