According to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the divers had travelled down from north-west England for the Easter break. On Easter Day they elected to carry out a shore dive in the Porthgwarra area, near Land’s End.
Walkers spotted the divers, described as a mixed-age group of men and women, “calling for help and in difficulty” about a quarter of a mile off the coast. The sighting was quickly reported and, fortunately for the group, RNLI craft were already at sea on an exercise.
Sennen Cove RNLI’s inshore and all-weather lifeboats were able to get to the Porthgwarra sea area within 10 minutes of the walkers’ report. The rescue helicopter from RNAS Culdrose was also scrambled.
Five of the divers were spotted and recovered by the inshore lifeboat a quarter of a mile off Gwennap Head. The other two were seen from the helicopter on rocks they had managed to reach, and were collected by the inshore lifeboat.
"These divers were fortunate that the walkers spotted them and reported their plight to us, and that we were able to get rescue resources to them so quickly,” stated Falmouth Coastguard, which co-ordinated the rescue. “The currents in that particular area are strong and it is easy to be swept away.”
The two who reached rocks were fortunate to do so, while next stop for the five who remained adrift, “if they had not been rescued so swiftly, would have been the Isles of Scilly”.
Noting that the divers had clearly not been aware of “the strong tidal conditions in the area and did not have a safety boat with them on scene”, the Coastguard advised that less-experienced shore divers should choose “more sheltered and less tidal conditions”.
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