Missing diver.

[mike_bayer]

I had a scary dive up on the north end at Cantarell years back with a group of very experienced divers on an Aldora boat.

Less then 1 minute into the dive we ran into a down current that brought the group down to 115 feet in seconds.

We spent the next 6 minutes swimming as hard as we could to get back up to the wall without much progress. Visibility was zero as all you could see was a wall of bubbles in every direction you looked. One of the ex navy divers thought his gear failed and dropped his belt. After looking for him for a minute the DM called the dive and we came up after 8 min.

Thankfully he was already back on the boat when we surfaced. We all sucked back about 800 pounds of air in 8 min. The DWM boat at Cantarell had to call the dive that day as well.

I've done hundreds of dives in Cozumel and only one like that.

 

[gratefulmjc]

Hi @mike_bayer...thanks for sharing your experience.

With an upcoming first-time trip to Cozumel accompanied by my gal who is returning to diving after a long layoff and will be, ummm, rusty (hmmm...sure sounds like I just did the asking-for-a-friend thing!), I've been watching this and several other related threads to get educated about Cozumel diving.

There seems to be two main schools of thought...swim to the wall and swim away from the wall...both backed with thoughtful rationale and resulting in success.

You mentioned:

We spent the next 6 minutes swimming as hard as we could to get back up to the wall without much progress.

It seems to me that your group swam to the wall (and did some climbing?)...did I interpret that correctly? And (imagining your group spent some time discussing the incident), did you guys come to any conclusions/advice about how you would handle a similar situation in the future?

So very glad that you guys got thru it OK.

 

[ggunn]

It seems to me that if you escape the downcurrent by swimming toward the wall and upward right against it, when you get to the top of the wall you will be right back in the downcurrent.

 

[ReefHound]

It seems to me that if you escape the downcurrent by swimming toward the wall and upward right against it, when you get to the top of the wall you will be right back in the downcurrent.

I get the feeling these currents are inconsistent, narrow, and short-lived. It may just be a matter of waiting it out a few minutes without getting swept too deep. If you swim out you don't know how far out or how long it will take, and you will be getting pulled down while you do. By going to the wall you are assured of the ability to arrest the descent if not ascend as I can't imagine any current being so strong that you cannot cling to something. So in my view, going to the wall is the "sure thing".

 

[ggunn]

I get the feeling these currents are inconsistent, narrow, and short-lived. It may just be a matter of waiting it out a few minutes without getting swept too deep. If you swim out you don't know how far out or how long it will take, and you will be getting pulled down while you do. By going to the wall you are assured of the ability to arrest the descent if not ascend as I can't imagine any current being so strong that you cannot cling to something. So in my view, going to the wall is the "sure thing".

I believe that something we can agree on is that the way out is to swim laterally, not up against the current.

 

[DandyDon]

Only as a last resort would I dump weights at depth, but that would be a better approach than riding a current down too deep to survive. Injured divers on the surface can be found and treated. Dead divers in the abyss cannot.

 

[ReefHound]

I believe that something we can agree on is that the way out is to swim laterally, not up against the current.

Right. I'm thinking that once on the wall, you can also move laterally or up the wall diagonally so you reach the top at a different point.

 

[John Bantin]

Too much theorizing. Not enough actual experience.

 

[Boarderguy]

Too much theorizing. Not enough actual experience.

Twice you've responded here and have contributed nothing. Expound on your experiences and ways with which to deal with them or stop adding nothing to the conversation.

 

[John Bantin]

Twice you've responded here and have contributed nothing. Expound on your experiences and ways with which to deal with them or stop adding nothing to the conversation.

Part I: The Ups and Downs of Ocean Currents: Undercurrent 10/2018 Part II: The Ups and Downs of Ocean Currents: Undercurrent 11/2018