Paddle surfers safe and sound after long night trapped in Cabo de Gata

A GROUP of paddle surfers are safe and sound after a long night and several failed attempts to rescue them from a tricky to access spot in Cabo de Gata.
The Guardia Civil received the alert early Saturday evening that the three adults and three children had gone missing early while they were paddle surfing and exploring the Vela Blanca cave.
All available resources were immediately scrambled, with more than 25 officers taking part in the air and sea effort to find them.
It wasn’t until 7am the following morning that they finally located the group perched on a rock near to the cove.
Guardia scuba divers launched themselves into the sea to get up close to them and help them feel calm and safe while a Helimer helicopter made a first attempt to get to them.

But the difficult access and the weather conditions were against them.
There followed several tries to get to the paddle surfers by boat, and even by kayak, before the helicopter had another go, finally ending in success some hours later.
The rescued adults and children were reportedly cold after their night-long ordeal, but in good health. They were transferred to Almeria airport where there were ambulances waiting for them.