Downcurrents & How to Exit

[AceszHigh]

So I have somewhere around 500 dives all over the world..Cozumel, Palau, Bonaire, Florida, California, Thailand & more ...

I am headed to Bali soon and read about something I actually had never really heard of or experienced..Downcurrents. Particularly in the Nusa Penida area for Bali. This literally had me scared about diving there for a moment as I googled, read previous threads and even saw a very scary video from a few years ago of divers in Coz in a downcurrent, fortunately it ended well.

Anyways, what is the deal? Is the best way out generally recognized as coming farther off the wall & adding air to your wing? How do you avoid suddenly being swept from 60ft to 150+?

 

[clownfishsydney]

Add air and swim away from the wall is the accepted answer to this problem.

 

[jh_MacLeod]

So I have somewhere around 500 dives all over the world..Cozumel, Palau, Bonaire, Florida, California, Thailand & more ...

I am headed to Bali soon and read about something I actually had never really heard of or experienced..Downcurrents. Particularly in the Nusa Penida area for Bali. This literally had me scared about diving there for a moment as I googled, read previous threads and even saw a very scary video from a few years ago of divers in Coz in a downcurrent, fortunately it ended well.

Anyways, what is the deal? Is the best way out generally recognized as coming farther off the wall & adding air to your wing? How do you avoid suddenly being swept from 60ft to 150+?

I think the key to surviving currents is early awareness. The sooner you recognize what is happening, the more time you have to take appropriate action before a dangerous current becomes a serious struggle. Be mindful of what your ears and depth gauge are telling you and do something about it before the rest of your dive group.
I dive Sipidan a lot, where for practical purposes, there is no bottom. When I was there last month, I encountered down currents on virtually every dive. The most challenging dive I experienced during this trip began with a strong down-current at depth (from 25 to 45 meters) but ended with an up-current (at 15 meters). At the beginning of the dive, we depleted our air fighting not to get sucked down, only the find that once we were free, we were being sucked up to the surface. Everyone ended the dive by grabbing onto rocks and coral (feet flapping upward) in an attempt not to surface too fast. On another dive, we were literally flying south at 30 meters only to reverse directions at 15 meters and fly north. Since these currents were more or less horizontal, it was great fun. :blinking:

 

[Freewillow]

+ 1 with Macleod. Additional things to watch: the dive master, he knows the sites and its dangers pretty well and also the FISHS. They ALWAYS face current. So if they are all "heads up", you know you are down for a ride if you do not make a U turn pretty fast

 

[Heg]

Add air and swim away from the wall is the accepted answer to this problem.

Not always. We got hit with a downcurrent in Raja Ampat while we were doing a safety stop out in the blue. Nothing too major. We were able to kick up hard through it ,but it came from nowhere and pushed us down from 5m to 15m in seconds. The line on the SMB came in pretty handy on that dive.

 

[Freewillow]

I am glad you mentionned that Heg. I have a pretty big ( 4 gallons ) tek SMB and if the DM has annouced the possibility of "washing machines", it is not a bad idea to lauch it from depth. Worked for me once .