Note: The rule here should be that if you are going to snorkel into a cave (in La Jolla) where I was or anywhere on earth is that you should likely watch the wave patterns going into that cave for about 10 to 12 minutes to make sure the ongoing wave patterns aren't going to kill you or maim you.
I was at La Jolla where there are beautiful Gold Garibaldi Fish there at the Cove where there are also caves. I had looked into the caves before but I hadn't gone in with a snorkel and fins before. Luckily for me I was wearing my wet suit which protected me enough so I didn't have to do to the hospital and luckily I could find a way out of this without dying by being beat to death by waves in the back of a cave at the ocean.
Basically, I was just snorkeling on a beautiful La Jolla, California Day (La Jolla is just north of San Diego, California). I decided (stupidly in retrospect) to go into a cave to explore. The next thing I knew I was being smashed against the back of the cave by rocks by the 5 to 6 foot waves now coming into the sea cave. What protected me from serious injury was my wet suit and fins but they got some rips in them that I had to repair later too.
I was able to protect my head enough so I wasn't knocked unconscious in the process. And finally on one of the waves after smashing me against the back lifted me up to the top of the cave. and since I was then an expert Rock climber I grabbed on using jam cracking moves and by wedging my fins in two places to the right and to the left. So, when the water dropped back down again I was stationary high in the cave in the rocks. I took my mask off and put it up one of my arms on the strap and did the same for my fins so I wouldn't lose them. Then I noticed I could see a little light above me in the cave which might mean I could climb vertically out. As the waves kept crashing below me in the cave which would have certainly killed me if I had been in the water then. I was only getting splashes of water now when they crashed as I was starting to rock climb upwards. This likely took place between 1970 and 1973 when I was going to college in the San Diego Area.
There were teenagers who looked very strangely at me climbing up a hole in the rocks covered with blood on my legs and hands. Luckily, I didn't have blood on my face just on my legs and hands from trying to protect my face and head from rock blows from the waves.
What did I learn here? I never went into those caves again. I realized it just wasn't worth dying for.
However, others, if they are watching the waves and there are none above maybe 3 feet or less in sets when you observe them for 15 minutes or more before going into the cave, they might be safe enough to traverse for snorkelers unless you get a rogue wave or waves which also can happen anytime.
This is likely the closest I ever came to dying while snorkeling. But, if you learn from your mistakes you can survive them and move on. Snorkeling where the sea life is beautiful like California or Hawaii is still one of my favorite things to do here in 2015. I started out as a SCUBA diver at age 12 at Catalina Island in 1960 when I got my Junior Scuba License along with my DAd.
There was a program on TV called "Territory Underwater" with the Brauer Brothers then and I got my certification with the Brauer Brothers and paid my way and my Dad's with money I made working for my Dad then as an Electrician's Helper Summers from 1960 until 1965 when I was 17. Back then it cost $25 to certify as a Junior Scuba Diver and for a Free Boat dive to Catalina Island back then. So, I paid $50 for my Dad and I to do this.
On my first time down the anchor chain of the dive boat I went 50 feet deep into the water. I remember looking up at the boat which was 50 feet above me because the water was very clear at Catalina then like it often still is in Hawaii places. I was amazed at what I saw. Then another diver came down but his regulator was leaking. I signaled him he was leaking air so he went back up to fix the air leak. Then my partner (my Dad got seasick from the boat motion after anchoring) so he never scuba dived and likely he was scared about what he was allowing me to do. But, of course I was completely young and fearless and already saw myself as a man at 12.
So, as Dad was throwing up over the side of the boat, I was down 50 feet in the ocean exploring a whole new world. My new diving partner went into a cave and came out frightened and immediately went to the surface. Me, being a curious 12 year old just went into the cave to see what frightened my partner who had been gathering Lobsters to eat. So, protecting his lobster stash was a Moray Eel which was about 6 to 7 feet long and a head about 10 inches to a foot tall. And when they breathe they have needle sharp teeth and look like they are angry and growling. So, i backed off realizing this was what had scared my partner and sent him to the surface (hopefully not fast enough to get the bends and die).
It was a really great day for me and not so much for Dad who wondered whether he was encouraging me to just grow up too fast. But, he had lived a really adventurous life his whole life too. So, taking calculated risks was how all the men in my family had always been ever since my Great Grand Dad had been a Captain in the Northern Army in the Civil War in the 1860s. Being pioneers in all sorts of ways and exploring new horizons was just an ongoing family trait for my father, his relatives and me.
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