Drift diving, what you've learned?

[fisherdvm]

Wow, I had an eye opener last week. The current in Cancun was about twice as strong as it was 2 years ago. I've complained many times that the DM there tends to neglect the weak divers.... But in reality, it is not the weak divers that have problems, it is the lack of understanding the geography of the reef and the current.

It seems like, in some area, Gran Pin, for example, the drift dive is very relaxing, you just drift. You can poke around, look around, and the DM will wait for you. Then, all of a sudden, he is bolting to another area.... Then you don't pay attention, and are 50 feet down current from him and the group. Then you expand excessive effort to swim against the current to catch up.

In other areas, where the reefs are in clumps, the DM will drift to one clump, go at nearly right angle and swim to another, and occasionally will even swim almost upcurrent to catch up to another spot.

The divers who do not maintain close proximity to the DM will drift pass his decision point to turn, and will have to work very hard to catch up.

What I've learned is - the closer you are to the DM, the faster you will be able to keep up with him, and the less energy you will expand swimming againt the current.

The second thing I've learned, eventhough the law in Mx say you should keep at least 5 ft from the reef, swimming against the current require that you hug the reef to catch the "drag" at the bottom. This saves alot of energy and allow you to swim much faster. This explains why one can canoe up river by hugging the edge of the river, but not in mid current.... We had so many divers burning up air because of dawdling with their cameras, or simply swimming to high above the reef.

Once I've made the decision to stay within feet of the DM instead of my "instant" buddy, my air consumption was great, and almost matches that of the DM's.

Is this information taught in the "drift diving specialty"? Too bad it is not taught in basic OW books.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

No it's not. Finding the "groove" whether it's in the ocean, on a reef, wreck, or in a freshwater river comes with experience.

My first time in strong current was in the river that runs by Ginnie Springs. Got turned over, upside down, and basically felt like I was in a washing machine. The fact that it was my SECOND dive in a drysuit and vis was less than 2 feet and dark as hell did not help. I made my mind up then to practice whenever possible. Study the site and try to pick the best route on the way down. I also learned to LISTEN TO THE PREDIVE BRIEFING!

The locals know what they are talking about usually. My next set of drift dives was in the St Lawrence and the much better vis, coupled with some experience in general on the Grove and Duane where the current was ripping, made flying over the upturned hull of an old ship for over 200 feet an exhilarating experience.

Learning to hug the bottom and much like a mountain climber picks his hand and foot holds in advance you look at the bottom contour, obstacles, and if necessary bare rocks that you can use for a little pull and glide. Channels in the reef where the surge and current are broken up coupled with good nav skills to find your way back all aid in drifting with the current in a nice easy manner or getting tossed around.

In the keys I've done drifts where using the channels swam into the current with little effort and then just rose above them to fly back down to the boat. I've yet to do drifts in Cozumel. Don't know if I will. But I'll be doing them in the St. Lawrence again.

One involves dropping down over a wall from shore to 150 ft then drifting onto the bridge of the Jodrey. Too shallow and you end up way down river. Too deep and you can pass under the hull with the same results. At the same time the River is a major shipping channel. My last time there we had one guy in our group that was probably not ready for the current you can encounter there. He ended up 1/4 mile down from the rest of us after getting a little deep(about 70 feet, not on the Jodrey though) and got bounced off a rock.

I saw him going over and over below me but could not reach him in time. He was ok but another thing with drift diving is knowing your place in the water column, very good buoyancy control, and being able to maintain your body orientation. Get turned around or turned turtle and you could be in trouble as well.

 

[TSandM]

Something I learned in Cozumel is that current flow seems to be laminar. If you get very far from your buddy, it's quite possible that the two of you will begin to move at EXTREMELY different speeds, so despite the beautiful viz there, it's important to keep the team fairly close together.

 

[Joe-Diver]

Actually it is covered very well. The PADI Drift Diver specialty uses the Adventures in Diving manual for knowledge development. Pages 123 thru 141 cover the subject in enough detail to get you familiar with drift diving, plus the 2 open water dives done with a professional will introduce techniques and equipment used. Dealing with currents is mentioned several times before being discussed in more detail on pages 139 and 140. Techniques to stay with your buddy are also covered, as well as procedures should you get lost.

If you've never encountered currents or made a drift dive the specialty will introduce many factors and techniques to deal with them. If you've been drift diving for a while and have experience with it, I doubt you'll gain much from it. The specialty course is really for divers with little to no experience with currents. Pick up a copy of the PADI Adventures in Diving manual and read pages 123-141. The specialty class will include a classroom knowledge development session to go over the Knowledge Review in detail, and discussion of the material so you can ask questions if you have them. The guided open water dives will focus on you and your ability to deal with currents, situations that can arise, equipment specific to drift diving and boat procedures.

Good luck and have fun! Drift Diving is one of my favorite ways to dive.

 

[ian@1904]

The first one can get caught on lobster pots. All you can do is cut the line and put up anothe SMB. It has happened to me in the UK.

 

[Garrobo]

Do you believe that there is a Drift Diving Specialty? How about a 'wake up in the morning' or 'learn to breathe' and 'make your heart beat' specialty? Freaking rediculous.

 

[Whatgoesdown]

Do you believe that there is a Drift Diving Specialty? How about a 'wake up in the morning' or 'learn to breathe' and 'make your heart beat' specialty? Freaking rediculous.

Sure, you could spend a few years and a lot of dives learning it all the hard way. Or... you could hire the services of a professional who can point you in the right direction and impart several years of collective wisdom much more efficiently.

 

[fisherdvm]

People laughed at the different "specialties", however, I find that the PADI developed courses are very good, with the exception of the "deep diver" specialty. Actually, I've not taken any of the courses, just simply bought most of the videos and books second hand, and have learned alot from them. I find their deep specialty book lacking in the discussion of management of free flow, especially in the cold deep depths of the great lakes. The gas management was minimal also. I am too cheap to take the courses, so I will simply dive more.

 

[Joe-Diver]

Do you believe that there is a Drift Diving Specialty?

Yes, and I wish more divers would take it before going to places like Cozumel or the Keys, especially if it's their first salt water dive. I've seen first timers get their arses handed to them by the current, not knowing how to deal with it, what the lines are for and procedures to follow. I haven't been to the Galapagos, but I've heard stories of the current there....

Fisherdvm, you may find the Adventures in Diving manual somewhat useful as a primer for something you're interested in. The section on Drift Diving could have saved you the grief you experienced regardless of taking the specialty or not. The Deep Diver course, if done well, will do a good job to prepare you for diving in the 100-130 foot range.

Keep in mind that PADI courses, all except the TecRec courses, are done with a recreational diver in mind. These are mainly occasional weekend warriors and vacation divers, and most of us here on Scubaboard are more hardcore recreational to technical divers. Perhaps your deep diving needs would be better served by one of the other organizations that offer training in this, as it will be much more thorough, and much more difficult to get through. I personally feel that would be wise though if you are going to continuously make very deep and long dives, but for most recreational divers, where "deep" is 10 minutes at 115 in Grand Cayman, the PADI Deep Diver course will suffice.

In any case, good luck to you and happy diving!

 

[fisherdvm]

All together, I've done about 25 dives in currents at Cancun and Cozumel. And I am just getting a hang of it .... Yes, it would've been nice if it were covered in a class somewhere. There is more to drift diving than floating in a current.