Rock jumping at Horseshoe Bay...

[PeppErZ!]

How deep is the water at Horseshoe Bay...I have seen pictures with people jumping off of the rock formations and wondered is it really that deep that close to the shore? I would love to climb up to the top of them...but jumping off...well we will have to see in a couple of weeks!

[bdaguy]

How deep is the water at Horseshoe Bay...I have seen pictures with people jumping off of the rock formations and wondered is it really that deep that close to the shore? I would love to climb up to the top of them...but jumping off...well we will have to see in a couple of weeks!

i don't recommend this at all. many people have lost the use of their limbs from jumping off that rock, some have died.

[Charles4515]

How deep is the water at Horseshoe Bay...I have seen pictures with people jumping off of the rock formations and wondered is it really that deep that close to the shore? I would love to climb up to the top of them...but jumping off...well we will have to see in a couple of weeks!

 

I have seen a lot of people jumping off. I don't think it is a good idea. Last time I was there, this past June, I saw a man break his leg very badly. They had to call EMS.

[iheartbda]

How deep is the water at Horseshoe Bay...I have seen pictures with people jumping off of the rock formations and wondered is it really that deep that close to the shore? I would love to climb up to the top of them...but jumping off...well we will have to see in a couple of weeks!

 

I've seen people jump from another place, which will remain unnamed. Bad idea any way you look at it. Why take such a risk?

[Writeratsea]

I've seen people jump from another place, which will remain unnamed. Bad idea any way you look at it. Why take such a risk?

Why not jump off the rock and rent a motorbike. Double your chances of getting injured and ruining your Bermuda vacation.:)

[Got2Cruise]

i don't recommend this at all. many people have lost the use of their limbs from jumping off that rock, some have died.

 

Seriously, I don't know why the lifeguards allow this.

[bdaguy]

Seriously, I don't know why the lifeguards allow this.

 

there's a sign on the rock warning of the dangers. ignore it at your own peril and you just might make the darwin awards. the lifeguards allow people to swim knowing that eventually someone will need help but they don't stop people from entering the water. it's not up to the lifeguards to protect you from yourself.

[ddoll]

Also...there was a young teenage girl with our group on the Segway tour. Her mother was concerned about her riding the Segway because she had sea urchin spines in her foot from just jumping off the small rocks there into the sand.

 

She said the lifeguard came over to her and warned her about it and when she looked at her foot, there they were. She said she didn't feel them when they went in, but she ended up with some very painful blisters afterwards. (apparently, you cannot remove them but have to wait for them to work themselves out)

[Got2Cruise]

there's a sign on the rock warning of the dangers. ignore it at your own peril and you just might make the darwin awards. the lifeguards allow people to swim knowing that eventually someone will need help but they don't stop people from entering the water. it's not up to the lifeguards to protect you from yourself.

 

But in the states, well at least NY beaches, it is.:) We are used to hearing the lifeguard blow his/her whistle if you are doing anything that they don't like. And, the lifeguards in NY are very strict--no flotation devices allowed, no horseplay, if they think you are going into an undertow they will blow the whistle and make you move over. The lifeguards in NY don't play around. Not that I give those knuckleheads diving any excuse, but many of them did look very young, and probably too stupid to know any better.

[cram33]

Leave the jumping to the locals and enjoy the beach. You're on vaction. You work too hard all year and spend so much on a trip, why risk it?

[Sugar13]

I had to send this thread to my sister since she did jump from the rocks at a beach we went to last month. I told her she was nuts, lol, but here's what she had to say about it --

 

This is going to be a long letter because I want anyone reading to try to get an idea of the experience itself, what lead up to it and why I did it. I have to preface it with a little background. I am a 47 years old female and I don’t often take a lot of risks. I also don’t often get away from home when I take vacation time. This was the first time I have been away from home on a vacation that lasted more than 4 or 5 days in 32 years; I was away 2 weeks and loved every minute of it, though I still missed home a bit.

 

Part of those two weeks was a cruise to Bermuda on the Empress of the Seas as part of a family reunion. We had 34 people with us on the cruise, many of whom had been to Bermuda before. It was my first time there. It was such a wonderful place and so relaxed I instantly felt almost at home. All the Bermudians I met seemed to be wonderful, friendly and helpful people. Our time in Bermuda was not nearly as long as I would have liked so I only got to a beach once but it was a small and cozy one, surrounded by large volcanic rocks. The enclosed area was fairly shallow almost all the way out to the rocks directly opposite the beach. I am 5’3” and could walk about three quarters of the way to the rocks with water up to my chin. It did drop off a bit after that, getting deeper about 30 feet or so from the rocks. Many people were jumping from some of the rocks. The most popular was a large rock to the left of center directly out from the beach. It was from 10 to 12 feet above the water and there was a sturdy rope tied to a large stake to help people climb to the top. The best place to jump seemed to be the right-hand side as you climbed the rock in the space between it and the next rock over. I was snorkeling around some of the rock in the area and dove to the bottom of the large sandy opening between this rock and the next one. The area beneath where people were jumping was at least 15 feet deep and very sandy. There were no projecting rocks beneath the ledge used by the jumpers; in fact, the rock cut under a bit making what looked like a natural diving platform.

