Learning how to dive in strong currents without diving in strong currents
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АлександрД
Contributor
Gloves. to catch the wall 
aquacat8
Contributor
I recommend swimming in current in nothing but mask, snorkle and fins. You can do this in a river and you don’t need viz as long as there are not dangerous obstructions. Wear your scuba fins and swim underwater a lot and play with the current. Also swimming in surf and many ocean sites have currents running along the beach. Even rip currents if you know how to get out of them can be fun: some surfers intentionally ride them out. Even whitewater kayaking will teach you a lot about current. The more you play in moving water the more innate sense of it you will have and the more comfortable you will be.
I am on the other side the Tyrrhenian. As far as I know there are some places with strong currents for example the straight of Sicily. But in most places there are currents only in specific times and conditions with storms or strong winds and so on. In these cases the divings generally don’t take the risk of bringing people out with the boats. Anyway you are probably right if I search well there are probably some suitable places. The suggestment they gave me to do some training in the rivers is good anyway, I have rivers handy
Gosh...you know that I really didn't think about it? We do have rivers. Murky dangerous places few people like to dive there
So you would compare sea and ocean dives with strong currents with river dives? I didn't think it was just as simple as that. The one below is not far. There are also many others, but the water usually looks worse than this...
The River you did link isn’t that strong, it might be on some days but when i went there it was only a mild current. You realy had to go to the narrow passages to have some current.
Then again don’t worry to much, if you are calm underwater it will al be fine.
On the thistelgorm you can pull yourself to the ankerline and from that line you can pull yourself down and hide behind and inside the ship.
Thanks... there are other rivers where the current is stronger, Adda or Po in Pavia where they have a river version of the Christ of the Abyss...
But most people don't like to dive there. Low visibility, strong currents, rocks and dead tree branches or trunks, in the Adda river there are also hydropower plants...
You take risks for very crappy dives
Anyway it seems I overevaluated the difficulty of the "difficult" Red Sea dives. Most of you who have dived there are saying that they are actually quite manageable
But most people don't like to dive there. Low visibility, strong currents, rocks and dead tree branches or trunks, in the Adda river there are also hydropower plants...
You take risks for very crappy dives
Anyway it seems I overevaluated the difficulty of the "difficult" Red Sea dives. Most of you who have dived there are saying that they are actually quite manageable
I would say that they are quite manageable to a diver of "reasonable" skill - I only had 20 dives completed before I went on my first trip there (my buddy had about 50 dives at that point). I booked through the shop I did my OW course at and my previous instructor had no issues with recommending it. He did talk a couple of people out of it as they needed some more work on skills/comfort in the water.
If you can perform a "normal" dive with a buddy and no guide/DM/instructor to hold your hand, then I think you will have no issues.
The Chairman
Chairman of the Board
Currents? Remember the five "Ds" of handling them like a pro!
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