Photo: Jonathan Fisher

A daring dip in the ocean turned dangerous Sunday when a man leapt from a Victoria seawall into the rough water below and was unable to get out.

The man was dressed in a wetsuit and wearing a diving mask and snorkel, and what appears to be a weight belt used for scuba diving and freediving. He was also holding a GoPro camera, which he told police he was using to capture video footage of the large waves that were breaking.

Jonathan Fisher, who was taking photos from the seawall around 3:30 p.m., saw the man standing on stairs along the seawall.

“He was standing there for a good five minutes, and then he jumped right in,” Fisher said.

The man appeared to be fine in the water, Fisher said, but he wasn’t able to get out on his own.

“It seemed he was having trouble because the surf was so high,” Fisher said. “The waves were absolutely bashing against the walls.”

Police were called and arrived to find passersby attempting to reach him with a line.

Officers, with the help of Victoria firefighters, paramedics and passers-by, were able to get the man out of the water. He was taken to a waiting ambulance, but was not injured and declined further medical attention.