Down Currents Cozumel

[waynel]

Thanks Don for the article. I printed it out and it will go in a binder I keep when I come across something I did not know concerning diving. And thanks Gordon for the bit of reassurance. Yeah, it can happen and at least if it should happen to me, I won't be caught totally by surprise. I've said it before...I've learned twice as much from other divers on this site than I have in OW and AOW. Thanks guys.

 

[ShakaZulu]

Why not use a SMB with these drift dives?

 

[Christi]

Why not use a SMB with these drift dives?

That won't help you with a downcurrent (in the unlikely event of one).

I take it by this suggestion that you've never dove in Cozumel.

However, procedure here is that the DM deploys an SMB when divers are ascending. It's not procedure here nor is it practical to have an SMB deployed for the entire dive for reasons too numerous to list here, but primarily the topography and the current. Having an SMB deployed from 60 to 100 feet while you're trying to do a dive would be more of a hazard than a safety measure.

 

[ggunn]

That won't help you with a downcurrent (in the unlikely event of one).

I take it by this suggestion that you've never dove in Cozumel.

However, procedure here is that the DM deploys an SMB when divers are ascending. It's not procedure here nor is it practical to have an SMB deployed for the entire dive for reasons too numerous to list here, but primarily the topography and the current.

Not to mention the swimthroughs...

 

[Cave Diver]

I agree with the author - swim away from the wall. I stated such in the Coz forum and was told by a local expert that I was a fool, swim to the wall - but I don't want to be between the two, trying to go up the wall and hit the down current again.

Who else has taken a vertical ride at Coz - up or down...?

I havent experienced it, but my main dive buddy has.

You can place me firmly in the "swim away from the wall" camp. Depending on the current, you might not be able to fully escape it by swimming to the wall. Then you have added discomfort of being ripped to shreds as you a) try to hang on in stiff current or b) the current bounces you off the wall.


Someone else mentioned getting disoriented if you swim away. Considering the average viz in Coz, I can't imagine having to swim so far away from the wall to escape the current that you couldnt still see it. Even if I did lose sight of it, I'm comfortable enough with my navigational skills that I don't see this as a problem.

As always, YMMV.

 

[DandyDon]

I havent experienced it, but my main dive buddy has.

You can place me firmly in the "swim away from the wall" camp. Depending on the current, you might not be able to fully escape it by swimming to the wall. Then you have added discomfort of being ripped to shreds as you a) try to hang on in stiff current or b) the current bounces you off the wall.

Someone else mentioned getting disoriented if you swim away. Considering the average viz in Coz, I can't imagine having to swim so far away from the wall to escape the current that you couldnt still see it. Even if I did lose sight of it, I'm comfortable enough with my navigational skills that I don't see this as a problem.

As always, YMMV.

Yes, well - the experienced divers like Christi who prefer swimming to the wall can share more why info maybe? Mostly because it's a shorter trip, I think, and one can surely find shelter - but I'm not totally sure. I take it that you are very experienced in cave diving (very admirable), but not so experienced in ocean wall diving?

I think that some people are intimidated by free ascents from depth without any close references, i.e. wall, mooring line, etc. Good ideas to mentally prepare for, I think, in the unlikely but possible event of a down current:
1-Don't fight it! Go to the wall or away, but don't try swimming into it;
2-If you do have a free ascent, don't worry - just do it carefully. I've done a few, like when I cant' find my way back to the mooring line on a wreck. :silly: I'd rather watch my depth gauge than bubbles as the later may be caught in the down currents too. much to trust.

No one has mentioned being caught in an up current there? I don't think I've ever heard of one there?

 

[Cave Diver]

Yes, well - the experienced divers like Christi who prefer swimming to the wall can share more why info maybe? Mostly because it's a shorter trip, I think, and one can surely find shelter - but I'm not totally sure. I take it that you are very experienced in cave diving (very admirable), but not so experienced in ocean wall diving?

Yes, I'd be interested in hearing why as well. Based on my buddies report of events, I have no desire to go to the wall. Several of them got cut up pretty badly trying to hang on to the wall.

Yes, I have considerable experience wall diving as well both in Mexico and the Cayman Islands. Also wreck and reef. I just prefer cave diving, no need to rinse the gear after.

 

[nmbonfire]

I have never had an issue in Coz but Curacao just off the hotel section of the island (south end) has an up swell that spit me and my brother from 80ft to about 15ft, then a rapid uncontrolled surface in 30sec. Not certain but i think up is better; still, it was a bit of an eye opener... My atom 2 went ape ****.

 

[Christi]

Yes, well - the experienced divers like Christi who prefer swimming to the wall can share more why info maybe?

Didn't I do that? And didn't I say you could swim towards OR away from the wall...but towards the wall is usually the better option? It's a judgment call you have to make in the moment based on how bad it is, where you are in relation to the downcurrent, where you are in relation to the wall, etc. Read what I wrote again...maybe you missed it:

You can swim away from the wall or towards the wall. The closer to the wall you are, the less chance you have of being in the down current. I can't draw a picture of it...but think of a waterfall. It goes over the edge and out a little...if you can get inside of it...at least you have something to grab onto in the event of an emergency and/or extreme fatigue. The risk of swimming away from the wall is that you can't predict how far out the current runs and the further away fro the wall you get...the harder it is to gain your bearings. Towards the wall is the better option.

To elaborate a little more...Getting inside the current along the wall is the best option if it is viable under the circumstances, which in most cases it is. You can ride under it along the wall until you get away from it. These downcurrents do not typically run the entire length of the wall. It's typically only a small section.

Cavediver...not everyone is a strong navigator, especially in blue water with no reference nor sight of the wall. At that point, visibility is a moot point. With no reference points of any kind, it is very easy to get disoriented and unless you see a large marine animal off in the distance, you can't tell what the visibility is, it might as well be 5 ft. Add to that, you have no indication of how fast the current is moving you or in which direction, particularly if you have lost your bearings.

To prove this point, I have an exercise I do with my deep diving specialty students. I take them for a blue water entry with no reference, do a free descent to 130 (the max I can take them for this specialty), and have them navigate back to the wall maintaining the 130ft depth until we hit the wall. You would probably be shocked at how many (experienced) divers have extreme difficulty (disorientation, can't get their compass headings right, etc.) with this exercise. At the end of the dive, I take them back to the blue water (at a much shallower depth of course) and have them deploy their SMB and do the free ascent...again, you'd be surprised at how many have trouble with this. I've even had a very experienced diver go into a bit of a panic on me in the deep blue.

 

[Mawg]

Not to mention the swimthroughs...

Looks like I'm the only one here that got caught in an up current in Cozumel. Bout 10 years ago or so. We were on Santa Rosa Wall and it was toward the end of the dive. Everyone was lining up for the entry to that last swim through. I think the depth was about 70 feet and you're really hanging out over the abyss at this point. I was the last one in, as usual and I was about to kick into the opening when all of a sudden, I started to ascend and there was nothing I could do to stop it. Within a couple of minutes , I was on the surface. Scared the shydookie out of me. I immediately swam back down to 20 feet where the rest of the group was gathering by now for the safety stop. Divemaster saw me , knew at the end what had happened and we stayed about 7 to 8 minutes longer than the rest of the group on the safety stop. I feel lucky that I didnt experience any kind of problems as a result of this.