Boat dives with current?

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gspechko

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Location
Canada
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My wife and I will be diving with Ocean Encounters Jan 8-22. We have five days of boat diving (though we can adjust to 7 if we need to).

My wife's a little nervous about diving in currents. We've been diving in Martinique, Bonaire, Belize, and Roatan, and haven't run into significant currents at any of them (well, Hol Chan in Belize, had some, but that's been the extent of it for us).

The posted schedule (subject to change, of course) is this:
Sunday: Tugboat / Sandy’s Plateau
Monday: Jan Thiel / Small Wall
Tuesday: Booby Trap / Saba Tugboat
Wednesday: Barracuda Point / Beacon Point
Thursday: Double Reef / Shipwreck Point
Friday: Eel Valley / Diver’s Leap
Saturday: Director’s Bay / Cornelius Bay

Do any of these have strong currents at this time of year for her to be wary of? Are any of these must-dive locations? If we only did 5 days of boat diving, which two days should we skip?

Finally, we also have 5 days of shore diving. How's the house reef at Lions Dive resort? We are quite fond of lazing around taking pics in under 20m of water.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can provide.
 
I can't speak to those specific locations or that dive outfit but I would emphasize both having a delayed surface marking buoy (major difference in terms of visibility on the surface) and that any outfit you go with should be providing all divers relatively detailed general information well ahead of the trip (ie prior to any money changing hands, based on your/your wife's experience we recommend ___ dives and don't recommend __ dives). Then when on the trip a more detailed pre-dive brief is in order and anyone should feel comfortable thumbing a dive they are uncomfortable with for any reason at all...
 
we dived in curacao a few year back just before christmas. we hit a handful of different shore dive locations (loved directors bay). there was only minor current when we were in the water. it was great.
someone with extensive diving around the island might be able to give a better geneal over all impression of the typical current conditions but unfortunately these things can change day to day.
so the best advise i would give would mimic what was said above. dicuss with your dive operator. they know the waters best and can give recommendations on the most likely sites to have little current.
enjoy!!
 
I have been to all of those dive sites, except Eel Valley/Divers Leap during a month long stay in Aug-Sep 2021, and saw nothing more than very light current (hardly noticeable). I have also been to Curacao on numerous one day cruise stops at various times of the year, and never experienced any significant current. I am not saying stiffer currents are not possible, but doubt you would see anything as strong as what you might see in Cozumel on a normal day. From my experience, Curacao diving is very similar to Bonaire diving, but with much easier shore entries, and since you will just be boat diving--think Bonaire.
 
“Generally” our current is not significant on any of those locations. There will always be someone (DM) in the water with you.
 
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