By fluke Tuesday was a goof off day for us.
We stayed close to the water @ Catcha and just swam a bit.
We had no idea there was a tragedy at Ricks.
There were multiple near tragedies right before our eyes.
Some kid (young man between 20 -26) did a double back flip off the rocks, that butt up to Catcha's property, and landed with a classic bellyflop.
He hurt himself and had to be helped from the water - he was apparently the lucky one that day.
The difference in outcome is probably due to the height of his dive.
Here is my point:
Do you want to wreck your vacation?
Do you want to wreck your families vacation?
Before you jump off the cliffs (I'm not going to call it diving):
Are you an experienced high diver?
Are you a gymnast?
DO YOU KNOW FOR A FACT what is in the water you're diving into?
If you answered no to any of those why are you jumping off a perfectly good cliff?
The Red Cross recommends at least 9 feet of depth for head first diving.
Leading cause of spinal injuries for young people is diving (not SCUBA).
One other thing: Don't be coerced into stupidity.
Within the same group as the above mentioned belly-flopper was a young lady in a pink one piece.
She had swam over to and climbed the ladder up to the belly-flopper's cliff.
When she looked down she couldn't do the jump, yet her group teased her for over 15 minutes to jump.
Thankfully the young lady backed out of it - I wonder if a young man would have.
Young men are horrible risk takers.
If you still want to jump off the cliffs (and threaten your group's vacation) at least get a pair of goggles and scout the area you're diving into.
Then after you scout it out try to get the notion out of your head.
Hey man it's your vacation, why wreck it?
Signed,
a former Red Cross Lifeguard and Water Safety Instructor
