Currents are still insane!!!

[ben_wilson3301]

The currents here are crazy! One dive has next to no current, the next you find yourself hanging onto a rock in the middle of the sand trying not to be swept away. That happened yesterday to two separate groups. One girl was kicking like mad and came close to being swept passed the wall into the deep blue. Some dives are fine, but they dont out way the ones that get thumbed due to unsafe conditions. Yet another group of seasoned divers found themselves in what they described as a whirlpool. They said their bubbles didnt go up they swirled around them and slowly went down! Sounded like a down welling to me. Not for the tourist by any means.

 

[PeterNBiddle]

I wouldn't call them "insane". I'd call them very-to-extremely fast with sudden direction changes (including reversals and 90° crosses).

Paradise, normally a placid dive the times I've done it, was rocketing along at fast-for-Dalila speeds today and it was "backwards" so we did the dive in reverse.

Cedrals wall had at least four distinctly different currents (that's how many I went through) running along the crest including one downwelling that ran down a sand chute and over the wall that we cut across.

We could see all of the changes coming though - just watch the fish. It's funny when you're just blasting along at too-fast-to-stop-and-take-pics speed and you look ahead and see a bunch of fish pointed *towards* you.

Allie (DM from Aldora) had some really good coaching on using the plane of your body to assist in working with the currents. I actually felt like I was able to "surf" the currents a few times by cutting across or down at the correct angle and feathering my body like a sail.

That said - I don't think I want to dive an actual wall face in this stuff.

 

[Uber]

Mmmm... This is all very strange....I have been diving here all week..... Must have missed the "insane" stuff.....currents don't appear to be any stronger than usual.... I certainly have not had to "grab on" to anything thus far....

 

[deeper thoughts]

Wow I keep hearing about these crazy currents.

 

[Nursediver]

Sounds "insane" to me.

 

[Mossman]

So it's the usual Cozumel? I ask this because the OP said "still insane" but only has < 50 dives. What are you comparing it to?

 

[missyjane]

My husband and I did our first OW dives there this past week and didn't really have any problems with the currents. There was one day where our DM was showing us a nurse shark that I couldn't stay in one place by kicking. I had to hold on to the DM and my husband, but they didn't have any problems. I attribute that to me being really small and not extremely strong though.

 

[Christi]

I have not personally been in the water this week, but have had no reports from any of my divemasters, instructors or divers that the currents are bad - in fact, they have all said it has really calmed down and back to normal.

Your DM, his/her briefing and their ability to assess conditions also plays a big part in your experience which is just another reason to select your dive op carefully, not simply the cheapest or most convenient.

I do have a serious question for the OP however, your avatar says you are a "Divemaster Candidate" - but you have less than 50 dives? You don't have enough logged dives to meet PADI's very low standard of becoming a DM candidate. Regardless, anything less than 100 dives would still classify you as a new diver in the eyes of most professionals and seasoned divers. With less than 50 dives I also have to ask where else you have dove to compare Cozumel to?

 

[Mike]

Picture from my last dive trip in Cozumel, taking the ferry ride across from Playa

 

[PeterNBiddle]

Picture from my last dive trip in Cozumel, taking the ferry ride across from Playa

Dude that is SO photoshopped!

The ferries are never that close to eachother.