Video showing current from Spring 2013

[PeterNBiddle]

This video is from the fastest current we've experienced in Coz. IIRC we dropped in at the end of Delila and headed into Tormentos (I may have that wrong, my log isn't handy). The dive plan was to run the top edge of the wall however once we were at depth our dm didn't guide us anywhere near the edge. I'm the second diver counting from the left to right.

This was a challenging dive for some of us. It was really, really fast. I think I did okay but I can't say that I enjoyed the experience at the time - running that fast I didn't feel like I had much choice beyond sticking with the current or thumbing the dive. Full kicking into the current didn't even hold position and ducking behind the occasional formation did nothing. Everything we did was either amplified (eg anything remotely sloppy made you look look and feel like an idiot) or negated (eg stopping or god forbid head back up current).

We did temporarily lose one diver, an experienced woman who slowed down to look at a seahorse and when she looked up shortly later we were just gone. She immediately surfaced and flagged down a passing boat and I think they radioed our boat to get her. Nobody crashed into anything or each other but more than one of us said later that if we drop into a current this fast again we're probably going to thumb the dive.

[video=youtube_share;ooIOX_ay29Q]http://youtu.be/ooIOX_ay29Q[/video]

This was shot by another diver so I can't take any credit for it.

 

[Mossman]

That doesn't look at all bad to me. Most of the bubbles are rising vertically. When the bubbles are practically horizontal, then you have issues. If the bubbles start going downward, then you really have issues.

Best idea is just to go with the flow. If a DM wants to stop and the only way to stop is kick as hard as you can against the current, that's simply dangerous. Getting out of breath is not a good idea underwater, nor is having a heart attack. Ignore the DM and continue on your way.

 

[Brules]

That area is known for fun fast currents like that, I love it when it is kicking at 2-3+ knots! It is like flying! Looked like fun!!!!!

 

[PeterNBiddle]

That area is known for fun fast currents like that, I love it when it is kicking at 2-3+ knots! It is like flying! Looked like fun!!!!!

I think the stress for me was worrying about other people and about getting split up. In hindsight it was fine. When I have hundreds or thousands of dives under my tanks ill probably be all "that was NOTHING! You should have been on that dive when the current was so strong it tore our hair out at the roots!" but until then, it was the fastest current I've been in. : )

 

[Mossman]

It can go the other way too. When I experienced my one and only downcurrent, I was a bit shook up back on the boat, as were other more experienced divers. I was worried how my friend's sister fared in the other group since she had just finished her cert dives a day or two before. It turned out that being a complete newbie, she was oblivious to the downcurrent and completely enjoyed the dive that had the rest of us pissing our pants.

Fastest currents I've ever experienced were in the Tuamotus, off the Tahiti Aggressor. The DMs urged us to adopt their horrible practice of holding on to hard corals, but even that didn't help when the corals broke under the strength of the current. I have no idea how much hard coral that boat ended up killing before they moved it from the Tuamotus to the Society Islands, then out of Tahiti altogether; fortunately some of the sites are so remote that no else dives them.

Drift diving in occasionally very fast currents is one reason why I and a few others don't recommend Cozumel for brand new divers. You felt stressed at 50-99 dives which is a decent amount of experience. I think its crazy to take someone who's barely certified, often lacking decent buoyancy control and comfort with their (likely rental) gear, and throw them in a high current on a deep wall. Honestly, I'm surprised that more accidents don't happen.

 

[Brules]

I think the stress for me was worrying about other people and about getting split up. In hindsight it was fine. When I have hundreds or thousands of dives under my tanks ill probably be all "that was NOTHING! You should have been on that dive when the current was so strong it tore our hair out at the roots!" but until then, it was the fastest current I've been in. : )

Sorry, I didn't notice your # of dives! It can be kind of scary the first time.

Usually when you dive there, the DM will hop in and check the current 1st. We had a dive there in 2003 that the DM said was 4+ knots, we got spread out just like you and only 3 of us surfaced with the dm. Current was so strong, if you faced the current and stopped (finger hooked in sand) it would purge your regulator a little......was wicked fast!!!!!!

 

[PeterNBiddle]

Sorry, I didn't notice your # of dives! It can be kind of scary the first time.

Usually when you dive there, the DM will hop in and check the current 1st. We had a dive there in 2003 that the DM said was 4+ knots, we got spread out just like you and only 3 of us surfaced with the dm. Current was so strong, if you faced the current and stopped (finger hooked in sand) it would purge your regulator a little......was wicked fast!!!!!!

This wasn't our first Coz dive - 3rd trip. Just way faster than any of the currents previously. The captain and DM seemed to think it was around 3 knots now that I think about it. When we lost the one diver the DM had us try to stop by hooking rocks but they came out of the sand.

 

[robint]

Yeah, we have been there done that in Cozumel. Fastest current was at Paseo del Norte one trip, we were hiding behind coral heads to rest and gather back together as the whole group was getting tossed around like paper bags in the wind. Really scary the first time, for sure.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

That doesn't look at all bad to me. Most of the bubbles are rising vertically. When the bubbles are practically horizontal, then you have issues. If the bubbles start going downward, then you really have issues.

Best idea is just to go with the flow. If a DM wants to stop and the only way to stop is kick as hard as you can against the current, that's simply dangerous. Getting out of breath is not a good idea underwater, nor is having a heart attack. Ignore the DM and continue on your way.

what are you talking about? The divers are drifting... their bubbles are going to be going up. Bubbles will only be going horizontally when the diver is stopped or moving at a different velocity than the current..Looks like it was moving along to me..

 

[PeterNBiddle]

what are you talking about? The divers are drifting... their bubbles are going to be going up. Bubbles will only be going horizontally when the diver is stopped or moving at a different velocity than the current..Looks like it was moving along to me..

That was bothering me as well...