Exhausted Hawaii diver rescued

A 19-year-old diver was safe Sunday after he ran into trouble in waters off Maili Point.
Ocean Safety and Lifeguard Services Division officials rescued the man and issued a warning about the dangers of ocean currents.
The ocean looked calm and inviting, beckoning a 19-year-old diver who ran into trouble at about 11:30 am.
"There was a diver off Maili Point, a quarter-mile off, waving frantically," Ocean Safety Division Lt. Hall Danon said.
Ocean Safety sent two lifeguards on jet skis and two more on surfboards.
Danon got to the frightened diver on his board.
"He just said he was exhausted and couldn't fight the current anymore," Danon said.
Danon said the diver saved himself from drifting away.
"He has a tag line and he anchored his spear into the reef and he was just hanging on that, so he couldn't drift away from land any further," Danon said. "That was a good move."
But Danon said it wasn't a good move to go out alone and to go so far out.
"We have real smooth and inviting, calm conditions that looks like you could just have a day of it," Danon said. "But as soon as you get off the reef, you just get in this freight train of a current moving toward town and away from land."
Lifeguards brought the diver in on a jet ski. Paramedics checked him out and released him to his father.
"Good day, good lesson, and hopefully everybody learns from that," Danon said.

Lifeguards remind divers to never dive or swim far off shore alone and to check tides and currents.

"Just because it's flat doesn't mean the water's not moving," Danon said. "It can be underwater, and the deeper you go further from shore, the faster the current moves."