Jason, it sunds like you had a pretty hariy dive. From your description you actually dove the Canyons and 2nd Canyon on the ebb tide. The Canyons has a max depth of about 100ft, the second canyon is at 90ft (in fact the Fishbowl is a deeper site - 130ft to the edge of the bowl and 148ft feet inside).
Two things happen on the ebb tide - the current starts to rip as it passes by escarceo point - a down current can be formed over the deep fishbowl - this is what dragged you down.
I think you are correct. I was in PG again a few weeks ago and did Canyons 2x. I can't get over what a great dive it is.
The first time was my tuneup dive the morning after I arrived LOL. We swam through hole in the wall then did the Canyons. The thing that struck me on this dive was that the current was going sideways, and then as we went from one "canyon" to the next, the current would turn to the opposite direction.
Can anyone explain how this happens? After this first dive, which was with a bunch of Koreans, it turned out they were a bunch of experienced tech instructors and divers, and one of them asked what my cert level was. He told me that at the beginning of the dive they were watching me to see if I could handle the dive and the currents, and then complimented my "skill" lol. I explained that I had >220 dives.
2 days later I did it again, and this was by far the best Canyon dive I've ever done. Visibility felt like 90 ft, and the view was SPECTACULAR, with so many fish all swimming around, feeding, and fighting the turbulent currents, in the rugged terrain. It was with Mark @ Sea Rider, and he explained that the right way to do it was with the tide flooding, so you can hit all 3 canyons. In our group were 2 other divers, a young Scottish instructor who works in Malaysia, and his sister.
We did 1 canyon first and then we swam through the hole in the wall - no, make that we were *spit* through the hold *weeeeee!*. We then did the other 2 canyons. The currents seemed stronger and more turbulent than 2 days earlier, and I even got myself bitten by a black and white fish while hanging onto the anchor near the 2nd canyon. Cheeky little bugger!
At the end of the dive was the usual blue water ascent (during which I ALWAYS watch my depth gauge like a hawk, if only to keep my ascent rate nice and slow). At 49 feet, I felt a mild downcurrent, and had to inflate extra and fin some, and I only got dragged down to about 55 ft. The other 2 didn't notice it. Mark signalled me to stay within visual contact while he went down to fetch the other 2, who had gone down probably another 15-20 ft.
Anyway it's funny how so many divers don't watch their depth gauge when in blue water. I think this is the most common oversight, which probably explains how hammerhead got swept down without knowing:
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/3725520-post23.html
and his scary experience:
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/3725361-post19.html
