Beware of French Lady

[bbarada]

My wife loves drift diving. She doesn't like anchored boat diving when there is a strong current. We both don't like night diving in a strong current.

 

[Christi]

you have to be comfortable with being on a fast drifting escalator ride. Only one rule is that you cannot go back. For me it beats swimming. Kinda like going to
the movies underwater. Loved Coz and dove the entire length with boat operator following our bubbles. He only lost us once. Just be sure that you do not go past the end of the island. When he lost us we saw the end coming up and swam to shore where he found us.

Am I the only one that finds this post very odd and interesting that he was the one that pulled up this year old thread?

There are so many things wrong with this statement/claim.

 

[Sue Sue]

Well, now that you mention it... So this particular drift dive was approx. 30 miles long ??? Then, they somehow new they were running out of reef at the Very North end of the island and had to make it to shore before making a trip to Cuba ??? It would be interesting to hear more specifics from zoomzx11 .

 

[Oldbear]

you have to be comfortable with being on a fast drifting escalator ride. Only one rule is that you cannot go back. For me it beats swimming. Kinda like going to
the movies underwater. Loved Coz and dove the entire length with boat operator following our bubbles. He only lost us once. Just be sure that you do not go past the end of the island. When he lost us we saw the end coming up and swam to shore where he found us.

Am I the only one that finds this post very odd and interesting that he was the one that pulled up this year old thread?

There are so many things wrong with this statement/claim.

Well, now that you mention it... So this particular drift dive was approx. 30 miles long ??? Then, they somehow new they were running out of reef at the Very North end of the island and had to make it to shore before making a trip to Cuba ??? It would be interesting to hear more specifics from zoomzx11 .

It might have to do with the author's "Specialized Training"



Or they were mistaken or incomplete on a couple of facts

 

[Mossman]

Well, now that you mention it... So this particular drift dive was approx. 30 miles long ??? Then, they somehow new they were running out of reef at the Very North end of the island and had to make it to shore before making a trip to Cuba ??? It would be interesting to hear more specifics from zoomzx11 .

"He only lost us once" implies that there were more than one dive. After all, how many times can the DM lose divers on any one dive? So they dove the entire length of the island over multiple dives, which implies they dove northern reefs and southern reefs and those in between. That's possible.

As for finding the end of the island and swimming to shore, well that's anyone's guess what happened.

 

[flots am]

My wife and several of her friends explain that they feel they don't have enough control over the dive in a drift. Now, PLEASE? Do not rip my head off. My wife married me because I am a champion for the rights of women. I am just reporting what women, both when we dive with a group and women divers we meet on the island, tell me.

Anyway, I think my wife and I are done with the reef known as French Lady. Anyone else notice how ripping thE current is on that long, flat reef?

You're not alone, but the problem isn't "drift diving" it's "Drift diving in Cozumel with a DM"

I love drift diving and do it in the St. Lawrence river whenever I can get up there. The current is so fast in some places that a moored boat will leave a wake, but the diving is dead easy because we're not fighting the current. As long as the boat captain is on the ball, everything is fine and it's an easy dive. Just float along and watch stuff move by.

What makes it hard in Coz is that all the DMs want to show you stuff, which requires that you move against the current, which I find to be much more work than it's worth.

Drift dive locally? You bet! Cozumel? No thanks.

flots.

 

[Sue Sue]

"He only lost us once" implies that there were more than one dive. After all, how many times can the DM lose divers on any one dive? So they dove the entire length of the island over multiple dives, which implies they dove northern reefs and southern reefs and those in between. That's possible.

As for finding the end of the island and swimming to shore, well that's anyone's guess what happened.

Really ?? Not a 30 mile dive ??? LOL. And yes, a Captain can "loose" the bubbles during a dive and track them again , especially when currents change and there are more than one group of divers in the same area. In my experience it has not happened often and the Captain has always figured it out. How they do this is amazing.

 

[susanlouise]

I just got back from Coz and the currents were very strong - unusually strong, everyone said - and the diving was really stressful on about 3 out of 21 dives. The current reversed on Paradise one day and almost slammed us all into the pier ( i am not a current expert but everyone called it a ripping current - took 3 minutes to cover same ground that had taken us 30 min or so with gentler current on way south.) Once the boat dropped us into the sand off the reef and we had to crawl into the current to get to the reef. One person just could not do it and went up. It is also tough when DM wants to stop to look at something and you have to swim into current for an extended time to stay with group. A lot of air gets used up with exertion and general stress. Hopefully I have learned how to manage it a bit better for next time.

 

[flots am]

It is also tough when DM wants to stop to look at something and you have to swim into current for an extended time to stay with group. A lot of air gets used up with exertion and general stress. Hopefully I have learned how to manage it a bit better for next time.

I can't tell you how much that pisses me off.

It gives you the choice of working your butt off and sucking your tank down to look at his pet <whatever>, or flying off into the distance alone and hoping the boat driver is really, really good and that you don't end up on the evening news in a story about how long it takes to pry a SCUBA tank out of a cruise ship prop.

flots.

 

[bbarada]

When were you in Cozumel? The new moon was July 8th, and the full moon is going to be July 22nd.