A Near Death at Haulover Inlet?

When Haulover Inlet is discussed, it’s considered one of the harshest inlets in South Florida. It has its contenders, but Haulover has a special mix of being known for its inexperienced boaters and those seeking special thrills. 

This particular day marked an explosive mix of both as a single engine Dusky came roaring towards the inlet bearing four passengers. The crew seemed well; they were all bright smiles and good times, even going so far as to wave to the camera and greet our cameraman right before the unthinkable happened: someone was plunged into the ocean.

The captain was caught unawares by a particularly deep swell which caused him to stuff the bow abruptly at speed–the resulting wave slammed the boat so hard that it flooded the entire vessel, engulfing it in the white foam of crashing ocean.

As quickly as it happened was as quickly as the passenger disappeared: you can see the man furthest to the left get swept into the spray and vanish. Our man on scene looked around for him, maintaining the camera on the boaters as they searched for their missing passenger, but to no avail. He was gone.

Neither them or our on-scene crew were able to locate him. For a few days after, social media was ablaze with people trying to find out what happened to him. Finally, he reached out to our Instagram and let us know he was able to swim to the rocks and haul himself onto the jetty a ways away from where the incident happened. 

We’re extremely glad he was okay; that being said, this should serve as a grim reminder to anyone wanting to brave Haulover Inlet just how quickly things can turn sour for anyone wanting to cross it.