Hi everyone, I came across this post on Instagram from a Lynne Tuck who is a regular diving at my local site called The Steps at Kurnell (Sydney Australia). Be nice if the pace was a little slower but you get the idea of what it takes to get to the water. This is my most dived local site with a great variety of critters many unique to this area. I must have done around 200 dives on this site. This is temperate water site - 7mm wetsuit in the warmer months for me and a drysuit in winter where the water drops to the 13-14° range. The car park is around 25m above sea level. Nearby is the leap where the descent is closer to 30m elevation and you drift on the incoming tide to exit at this site after about a 250m drift.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLzqoY-o4aZ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Thought it would be fun to post a reply to this thread with pics or videos that shows how you access your local tough site. We can get an idea of what your local diving is like.

Onna Toilet Bowl (west coast of Okinawa main island, Japan) would probably qualify - not that tough, but can be quite sketchy, especially exits:

— other slightly sketchy local shore sites worth mentioning include Cape Zampa / Bolo Point :

— Here's a clip showing the one of the Cape Zampa entries (the paint trail, seen next to the lighthouse on the map... ) 😅

cheers

Edited Tuesday at 09:31 AM3 days by bghazzal

1 hour ago, bghazzal said:

Here's a clip showing the one of the Cape Zampa entries (the paint trail, seen next to the lighthouse on the map... ) 😅

The part about the sharp rocks is terrifying. I can't even imagine carrying gear on my back there. Is the emergency room close by?

12 hours ago, Davide DB said:

The part about the sharp rocks is terrifying. I can't even imagine carrying gear on my back there. Is the emergency room close by?

Emergency what? 😄😄😄

Yes, with you on that one.
One thing to keep in mind is that the majority of the foreign diving crowd here is US military — mostly young dudes and dudettes in their 20s–30s, plus some ol’ US Marine Corps retirees (or is “veteran” the right term? Not sure). That does tend to up the ante in terms of sketchy shore entries.

Operators generally don’t take the risk and just do such sites as boat dives.

I’m not very adventurous — especially since I dive solo with a camera rig and a bailout — so I haven’t dived these two yet, but I did scout them on foot. I’d definitely want to go with someone who’s exited those sites successfully a few times (entries are one thing, but it’s really the exits that give me nightmares...)

The other issue I have is figuring out how rewarding the sites actually are (aside from the feeling of accomplishment from not having hurt yourself...). Toilet Bowl has a gang of resident blacktip sharks (“oceanics,” not the reef kind) which is cool, but otherwise it's hard to tell overall, given the type of diving people are doing here.

I did discover felt-sole boots here (really doesn't slip on mossy rocks, amazing) and self-reinforced a pair of standard booties with an extra rubber sole for those lava rocks...

Edited Tuesday at 11:26 PM3 days by bghazzal

I must say I'm liking the fact all our dive sites are sandstone based, much less likely to damage you, though they have their fair share of "if it's black you're on your back" areas. Carrying a camera certainly does up the ante in making sure the entry is not too rough. Standard procedure on exit here is to crawl out till you are beyond the reach of any swell coming in, wouldn't fancy doing that on lava even with kevlar knees in my suits.

39 minutes ago, Chris Ross said:

I must say I'm liking the fact all our dive sites are sandstone based, much less likely to damage you, though they have their fair share of "if it's black you're on your back" areas. Carrying a camera certainly does up the ante in making sure the entry is not too rough. Standard procedure on exit here is to crawl out till you are beyond the reach of any swell coming in, wouldn't fancy doing that on lava even with kevlar knees in my suits.

Yes, quite tricky. Crawling out is not an option as it's mostly either coralline limestone or sharp volcanic / lava rock unfortunately, sandstone is very rare here.

