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Deep water soloing (DWS) is the outdoor discipline closest to the gym: a pair of shoes, a chalk bag, a wall above the sea. When you can't hold on any longer, you let go and drop into the water.
It looks like swapping the crash pad for the sea, but the sea is not a pad. This is Part 1 of the Other Climbing Disciplines series. It covers how DWS is graded, where the risk lies, how to enter the water, and where to go in Taiwan and what to ask before booking.
Where it came from
DWS had two starting points. UKClimbing's history of Mallorca DWS records that in 1978 Miquel Riera and friends began bouldering at Porto Pi in Palma and soon moved onto the short sea cliffs; the style became known as psicobloc. In Britain it began with Nick Buckley's solo of The Conger in 1983, followed by a wave of development on the south coast in the 1990s.
In a Climbing.com interview, Riera explains the name: climbers from off the island found jumping 15 meters into the sea very psychological, so "bloc" (Catalan for bouldering) became psicobloc — psychological, or psychotic, bouldering.
Grading: a technical grade plus an S
A DWS route has two grades. First the technical grade (French 7a, YDS 5.11 and so on), then the S-grade. The Wikipedia article on DWS says British climbers created the S-grades in the mid-1990s (its grading section says 1995; its history section credits the first DWS guidebook, Into the Blue, in 1996) because the trad E-grade describes how good the protection is, which has nothing to do with the dangers of DWS.
S0–S3 definitions (expand)
| Grade | Meaning |
|---|---|
| S0 | Safe at most tides, crux not particularly high. Essentially safe: climb until you fall |
| S1 | Care required: the tide or water depth needs checking, or the crux is fairly high |
| S2 | More care than S1. Possibly spring-tide only; landings may need a push to clear rock, or a slab or reef sits below |
| S3 | The water is either too shallow or too far away. You can't afford to fall without a lot of control |
The point most often missed: S-grades assume high tide. The same route can be S1 at high tide and S3 at low tide. Wikipedia's example is Olympiad in Pembroke, Wales: F8b S1 as a DWS route at high tide, and at low tide a route with no water to catch you, graded E10 6c as a British trad climb.
Check the tide table before you go. In DWS it is as basic as checking the weather.
What you need first
- Swimming. The first line of the AAC's DWS safety essentials is "Know how to swim!" The practical standard: swim through choppy water, in the clothes you climb in, to an exit point on your own.
- Bouldering experience. DWS moves are bouldering moves, just higher. Being used to climbing to failure, and knowing when you are about to come off, helps you fall with control.
- No rope skills. This is what sets it apart from every other outdoor discipline.
Where the risk lies
The AAC piece opens plainly: DWS lessens the danger of a fall but does not eliminate injury, and at least three DWS deaths have been reported in Europe. Climbing.com's DWS primer (updated May 2026) adds the deaths of two Americans in Mallorca in 2021.
The risks fall into three groups:
1. Drowning and cold shock. Sudden immersion in cold water triggers uncontrolled gasping, rapid breathing, panic and, at worst, dangerous heart rhythms. Climbing.com treats 70°F (about 21°C) and below as cold. Its advice is to slow your breathing deliberately and remind yourself the gasping is normal; once the first minute passes, you have a fairly long window to work out how to get out.
2. Poor entry. Hitting the water too horizontally or head first puts the impact on your head, face and ears. Climbing.com notes that a sideways entry can damage the eardrums. In his account of DWS in Krabi (in Chinese), Taiwanese writer Fang Jun-qiang describes a British climber with a previously injured eardrum who jumped from more than ten meters on his first try; that night his ear hurt and bled.
3. Submerged hazards. Rocks, reefs, sunken or floating logs. Hitting one can break bones or injure the head and neck; if it knocks you unconscious, drowning risk is added on top. Climbing.com reminds you that the sea floor moves — even boulders shift with the tide.
A real case: the 2016 PsicoRoc accident recorded by the AAC. At the first DWS competition on real rock in the United States, an 18-year-old fell from the final move, about 55 feet (17 m). Witnesses said he bent forward just before impact, so his upper body and head struck the water at an angle. He suffered a concussion and a broken tooth. The AAC's analysis: the fall was higher than earlier ones, and he may have expected to land sooner and looked down, which tipped his torso forward.
Entry technique
The AAC piece and the Climbing.com piece were written by the same two medical authors (R. Bryan Simon and Seth C. Hawkins), and their advice matches:
Standard entry (default). Feet first, legs together, arms tight to your sides, body loose, head upright. Don't look down; look at the horizon. Looking down tips you forward and raises the risk of head injury.
Armchair entry (shallow water only). Pull your legs toward your chest, lean back and spread your arms, as if sitting in a lounge chair. More of your body meets the water and you go in less deep. Climbing.com calls it the default for water shallower than 10 feet (about 3 m) and says it should not be used for long, fast falls.
If a fall goes out of control, Climbing.com suggests swinging your arms in circles to bring your body back upright.
Something you can do next time you swim: find a pool with diving boards that allows jumping, and practise feet-first entries from 1 m and 3 m, fixing your eyes on a point on the far wall every time, until not looking down is automatic.
