Divers Found Drifting Way Offshore

[GameChanger]

A good friend of mine who is an excellent diver was with a very good DM and a well respected captain and years ago in marginal condition they were diving Chun Chakab and got caught in a south flow eddy that sometime occurs near shore. They got kicked out below the Punta Sur, the boat was frantically searching north and 1-2 hours later they were picked up in the channel by a fisherman. It happens.
Carnival week in 2016, marginal conditions, was diving Chun Chakab and wandered towards shore, looking for Lion fish, and hit the southbound current, blink of an eye I was alone and I had to swing like hell to get back to the northbound current. I was talking to me friend later when he told me about his trip out to the channel.

Just curious, for the Carnival week incident, what did your buddy do? Did you surface and then swim like hell to get back to the northbound current? Did you launch a SMB?

 

[gopbroek]

Just curious, for the Carnival week incident, what did your buddy do? Did you surface and then swim like hell to get back to the northbound current? Did you launch a SMB?

My what?
When I got back in the north bound current I finished my dive and launched my buoy at around 1 hr and surfaced a couple hundred yards below the boat.

 

[jbjclj]

Years ago we were diving Maracaibo with BlueXTsea and Pedro Pablo, my favorite and most trusted DM. We surfaced to rough seas and no boat in sight and no other boats around. After about an hour, Pedro said we might have to think of swimming to shore....ROCKS!!! Suddenly a panga with fishermen came by and Pedro asked them to find Shamu. The substitute captain (Not Mago or Nivo) finally arrived. He had been listening to music! Needless to say Christi fired the idiot. Good job!!

 

[dflaher]

@gopbroek Good for you to even know that there are parallel currents there. I'd have no idea. Is that always the case?

 

[DandyDon]

We surfaced to rough seas and no boat in sight and no other boats around.

As crowded as some dive sites can get at times, it doesn't seem like a risk there, but it is. I may look like a geek with my PLB canister hooked to a D-ring, but fortunately I don't care. PLBs Can Save Your Life

@gopbroek Good for you to even know that there are parallel currents there. I'd have no idea. Is that always the case?

No, but in a southbound eddy it should be.

 

[gopbroek]

@gopbroek Good for you to even know that there are parallel currents there. I'd have no idea. Is that always the case?

Not always, that I know of, but I have heard from others, subsequently, that they are not that unusual.
I started paying more attention over the last few years to the 'crazy currents' in late winter and spring and to myself they seem to be eddies that form near shore as masses of water driven by the channel current and shallow water currents driven by wind interact. These interactions seem to cause the backflowing currents and when perpendicular to the wall they seem to cause the down drafts. They can turn on and off rapidly.

 

[ggunn]

I went on a night dive at Paradise a few years ago where we passed the same moray eel three or four times from different directions and then came up pretty much where we had been dropped off.

 

[kelemvor]

Completely pointless post in a poor attempt to be the hero and self promote. Posting for people to be careful of who they dive with and then provide no real details or information is just a tacky bait and switch maneuver. What’s even worse is that you really didn’t have any details you even based your impulsive original post on what Diver said. How do we know they didn’t go off on their own away from the group and surface. Like several others have said In similar words, I am calling BS

Divers Found Drifting Way Offshore

3 divers were very lucky today that we were out fishing. Found them way offshore drifting with no one looking for them. Be careful who you are diving with. Make sure that your divemaster is legally allowed to lead your dive. There seems to be lots of unqualified people working here now. So the...

scubaboard.com

Sounds like it was a rental boat operated by someone not from Cozumel. Should he name the rental company?

 

[Altamira]

In early May, I did a two tank dive at COZ with first dive at Yucab in a fairly mild northbound current, and then the second at Chankanaab in a very light southbound current. I don't dive COZ as often as many others on this board, but that was first time I saw a change in current direction over such a short distance.

 

[ReefHound]

Divers Found Drifting Way Offshore

3 divers were very lucky today that we were out fishing. Found them way offshore drifting with no one looking for them. Be careful who you are diving with. Make sure that your divemaster is legally allowed to lead your dive. There seems to be lots of unqualified people working here now. So the...

scubaboard.com

Sounds like it was a rental boat operated by someone not from Cozumel. Should he name the rental company?

He said the busienss was well established. Didn't sound like a rental company but why not name them? Maybe they should be making sure they are renting to qualified customers and the boat will be used legally.