This is border edge at Toilet Bowl, took this a few weeks back when scouting it, manageable when dry with good soles:

But more nasty areas are like this:

Luckily, Japan being Japan, and thanks to past U.S. military activity (Okinawa was returned to Japan in 1972), there’s a lot of concrete reinforcement along the coast, built for logistical purposes or typhoon protection. These structures often make shore entries easier than navigating natural rocky ledges

Edited Wednesday at 04:53 AM3 days by bghazzal

@Chris Ross Looks to be a bit of a trek to the water. The stairs are a nice touch. How exhausted are you after getting to the car park? We have a dive site here on Oahu called Lanai Lookout that has an interesting entry - crossing a busy road, clambering into a gully and storm drain, then out on to a ridge to do a timed entry as the waves come in. Flat is better. The exit is through a cave-like swim through, then into a tiny cove where the surf can wash you into rocks. You must time your exit in the cove as waves come in and go out, holding on to boulders as the water rushes out, then riding the surge in, trying to avoid rocks. The worst part is hiking out up hill on loose gravelly orange dirt, making five traverses back and forth and climbing several difficult step-ups. That’s my high intensity interval training. Here’s a pretty good look at the entry and part of the exit without the climb out. https://youtu.be/zLfSbCq_Yjk?si=8pi_ki0zfCu4iJJq

45 minutes ago, humu9679 said:

@Chris Ross Looks to be a bit of a trek to the water. The stairs are a nice touch. How exhausted are you after getting to the car park? We have a dive site here on Oahu called Lanai Lookout that has an interesting entry - crossing a busy road, clambering into a gully and storm drain, then out on to a ridge to do a timed entry as the waves come in. Flat is better. The exit is through a cave-like swim through, then into a tiny cove where the surf can wash you into rocks. You must time your exit in the cove as waves come in and go out, holding on to boulders as the water rushes out, then riding the surge in, trying to avoid rocks. The worst part is hiking out up hill on loose gravelly orange dirt, making five traverses back and forth and climbing several difficult step-ups. That’s my high intensity interval training. Here’s a pretty good look at the entry and part of the exit without the climb out. https://youtu.be/zLfSbCq_Yjk?si=8pi_ki0zfCu4iJJq

@humu9679 If I take my time it's not too bad, breathing hard at the top but seem to recover fairly quickly. it soon reminds you if you are a bit out of shape. The worst is spring with warm air but still very cold water, you get steamed on the way down. SO you try to minimise time between zipping up your suit and jumping in the water. It also tests out your leg strength and stability getting down as much as up. I had to do some weight training after I had a minor knee ligament problem and lost strength in that leg.

Diving dry I'm carrying 40-45 kg in cylinders, lead, suit and camera.

12 minutes ago, Chris Ross said:

It also tests out your leg strength and stability getting down as much as up. I had to do some weight training after I had a minor knee ligament problem and lost strength in that leg.

Diving dry I'm carrying 40-45 kg in cylinders, lead, suit and camera.

I've also started incorporating knee and leg workouts in the mornings after a couple of dry dives here. The strain these kinds of entries put on your joints is really something...
And I started clipping the camera rig onto my torso D-rings to keep my hands free, which helps.
Quite a learning curve...

Edited Wednesday at 05:39 AM3 days by bghazzal

At the other end of this He Man spectrum......

Although admittedly not "local", I was diving from MV Harmoni in Raja a few weeks ago.

Whilst the tropical sun beat down on the canvas awning which flapped languidly in the breeze, the crew put all my gear, except mask and camera, in the RIB.

I sauntered down the steps and took a comfortable seat on the RIB tube. We drove to the dive site and the crew held gear on the RIB tube to allow arms to be slipped through whilst offering to do up the buckles. I said I could manage. A gentle backward roll led into the 29 degree water.

The RIB was waiting for me on ascent. The crew pulled my gear out of the water, removed my fins and I climbed the 3-rung ladder.

On returning to Harmoni, I wandered up the steps to the deck enjoying the sunshine whilst the crew took my gear, except mask and camera, rinsed it, filled the tank with Nitrox ... and handed me a glass of chilled juice and a fresh towel.

No sweat was raised. No heart pounded. I made it all look easy.

As the US Marines would say, OOO-rah.

More mango juice, sir?

10 minutes ago, TimG said:

At the other end of this He Man spectrum......

Although admittedly not "local", I was diving from MV Harmoni in Raja a few weeks ago.

Whilst the tropical sun beat down on the canvas awning which flapped languidly in the breeze, the crew put all my gear, except mask and camera, in the RIB.

I sauntered down the steps and took a comfortable seat on the RIB tube. We drove to the dive site and the crew held gear on the RIB tube to allow arms to be slipped through whilst offering to do up the buckles. I said I could manage. A gentle backward roll led into the 29 degree water.

