Drift Diving - Coz?

[ggunn]

scubajen once bubbled...
Can someone please tell me how the currents are in Aug. or
do the vary much from month to month?

The current at Cozumel is generally southwest to northeast, roughly parallel to the shore. There are calm spots that pretty much are constant, and occasionally there are eddies that move around. The fastest I have encountered is a fast walking speed, but I've never dived Barracuda, and I hear it can be faster there.

There is some day to day variation, but I don't believe that there is much month to month.

 

[scubajen]

Thanks for the info. on currents. It is my first time for drift diving, so just a little nervous about it.

 

[squarepants]

In October. You must message me about how it was for the first time, after your trip. I'm a little nervous too.

We did dive Land's End, and the surge is really exciting, but the boat didn't need to follow our bubbles. We always came back to the boat. I'm pretty sure that wasnt drift, or live boat diving.

 

[scubajen]

I will definetly submit a trip report when we get back.
I am sure once I do my first few dives, I will find that I
was nervous for nothing. The first time I dove in Florida,
I was very nervous and found that it was really very easy
and my skills were better than most on the boat! My husband
and I are going to go to a quarry and practice our skills before
our trip. That should help us feel more confident.

Have you made a decision on where you are staying yet?

 

[Wristshot]

I just returned from a week of diving in Cozumel, so I can attest to what it was like in late June.

Many of the dives were "drift dives" or "live boat" dives, and most had noticeable currents, but not all of them. Around Palancar we did several dives (Palancar Caves and Palancar Horseshoe in particular) that had very little current evident. We went through, under, around all sorts of formations and it was wonderful.

We also did one "freeway dive" that I call the "Gran Prix de Cozumel". We started at Punta Dalila Reef and blew right past that and La Francesa and Paso Del Cedral reefs. The DM estimated the current at 5 knots. (might be exagerated slightly, but it was Ripping!) The current was too strong to fight, and to fast to really get a chance to see much until we started our ascents.

The DM's talked about the "weird currents" we were finding. Aparently some of the currents change significantly in May~June, but they usually settle back out by late June, so they were surprised that they were so unpredictable on the 20th~21st.

Our DMs used a sausage during the SS as described, and the boat always picked us up right away, except for one time when we got broke into two separate groups. (We were checking some big Cudas and the girls drifted beyond us and encountered a turtle the "size of a dining table")

I guess the "rule" would be to expect currents on the walls and open reef dives, but in some of the more protected areas you can really relax and enjoy the scenery up close and personal. Stay close to the reef (but not too close) because the current is usually gentler closer to the reef, and just make sure that you stay with the group.

Wristshot:

 

[squarepants]

It's between these five:

Barracuda
Coral Princess
VillaBlanca
Playa Azul
Hotel Brisas

...in no certain order.

I can see I'm just going to have to get over the toilet paper issue.

 

[scubajen]

You might check on Bay Adventures on-line. That is who I booked my trip through. Seemed to have pretty good prices. Airfare,
food and drinks, hotel, and diving all included in one price. I know a lot of people frown on the all-inclusive, but we still plan on venturing out in the evenings.

 

[Charlie99]

Wristshot once bubbled...
The DM estimated the current at 5 knots. (might be exagerated slightly, but it was Ripping!) ...The current was too strong to fight,

I'm not saying that you weren't in 5 knots, but often in Cozumel everyone on the boat would be logging 4 knot currents when the actual current was just barely 2. I am used to judging speeds since almost daily I sail a 14' sailboat at speeds of 2-5 knots, often comparing my guess on speed with the gps.

An easy way to make a reasonably good guess on currents is to remember that 1 knot is 10 feet every 6 seconds.

 

[ggunn]

scubajen once bubbled...
Thanks for the info. on currents. It is my first time for drift diving, so just a little nervous about it.

Don't be. The saying "go with the flow" applies. Get your buoyancy trimmed and look ahead so a little cross current kicking gets you where you want to go, and relax! I am so spoiled by Cozumel drift diving that the idea of having to locate an anchor line just isn't very appealing. My first real dive after certification was a 2-3 knot drift dive on Tormentos at Cozumel, and I fell right into the routine.

If you get swept past your group, just duck into the lee of a coral formation (or down on the sand if you are between reefs) and wait for them. Don't kick into (against) the current if you can possibly avoid it.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[Beetlejuice]

Scubajen and Squarepants.... I understand why you are nervous, i was too before my boyfriend and i left for cozumel. We actually just got back from our trip and it was great, nothing to be nervous about. We've only been certified for less than a year and had only 16 dives (in chilly waters of Monterey, CA) before we left. drift diving or "live boating" wasn't as complicated as i thought. We were on a fast boat with 2 very experienced couples. The first few dives I went too fast and sucked air too fast, compared to our experienced group. It was a hard concept for me to not kick at all and just let the current take you and sometimes kick against the current to check out a lobster or an eel or a cool toad fish. Eventually i got the hang of it, though and by the fourth dive there i was proudly one of the "laziest" divers and let my computer tell me when to ascend instead of my air pressure guage. We did afternnon dives on the bigger boats and there were some people who had just gotten certified the day before and my Dad, who just did a resort course and wasn't certified that came along, and if we can all handle the current, then you two can. No stress.