The ocean tried to claim us

So I returned from Belize at 2:30am yesterday and wanted to share a bit about our experience at the reef.

Originally I had several multi-tank dives scheduled but we pulled them and swapped for a quick snorkeling trip at Hol Chan Marine Reserve, Shark Ray Alley, and Conch Graveyard for time considerations. Due to that ice storm last week we got stuck in Dallas overnight and lost our scheduled day of diving.

A party of 8 led by a Belizian guide hit up HCMR. My wife is not a strong swimmer, and three in our group had never been in the ocean before.

The guide was careless and got excited by a group of eagle rays gliding through the channel and had us follow. This was during an outgoing tide and we soon found ourselves in a rip current. The last thing I remember the guide saying was "there's reef sharks ahead, we need to turn around"

In a matter of seconds three from our group (two of which had never been in the ocean before) were 20 yards down current and my wife became sick from the increased waves.

So I grabbed her and flipped her on her back and started kicking as hard as I could to get her out of the current.... Well for those who haven't been to HCMR, the reef sticks up out of the water on either side of the channel. I got slammed into the reef pretty bad and my legs got cut up.

I refused to allow us to get swept out to sea or even worse picked up by one of the 8-10ft waves and crushed - the only option was to swim against the current. Took about 10 minutes but I got her out and by this time several other guides had noticed what was happening and they acted accordingly.

A rescue boat was deployed and nearly capsized when the captain didn't keep the bow pointed into the waves. It had to give up and come back into the bay. Another park ranger went around to another another opening and recovered the 3 from our group who were a few hundred yards out to sea at that point.

Evidently I was bleeding the whole time so when I got back on the boat it was noticeable. Thankfully no sharks were curious. Everyone made it out alright without serious injury.

Respect the sea. Understand tides. Get a good guide. Don't chase animals that live there, they can go places you can't.

 

I'm a regular fish in the water . Wife's happy, her mother even more so.

It's a lot like a bathtub full of water with the drain pulled. If you're not near the drain, the water is calm and without significant current. Our guide led us straight into the drain. There have been a handful of drownings/deaths at that same spot in the past few years.