How to Survive Falling Into Thor's Well

Thor’s Well, sometimes referred to as the “drainpipe of the Pacific,” is a rocky, circular hole in the Pacific Ocean that was formed after the collapse of a sea cave. At high tide, the Well seems to fill from the bottom up with water bursting out of the top.

And falling into this hellish sinkhole will be a struggle for your life. Cause during low tide, it also appears to drain straight into the underworld, before ultimately filling and emptying again. Is there anything you can grab onto?

Will a floatation device help? Should you hope someone will come to save you?

It’s unlikely anyone will be able to save you, unless they have the ability to swim underwater indefinitely. Here, the tide is strong enough to pull a boat in. So chances are you, a mere human, will end up deep in Thor’s Well.

Step 1: Protect Yourself

Wearing some kind of protective gear, especially to cover your head as you’re being thrown around in the geyser-like spray, will help you to stay conscious. Slamming incessantly against the rocks could cause a fatal blow.

Step 2: Learn to Hold Your Breath

With a second entrance at the bottom of the Well, if you’re underwater, you might want to hold your breath and hope for a favorable current to spit you into the sea. You would certainly need enough breath to make it out of the Well itself, which is six meters (20 feet) deep and three meters (10 feet) across. But in these extreme conditions, odds are, the Well will feel much greater.

Step 3: Look for Something to Keep You Afloat

Ideally, when you decided to film by the turbulent Pacific Ocean, you grabbed a life preserver. This life jacket will allow you to float to the surface after you exit the Well.
And it could also protect your chest from life-threatening injury.

Step 4: Try to Climb Out

If you were lucky enough to fall into the Well during low tide, you might be able to climb back out of it, since there will be fewer waves and very little water. Unfortunately, this will not work as easily at a powerful high tide when the hole fills from the bottom and shoots skyward. Like the man who was swept into the water at Thor’s Well in December of 2016 must’ve realized.

He was never found. His friend was able to scramble to safety but was ‘pretty scraped up.’

Step 5: Aid Your Rescuers

Due to the frigid temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, you won’t want to stay in the water for long, or else you’ll be risking hypothermia. If you prepared enough to have a whistle or flashlight with you, now would be the time to use them to signal your potential rescuers.

While awaiting for assistance you should remember, officially, there aren’t any recorded deaths from falling into Thor’s Well. As risky as it is, any ocean location has an element of danger. And hopefully, trying to get out of the Well will be your only concern. Unless, of course, a shark arrives to investigate your situation.