Jim and I recently got our certification. My first dive was rough, faulty equipment and ear trauma, but we both did very well with our next 3 dives in spite of 6 ft visibility. Our instructor, Marti, was fantastic. Now, here's a question to the more experienced. We have an opportunity to dive in Cozumel and I understand it is a drift dive. Any opinions out there on whether we are biting off more than we can chew? There will be a dive master in the water with us.
drift diving
- Thread starter KarenFL
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imwright1985
Contributor
Drift dives are kinda a catch 22, if the current is perfect you just float and get pushed along like your on an escilator until your low on air then come up and the boat is usually right there which is very nice and relaxing. if the current is bad, you get pushed along too quickly and your fighting the current the whole time dodging rocks and burning you out. I like them and usually the current isnt too bad here in south Florida. Since theres going to be a divemaster just let him guide you, make sure your equipment is good, and be sure to equalize and not have any congestion to prevent your problems you had on your first dive. Your DM should be familiar with the area and provide insight asto what to do in certain areas (like if there is a wreck or large rock formation/ledge you go past to stay to a certain referance point on it to keep the whole group together since current will push you and if you start to go off course can be stuck struggling to try getting back with the group) since your in florida just drive to Jupiter/WPB area and you can pick up a day of diving for like 50 bucks a person and see if you like drift diving we have a few more weeks left here of great diving before it starts getting rough
Dragon Eye
Contributor
Depends on the drift- My advice is some have a good clip to them. Be sure you are paying close attention to your depth gage. If you dive Paradise, it is a slower drift area where you can see the little things along the wall.
ItsBruce
Contributor
As I read your post, you've got 4 open water dives. If it were me, I'd pass on a drift dive, especially one where the current is unpredictable and could be strong. Hopefully, you will have another opportunity to do Cozumel once you've had a bit more experience.
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Maybe. The difficulty with drift diving is that they want to get everyone in the water and desending at basically the same time. Another difficulty can be staying together as a group. If the bottom is 80-90 feet, I would say that you should do more diving before you do a drift. If the bottom is 40-50, I would say you will likely do fine with a lot of instruction. Drifting is really fun and you can cover a LOT of ground. There are quite a few u-tube videos on drift diving. You may want to watch some.
myxlplyk
New
I am recently certified and just got back from Cozumel today. My first ever saltwater dive and I'll have to say it was great. I still have buoyancy issues and hoover my air pretty badly. I think I was a bit overweight. The drift current was swift but as long as you stay well behind the divemaster you should be fine. Lag behind to see where he goes. If he stops on you you'll go right past him and you can forget about backtracking to catch up. All you'll do is spin your wheels and stay in place at best. Sand Dollar Sports is the way to go in Cozumel. They are awesome. My father-in-law has logged over 500 dives and sees Sand Dollar about twice a year. Top notch divemasters. They are pretty strict but will treat you right. We did a two tank dive. First at 85 feet, then at about 45 feet. Seahorses, barracuda, rays, lots of colorful coral. A+++
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OK, sounds like if we were being cautious, we'd be better off diving in Key West. The problem there is we have to find our own Dive because the cruise doesn't sponsor any for this trip. Does anyone have recommendations? I heard the DMs don't go in the water with you in Key West. Is that true?
I agree with the posts here, you will want to get more dives under your belt before drift diving in Cozy. Have dove there many times and got my AOW there. It can be challenging to new divers for obvious reasons. Strongly recommend Grand Cayman for calmer waters and great shore dives. Little Cayman has great dive packages to really get your comfort level up...
Enjoy all your dives and breath!
Enjoy all your dives and breath!
Venice. All our open dives were 7 feet visibility. It was like diving blind! We did two resort dives years back on Cayman and Barbados. We had a blast.
It reminds me of when I started snow skiing at 15. The first time I just strapped on the skiis, pointed myself downhill and flew down the hill. I had so much fun, but then I took lessons and realized how stupid that was. So, after being fearless on those resort dives (I even went inside a wreck with the DM), now I know all the bad things that can happen.
It reminds me of when I started snow skiing at 15. The first time I just strapped on the skiis, pointed myself downhill and flew down the hill. I had so much fun, but then I took lessons and realized how stupid that was. So, after being fearless on those resort dives (I even went inside a wreck with the DM), now I know all the bad things that can happen.
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