PADI INCIDENT REPORT

Divers: Yong (OWD, 50-plus dives), Dae (OWD, 12 dives) and Amy Lee (Rescue, 78 dives)

Site: Jeju Island, South Korea; relatively flat, open area, rocky reef with soft corals

Conditions: Sunny with breeze, irregular wind, slight chop, 40-foot visibility, 70 degrees Fahrenheit, 68 degrees Fahrenheit bottom temperature with no current.

On the day’s third dive, Yong, Dae and Amy Lee were taking macro photos at 30 feet, as planned. After 35 minutes, Dae signaled “chilled” and “head back to the boat.” Yong nodded. Amy Lee signaled “turn the dive.” She led the divers, following a compass bearing that would take them directly under the boat.

After 10 minutes had passed, they’d obviously missed their target. Amy Lee signaled to surface. There, the three spotted the boat about 100 yards away to their right. Taking a bearing, they descended, and again missed the boat. Surfacing again, the boat was now straight behind them. Another underwater swim with a new bearing failed.

On the surface again, the boat was behind the divers to their left, about 50 yards away. Low on air, they completed a surface-swim to the boat. On board, the divemaster overheard Amy Lee apologizing to Yong and Dae for her poor navigation. “It wasn’t you,” he said. “The wind started shifting after you went down. The boat’s been swinging around its anchor. I watched your bubbles and you were navigating perfectly — but the boat was moving.”

WHAT THEY DID WRONG

Practically speaking, they did almost nothing wrong. There was no reasonable way to foresee that the boat would begin swinging. That said, navigating to and from the anchor, rather than the boat, would have been more accurate.

WHAT THEY DID RIGHT

They stayed together and managed their air. They started back with ample gas. When the navigation went awry, they surfaced to get their bearings and stayed on the surface with low air. They didn’t let an annoyance become a problem.

5 TIPS FROM THIS INCIDENT

1. SURFACE TO GET YOUR BEARINGS — if you can. Boat traffic, depth or strong current might make it wiser to reorient underwater.

2. BOATS SWING WHEN THERE’S WIND but it takes irregular winds to cause a swing of more than 30 to 45 degrees. Currents reduce swing. Change of wind direction can shift the boat 180 degrees.

3. WHEN POSSIBLE, NAVIGATE to and from the mooring or anchor, not the boat.

4. IF YOU DON’T SPOT THE MOORING OR ANCHOR when returning to it, search in an expanding square or circle (with line), looking up frequently for the mooring or anchor line.

5. IF YOU FIND YOURSELF UNDER THE BOAT, stay well away from the propeller, even if the engine isn’t running. Propeller injuries are usually fatal.

Want more tips on how to dive safe?

5 Tips for Cave Diving | 5 Tips for Dealing with Entanglement | 5 Tips for Underwater Navigation Safety