"Drift diving" definition

[firelaw]

We had a very interesting discussion on our liveaboard in the Similans on the definition of "drift diving". In Cozumel and Egypt the "drift divers" were essentially accompanied by the boat on the surface and the divers and boat went with the current.

In the Similans and long ago in Crete they used the term for any dive where the boat was not moored. In some cases they pick you up where you went in and in others at a designated down current pickup spot, but in both cases they do not directly watch the divers in the water

The question was over the need for some kind of dive flag


Any thoughts?

 

[H2O 70]

Any dive with or without the boat where the divers a just along for the ride in the current.

As for the flag, a SMB with a flag on it is typically what I have seen or used personally.

I've done drift dives where we used the boat as the SMB and had a drop line from the boat.

 

[Scott L]

We had a very interesting discussion on our liveaboard in the Similans on the definition of "drift diving". In Cozumel and Egypt the "drift divers" were essentially accompanied by the boat on the surface and the divers and boat went with the current.

In the Similans and long ago in Crete they used the term for any dive where the boat was not moored. In some cases they pick you up where you went in and in others at a designated down current pickup spot, but in both cases they do not directly watch the divers in the water

The question was over the need for some kind of dive flag


Any thoughts?

In Florida anyway, a dive flag is required on the boat trailing the divers and/or on the float being towed by the divers. With wreck diving in particular divers are often "hot-dropped" up-current with the boat ready to watch for a deployed lift bag or surface marker bouy at a predive declared location. Not sure if I answered your question, lot's of local variations...

 

[Walter]

There are three methods of diving in current from an unanchored boat where you drift with the current. All three are commonly called "drift diving" although it is usually a misnomer. It's similar to divers "clearing" their ears. We don't really "clear" our ears, but we understand what is meant (pressure in the ears is equalized) when the term is used.

Drift diving is rarely used. A weighted line, often the anchor line, is dropped to the desired dive depth. Divers descend along the line to the desired depth, holding on the line as the boat drifts along, they are always connected to the boat.

Live boating is common in Mexico, especially Cozumel. It is a fairly risky method. Divers descend and drift with the current. The boat “follows the bubbles.” Using this method, it is easy to lose divers or to accidentally strike a diver with the boat. Since safety sausages have become available, live boating has become safer.

The preferred method is float diving. It is similar to live boating, except one or more of the divers has a reel attached to a float, which the boat follows. The float often has a dive flag attached. Divers stay close to the diver with the reel and therefore do not get lost. Divers ascend next to the line and stay next to the float until acknowledged by the boat crew. They then swim away from the float for pickup. This ensures the boat does not strike divers.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

"Drift diving" refers to a dive in which the diver allows the current to carry him to a separate exit point.

In a strict sense, it says nothing about the boat. The boat can be following along (as in Cozumel) or waiting at the exit point.

In a strict sense, it has nothing to do with whether a dive float/flag is required, recommended, or unnecessary. Local rules will dictate when or if dive floats, flags, or SMBs are deployed.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

"Drift diving" refers to a dive in which the diver allows the current to carry him [-]to a separate exit point[/-].

I think leaving off those last few words is more accurate.

Up off the northern coast of Vancouver Island there's a place called Discovery Passage that's known for its walls. They're all drift diving ... almost always drift diving ... because the current never really stops there. It just swirls around til it settles in a new direction. Currents also vary with depth. I've done hour-plus long dives on those walls where I never stopped drifting ... and came up within 50 feet or less of where I started.

BTW - the diving up there's spectacular if you ever get the chance to experience it (Google Campbell River or Quadra Island) ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Bubbletrubble]

I think leaving off those last few words is more accurate.

Up off the northern coast of Vancouver Island there's a place called Discovery Passage that's known for its walls. They're all drift diving ... almost always drift diving ... because the current never really stops there. It just swirls around til it settles in a new direction. Currents also vary with depth. I've done hour-plus long dives on those walls where I never stopped drifting ... and came up within 50 feet or less of where I started.

BTW - the diving up there's spectacular if you ever get the chance to experience it (Google Campbell River or Quadra Island) ...

Bob, I actually thought of the possibility of a "toilet bowl"-like, swirling current before I made the post, but I had never heard of a site suitable for diving that could be counted on for such a unique current. Thanks to your post, now I have.

I really need to get up there and dive the PNW. It sounds fantastic.

 

[Wookie]

Bob, I actually thought of the possibility of a "toilet bowl"-like, swirling current before I made the post, but I had never heard of a site suitable for diving that could be counted on for such a unique current. Thanks to your post, now I have.

I really need to get up there and dive the PNW. It sounds fantastic.

Another example is "Superman's Flight" in St. Lucia. The current below 50 feet nearly always runs from North to South, but on the surface it tends from South to North. It is an awesome wall (steep slope, about 60-70 degrees). I saw my first frogfish there.

 

[String]

My definition is any dive where the current is too strong to swim against meaning the exit point has to be different from the entry. It doesn't have to be a boat.

Simply getting in at one place and out at another isnt a drift.

 

[RTee]

With the exception of bowl-like current, my experience with drift diving has either been a Cozumel type of drift (single or multiple boats over same area) and the use of a sausage when the first team is heading back up for their 3 min SS or doing a shore dive where divers' vehicles will be split between entry and exit points or having the vehicles centrally located and thumping it back to the parking lot with your equipment or leaving it with some divers and getting your vehicle. Depending on sites, sausage or surface marker may be used partially (exit) throughout or not at all.