The RIB was waiting for me on ascent. The crew pulled my gear out of the water, removed my fins and I climbed the 3-rung ladder.

On returning to Harmoni, I wandered up the steps to the deck enjoying the sunshine whilst the crew took my gear, except mask and camera, rinsed it, filled the tank with Nitrox ... and handed me a glass of chilled juice and a fresh towel.

No sweat was raised. No heart pounded. I made it all look easy.

As the US Marines would say, OOO-rah.

More mango juice, sir?

Tropical breeze or not, If the crew didn't fan you efficiently on the dive deck, I think it could still qualify as a tough dive 😁

9 minutes ago, bghazzal said:

Tropical breeze or not, If the crew didn't fan you efficiently on the dive deck, I think it could still qualify as a tough dive 😁

I try not to see it in heroic terms.

1 hour ago, TimG said:

The RIB was waiting for me on ascent. The crew pulled my gear out of the water, removed my fins and I climbed the 3-rung ladder.

They expected you to climb the ladder 😅 life is so tough!

But seriously boat dives in the tropics are something else - just fall off the boat - hopefully somewhat gracefully. Even here the boat dives are relatively luxurious, though we don't have gear slaves.

8 hours ago, Chris Ross said:

@humu9679 If I take my time it's not too bad, breathing hard at the top but seem to recover fairly quickly. it soon reminds you if you are a bit out of shape. The worst is spring with warm air but still very cold water, you get steamed on the way down. SO you try to minimise time between zipping up your suit and jumping in the water. It also tests out your leg strength and stability getting down as much as up. I had to do some weight training after I had a minor knee ligament problem and lost strength in that leg.

Diving dry I'm carrying 40-45 kg in cylinders, lead, suit and camera.

I started exercising the hips and knees more regularly for just such activity. I’m not too proud to admit that I am blowing hard on the trek upwards on exit, and fearful of a slip and fall. We are a bit lucky in getting by with 5 mil wetsuits max, and relatively stable 24-26 water temps.

Cardiac Hill in Palos Verdes is a long long climb down (not so bad) with a handrail at the top, but going up with tanks and weights is for when I had a much different body. Like much of PV it is either really good or really bad.

It is the reason that God made boats.

Bill

Being a long time northern California diver I thought a call out for one of our local favorites was in order.

North Monastery Beach (aka Carmel River Beach).

When you learn to dive in NorCal, they usually teach you the "crawl out" method for exiting the surf (down on all fours, crawl out of the water). When you practice this at "Breakwater" (San carlos Beach in Monterey) during OW certification dives you feel a bit foolish, because lots of other divers are watching you, and you kmow many are commenting ("newbie divers, look at them crawl out of that 6 inch surf...")

Your instructor most likely will mention you are learning this skill not for sites like Breakwater, but rather sites like North Monastery (but as a newbie diver, no one believes there are sites you may really need this skill...). North Monastery (or as some local divers refer to it, "Monstery" or even "Mortuary Beach") is a unique dive. The kelp forest is in good shape, the schools of fish have increased in numbers over the last ~20 years, and for some reason, you seem to be able to find larger individual fish at this site than elsewhere in Monterey. It also has the benefit of having access to the Monterey trench in the deeper areas.

All up, it's a really nice Monterey dive - right up until you need to get out of the water.

First - unless you get one of the very rare days when there is little wave action, you are going to be exiting on a beach, through real surf. The beach isn't very steep, however the beach does drop off quite rapidly right in the surf zone, so the waves break where you'll be exiting the water. These waves are absolute "dumpers."

Second - almost everyone who has experience here will tell you that if you are sitting at the surface, at the end of your dive, watching the wave action from behind the surf zone and you notice any real swell, swim to the southern end of the beach and exit there (who knew you actually needed a dive plan before entering the water?). The kelp is closer to the shoreline on the southern end, which helps keep the wave action down a bit. It's a bit of a swim, but worth it if you are concerned about the surf.

My college roommate learned first hand that not only do you need to master crawling out of the surf zone (quickly), but why, if you get caught in the surf zone with a wave about to break on top of you, make like a starfish.

