Diving in Strong Current or Downcurrent

[gabyintheworld]

Hello, everyone.

I'm headed to the Galapagos shortly and have two days of diving planned. I have some experience diving in current and I know some sites in Galapagos have strong currents and downcurrents, sometimes unexpectedly. Depending on dive instructor recommendation, I may dive at Gordon Rocks which is known for its currents. I have also read about three deaths since 2010 all related to sudden downcurrents overwhelming divers.

My question is: what worst-case scenarios should I prepare for and what are the best responses to those? I'm imaginging flooded mask, dropped regulator, and panic. I've read up on how to get out of a downcurrent. But still I want to be prepared as possible. Thanks!

 

[Doby45]

Plans go right out the window when you get punched in the face. Lesson I learned in the academy..

 

[gabyintheworld]

Plans go right out the window when you get punched in the face. Lesson I learned in the academy..

Agree and disagree. The best athletes in the world practice for worst case scenarios. When Michael Phelps's goggles broke at the start of one of his Olympic races, he had practiced mentally for that exact situation over and over again so it didn't throw him and he won.

 

[stuartv]

Hello, everyone.

I'm headed to the Galapagos shortly and have two days of diving planned. I have some experience diving in current and I know some sites in Galapagos have strong currents and downcurrents, sometimes unexpectedly. Depending on dive instructor recommendation, I may dive at Gordon Rocks which is known for its currents. I have also read about three deaths since 2010 all related to sudden downcurrents overwhelming divers.

My question is: what worst-case scenarios should I prepare for and what are the best responses to those? I'm imaginging flooded mask, dropped regulator, and panic. I've read up on how to get out of a downcurrent. But still I want to be prepared as possible. Thanks!

I'm no expert, but a couple of things come immediately to my mind that may or may not useful. One, I would carry a spare mask in the water, in case shtuff happened and current took my mask off and I lost it. I have heard of currents stiff enough to rip a mask off, but I have not experienced one yet, myself. And, two, I would carry an SMB that is one of the bigger (6') ones that has at least 30 pounds of lift - for additional buoyancy just in case I ended up in a downcurrent that was steady and exceeding the ability of my BCD to lift me up against it. From the videos I have seen of diving there, I would think you should generally be able to get to a reef/wall and hold on, to prevent being pushed deeper. But, you might still have trouble going up without more-than-normal lift from your BCD.

Have fun! Color me jealous! One of my dive buddies just got home from there and I sure wish I could have gone with him!

 

[RainPilot]

@Diving Dubai had an interesting incident.

Basically, if you end up with a strong down current you may end up a lot deeper than planned for a lot longer. In his case he had an AL80 as a pony and that was barely enough.

Nobody ever complained that they had too much gas with them.

 

[ronscuba]

You have not mentioned an SMB or DSMB.

Diving in strong currents makes separation a real possibility. A large SMB is for surface signaling, a smaller DSMB is meant for attaching to a line and sent up while you are at depth so people can track your location. Getting your routine and methods for using a DSMB with line at depth is worth practicing. Even on dry land in your living room is better than nothing. Also carry a light on all dives. You can use it to signal at the surface at night and also illuminate your SMB.

For shifting currents, plan to pay attention to your bubbles to determine if the currents are up, down or lateral, so you can kick in the correct direction accordingly.

I have had my mask shifted by strong current, but never fully ripped off. I you are concerned about this, a rubber mask strap will be more secure than the neoprene ones.

Losing your regulator is odd. I guess you could practice regulator retrieval and switching to your octo. Try doing it with your eyes closed. You can also use a Seacure mouthpiece. It is DIY molded to fit your mouth and makes losing your regulator very unlikely.

 

[Dan]

Don't wander out in the blue. Stay close to rocks (not much corals there, mostly rocks). Wear gloves. Be ready to grab on the rocks at any time you see your bubbles going downhill.

I've been in such situation where I ended up climbing rocks underwater. You need to face the downcurrent square on your face to avoid your mask from getting ripped off your face.

In one case, my regulator turned side way, as the current dragged the hose down & I started to drink salt water. That forced me to switch to my octo. When I got back to the surface, I found out that the tyrap of my primary regulator's mouthpiece was loosed. The strong current basically twisted my regulator from horizontal to vertical position. It was quite an acrobatic effort to hold on to a rock with one hand & switching regulator with the other hand that had camera on wrist strap.

 

[Dan]

Typically diving posture in Darwin, Galápagos, below. Left hand on a crack in rock, right hand on camera & wait for hammerheads to swim by.

Learn how to do negative entry & swim quickly to the rocky bottom.

 

[ColoDale]

I have been in signifcant down currents in Cozumel but not Galapagos.
One of them, the three of us were taken out into blue water on the descent on a wall and with mostly inflated BCDs and finning hard we got out of it. We had to remember to let air out of the BCD so we did not rise too quickly. We got back on the boat, repositioned, and descended again for a normal dive. Basically a 70 ft bounce dive in 2 minutes.

Another I stayed close to a sloping wall and grabbed onto rocks and waited it out. The first grab was on a large loose rock whcih came out of the sand. I had to find larger solid rocks ultimately. I had to initially make sure I clipped a large camera in to my BCD. Then focus on stopping which was primary. I did manuever the camera around so it did not flap against the wall while still making sure I was stopped and minding where my wife and group were. There were alot more tasks to deal with quickly and equipment is secondary. I can be dumped.

Both of these downcurrents stopped after a few minutes. It is strange to watch everyones bubbles going down. I did feel on the wall downcurrent the my mask was starting to come off but with a free hand slid the strap further down on the back of my head and faced into it. I had no issues with regs or other equipment but I did notice the second stage hose vibrating signifcantly.

There are a few more and lesser downcurrents that were easy to deal with. I have an SMB on all dives just in case.

 

[gabyintheworld]

So many great ideas here. I really appreciate them all and will be equipping myself accordingly. I don't own an SMB yet and not sure if I'll be able to get one before the trip.

In terms of swimming out of a downcurrent, I have heard swim out horizontally and swim out at 45 degree angle. Anyone want to chime in on that? Has anyone ever been confused as to which direction is up after being pulled about by current? Not sure if that's only possible with with washing machine currents or not.