Missing diver.

[bobfmdc]

In general, I would suggest ignoring anything you "heard somewhere". I do. Maybe we've expanded the discussion beyond Cozumel but I've never seen this in Coz.

Thanks to "nwflyboy" the "somewhere" I heard it was here also. See post #57, two above yours.

I have never run into it at all, but most of my diving in the last 10 years has been either in Coz with the same shop owner, Bonaire (shore based) or Grand Turk where they know us well. My possible concern in the last few years is my age and the 1973 date stamp on my NAUI OW card. I got a local dive shop in Destin Fla to certify my new wife in 1972, but they only had NASDS (which no longer exists). So a few years ago, I paid for a AOW cert for her (same wife, 50 years now). We had been in Little Cayman a year before that and the two 30 year old kids at the dive desk had never heard of NASDS and just about didn't let her dive until someone much older explained it to them. Now the wife has AOW and I only have OW and 5 extra years on her.

So I have just gone totally off topic for this thread and I apologize. To bring it back, I have been in plenty of downdrafts in Cozumel--some more serious than others. My first alert sign is a change in water temperature; colder water is going down. I probably wrote somewhere here that I pulled my (then) 13 year old graddaughter out of one a few years ago. I'm a swim-back to the- wall-first guy. My argument is that you never really know how big the down current is--maybe a stream, maybe a river. Now my granddaughter alerts me to impending downdrafts.

 

[cozcharlie]

Downcurrents sent a couple of people to the chamber this week (I think actually today ). I had plans to try to catch eagle rays up north tomorrow afternoon but dive op scrubbed since people had been sent to the chamber after getting caught in down currents up here. We had actually noticed weird wave action right at the wall (and only at the wall) this morning while walking up north in Las Brisas/Buccanos area. I had actually said “I bet the currents are bad right there”.

Dove with a couple of infrequent diver friends yesterday afternoon down south. Boat captains warned me that currents were kind of wild so we did Chankanaab and Yucab to try to stay out of the thick of it. We had a tentative plan to maybe do Paradise as second but they had heard on radio from other captain that was no-go due to currents.

Just as a reminder for people that have never gotten stuck in one —a lot of the better shops adjust site selection to minimize the chance of their clients getting stuck in down currents. This often happens either before you get on the boat or via brief discussions in Spanish while you are on the boat. EDIT: While shops can reduce the risk , it doesn’t go to zero (I really doubt anyone has a perfect record over the long term ).

 

[DandyDon]

people had been sent to the chamber after getting caught in down currents up here.

Rapid buoyant ascents with filled BCs? Well, those can be treated at least, unlike lost below.

 

[gopbroek]

Spoke with a younger instructor this evening at the Pub who has been here about a year. He had a couple of students at Santa Rosa shallows. An offshore current came up and before they knew it they were out in the blue. Luckily there was no down current but he was pretty shaken.
This is crazy current season, be observent and careful.

 

[BLee88]

Is there any annual seasonality to the strength of current? Ex, worst Dec to Feb or something?

 

[cozcharlie]

Is there any annual seasonality to the strength of current? Ex, worst Dec to Feb or something?

Winter /early spring generally the worst absent some random hurricane in summer/fall.

EDIT. Wanted to clarify a couple of points. Probably should have said late winter/early spring. That is also what was said a few years back on the board by a person who operated a shop here for a few decades (what would he know?). Other point is I wouldn’t avoid Cozumel during that period for that reason alone. There are pros and cons based on season for almost every dive location in the world. Lastly, downcurrents are yet another reason to let your divemaster lead the dive. Hopefully he/she will pick on visual cues and guide you away from trouble. Worst case is you see the divemaster getting sucked down and it gives you a chance to react. Tourists who wind up in front of the group miss the chance to see sea life the divemaster points out plus increase safety risk by potentially going into areas the divemaster wishes to avoid. Bottom line , follow the divemaster—don’t make the divemaster try to follow you.

 

[ggunn]

Is there any annual seasonality to the strength of current? Ex, worst Dec to Feb or something?

There have been lots of anecdotal claims in here over the years but there is no hard evidence that I know of. My anecdotal evidence is that I have been diving Cozumel for a couple of weeks every year in the April - May timeframe for 29 years excepting 2020, and I have seen the current at times to be ripping at virtually every dive site and almost nonexistent at other times. I have sometimes seen a lot of variability from day to day, and site to site even on the same day.

There is a portion of the Gulf stream that is funneled through the channel between the Yucatan and Cozumel, flowing SW to NE, and much of the current experienced close in along the NW coast of the island where the dive sites are is due to turbulent interaction between the prevailing current and the underwater features of the island, most notably the wall. Turbulent flow at specific points is very hard to characterize over time and predict.

 

[Augustus]

Cantarell yesterday Around 9am. Did not look like fun

 

[ggunn]

I’ve been diving there since 1996, 500 dives +|-, I’ve only experienced one and its pretty scary.

I luckily had seen posts here about down currents before and know how to handle it.

Which way did you swim to get out of it?

 

[DandyDon]

Which way did you swim to get out of it?

Let's run a poll...

1. Do you swim to the wall and crawl up?
2. Do you swim away from the wall for a blue water ascent?
3. Do you swim across the wall looking for calmer waters?
4. Do you let Jesus control your dive?