In short, he got caught exiting the surf, a wave broke on his back when he was still up on his hands and knees. He creacked two ribs when his tank flattened him up against the hard, wet, sand. This isn't even that uncommon at this site... what divers really need to watch out for is the wave action pulling you back out again as well.

4 hours ago, OneYellowTang said:

All up, it's a really nice Monterey dive - right up until you need to get out of the water.

First - unless you get one of the very rare days when there is little wave action, you are going to be exiting on a beach, through real surf. The beach isn't very steep, however the beach does drop off quite rapidly right in the surf zone, so the waves break where you'll be exiting the water. These waves are absolute "dumpers."

Second - almost everyone who has experience here will tell you that if you are sitting at the surface, at the end of your dive, watching the wave action from behind the surf zone and you notice any real swell, swim to the southern end of the beach and exit there (who knew you actually needed a dive plan before entering the water?). The kelp is closer to the shoreline on the southern end, which helps keep the wave action down a bit. It's a bit of a swim, but worth it if you are concerned about the surf.

My college roommate learned first hand that not only do you need to master crawling out of the surf zone (quickly), but why, if you get caught in the surf zone with a wave about to break on top of you, make like a starfish.

In short, he got caught exiting the surf, a wave broke on his back when he was still up on his hands and knees. He creacked two ribs when his tank flattened him up against the hard, wet, sand. This isn't even that uncommon at this site... what divers really need to watch out for is the wave action pulling you back out again as well.

I think I'm going to have nightmares tonight... So is it a no-camera zone except on specific days, or do some die-hards manage to pull it off with a rig anyway?

6 hours ago, OneYellowTang said:

Second - almost everyone who has experience here will tell you that if you are sitting at the surface, at the end of your dive, watching the wave action from behind the surf zone and you notice any real swell, swim to the southern end of the beach and exit there (who knew you actually needed a dive plan before entering the water?). The kelp is closer to the shoreline on the southern end, which helps keep the wave action down a bit. It's a bit of a swim, but worth it if you are concerned about the surf.

My college roommate learned first hand that not only do you need to master crawling out of the surf zone (quickly), but why, if you get caught in the surf zone with a wave about to break on top of you, make like a starfish.

In short, he got caught exiting the surf, a wave broke on his back when he was still up on his hands and knees. He creacked two ribs when his tank flattened him up against the hard, wet, sand. This isn't even that uncommon at this site... what divers really need to watch out for is the wave action pulling you back out again as well.

A couple of times I've come back from a dive and the swell had picked up - not fun. One time the divemaster was trying to get people out through waves breaking on rocks. A few of us had enough air left and dropped back down and swam to a beach with better protection to get out.

Quite familiar with the swell trying to suck you back out again, we can get a bit of a washing machine happening at the steps sometimes and I got caught in it once or twice in the early days.

@bghazzal

Excellent question... I wasn't brave enough to take my camera rig on this dive for a number of years. I learned from a local photographer much more experienced than me that almost all the u/w phototographers exit on the south end of the beach (takes dive planning, etc.). On most days it's significantly easier (or on the rare occasion you'll see boat divers off the beach...)

Howver the most interesting approach I've seen (but I can't get my wife to agree with this yet) is to have someone on "beach support" so that when you just start emerging from the surf your "support" runs into the water, grabs your camera, runs back out before the next wave breaks... I've seen this done a few times - the coordination and timing is pretty impressive (the "support" person is committing to getting pretty wet in cold water, usually without the thermal protection). I've seen camera rigs make it up to dry sand without any issues, meanwhile the diver usually gets pummeled in the surf zone.

Edited Thursday at 03:27 PM1 day by OneYellowTang

1 hour ago, OneYellowTang said:

Howver the most interesting approach I've seen (but I can't get my wife to agree with this yet) is to have someone on "beach support" so that when you just start emerging from the surf your "support" runs into the water, grabs your camera, runs back out before the next wave breaks... I've seen this done a few times - the coordination and timing is pretty impressive (the "support" person is committing to getting pretty wet in cold water, usually without the thermal protection). I've seen camera rigs make it up to dry sand without any issues, meanwhile the diver usually gets pummeled in the surf zone.

I think we need a video of this!

Something like this