South Cumbria Coastguard

Tombstoning involves jumping or diving from a height into water.

It is a high-risk activity, which is unregulated and undertaken by unsupervised individuals.

• Water depth alters with the tide; the water may be shallower than it seems
• Submerged objects like rocks may not be visible; they can cause serious injury if you jump onto them
• The shock of cold water may make it difficult to swim
• Strong currents can rapidly sweep people away

Who is harmed and what type of accidents happen?

Injuries and deaths as a result of tombstoning are a growing problem. Over the five year period 2004-2008 - 139 incidents required a rescue or emergency response, 12 of these ended in a fatality. We looked at 41 of the most serious cases in more detail, of these:

• Males were mostly involved (85%)
• Teens were involved in just over half the cases (55%), followed by those in their 20s (25%) with the remainder of incidents involving people aged 30-40 years-old
• All of the known alcohol-related incidents involved males above 40-years-old (25% of all fatal incidents)
  
• Of the non-fatal incidents, spinal and limb injuries (both at 20%) were most commonly reported

Don't jump into the unknown.