Three divers drifted away from a dive boat in choppy waters off Kahala Point in Anahola Thursday. The three were aboard a Kauai Divers boat and became separated at noon. One diver swam back to the Anahola point. Two others
Three divers drifted away from a dive boat in choppy waters off Kahala Point in Anahola Thursday.
The three were aboard a Kauai Divers boat and became separated at noon.
One diver swam back to the Anahola point. Two others were picked up by a fishing boat off Donkey Beach north of Kealia Beach and were transported safely back to shore by a Coast Guard rescue boat, Coast Guard officials said.
A visiting female diver swam a mile back to the Anahola shoreline and reached the beach area at 2:10 p.m., according to Coast Guard Chief Kai Christensen, who is assigned to the Coast Guard station at Nawiliwili Harbor.
Her identity was not released and her physical condition is unknown.
The identities and the condition of the dive captain and another female diver, also a visitor, are also unknown.
They were picked up about a half-mile from shore at 2:35 p.m. by crew members aboard a Kaua‘i-based fishing boat identified by Coast Guard officials as the Christy Ann.
Crew members aboard a 23-foot hard-hulled Coast Guard rescue boat, which was dispatched to the scene from the Coast Guard station in Nawiliwili Harbor, took the man and woman to the Waika‘ea Canal in Kapa‘a, Christensen said.
The woman was treated there by American Medical Response paramedics near or by the boat launch facility.
The three survivors were from a Kauai Divers boat that contained two other divers. One of the divers called authorities by radio when the threesome became separated.
“They probably got caught in the current. We don’t have the full story on it yet, and don’t know how far they were from the boat,” Christensen said.
Christensen said the Marine Safety Office Coast Guard office on O‘ahu plans to conduct an investigation into the incident.
A Coast Guard helicopter was dispatched to Kaua‘i from Air Station Barber’s Point on O‘ahu at 2 p.m. The helicopter turned back when word reached the crew that the woman and male diver had been rescued.
The two remaining divers on the boat began a search for the other three divers when they became separated, Coast Guard officials said.
Escorted by the Coast Guard rescue boat, the two remaining divers drove the Kauai Divers boat back to the small boat landing at Waika‘ea Canal.
Staff writer Lester Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net
