What to do with Down Current?

[Evan Soon]

After reading the news about Crystal Bay or Nusa Penida, I was wondering what would one do with down currents? I have no experience with it yet but would 100% like to know what to do when it hits.

Mind sharing some down current experience as well for reference?

 

[clownfishsydney]

It does not appear down currents played any part in the current missing/found divers at Nusa Penida.

That been said, the commonly accepted solution appears to be to swim out away from the wall and at the same time inflating your BCD. I have no idea if this always works, but to most it would seem to be the opposite of what you should do, hence why many do not do and die.

 

[bracko]

It depends on the local topography. In general if you're on a site that is a known difficult site with currents just stick with the guide and do what they do, they know the sites, they know the danger areas. They will brief you and give you the hand signals and what to do.

Reason being, on steep sloping flat walls of a submerged or partially submerged reef with cross current the down current areas are lesser near the wall, in cutouts along a steep/vertical with current running along the wall you need to go around them, away from the wall. on sharp corners with two currents meeting ideally stay right away from the point and keep a visual depth scale or keep an eye on your gauges. So it really depends on local knowledge and where the current is coming from. Some areas it's predictable other areas it's a get there and see approach.


If you're not comfortable tell the guide you've never dived in current before and they will take care of you. They will not take you on a ripping king tide current with unpredictable currents on your first drift dive.


but... drift diving is awesome, the water does the work for you however seeing a full SMB take a two right angle turns and come a few metres back down is never a good sight.....

 

[divewench1]

I have dived (and guided divers) in strong down currents many, many times, in Bali at Crystal Bay, Blue Corner, Gili Mimpang, Gili Selang etc etc.

If the topography is such that you are close to the reef when the down current hits, stay as close to the reef as possible, preferably using a reef hook to hold on to rocks, down currents can pass very quickly (20-30 seconds) so wait and see, if the current continues longer than this, make sure everyone in the group is calm, breathing normally and close together, then all let go together, whilst kicking upwards and slightly inflating your BC, be prepared to dump the air quickly once you are out of the current otherwise you'll pop to the surface, which will not be a good idea.

If necessary the dive can be aborted (after a safety stop if conditions allow), or if the water conditions are calmer the divers can continue.

Once you know what to look for you can anticipate a down current before it hits; 1) watch the fish (which will hide in the corals away from the current), 2) watch your bubbles or your buddies bubbles(which will swirl around you like a washing machine), 3) keep an eye on your dive computer (if-unusually-your ears need equalising, you are probably being pushed downwards)

Most importantly, take a drift diving course, tell your dive guide you haven't experienced down currents before, listen closely to the dive briefing, stick to your guide like glue.

 

[Donnah]

I was caught in an up current in the Galapagos. It was quite terrifying -- it was like an elevator suddenly taking me to the surface. My computer was going crazy, I could hear the waves crashing against the rocks and I knew that if I didn't get an air embolism, I was going to be smashed on the rocks. I managed to fight my way down enough to grab an rock pinnacle and hang on until I could get my breathing under control, then worked my way back down. I was diving with my husband and DM, and neither noticed what happened -- the whole thing happened so quickly. I'm sure they were thinking "Where did she go? Oh, there she is. " The DM gave me a casual OK? sign and couldn't figure out why I gave him the finger. I felt like screaming "I almost died and you guys were watching hammerheads!"

 

[bakodiver391]

The best solution is to carry a high volume 6' smb and a 200' reel and have the skills to deploy it quickly. I am the guide so i feel it is my obligation to have this gear and use it. This way you avoid the overfilling BCD, uncontrolled ascent, no safety stop scenario, and the boat knows exactly where you are and where you're going. I've had as many as 3 divers hanging onto the SMB reel line in a downcurrent, with no issues. As others have said, if you are on the reef and can hang on, the current may pass and you can continue the dive. Otherwise, the SMB is your friend.

 

[Evan Soon]

It does not appear down currents played any part in the current missing/found divers at Nusa Penida.

That been said, the commonly accepted solution appears to be to swim out away from the wall and at the same time inflating your BCD. I have no idea if this always works, but to most it would seem to be the opposite of what you should do, hence why many do not do and die.

I know the current case there had nothing to do with down currents but it made me and friends talk about the diving situation there and currents came into the picture which made me think of what to do.

swimming away from the wall as in swimming into the blue? So down current doesn't last for a long time but a short while? is it even possible to fight a down current by finning?

From Donnah's story up currents are pretty scary too.

 

[tr3a]

A lot of advice on what to do can go out the window.
In Palau last Oct. we were ending our dive. That involved swimming out from the wall into blue water while ascending so that the chase boat can stay away from the reef.
My wife and I got caught in a vortex ( a strong one). Bubbles were going down, the DM's bag went down instead of up. When you are going in circles (Vortex) kind of hard to swim out of it. Fortunatly we were together. It took my wing near fully inflated and my wife's jacket half inflated just to stop our descent. We were pulled down twice before we got to surface.
Final insult, we were both hit with 15 min decompression from the ride (DM also hit with deco)
A cool head is your best tool.

 

[DanLW]

The two things that scare me most in regards to diving is 1) having a catastrophic BCD failure at depth in a heavy wetsuit, and 2) down currents. I think down currents scare me most because of the relative loss of control. Sure most of them can be managed by buoyancy, and swim away from the wall, but what happens when you get caught in a particularly strong one?

I think it could help if I could visualize the down current. I wonder if some body has done computer or dye models of these things.

 

[diverken374]

The best solution is to carry a high volume 6' smb and a 200' reel and have the skills to deploy it quickly. I am the guide so i feel it is my obligation to have this gear and use it. This way you avoid the overfilling BCD, uncontrolled ascent, no safety stop scenario, and the boat knows exactly where you are and where you're going. I've had as many as 3 divers hanging onto the SMB reel line in a downcurrent, with no issues. As others have said, if you are on the reef and can hang on, the current may pass and you can continue the dive. Otherwise, the SMB is your friend.

I realize that this post is over one year old however just came across it on reading about down currents. Thanks for your advise re using an SMB to get out. I have not seen this solution posted before and it seems like such an obvious maneuver to try.