Two years+ later...OP here, thought I would give an update:
Quite a few things have changed in the two+ years. I am now up to nearly 500 dives, we now live part-time in Indo and we have been diving in Raja Ampat a number of times. We have gotten quite a bit more comfortable with high-current dives, to the point that we seek them out sometimes - and, we have become friends with some of you that responded originally! Nice, that.
We have been back to Cape Kri maybe five times since the event. Two or three of those times, there was no current and it was "like any other dive site". (My heart still pounded a bit more, though). We have been down to see the sweet lips on several occasions - they are at just over 100 ft. I have become friendly with one of the DMs from the original event who gave me his take. He still remembers the event with a bit of a shudder.
The proper way to dive the site is to go in at slack, wait for the current to build (you can see the fish begin to assemble) and then hook in. DEFINITELY get out before the current gets too high! (This is where local knowledge is essential!) If you wait too long, you will get caught in the downcurrent as we did. We've done it a few times the proper way with good guidance and it was awesome! Tons of fish lined up, and then here come the sharks! Unhook, do your S/S in the blue, and it's great.
What has changed for me, besides many more dives and much more comfort with current: (1) We took GUE Fundies, and even though we did not pass we practiced buoyancy so much, and got our equipment squared-away, so we are far more comfortable in current. (2) I now carry a 6L (40c.f.) pony on every dive. I still use air very heavily, but I now have hour-long dives like most people. (3) I learned the proper way to use and store a reef hook. (4) We now carry large SMBs and can deploy them UW, and air horns (DiveAlert), mirrors, and PLBs.
Our group was very lucky no one got hurt on the dive. In retrospect I think the "primary fault" was the Tour Leader took us in at the wrong time. Hey - it happens, no one can judge the ocean perfectly. I had queasy feelings during the briefing and I should have stepped away from the dive - it's hard to do! There were others with my skill level as well - we all should have stepped away. No one did. Once in the water, some very experienced divers (600+ dives) tried to abort the dive and still got caught in the downcurrent.
One can never know what the ocean will bring.
