Quseir Experience

[DomaNitrogen]

I just came from Quseir had a couple of dives there
and i would like to share my experience. I dived a site i really cant
remember it's name but starts with a "M" anyway it's a shore dive you
walk 15m from the beach you drop down and when u hit 5 meters there is a
fishing boat laying there. the boat is about 6-8 meters long. You can go
North or South with the reef wall. Our dive guide said we will go North
against the current. Strangely after a while i found the current is
North we kept going and the current was getting very strong dragging us.
At that point the instructor turned at a turn of and signaled to go back
the other way and he was struggling to return he used he's hands at that
point i was behind him. I turned started finning but i was all ready in
the turn of the current was too strong i was going no where. started
using my hand barely moving i went as down as possible and close to the
reef to avoid the current and barely moved and i was breathing like hell
at that moment i was getting too tired. I kept thinking to myself is it
time to Panic?? its going to happen any moment now any moment now and i was
surprised from my reaction i did not. I hooked my hand into a Coral and
rested for a few seconds and started fighting the current again using
hands, double kicks, Frog kicks anything until i progressed and the
current decreased and we where on our way back safely. Although i used
around 50 Bars in a few min i did not panic thank god.

I always assume that the Guide knows the dive site and knows the
environment more then i do; the instructor said after the dive he never
experienced the north current. To conclude two things never switch
off your mind concerning environmental issues cause the guide knows what
he's doin always have your doubts and be on alert . Second always know
your directions even in guided dives dont switch of your mind and just
follow and watch. As a worst case scenario i would have surfaced and
swam to shore but i had to consider two thing 1) to be dragged to the
blue no boats around. 2) i was tolled a lot of fire corals around not
going to be nice tryin to get over them.

But i did enjoy the dive and thought of it as a new experience and
learned a lot about myself, my flaws. Although it was very scary at the
moment

[Red Sea Shadow]

Thank God you're OK Adham.

Well, you've done the right thing. The first thing to do when facing an abnormal situation is NOT to panic :)

[Jai Bar]

What fins are you using? I had this type of experience with strong currents on Elphinstone. I was buddied with a relatively experienced diver, who had accumulated most of his dives in safaries, but never had to the opportunity to tackle real strong currents.

Anyway, he had the most basic set of gear, claiming that it is not the equipment what makes a good diver. A simple, non balanced regulator and the most simple, plana avanti fins, which were so worn that they were almost transparent.

I commented about his fins and reg, that he should consider upgrading them someday perhaps at the cost of a short safari but he dismissed me.

To make the story short, when we were dropped off the dinghy at Elphinstone, we caught a nice current. This guy was trying to fin as hard as he could, but the fins just flexed- and as hard as he tried- he was just progressing backwards....
Since the reg wasn't something brilliant soon he was having breathing problems- probably CO2 was building very fast and he couldn't breathe anymore.

Eventually he got so far away from the reef that we were loosing eye contact with him that we decided to join him and try helping him back, which was almost an impossible task. Finally, we decided it was a futile effort to oppose the current while trying to drag him and surfaced some good several hundred meters from Elphinstone.

Moral of the story? Don't know... Perhaps when everything is OK and the sea is like a swimming pool it doesn't really matters what gear we use. But when the tough gets going, it is better to have a good piece of regulator and strong fins.

By the way, back on the boat he never figured out he was swimming backwards and getting out of sight, and he was a little pissed off that we've decided for him to abort the dive... He didn't think he had any problems with his fins neither. He was a good diver, and although breathing very hard he didn't panic but I don't think this is the way to enjoy safari dives.

[Red Sea Shadow]

By the way, back on the boat he never figured out he was swimming backwards and getting out of sight, and he was a little pissed off that we've decided for him to abort the dive... He didn't think he had any problems with his fins neither. He was a good diver, and although breathing very hard he didn't panic but I don't think this is the way to enjoy safari dives.

Why do you think he was a good diver?

From your description, I feel he's neither skillful nor knowledgeable.

[DomaNitrogen]

Ya my fins sucks the plastic Beuchat thingys i will be getting Jet fins soon. My reg is Apeks so although i was breathing real heavily it was doing a great job i loved them.

I agree with Asser; U all quit the dive for him; pride is a dangerous thing in diving...

[Jai Bar]

You are both right, of course.

However, when one gets on boat and is buddied with an unknown diver at least until the first dive together the more obvious way to know something about his experience is usually by peeping into his logbook, looking about how he assembles and checks his gear etc. According to these, he was OK.
He had lots of dives in his resumee, but apparently none in harsh conditions.

I see many times divers with fins that are comfortable and very cool for 99% of the dives, but in the rare situations (such as rescuing a diver, fighting currents etc.) the fins/reg can make the difference between a nice dive or a horror, not to say disaster...

And yes- there are times when one needs real kickin' Jet Fins will do the job where other fins will fold away. They are ugly, they are heavy, they stink- They are the best fins ever since the 1960's. Love them ;)

[DomaNitrogen]

Ya i tried them for 3 dives and i am addicted, But cant find them in Egypt for the right price. they want to sell them in Egypt for $150 without the spring... So still doing my search to find them.

[ArthurGerla]

cant find them in Egypt for the right price. they want to sell them in Egypt for $150 without the spring... So still doing my search to find them.

Heavy, ugly and smelly? That rings a bell ...

http://www.sportduikwinkel.nl/catalog/images/rubber%20duikvinnen.jpg

Is this the kind you are looking for? They are 85 euro including springstraps from sportduikwinkel.nl (http://www.sportduikwinkel.nl/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=42&products_id=166). I could bring a pair over on my next trip to Egypt, luggage allowance permitting.

[DomaNitrogen]

Ya those Ugly Things. I will PM u

[DomaNitrogen]

But they r not scubapro? Does it realy matter ? the material makes a difference?
i dont know the brand..

[ArthurGerla]

They aren't the real scubapro fins. Jet fins look like this:

http://www.scubastore.com/images/fotos/scu00188.jpg

[Tjack]

I had similar experiences with currents off Elfenstone and local dives in the Marsa Alam area. On the inshore reef we were told we would be doing a drift and ended up swimming up current following the guide. We were told that this was an unusual direction for the current to be running, sounds familiar from the previous post. At Elfenstone we encountered strong currents again the guides swam up current first dive. Second dive the group mutinied and drifted down current along the west side of Elfenstone which was a great dive. Either the currents in this region are highly variable or there is a lack of understanding by the DMs? It seemed to me that the local DMs and Captains may not be very good at judging currents. Judging current is tricky but competent outfits which deal with lots of drift diving as in Cozamel and Fiji seem to get it right 90% of the time.