Where have you experienced the strongest currents?

[DCBC]

I've written before about some of the diving in Norway. When working in the North Sea several years back, I did quite a bit of diving there. The Saltstraumen Maelstrom has the fastest tidal currents in the world and since I love drift diving I've dove this and the Sunstraumen Maelstrom quite often. The normal currents for diving are 3 to 5 mph, but the current does get as high as 25 mph in spots. What a hoot!

 

[Herk_Man]

Niagara Falls

 

[DCBC]

Niagara Falls

Two questions:

1. Were you in a barrel? and

2. At what speed did you hit the bottom?

 

[Herk_Man]

No, I was at the bottom swimming up the falls. But I had split fins and couldn't make any headway so I thumbed the dive.

 

[reefseal]

Piscataqua river, Portsmouth, NH which has a tidal current rated as one of the fastest in North America. Cool drift dive from Pierce Island, catch incoming tide which carries you to Memorial Bridge, turn around at slack catch back to entry point. (doubles dive)

 

[Skier-Diver]

Belize-Creekozeen Cut; it wasn't all that strong (we swam up it), but it's the strongest I've encountered. The plants looked like the wind was blowing about 20mph if they were on land.

 

[Hammerhead]

The Peleliu Express, off the island of Peleliu in Palau, Micronesia.

You get on the train - and theres no stopping till it's time to surface.

Even with a scooter there would be no chance of staying in the one place.

Every year there seems to be a handful of divers who miss the surfacing deadline and end up getting picked up on islands a few km downstream.

Good stuff.

Bit like me in 1997, then?

afterwards ->

at the time -> :nailbiter:

Not a serious current, but up there in the ****ting myself stakes was losing the group near Darwin's Arch in Galapagos, and surfacing on the other side of the island with no boats in sight, and waiting 30-40 mins for the Zodiacs to come get me, not knowing if they were coming or not. It's a long swim to Ecuador, and I don't fancy trying to climb the Galapagos cliffs much, either.