Down Currents Cozumel

[Cave Diver]

Even if I did lose sight of it, I'm comfortable enough with my navigational skills that I don't see this as a problem.

As always, YMMV.

Cavediver...not everyone is a strong navigator, especially in blue water with no reference nor sight of the wall. At that point, visibility is a moot point. With no reference points of any kind, it is very easy to get disoriented and unless you see a large marine animal off in the distance, you can't tell what the visibility is, it might as well be 5 ft. Add to that, you have no indication of how fast the current is moving you or in which direction, particularly if you have lost your bearings.

Thats why I only spoke for myself.

 

[deepstops]

Cavediver...not everyone is a strong navigator, especially in blue water with no reference nor sight of the wall. At that point, visibility is a moot point. With no reference points of any kind, it is very easy to get disoriented and unless you see a large marine animal off in the distance, you can't tell what the visibility is, it might as well be 5 ft. Add to that, you have no indication of how fast the current is moving you or in which direction, particularly if you have lost your bearings.

Well, the island is to the east in 95% of the sites I've dove in Coz. Is this rocket science?? Or do that many people not wear a compass??

 

[DandyDon]

The topic has been extensively discussed here and on A&I recently, so here is a link inside the quote from my 2007 thread to a renowned divers article on Undercurrent...

This article has an excellent discussion by a renown diver and author, specially mentioning Coz experiences: Upwellings and Downwellings, how to get out of trouble; February, 2001 Undercurrent feature story

 

[Augustus]

you are bringing back a thread that was last active in 2007

 

[DandyDon]

you are bringing back a thread that was last active in 2007

And your point is...??

 

[drrich2]

Considering it's a safety issue, probably not a lot's changed over time, there are current threads on the forum about an experienced diver who was allegedly pulled away from being near his wife and a dive guide by a down current and hasn't been seen since, in Cozumel, and this old thread might turn up if someone does a forum Search researching the down currents issue, it seems legit to resurrect this 'zombie thread' under the circumstances. Even over 15-years later. Some content from those threads led me to believe down currents in Cozumel may not've been as rare as I had thought, so that, too, is worth mentioning here.

Something I may've missed glancing over the thread, and that may be hard to know if encountering down currents is rare, is the answer to this question...

Does anyone know about how long these things tend to last?

@Christi mentioned the possibility of getting close to the wall, under the down current, and moving horizontally along the reef to pass out from under it. So, does the usual current keep the divers in 'drift dive' mode during these things? I understand they could fin along even if it doesn't, but I'm curious whether down current tend to disrupt the current that's providing the drift dive experience.

 

[GameChanger]

Reading ddrich2's post got me thinking about my "E-Ticket" dives at Barracuda Wall. If there was a significant down current while I was flying on the wall, wouldn't the natural current stream take me out of the down current in a few seconds?

 

[ggunn]

Reading ddrich2's post got me thinking about my "E-Ticket" dives at Barracuda Wall. If there was a significant down current while I was flying on the wall, wouldn't the natural current stream take me out of the down current in a few seconds?

When you are in a downcurrent you are in the natural current stream; that just happens to be the way it is flowing where you are.

 

[Carlos Danger]

Who else has taken a vertical ride at Coz - up or down...?

Started a boat dive near Abrigo in zero current. As we moved out, the flow started taking us north, but about half way to the wall the current did a sudden 180 and turned south. Once we got over the transition the current started pulling us down the wall. We hung on very close to the wall for a few minutes, then the down-flow eventually subsided and started flowing north again. We got off the wall and slowly meandered back when the current changed south again. After about 80 minutes of diving we ended up surfacing in the exact same spot as where we started!

 

[Robert H. Diver]

What to Do if You’re Caught in a Downcurrent • Scuba Diver Life

Getting caught in a downcurrent is unnerving for even the most seasoned diver. Here’s what to do (and what not to do) if you’re caught in a downcurrent.

scubadiverlife.com