Drift diving is NOT so relaxing!

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No, my favorite, Underwater Explorers. Kevin is the Castor King
awesome u got 4 dives in with him on the same day. I did a 3 tank dive last year with him that was awesome because everyone on board was ok with it. It's nice when the group is small....so many more possibilities.

How were the goliaths at the castor this week?
 
awesome u got 4 dives in with him on the same day. I did a 3 tank dive last year with him that was awesome because everyone on board was ok with it. It's nice when the group is small....so many more possibilities.

How were the goliaths at the castor this week?
Hi Andrew,

I did much better than that with UE, 4 dives on Saturday, 2 Castor and 2 reef, 4 dives on Sunday, 2 Castor and 2 reef, and 2 reef dives today. Such a pleasure diving off a boat with a max of 6, generally more experienced, divers. It was a pleasure seeing Kevin.

Goliath Grouper on the Castor was mediocre by Castor standards. At best, about 15 off the bow, another 15 off port from the bow, another 15 or 20 at the stern superstructure and off to the starboard. The current varied from ripping, where you could barely swim and could not venture far from the wreck, to nothing. More GG with the former. The visibility was not so good, probably about 30 feet most of the time, maybe a little better at times. Nevertheless, a great dive, good bait and hunters on a couple of the dives, many barracuda, glimpse of one of the resident Bull Sharks.

Take care, looking forward to seeing you down here, Craig
 
No, my favorite, Underwater Explorers. Kevin is the Castor King
Mine too!
 
Next ... you add waves, rigid dive ladder, losing a fin while you try to hand it on deck... Why would you take off fin before on boat? Bad idea.

Next ... you add low on air or out of air

Next... you add surfacing without a dive flag and without a surface marker device.... why would you surface without an smb?

I am not sure if a "drift diver" or "boat diver" specialty course can prepare a beginner for diving when the combination of the above is together.
See in bold.

Those *specialty* courses are really special. It’s what I’ve heard anyway.
 
Drift diving is often very easy and uncomplicated, but, occasionally, that can change. I always carry a dSMB and spool, even if I'm the one with the flag. I think it's always a good idea to board with your fins, I've been thrown off the ladder just once, very glad I had my fins, and mask on, regulator in. It's easy to get complacent when conditions are great, it's also an ideal time to practice.
 
It all depends upon the situation. We never take our SMB for Bonaire dives. Or Roatan. Or Utila.

There are many places in the ocean where there is no current.

Thanks for the reply. I do understand that. But I also understand that mother nature is a fickle beast, and its always best to be prepared. Yes, I was indeed a Boy Scout. :)
 
mother nature is a fickle beast, and its always best to be prepared.
Indeed. My SMB goes with me on almost every dive, even in Bonaire, Utilla, Roatan and Utilla. I don't take it with me in a cave.
 
I had a crazy experience on my first drift dive. I was OK but it was chaos for everyone. I wrote about it. I think I had 15ish dives at the time. Now it's 6 months later and I love them. They're more exciting - particularly because of negative entry.

Diving in general is really relaxing, so I don't know why someone would say drift is more relaxing than a dive in calm water. You have to be more aware of the group as a whole and not just a buddy or two.
 
In the San Juans, currents control everything. We generally try to start a dive at or just before slack current, but it isn't always really slack. Some of the best diving we've done is some variation on one team diving while the other team drifts along and follows their bubbles in the Zodiac. Or sometimes even in the big boat. Teams switch about the time the current changes, and we all drift back the other way.

Two times I remember when things went wrong-ish.
1. Trying to drift dive Deception Pass. This is a spectacular but advanced wall dive that is only possible at slack current. Well, slack didn't really happen that day, so it was a pretty rapid drift dive. Except I got caught in a sharp downdraft. Like somebody pushed the "down" button on an express elevator. Finning and inflating wasn't stopping the descent. I was just about to start trying to jam my dive knife into cracks in the wall when it spit me out. Then I was worried about getting in an updraft. Oh, and my second stage iced up and started free flowing... OK, only dive Deception Pass on a real slack slack.

2. Group of four ended a drift dive near the end of an island. As planned, the current started washing the party back toward the boat. Except I was just far enough around the point (really only a few yards) that a different current started washing me toward... Canada. By the time we mutually realized that I wasn't with the group any more, my head couldn't be seen in the surface chop. This was a bit before inflatable sausages came along. Boy, did I think of this day the first time I saw one of those. It was a lot of work to swim to the back side of the island and hike back across to where the boat could see me. They were looking in completely the wrong direction.
 
QUOTE After hundreds of drift dives I have NEVER seen a captain send someone into the water to fetch another diver on the surface. They simply back the boat up to you. It’s called reverse. We have grabbed the ladder many times in 8 foot swells. It’s all about timing and not getting so close the ladder comes down on your head. Just grab the ladder at the bottom of the swell and ride it up! I can guarantee if you start blowing a whistle or honking a horn on the surface the captain will have your head on a stake if it’s not a true emergency. Don’t do that. Risk of dying from running out of air? That’s on you. QUOTE

I have been on at least 2 drift dives where it was so rough that the crew got into the water, grabbed divers, took their fins, and shoved them up the ladder. Experienced divers. The younger, stronger guys got on the boat first so they could help. I remember crawling, BCD still on, across the pitching deck to my seat on one dive! On another dive, we surfaced in the middle of a squall. It was all we could do to hang on to each other and let the captain/crew figure out what to do. It was a miracle no one got hurt getting back on the boat.

I love drift dives, and have done 100's of them. Weather can change when you are under.
 
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