Richelieu Rock for a Newbie?

[mtnaire]

Hello, I am a recently certified Open Water diver with only 4 dives under my belt and would like to dive Richelieu Rock in April but see it referred to as an "advanced" diver's dive. I'm 38, and in good shape, so am I out of my league here, or is this dive site a possiblity for someone with my limited experience? Thanks.

 

[jdfmail]

I just returned from Similan and Richelieu, I now have 20 dives under my belt and only 6 of those prior to this trip...I did 15 dives there 2 of which were at Richelieu. It is not for advanced divers. Actually it was quite easy to dive. There was a little current but it is a world class site not to be missed. There were a few dives on this trip that were challenging but not Richelieu. Ta Chai was a difficult dive for me and the highlight of the trip was Elephant Head Rock and Richelieu. Go for it. What boat are you going to dive with??

 

[mtnaire]

Thanks for the info. I have only done some Internet based searching so far, but the West Coast Explorer out of Khao Lak looks to be one consideration and includes dives of the Similan Islands, Koh Bon, Koh Tachai & Richelieu Rock. Do you have one you'd like to recommend?

My only concern is centered around my inability to duck dive and descend quickly when faced with strong currents, as so far, I've had to descend feet down and gradually in order to equalize properly. Based on your experience in these waters, would that be an issue?

 

[smartecosse]

I just returned from Similan and Richelieu, I now have 20 dives under my belt and only 6 of those prior to this trip...I did 15 dives there 2 of which were at Richelieu. It is not for advanced divers. Actually it was quite easy to dive. There was a little current but it is a world class site not to be missed. There were a few dives on this trip that were challenging but not Richelieu. Ta Chai was a difficult dive for me and the highlight of the trip was Elephant Head Rock and Richelieu. Go for it. What boat are you going to dive with??

you are giving opinions on things that you have little or no experience in and that can be dangerous to all.

YES Richilieu is suitable for novice divers if there is little or no current. I have done a large number of dives at Richilieu and the number of times that there is little current is far outweighed by the times there are strong currents.

Although the shape of the rock offers protection at some point from pretyy much all the currents the depths do not make it paticularly suitable dor inexperienced divers. Yes I have had people with a limited number of dives there but some have not enjoyed it as what we thought were moderate currents they thought was a raging torrent

The good thing is that you will get extra dives in before getting there as most liveaboards do Richilieu at the end of their journey and you could even do the Advanced course onboard the liveaboard in the Similans before getting to Richilieu.

West Coast is a well run mid level boat. Try not to get put in one of the lower deck cabins if you go with them.

There are plenty more people on this board that have a LOT of experience in the Similans etc to draw on for information BTW way rather than JDFMAIL who twice now in matter of days has dispensed info that is utter tripe.

 

[mtnaire]

Thanks Smartecosse for the info and advice, that confirmed for me my thoughts about doing the advanced dive cert. early in my trip. Also, just curious, but I have a hell of a time clearing my frontal sinus and thus require a slow descent in order to equalize. Will this preclude my ability to dive the more advanced, current dominated sites where getting to depth quick seems important? Just want to know before I make the investment in sites like this. And, any other live-aboards at a fair price you can recommend? Thanks.

 

[Manuel Sam]

Just to give you a sense of the currents based on 2 of 6 dives that I did there in 1998 (yup, back when there were whalesharks at Richelieu Rock): on one dive, we dropped in away from the Rock and started heading towards it, following the dive guide. Many of the divers wanted to go to 90+ feet to see a seahorse that I had already seen on the previous dive. So I stayed at around 50 ft. to conserve air for chasing Mr. Big, and told the dive guide and my buddies - they were OK with that.

The divers below me were barely visible (due to both the poor viz and the bubbles), so I started following the bubbles instead. At some point in time, the bubbles became less and suddenly I had nothing to follow. I was in the blue with no reference - couldn't see the bottom and couldn't see the Rock. So I surfaced and saw the Rock about 150 ft. away, took a compass heading, and went back down to about 15 ft. and kicked. And kicked....but still no Rock in sight. So I surfaced once again and now the Rock was 600 ft. or more away - my heading was correct but the current just took me away.