 

I don’t know why but after watching for quite a while I decided to try jumping myself. I did come prepared for tide pools as I had brought dive booties. I put those on before I walked and swam to the rock as I had seen it was a very rough surface. First, I had to see if I had enough upper body strength to haul myself up by the rope as there was no other way up. The rope got me about half way up and then the rocks made a kind of staircase to the top. I will say the 6 or 7 young guys that were on top, ranging in age from probably 10 to 16, were a bit surprised to see me up there and even more surprised to find out that I was going to jump; to tell the truth I was actually rather surprised at myself. From the water the rock doesn’t look that high but from the top it seemed like a lot more than the 10 or 12 feet it actually was.

 

I know myself well enough to know that if I hesitated I would not do it so when it was my turn I just walked to the edge and stepped off, feet first. I dropped very fast and the water felt kind of hard from that height but I didn’t get all the way to the bottom once I hit the water. The only thing I did wrong was not hold my nose so I must have gotten a good pint of salt water in my sinuses! I let out a great big yell when I came to the surface, the adrenaline was pumping and I really felt alive. I couldn’t believe that I had done that! I mean that: it really didn’t feel real (except for the sinuses) so I knew I had to go again. The climb up was easier this time and the guys were very happy that I was going again. We all started talking and, like young men everywhere, they started showing off; many were diving in head first. The oldest was a local boy and he was good. He looked like he had been diving from that rock all his life and probably had. If Bermuda needs platform divers at the Olympics, they need to find this kid. They were all teasing each other a lot but were very respectful to me. My next turn, I decided to try a head first dive. I actually didn’t even go under as deep but it still felt good. I climbed up a third time.

 

When I got to the top this time the young Bermudian was bleeding from several long, shallow scratches on his chest. I asked him what happened and he seemed rather embarrassed to tell me he had slipped while hauling himself up by the rope and hit the rock face chest first. The salt water actually seemed to help clean it out and it sure didn’t bother him any. This was the only injury I know about from the time I was at the beach.

 

There was one young man who was from our reunion group. He wanted so badly to dive in head first like the other boys but was very afraid. It turns out he is afraid of heights as well but had managed to jump in feet first a couple of times. He would walk to the edge then hesitate so long that he would have to step aside and let someone else go. The guys were teasing him terribly and I really felt for him. We talked a bit and he finally said he would jump if I did. I told him I would wait for him at the bottom and if he didn’t come up I would pull him up. I jumped head first again and was able to enjoy the trip more this time even though it was still an adrenaline rush. I found a small, partly submerged rock about 20 feet from the base of the jumping rock and waited. I yelled for the young man to crouch down before he jumped because it would make the water look closer. He finally went but did open up a bit just before he hit the water. When he came up he was yelling and happy but in a little pain from the sting of the water from hitting slightly on his side. I told him that would go away but the memory of conquering his fear would be with him the rest of his life. I found out the boy’s dad was watching and he later told me I was the reason his son jumped; he was happy about it knowing how scared his son had been. I hope I helped but he had really done it for himself.

 

That is how I felt about jumping myself. I took a risk after checking out the area and weighing that risk with the reward of a bit more confidence and self-esteem. The first jump was to prove to myself I could. The second jump was to prove to myself that I really had done it. The last jump was for the satisfaction of knowing I could do it. I wouldn’t recommend it for everyone nor would I discourage anyone from trying it if they understood the risks and knew the place they would be jumping. I don’t know what Horseshoe bay is like but I know where I jumped was reasonably safe by my standard. A person can get hurt doing everyday things like walking down a street or changing a light bulb. To be alive is to experience risk in one form or another everyday. Life can be a challenge and just because something might possibly hurt you is not necessarily a reason not to do it. We all need to find our own comfort point when it comes to taking those risks.

[bdaguy]

i think most of us would agree on the following -

 

changing a lightbulb - relatively safe

sticking finger into lightbulb socket - plain stupid

walking down the street - relatively safe

running across busy highway - plain 'ol stupid

swimming - relatively safe

jumping off rocks where others have paralysed themselves or died - plain stupid

 

 

just because it's a sandy bottom doesn't mean you can't break your neck. dive into a sandy bottom and you can break your neck. dive into a rocky bottom and you break your neck as well as split your head wide open.

"I told him I would wait for him at the bottom and if he didn’t come up I would pull him up."

then what? care for him for the rest of his life if he survived?

don't do it people

[Charles4515]

jumping off rocks where others have paralysed themselves or died - plain stupid

 

 

just because it's a sandy bottom doesn't mean you can't break your neck. dive into a sandy bottom and you can break your neck. dive into a rocky bottom and you break your neck as well as split your head wide open.

 

 

Well said. As I posted I saw a fellow badly break his leg. I did not mention this because I did not see it myself but someone on the same cruise told me she saw a woman jump the same day later in the afternoon and possibly did break their neck or worse. She said the lifeguards were very upset because they did not think that the woman was going to make it.

[iheartbda]

The place this person jumped from sounds like the place that I did not name in my previous post so as not to give anyone ideas about trying it. Thankfully, it was not named in the posted letter either.

 

Sorry, but there are other ways to build one's confidence than doing inheritantly dangerous things.

 

bdaguy, you're right. Unfortunately, there are people who are going try something no matter how many tell them not to do it. Hopefully, the original poster will take the majority's advice.

[iheartbda]

Sorry, but there are other ways to build one's confidence than doing inheritantly dangerous things.

 

 

Correction; inherently, rather than the badly butchered previous.