what is the washing machine current

[skeet]

just returned from cozumel,heard someone talking about a current revearsal or bi-directional currents causing a vortex.

 

[Mick_O]

just returned from cozumel,heard someone talking about a current revearsal or bi-directional currents causing a vortex.

I'd imagine it's quite like a tornado, except you have two counter-currents of water instead of air. Re: washing machine currents, I read something on Google groups about someone diving the Red Sea and before he knew it being pulled down to ~300ft before getting out of the strong down current.

 

[sharky60]

When I was there over Labor day week this year, we made a night dive at "Paradise reef", the current was moving from north to south (from town towards the international pier), rather than the usual south to north. It was also VERY strong, the sensation was similar to being in a car driving around 15-20mph and looking down at the side of the road, although I'm sure we weren't really going that fast. but it was really quite a ride and the DM said he had never experienced a current quite that heavy. It was just that one night and the rest of the week the currents were normal, but that was the night that one of the hurricanes of this year made it's pass as close as it came to the Yucatan so I think that was what caused it.
I recently heard of down currents taking people from depths of 10' to 80' and back up in a few seconds down there, but I think in Cozumel it's rare as I've never experienced it, or anything like it in over 10 years of diving there.
It will be interesting to read others comments and find out if anyone has been caught up in one of these, maybe a DM or Dive OP owner who dives down there all the time will have some insight.

 

[redacted]

Current in Coz is almost always south to north. However, the inshore current between paradise reef and chakanab is usually a mild north to south "eddy". I have done a dive on paradise where we started out close to the pier with a mild N to S current and after about 15 minutes, it changed direction and became very strong. Some divers were pushing themselves off of cruise ships while other passed around the front of the first ship only to end up on the next one. No casualties, but the night dive on villa blanc was interesting. It started a bit south of of Papa Hogs and ended in front of PLG. I estimated it was pushing around 2 knots.

 

[GPdiver]

just returned from cozumel,heard someone talking about a current revearsal or bi-directional currents causing a vortex.

to me seemed more like a blender on the puree setting.
watching the bubbles wipping around the pinacles in a vortex.

I have had the current switch direction several times mid dive at paradise.

 

[ggunn]

I'd imagine it's quite like a tornado, except you have two counter-currents of water instead of air. Re: washing machine currents, I read something on Google groups about someone diving the Red Sea and before he knew it being pulled down to ~300ft before getting out of the strong down current.

All of the vortices I have encountered at Cozumel have been very large, which means the only effect at any one point is that the current was moving in a different direction than what would be considered normal.

I have encountered surface conditions that were like a washing machine when wind driven chop was in opposition to swell.