DOWN CURRENTS -Any with true real-life experience?

[mike_bayer]

This is getting ridiculous.

Just stay aware, calm and be ready to drop your weights and inflate BCD if necessary. I'd say it's 1 in a 1000 odds or less. Most divers will never experience this phenomenon.

Awareness is a key. You can probability even avoid getting in trouble in the first place. Be acutely aware of ear pressure changes, watch the direction of your bubbles, watch the reef and other divers around you.

You might be able to swim away while the down current is gentle before you get into potential trouble.

Choose a shop with experienced dive masters and captains. Cozumel is a safe and beautiful place to enjoy diving.

 

[boulderjohn]

Cozumel is an extremely popular dive location that has been visited by many thousands of newer divers. It was the site of my first three post certification dive trips. These people usually do just fine.

 

[midlifewoman]

My interest in this thread has been for the education about dangerous currents and how to recognize and respond in the case of encountering them. I think it's important to be aware of what can happen, and to learn the safest and most effective response, even if the threat is rare. Knowledge is power, and can reduce fear if acted upon. I am sometimes intimidated by current on the wall and seek to learn more so that I can gain confidence and more enjoyment of the phenomenal experience of diving. Part of my intimidation arises from having been emphatically warned by experienced DM's during the pre-dive, without sufficient (to me) personal understanding of the currents and how to recognize or navigate them. So that's what I'm hoping to learn here. Being a relatively new recreational diver, the learning curve is sometimes intimidating but I am just trying to increase my training and understanding.

 

[boulderjohn]

Being a relatively new recreational diver, the learning curve is sometimes intimidating but I am just trying to increase my training and understanding.

And that is a good thing to do.

 

[mike_bayer]

My interest in this thread has been for the education about dangerous currents and how to recognize and respond in the case of encountering them. I think it's important to be aware of what can happen, and to learn the safest and most effective response, even if the threat is rare. Knowledge is power, and can reduce fear if acted upon. I am sometimes intimidated by current on the wall and seek to learn more so that I can gain confidence and more enjoyment of the phenomenal experience of diving. Part of my intimidation arises from having been emphatically warned by experienced DM's during the pre-dive, without sufficient (to me) personal understanding of the currents and how to recognize or navigate them. So that's what I'm hoping to learn here. Being a relatively new recreational diver, the learning curve is sometimes intimidating but I am just trying to increase my training and understanding.

Great post!!! I'd be glad to be your buddy!

You can attach an DSMB to your BCD for insurance. Better to drop your weights immediately if a full BCD and kicking for your life does not bring you up.

It's also good for when you surface and the boats motor and radio both died like one time in Playa del Carmen. Seemed like hours to swim back towards shore (probably only 45 min before someone saw us). Nice sunburn and wow, we even got a refund.

 

[midlifewoman]

Any further helpful information or resources is appreciated.

 

[inquis]

Better to drop your weights immediately if a full BCD and kicking for your life does not bring you up.

Dropping weight only adds 10 lb of lift for me. I think a far better option is to grab the wall if the full wing/kicking isn't working. I can pull a lot harder than 20 lbs, and the flow is also likely to be reduced.

 

[mike_bayer]

Dropping weight only adds 10 lb of lift for me. I think a far better option is to grab the wall if the full wing/kicking isn't working. I can pull a lot harder than 20 lbs, and the flow is also likely to be reduced.

If you are anywhere close to a wall that is! Chances are you might not be.

 

[midlifewoman]

I can add, that it's been difficult for me to maintain as much situational awareness as I would like just due to focusing on buoyancy, the current and how it impacts me, and breathing efficiently. Some dives are tougher than others... but the wall dives are definitely a bit more challenging psychologically for me.

 

[ScubaWithTurk]

Here in Bali, there is a site called Gili Selang. It is just off the coast and is at the entrance to the Lombok Strait. This is a site that the locals refuse to dive. The currents here can be very strong. They can even split into two with a normal current pushing out into open ocean splitting as it goes over a wall. So an out and a down current. I admit, I find it to be fun. You never know what you will get at that site. From ripping currents the whole dive to none at all. Or in the case of my first dive there, zero current until you turn the corner and find yourself in a **** show of a washing machine. We grabbed the rocks and sounds of laughter could be heard, I think partially due to the shock of how it changed so quickly. We climbed around the next corner which had zero current.

But in the face of a true down current, I am swimming away from the wall, or perpendicular to the current.