Missing diver.

[mcohen1021]

Too much hearsay in this story to know the truth...

I know there has be someone here besides me that has 34+ years and 1000s of dives under their belts and never experience a 'down current' - right?

Seems that every lost diver recently now has it blamed on a oh so common down current instead of the real cause. I call BS on this...

 

[tridacna]

Too much hearsay in this story to know the truth...

I know there has be someone here besides me that has 34+ years and 1000s of dives under their belts and never experience a 'down current' - right?

Seems that every lost diver recently now has it blamed on a oh so common down current instead of the real cause. I call BS on this...

42 yrs and >3000 dives here. At least 20 Coz trips. Never experienced a down current. Sounds scary though.

 

[NDL_Diver]

Down currents are scary. We had one a few year back in Cozumel. It feels like you going up fast because your bubbles are going down. You can find yourself at +100 in seconds. Narced up you may start dumping air in your BC. It took me a few seconds to look at my depth and realize I was going down and not a rapid accent.

The story cries BS because it happens when the current flows along the sea floor and down the wall. The Down current is several feet off the wall and below the top of the wall. Moving away from the wall usually breaks you free.
At saftey stop it would be difficult to imagine how a down current could form. Holding hands the divers would be too close to not be both affected.

 

[mcohen1021]

The down currents in cozumel are so common, yet not once have I heard anyone cry about getting caught in an up current. I wonder why... Those must not exist or they're so rare they only occur during a solar eclipse

 

[drrich2]

At saftey stop it would be difficult to imagine how a down current could form.

Got a question about that. I read it and assumed they were at 15 feet deep, and I, too, wondered if a down current at that point was likely. But look at this excerpt from info. shared in Post #19 by @bilboinsa in the other thread discussing this:

My wife and I were diving on the same boat, different dive group. The “lost” diver was VERY experienced. He was only several feet from his wife and his dive master on the wall as they were preparing their SMB. A sudden down current pulled him down before anyone could help.

This reads like they were on the wall, and 'they' (the guide, perhaps?) was preparing the SMB. At what depth might that have happened? Perhaps well below 15 feet, still on the wall, and subject to a down current? And 'only several feet' away from wife (and DM), rather than holding hands?

That sounds a lot more plausible to me than holding hands at 15 feet and being torn away and swept into the abyss alone.

 

[ggunn]

42 yrs and >3000 dives here. At least 20 Coz trips. Never experienced a down current. Sounds scary though.

I have only been diving Cozumel for 29 years. I experienced something like a downcurrent once on Barracuda when the current was running about 30 degrees off parallel to the peak of the ridge from inshore to out. Whenever I got close to the ridge the current pushed me down the offshore side of it, but whenever I got 10' or so away from the reef I was out of it. It was a little scary but not much moreso than the rest of that E ticket ride.

 

[rmssetc]

i am not sure i would agree 100% with the statement that "all respectable ops vet divers". i guess it depends on what your definition is of "vetting".

in all the years i have been diving and travelling, i think the only shop that ever "required" a check out dive for example, was on in st maarten. if you booked the shark feeding experience, you had to do at least one dive with that shop in order for them to gauge if you would be a liability on the shark dive.

other than that, it has always been the usual questions and/or form to fill out. when did you dive last? how many dives do you have? can i see your c-card? etc etc.

I'm extremely confident that some shops (Aldora, 3P, etc) will quietly evaluate divers who are new to them during the first couple of dives, and then attempt to place that diver with other people of similar skill. As the customer, you may not even be aware of this, particularly with a smoothly run shop.

i cannot recall ever having any dive guide ever saying anymore than..."the current is strong today" and/or "the current is running north to south today" etc.

I know I've had some DMs say just that, and I can certainly recall some DMs who give a more extensive briefing about the dive site, probable current (direction & speed), and some suggestions about what to do in different scenarios (ie., if the current direction/speed isn't as expected, we do this thing, or look for particular things as an indication of a down current, etc).

Perhaps you've gotten briefings on days where there wasn't much exceptional to call out, or where the DMs felt they knew you and the other people on the boat and a more detailed briefing wasn't necessary, or perhaps you should ask for more details before/during the briefing, or look for a different DM.

 

[ggunn]

I'm extremely confident that some shops (Aldora, 3P, etc) will quietly evaluate divers who are new to them during the first couple of dives, and then attempt to place that diver with other people of similar skill. As the customer, you may not even be aware of this, particularly with a smoothly run shop.

That has been my experience as well. When I was still a newbie the DM I had been diving with on that trip asked me where I wanted to dive that day. I had heard of Maracaibo but I didn't know anything about it; I suggested we go there, but he just laughed and said,"Not yet, señor."

 

[Lorenzoid]

That has been my experience as well. When I was still a newbie the DM I had been diving with on that trip asked me where I wanted to dive that day. I had heard of Maracaibo but I didn't know anything about it; I suggested we go there, but he just laughed and said,"Not yet, señor."

That's not exactly verbatim how you have told this story before: Advanced dives for beginners?

 

[Boarderguy]

That's not exactly verbatim how you have told this story before: Advanced dives for beginners?

Pulled that memory from 10 years ago with no problem. I envy you... gringo, señor, same same in this context.