Is calm water safer?
Not necessarily. Both the AAC and Climbing.com say calm water has greater surface tension and makes for a harder impact; rough, broken water is softer but harder to get out of. That is why you find your exit before you climb.
Don't go alone, and find your exit first
"Soloing" means no rope, not no people. The AAC's second rule is "Don't go solo": watch each other's landings and be ready to help, because an unconscious climber has only a few minutes.
Before you climb, do three things:
- Check the depth of the landing zone and look for rocks and logs. Depth changes with tides, lake levels and swell.
- Find your exit: where you will swim and where you will climb out. The AAC and Climbing.com suggest placing fixed exit ropes; Riera, in his interview, recommends an escape ladder rather than leaving fixed ropes on the wall. The sources disagree, so ask how it is done locally.
- Arrange rescue: a spotter with a throw bag at key points, or a boat or raft.
In Taiwan: Long Dong
The DWS spot most often mentioned in Taiwan is at Long Dong. The climbstone.com Long Dong guide says there is "some deep-water soloing (DWS), with a couple decent DWS routes around 5.8".
Crystal Blue Temptation on Mountain Project is the pool on your left as you come out of Puffer's Pass; if you are facing the Clocktower, it is right behind you. It is a self-contained pool where surrounding rocks break the waves and ease the tide. The poster adds an important line: other routes probably could exist, but with the powerful riptides it's not really a good idea.
So at Long Dong, don't climb just because there is sea below. Climb only at spots that local climbers know and where depth and tide have been checked, with someone watching from shore or the water.
What to ask before booking a commercial session
As of summer 2026, at least one Taiwanese outdoor company runs DWS sessions at Long Dong. This guide names no operators, because there is no public safety review to point to. Before booking, ask these six questions directly:
- Is there a lifeguard or water-rescue person on site? Is there a boat, a float or a throw bag?
- How are life jackets used? Worn while climbing, or only for swimming?
- Who checks the water depth, and when? How is the session timed against the tide?
- Where is the exit? Is there a ladder or a fixed way out?
- How many climbers per instructor? Is someone dedicated to watching every entry?
- What weather or swell cancels the session, and who decides?
If they can't answer, or the answer is "we'll see on the day", pick another company or another day.
Abroad: Mallorca, Thailand, Vietnam
Wikipedia lists the main destinations as Mallorca in Spain (the birthplace of DWS, including Cova del Diablo and Cala Barques, also spelled Cala Varques), Dorset, Devon and Pembrokeshire in Britain, and in Southeast Asia the Railay Beach area in Thailand and Hạ Long Bay in Vietnam.
One option close to Taiwan is Krabi, Thailand. Fang's account describes the local setup: the guide takes a boat to a small island, then ferries climbers by kayak to a simple ladder at the base of the wall. The only safety briefing was "try to land feet first so the impact is less likely to injure you, and don't hit the rocks". Ask the same six questions abroad.
Competitions, in one line
Riera says he and Chris Sharma dreamed for more than a decade of a DWS competition on real rock and in the end brought the wall to a swimming pool instead, which is what pool events like the Psicobloc Masters are (Climbing.com interview). Competition rules are outside this series.
Practice: three scenarios
Answers are below each question. Think first, then check.
1. You found a 6b S1 route and arrive to find it is low tide.
Answer
S-grades assume high tide. At low tide the water may not be deep enough, and an S1 may be an S2 or S3. Don't climb it with an S1 mindset: recheck the depth and look for rock below, and if there isn't enough water, wait for the tide or pick another route.
2. The sea is flat today and a friend says: "No waves, so a fall is safer."
Answer
Calm water has greater surface tension, so the impact is actually harder. Rough water is softer but harder to exit. Both have risks; what matters is entry technique, depth and your exit.
3. You are 8 meters up, almost out of strength, and want to look down to see how far the water is.
Answer
Don't look down. Looking down tips you forward and increases the chance your head and face hit the water; in the 2016 PsicoRoc concussion, the AAC suggested the climber may have looked down. Let go while you still have control, eyes on the horizon, feet first, legs together, arms in.
Next
DWS has no rope. Big walls are the opposite: ropes, haul bags and ascenders, and days on the wall. Read Part 2: Big walls and aid climbing, or go back to the series overview.
References
- R. Bryan Simon & Seth C. Hawkins: Essentials: Deep Water Soloing (Accidents in North American Climbing, 2017)
- R. Bryan Simon: Deep Water Soloing Injury, Summersville Lake (Accidents in North American Climbing, 2017)
- Deep-Water Soloing This Summer? Read This First. (Climbing.com, updated May 2026)
- A History of Mallorca Deep Water Soloing (UKClimbing)
- Interview: Miquel Riera on the Birth of Deep Water Soloing (Climbing.com)
- Deep-water soloing (Wikipedia)
- Crystal Blue Temptation, Long Dong (Mountain Project)
- Long Dong climbing information (climbstone.com)
- Fang Jun-qiang: Deep water soloing in Krabi, Thailand (Business Weekly alive, 2023, in Chinese)
- What lies beyond rock climbing: series overview