Is Coz all drift diving?

[JeffMandell]

I'm booking my first trip to Cozumel for Christmas time. In corresponding with the dive shop at our hotel (Scuba Du at the Presidente), I've gotten confused. They seem to be saying that drift diving is "advanced diving" and that they only send out groups to do it on days they have at least 4 people signed up for it. I was under the (perhaps mistaken) impression that most all of Cozumel's diving is drift diving. Can you folks straighten me out and tell me what they might be talking about?

 

[Tropics Diver]

ScubaDu has lots of new divers in its clientele and takes them drift diving everyday. Drift diving in this context simply means that the boat isn't anchored or moored, and comes over to pick you up wherever you surface.

ScubaDu run special trips to the more advanced sites (such as Barracuda and Punta Sur) only when they have a group. Sites like Barracuda in the far North are known for having high speed currents. Perhaps they think you are asking about that sort of trip.

 

[5615mike]

They run a decent operation. Nice Boats and equipment. They are great for newer divers or anyone who has not done any diving in Coz.

 

[HammerNoMore]

You know, I can't count how many times I've heard people say that "drift diving is more difficult."

Can someone please explain to me how boat->down->drift->up->boat is more difficult than navigating your way to/from a boat that is not following you?

James

 

[ggunn]

James Goddard once bubbled...
You know, I can't count how many times I've heard people say that "drift diving is more difficult."

Can someone please explain to me how boat->down->drift->up->boat is more difficult than navigating your way to/from a boat that is not following you?

James

I am willing to bet that most folks that say that are folks that have never been there and done that.

It does take a little getting used to; finning is more to steer than to propel, and you can get swept into things if you don't pay attention to what you are doing, but most divers, even rank novices, catch on pretty quickly. You just can't beat the boat finding you rather than vice versa, IMO.

I reckon a significant current could be problematic under very low viz conditions, but you won't find that around Cozumel.

 

[Kaos]

Something I strongly suggest is that you venture on the mainland for a day and check out the cenotes. The dives I did there are some of the most memorable ever!

We dove with Aquatech, www.cenotes.com, but there are plenty other good operations that can provide transportation from Playa Del Carmen to the caves, along with guides and lunch.

 

[JeffMandell]

I appreciate the responses so far, but I"m not sure I've got an answer yet to my original post. I'm looking fo an overview of what to expect in Coz regarding drift dives and non drift dives. Would I expect most to all of my dives to be drifting, or only a few and if so, what's the rest of the diving like? Even though I've never done it before, I was kind of expecting almost all diving to be drift from what I'd read (and I"m really looking forward to it).

p.s. Kaos, thanks for the cenotes tip; I'll check it out.

 

[ggunn]

JeffMandell once bubbled...
I appreciate the responses so far, but I"m not sure I've got an answer yet to my original post. I'm looking fo an overview of what to expect in Coz regarding drift dives and non drift dives. Would I expect most to all of my dives to be drifting, or only a few and if so, what's the rest of the diving like? Even though I've never done it before, I was kind of expecting almost all diving to be drift from what I'd read (and I"m really looking forward to it).

Oh, sorry. The answer to your question is yes, all the boat dives off Cozumel are drift dives, in that the boat does not anchor. The current itself varies somewhat from site to site and day to day, but the boat drifts along with you and finds your group when you surface.

The shore dives you can do can be drift dives (meaning you get out of the water at a point downcurrent from where you got in) or not, depending mainly on how far out you go.

 

[HammerNoMore]

ggunn once bubbled...

Oh, sorry. The answer to your question is yes, all the boat dives off Cozumel are drift dives, in that the boat does not anchor.

The one exception to that I know of is the C-53.

 

[Charlie99]

James Goddard once bubbled...
The one exception to that I know of is the C-53.

It was a pretty hard swim from the superstructure back upcurrent to the mooring line, and it wasn't all the enjoyable hanging onto the mooring line flapping like a flag in the breeze.

It would have been a lot nicer to just do a drifting safety stop and then get picked up. Unfortunately, some members of our group had already been up for 20 minutes when we surfaced ---- the boat would have had to do a lot of running back and forth to get everyone.

It could work though. Each diver pops a DSMB at safety stop, boat picks them up when the surface, then goes back upcurrent to get the next set of divers. Could be really confusing when there are multiple boats dropping divers onto the artificial wreck, though.