How to get skills prior to diving in currents in Raja Ampat

[hiker11]

As a followup to @sunseek’s post about the experience needed to dive Raja Ampat, I have some additional questions. Instead of hijacking her/his thread, I thought it might be better to post my specific questions separately.

My husband and I are headed to Raja Ampat over Christmas 2023-- 11 days on the Amira followed by 7 days at the RA Dive Lodge. I consider myself a novice diver— we currently have 150 dives each (AOW, Nitrox). My air consumption on my last trip ranged from .43 cf/M to .55 cf/M. Our experience includes two LOBs --in the GBR/Australia and Turks & Caicos. We have also done diving in Rangiroa (Tiputa Pass), Bora Bora, Fiji (Tavauni), Grand Cayman, Bali, Loreto/ Baja, Hawaii, etc. We have two dive trips booked between now and RA to log more dives (10 days in Belize in April and 7 days in Loreto/Baja in Sept).

After reading about the challenging currents, I'm a little nervous about diving RA, to be honest. We often hire personal guides on our trips if they are available, but the Amira does not offer that-- they have 1 guide per 4 divers. We have never done diving that required reef hooks --we only recently purchased them in preparation for our trip. While we have our own DSMBs, we're not proficient at using them and have relied on our DM to deploy his. We've never done what I think is a negative entry, although we dove Rangiroa’s Tiputa Pass from zodiacs with a relatively quick back roll entry required.

My question is this: if you haven't used reef hooks or done negative entries before, how do you get that experience before going places that have strong current that require those skills? I’ve deployed a DSMB in a pool, but I know I should get some open water experience doing it before RA and I think I'll try to hire a private DM to do that with me in Belize when we’re there next month.

I welcome any advice on how I can improve my skills before heading to Raja Ampat as I like being prepared.

 

[living4experiences]

You're not overthinking this at all and you have good experience to go to RA. It's a good thing to be mentally prepared for a new dive adventure that opens you up to honing new skills. IMO, you can never be too dependent on the guides. It's their job. I'm doing my first trip to RA in Nov/Dec 2023, and from what I've read on this forum, the level of service on land and on liveaboards in Indonesia is a step up from other parts of the world.

I'm doing my trip in reverse order of yours, 10 days at Sorido Bay Resort, then 11 days on the Damai II. I'm arriving from a Caribbean dive trip two weeks before I leave for RA, so my gear will not be dry for long

Have an awesome trip!

 

[ChuckP]

You could come dive with us in Cozumel - we could work with all those concerns.

We have currents, there is even a PADI card for that but seriously, we could work with you on tips and tricks to flying underwater. A DSMB is standard issue here and there are a few different spools, reels, open bottom and clsed bottom pieces to work with - try different things before you buy so you understand what you are buying - I think there are 8 smb's in this house because I bought and didn't know.......

The reef hook is unique though, I have an idea of a few places to practice deploying it that do not involve the reef in anyway.

All of it is repetitive motions, situational awareness and breathing.... They say the food isn't bad here either!!!

 

[tarponchik]

These are easy to learn, not some rocket science. Hooks? Well, you hook to the reef and stay hooked until you unhook yourself. Negative entry? Deflate your BCD, reg in your mouth, hold your mask with one hand and off you go. Have fun!

We did about the same route las November, 11 nights on PoP and the 10 days at Kri Ecoresort.

 

[Indah]

These are easy to learn, not some rocket science. Hooks? Well, you hook to the reef and stay hooked until you unhook yourself. Negative entry? Deflate your BCD, reg in your mouth, hold your mask with one hand and off you go. Have fun!

We did about the same route las November, 11 nights on PoP and the 10 days at Kri Ecoresort.

I wish you are not a dive instructor. Some risks to mention with negative entries for example are much higher chance getting vertigo, nitrogen narcosis and ear problems. Any negative entry still should be a very controlled descent. Reef hooks are often used at the edge of the top of a reef. The place where currents suddenly can change direction 180 degree. Often the moment down current can take you down to unexpected depths.

 

[ChuckP]

I wish you are not a dive instructor. Some risks to mention with negative entries for example are much higher chance getting vertigo, nitrogen narcosis and ear problems. Any negative entry still should be a very controlled descent. Reef hooks are often used at the edge of the top of a reef. The place where currents suddenly can change direction 180 degree. Often the moment down current can take you down to unexpected depths.

Negative entry absolutely does not mean bolt for the bottom.........

 

[Indah]

Indeed, it is not simply: Deflate your BCD, reg in your mouth, hold your mask with one hand and off you go. Have fun!

Negative entry absolutely does not mean bolt for the bottom......

 

[tarponchik]

Negative entry absolutely does not mean bolt for the bottom.........

Oh yeah, boo-boo! There is no such thing as recommended rate of descent. If your ears are fine, you can bolt to the bottom.

Indeed, the sooner you get to the bottom, the better. By slowing down you defeat the purpose of negative entry.

 

[txdamselfish]

The way you get experience doing those things is to go do them. Shoot your DSMB at the end of every dive until you are comfortable. Dive in some current and use a reef hook.
Negative entries: you must have your act together prior to jumping in. Mask defogger, gear stowed etc. you can suck the air out of your bcd via the oral inflation orfice. What you don’t want is to “think you deflated” and end up bobbing on the surface while the rest of the group is decending at warp speed. clear your ears early and continuously. Getting behind the curve will be difficult to recover from without ascending or squeezing the crap out of your ears/sinuses.

It’s really not that difficult, just go do it and build some confidence/competence in the skills you desire.

Boy O Boy, knowing what a real negative entry is for a drift dive can make or break your experience. If you only get to do it once on a LOB, it is vital to practice, have your act together, clear often and remove all the air from your BCD. Otherwise you will look like me on my 1st negative entry drift, nervously trying to swim down to my group as they float away while also trying to use all the valves to empty the extra air.

Thank you Poseidon and Neptune for the Dive Master at the end of the line to get me all straightened out and sinking. Since this embarrassing time, I have practiced sucking all the air out of my BCD using the Inflator Hose, not just pressing the button and thinking its all out.

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

My 2psi on DSMB's...

Always look up before you deploy. Make sure there are no other divers or boats above. When in current, make sure you don't deploy upstream from a fixed object. I recently shot my SMB which subsequently got pulled into the tie-off buoy by the current just as I was starting my safety stop. Line immediately went taught and I shot to the surface like a cork. I had a slow ascent but I still sat out the rest of the dives that day and the next.

Lessons learned and shared.

 

[also_anon_dc]

I had the same question about reef hooks before I went to the Maldives last year! Just tell your guide that you've never used one before and they will probably hook you in the first few times until you're comfortable enough to try it on your own. Honestly my biggest issue was figuring out where/how to store it so it didn't get all tangled up when I needed it.