Craziness continues
- Thread starter jd950
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This shows the Gyres of the world, and at 0:21 you see the North Atlantic Gyre passing the Yucatan as well as creating a nearby eddy. Now if for some reason the primary current veered east of Cozumel island, perhaps sucked by the eddy rotating south of western Cuba - it could produce a partial counter clockwise eddy around Coz pushing water from north to south thru the channel against the usual south to north current causing a lot of competition.
Mike
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Yeah the Horn of Africa doesn't get a current really, but a series of eddies - on after another repeatedly. That'd be hell to sail thru huh?
The North Pacific Garbage patch is north of Hawaii in the Convergence zone. There are others, like the North Atlantic Sargasso Sea - now with plastic...!!
I was in Cozumel a few weeks ago the same week as Kat (never had a chance to meet up) and had a mix of current, calmer in the beginning of the week, getting stronger and reversing directions later in the week
My last dive was a wild but fun dive were we ended up over the top of Santa Rosa wall. Current was flowing generally South to North but at times swung almost West to East (across rather than along the reef).
I was able to smooth out the roller coaster ride with large changes in lung volume, and fining and a few BCD adjusts.
The sand was just starting to be swept off the reef to dunes.
Whenever the current was across the reef there were vertical currents, up or down depended on where you where relative to the turbulence.
Was that the case for others?
My last dive was a wild but fun dive were we ended up over the top of Santa Rosa wall. Current was flowing generally South to North but at times swung almost West to East (across rather than along the reef).
I was able to smooth out the roller coaster ride with large changes in lung volume, and fining and a few BCD adjusts.
The sand was just starting to be swept off the reef to dunes.
Whenever the current was across the reef there were vertical currents, up or down depended on where you where relative to the turbulence.
Was that the case for others?
frontiernurse
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That video is nerdy awesome DD! (That is a compliment, FYI.) I have to admit, I am morbidly fascinated by all this crazy current talk, but it freaks me out a little. I was in coz early March, and went specifically to experience drift diving. My biggest fear was becoming separated from the group by current and floating alone on the surface. forever. And I had also read about the downwellings in Coz which sound like quite the buzzkill. But I did OK. The much mentioned Santa Rosa (maybe I wasn't at the wall? We went through what seemed like never-ending complex swim throughs that went deeper and deeper and it was great!) had almost no current. Towards the end of the trip I did experience what I was told were moderate to strong currents in dives north of town, and I wasn't totally comfortable. I was a lone diver so my "buddy" was the DM (awesome!) but I was really working to not work, and not be the first to run low on air as I did not want to have to float around on the surface alone trying to be found. Somehow that worked out for me (thank you lungs!) but I'm not sure I was able to really enjoy the experience. I saw so many great things passing by and on those strong current dives I had trouble stopping to look... and I really wanted to look! I was able to stay in place by facing the current and kicking of course, but then risked getting separated from the group or using up air if I lingered too long. Maybe this is too much of a junior newdiver question, but do other people feel they had to get used to current diving to appreciate it? Or do you think it is just something you either dig, or not?
pidgiepoo
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A pidge and Kat club? Coz, diving, tequila, making fun of, I mean being inclusive of "certain" other people....Sounds AWESOME!Where do I sign up?
I think I see an all girl trip to a "diva dive den" in the future. What a hoot that would be..we could really have "someone's" ears burning all week.
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Hi F-nurse and welcome to Sb! 
Really, I am sorry I missed this week in a way. I'm probably too old for it but the rides sound thrilling to me. "Hot damned! This is why I carry a pony bottle...!"
I guess some like drift diving right off while some have to acquire a taste, or not. I miss some sights & shots I know, but enjoy the ones I see & get. I have decided to start renting a PLB from Outdoor Equipment Rentals tho, or just buy one for the backroads and park hikes - just in case.
Really, I am sorry I missed this week in a way. I'm probably too old for it but the rides sound thrilling to me. "Hot damned! This is why I carry a pony bottle...!"
I guess some like drift diving right off while some have to acquire a taste, or not. I miss some sights & shots I know, but enjoy the ones I see & get. I have decided to start renting a PLB from Outdoor Equipment Rentals tho, or just buy one for the backroads and park hikes - just in case.
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Fnurse Hi glad you enjoyed the ride. When we dive the northern reefs, we leave the cameras on the boat and there is little stopping to look. The only way to stop is to duck down behind a reef or turn head into the current and fin hard. That is part of the appeal of these reefs, Fly/Dive. Just a few years ago it was difficult to get an op to take you up there. You had to be AOW or higher and the op had to take your c card to the harbor master to get permission to dive there. As more people request these sites, restrictions have been eased. I was there two weeks ago and we estimated that we traveled over 5 K on our 60 min dive. When we surfaced we were further out in the channel than we have ever been. Our boat captain did a fantastic job of following our bubbles the entire time, and met us as we surfaced. We were all experienced divers, who were all known entities to our dive shop. These are not dives for inexperienced divers. We stayed in a relatively tight pack, had SMB's and the leader had a submersible radio/ PLB. I repeat, these are not appropriate for all divers.
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