So, here's that Acapulco report I had promised:
Two weekends ago I went to Acapulco for the weekend. We planned to do two dives on Saturday. I had originally wanted to do the Rio de la Plata wreck as a first dive, but the weather was not too good and our DM vetoed the dive. Instead, we opted for a drift dive around the "rock" (one of the large rock/islands that can be found in Acapulco bay).
Our dive plan was 45min/60ft, and our DM did prepare us for some choppy initial moments until de got around the first part of the rock, he explained that after that things should smooth out and we would be diving with the current.
Ducks in the water!!! (splash) All went normal until about 5 minutes into the dive (I don't have the exact timing of events since I didn't have a dive computer with me). I was at about 40 feet and the current really started to play with us. At first, the current was only throwing us from side to side
, but after a while we started to experience upward pressure. Of a party of 6 divers (excluding two DMs that escorted us), 3 of the amateurs (myself included) were catapulted to the surface . It was quite a bizarre feeling trying to maintain some direction in that current
I think I was shot up from 35-40 feet to the surface in about 15-20 seconds. Luckily, as I felt I could not fight the current and started to rise, I remembered to try to compensate the pressure and I guess I did, since I did not feel any pain or discomfort. In the last 10 feet of my upward catapult, I lost visibility as I could only see the white foam that was created by the waves. In any event, as I surfaced, a wave nearly knocked off my mask (luckily I instinctively brought my hand to hold mask & regulator into place), and as I inflated my BC did feel my 10 seconds of fear as I saw the rocks at about 15 feet. The surf was pushing me towards the rocks so I was unsure of what to do...
Well, I didn't have any time to think much, since one of the DM's surfaced in front of me and shouted, " DON'T TAKE YOUR REGULATOR OUT OF YOUR MOUTH ". Now that I think of it, he seemed more scared that I was, being that at that point I was no longer alone (hehe). So, after that, he asked me if I was OK, (I signaled back since I didn't think taking my regulator off was a good idea), and then he said " WE HAVE TO GO DOWN FAST. SEE THE ROCKS? WE MUST GO, NOW. R U READY!? ".
I gave him the 10-4 signal and we torpedoed back down at the fastest pace I have ever experienced. I also remembered to compensate from the start, although this high-speed descent did cause a little discomfort so I signaled the DM for a quick stop, equalized, and then continued our turbo descent. Once we caught back up with the other divers, I cleared my mask and we waited around for the other DM to return with the other 2 divers that had also been catapulted up. After about 10 minutes, he returned only with 1 diver. Both DM's huddled the whole group into a circle, they conferred using some strange DM sign language and we continued the dive. I later found out that 1 of the divers was just too panic-attacked to continue. Luckily, our boat had an auxiliary Zodiac that was able to pick him up and have the other DM and diver continue.
Apart from the 10 seconds of fear which I attribute to my inexperience, I have to say that this episode has made me more confident of my diving skills. I guess I may have made some mistakes during the minutes right before the current shot me upwards, but I think that being in these situations, remembering what you are taught during certification and keeping a (at least partial) cool head will always help you out. In any event, I was so excited about the whole thing that only until after I was back down at about 50 feet did I realize that I was all cut up by coral & stones during the 1-2 minutes that I had tried to fight the current I had been holding on to anything I had in grasp. I tore up one of my gloves and cut my left hand in a couple of places, nothing very bad but it has kept me off the golf course for 2 weeks. My right leg was quite torn up, mostly superficial wounds, no need for major stitches except for one deep wound that I took care of with two of those adhesive stitches that they use now. The salt water did the rest of the healing during my second dive .
After all this, I now look forward to planning more dives in places with currents so I can learn to deal with them better. Im heading for Cozumel this weekend so Im sure I will have chance to battle with some drafts...
Two weekends ago I went to Acapulco for the weekend. We planned to do two dives on Saturday. I had originally wanted to do the Rio de la Plata wreck as a first dive, but the weather was not too good and our DM vetoed the dive. Instead, we opted for a drift dive around the "rock" (one of the large rock/islands that can be found in Acapulco bay).
Our dive plan was 45min/60ft, and our DM did prepare us for some choppy initial moments until de got around the first part of the rock, he explained that after that things should smooth out and we would be diving with the current.
Ducks in the water!!! (splash) All went normal until about 5 minutes into the dive (I don't have the exact timing of events since I didn't have a dive computer with me). I was at about 40 feet and the current really started to play with us. At first, the current was only throwing us from side to side
, but after a while we started to experience upward pressure. Of a party of 6 divers (excluding two DMs that escorted us), 3 of the amateurs (myself included) were catapulted to the surface . It was quite a bizarre feeling trying to maintain some direction in that current
I think I was shot up from 35-40 feet to the surface in about 15-20 seconds. Luckily, as I felt I could not fight the current and started to rise, I remembered to try to compensate the pressure and I guess I did, since I did not feel any pain or discomfort. In the last 10 feet of my upward catapult, I lost visibility as I could only see the white foam that was created by the waves. In any event, as I surfaced, a wave nearly knocked off my mask (luckily I instinctively brought my hand to hold mask & regulator into place), and as I inflated my BC did feel my 10 seconds of fear as I saw the rocks at about 15 feet. The surf was pushing me towards the rocks so I was unsure of what to do...Well, I didn't have any time to think much, since one of the DM's surfaced in front of me and shouted, " DON'T TAKE YOUR REGULATOR OUT OF YOUR MOUTH ". Now that I think of it, he seemed more scared that I was, being that at that point I was no longer alone (hehe). So, after that, he asked me if I was OK, (I signaled back since I didn't think taking my regulator off was a good idea), and then he said " WE HAVE TO GO DOWN FAST. SEE THE ROCKS? WE MUST GO, NOW. R U READY!? ".
I gave him the 10-4 signal and we torpedoed back down at the fastest pace I have ever experienced. I also remembered to compensate from the start, although this high-speed descent did cause a little discomfort so I signaled the DM for a quick stop, equalized, and then continued our turbo descent. Once we caught back up with the other divers, I cleared my mask and we waited around for the other DM to return with the other 2 divers that had also been catapulted up. After about 10 minutes, he returned only with 1 diver. Both DM's huddled the whole group into a circle, they conferred using some strange DM sign language and we continued the dive. I later found out that 1 of the divers was just too panic-attacked to continue. Luckily, our boat had an auxiliary Zodiac that was able to pick him up and have the other DM and diver continue.
Apart from the 10 seconds of fear which I attribute to my inexperience, I have to say that this episode has made me more confident of my diving skills. I guess I may have made some mistakes during the minutes right before the current shot me upwards, but I think that being in these situations, remembering what you are taught during certification and keeping a (at least partial) cool head will always help you out. In any event, I was so excited about the whole thing that only until after I was back down at about 50 feet did I realize that I was all cut up by coral & stones during the 1-2 minutes that I had tried to fight the current I had been holding on to anything I had in grasp. I tore up one of my gloves and cut my left hand in a couple of places, nothing very bad but it has kept me off the golf course for 2 weeks. My right leg was quite torn up, mostly superficial wounds, no need for major stitches except for one deep wound that I took care of with two of those adhesive stitches that they use now. The salt water did the rest of the healing during my second dive .
After all this, I now look forward to planning more dives in places with currents so I can learn to deal with them better. Im heading for Cozumel this weekend so Im sure I will have chance to battle with some drafts...