Now, I don't know how Richelieu Rock is nowadays but back then there had to be at least 10 dive boats crisscrossing those waters - not the best place for a diver to be, bobbing on the surface. Hopefully you have a sausage and/or other surface signaling device.

I also recall vividly my last dive there when we were all hanging on to the Rock at about 15-20 feet waiting for the whaleshark. Everyone was fully extended horizontal, waving like flags.

Two things that you ought to get from this:

(1) Currents will vary, and while some people might dread diving in any current, keep in mind that it is the currents that bring about the life on the reef: the coral polyps open up in their greatest splendor and there is a lot more fish activity. So do not view current as being your enemy, altho at this stage, understandably you might prefer that it not be strong. In fact, you could get lucky and experience little or no current, but remember that conditions can change from dive to dive. Do you really want to depend on luck?

(2) currents tend to be strongest as you get closer to the surface. If you can't get down as fast as the rest of the divers, in a worst case scenario, you may lose them or they may lose you. In either case, you may wind up in the blue all by yourself like I was, in boat-infested waters - which can sometimes be harmful to your health.

Richelieu Rock remains one of my favorite dives ever. Even without whalesharks, there was so much else to see. I think that it can be more enjoyable if a diver doesn't have to worry about current, equalization, air consumption, etc. Hopefully by the time you get to Richelieu Rock, you will have overcome these issues. And if you still need to descend slowly, definitely tell the dive guide so that he keeps an eye on you and doesn't leave you behind.

 

[MoonWrasse]

I have dived RR many times. One day I did 4 dives there - one dive was slack, and at the other extreme the current was ripping.

I seriously doubt a diver with only 4 dives is ready for the conditions there - much is deeper than 18m, and there are plenty of nasty things which can seriously hurt you if you don't have good buoyancy control.

 

[mtnaire]

Ok, thanks again for the info guys, I plan on getting my fins wet a few times including getting my AOW out of the way first before I attempt Richelieu, and will then assess the conditions first before giving it a go.

 

[cs]

Hi, I just returned from a LOB trip last week. Richelieu Rock is a wonderful dive site but I think it is not for novice divers due to the depth. I had done 3 dives there and all were more than 25meters. The visibility was not really good and there was slight current. There were also many nasty fishes around such as lionfish and stonefish. So have to watch where you are going. In short, gain more experience first before attempting this site.

 

[Kim]

Thanks for the info. I have only done some Internet based searching so far, but the West Coast Explorer out of Khao Lak looks to be one consideration and includes dives of the Similan Islands, Koh Bon, Koh Tachai & Richelieu Rock. Do you have one you'd like to recommend?

My only concern is centered around my inability to duck dive and descend quickly when faced with strong currents, as so far, I've had to descend feet down and gradually in order to equalize properly. Based on your experience in these waters, would that be an issue?

Yes it is. In heavy current areas you can often be expected to make a negative entry - i.e. hit the water and keep on going. If you can't manage that you can end up a long way from where you were supposed to be....and in blue water. Richelieu has it's own particular problems. Apart from the variable currents which others have mentioned, there are usually a large number of boats in the area - both the larger liveaboards themselves - doing live drop offs/pick ups, or the zodiacs zooming around doing the same thing. It's a very busy place where you need to know what you're doing and have good buoyancy control - especially at the end of the dive.

I don't normally like to say something like this but I totally agree with smartecosse that the second post in the thread from jdfmail is incredibly inexperienced, and really very dangerous advice. Before you can descend fast and sure, maintain GOOD bouyancy throughout your dive (i.e. YOU remain in control of it), and are comfortable shooting a safety sausage on your own, while you might get away with dives like Richelieu very often, you're putting yourself at incredible risk IMO.