SONOMA Co. -- A Sonoma County Sheriff's Office helicopter rescue team conducted a long-line aerial rescue Saturday morning of a scuba diver swept out to sea off the Mendocino County coast.

A call came in shortly before 10 a.m. reporting an abalone diver in distress, according to the sheriff's office. The 51-year-old Lafayette man was stranded in the ocean off the coast of Gualala, a town about 115 miles north of San Francisco. Strong rip currents and heavy surf prevented him from swimming back to shore.

A crew departed from the Sonoma County Airport in the sheriff's office helicopter, known as "Henry-1".

After locating the diver, the helicopter circled the area a few times to find a good spot to land and prepare for the rescue, according to tactical paramedic Rob Green. Green said he was attached to a 100-foot static line and the other end was attached to the bottom of the helicopter.

As Green dangled from the line, the Henry-1's pilot, Paul Bradley flew him a quarter-mile offshore, lowering him into the water with the diver. The paramedic put a rescue harness on the diver and motioned to the pilot to hoist them both back up. The helicopter lifted them to the top of some nearby cliffs.

The entire rescue took less than two minutes, according to the sheriff's office.

The diver was uninjured, but exhausted from his ordeal, Green said. By the time he was rescued, the man had spent about an hour in the cold ocean.

"He pretty much wanted to go home, warm up, drink fresh water that wasn't saltwater and sit in front of a fire," Green said.

The man has 21 years of diving experience, according to the sheriff's office. He shed his weight belt once he realized his predicament. Large waves stripped away his dive tube and other apparatus while he awaited rescue.

Cal Fire, California State Parks rescue personnel and an air ambulance also responded to the distress call.