OP
Dear DougieG,
Don't worry too much about April. While Cozumel sites almost always have a moderate current, mainly March seems to be a transitional month and it is common for eddies to form causing the direction to change in mid dive, sometimes swirl around, and frankly be uncomfortable for newer divers. Indeed, it is common to find such conditions at one dive site while less than a mile away there is no current at all.
On the other hand, it is pretty easy for the Experienced Dive Master and Captain to detect such conditions from the surface, or at least by jumping in first and checking conditions before the group enters. In fact I remember once stopping the boat and find it twirling around like a slow moving top—we did not dive there!.
If things look bad at the chosen site, it is very easy to move on to another. In addition, some sites can be notorious during that time and can be avoided completely. However, given a proper dive briefing, you should be prepared to avoid or encounter anything dangerous.
One of those oddities was a dive I led in the 90s in which the current was so fast we covered 4 normal dive sites. All I could say when we got to the surface was "we didn't see much—but we saw a lot of it!".
Once again, I would not worry much about it, sorry I raised some concern that could be misconstrued.
Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers
Don't worry too much about April. While Cozumel sites almost always have a moderate current, mainly March seems to be a transitional month and it is common for eddies to form causing the direction to change in mid dive, sometimes swirl around, and frankly be uncomfortable for newer divers. Indeed, it is common to find such conditions at one dive site while less than a mile away there is no current at all.
On the other hand, it is pretty easy for the Experienced Dive Master and Captain to detect such conditions from the surface, or at least by jumping in first and checking conditions before the group enters. In fact I remember once stopping the boat and find it twirling around like a slow moving top—we did not dive there!.
If things look bad at the chosen site, it is very easy to move on to another. In addition, some sites can be notorious during that time and can be avoided completely. However, given a proper dive briefing, you should be prepared to avoid or encounter anything dangerous.
One of those oddities was a dive I led in the 90s in which the current was so fast we covered 4 normal dive sites. All I could say when we got to the surface was "we didn't see much—but we saw a lot of it!".
Once again, I would not worry much about it, sorry I raised some concern that could be misconstrued.
Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers
