The Down Current Killer

[Jax]

Believe two divers died in this, this weekend:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/accidents-incidents/467624-nanaimo-snake-island-fatality.html

 

[Ayisha]

Three divers were apparently caught in a downcurrent in Mexico several years ago towards the end of a dive, and died. There was a thread here.

Three friends of mine were caught in a downcurrent in Cozumel from 90 feet to 120 feet or so. The instructor swam his way out to the side and back up while the couple shot all the way down to 120 until they swam out of it. This happened early in the dive so they had lots of air to deal with it, and everyone was ok.

 

[Peter69_56]

I cannot comment on down currents elsewhere. However in some places in Indonesia (eg Halmahera, Alor, Bira, etc), swimming away from the reef/wall means bigger problems, you are still going down, only this time with nothing to grab on too......

Got caught in a nasty down current in Crystal Bay Bali. Its known for bad down currents. The Instructor/guide was very very clear on not going near the edge of the wall and to follow him if he tapped his tank. Luckily we did as we had to crawl up the slope for 5 min or so before it relented. To try and swim out and away from the wall would have seen a diver be pulled down and not an option.

The next day a Dutch diver went over the edge in spite of us all trying to warn him ( and after the good dive brief), luckily there was no down current at the time or he would have been a statistic (perhaps along with some of his family too had they gone after him.

 

[Hatul]

Got caught in a nasty down current in Crystal Bay Bali. Its known for bad down currents. The Instructor/guide was very very clear on not going near the edge of the wall and to follow him if he tapped his tank. Luckily we did as we had to crawl up the slope for 5 min or so before it relented. To try and swim out and away from the wall would have seen a diver be pulled down and not an option.

The next day a Dutch diver went over the edge in spite of us all trying to warn him ( and after the good dive brief), luckily there was no down current at the time or he would have been a statistic (perhaps along with some of his family too had they gone after him.

I'm surprised no one has studied this scientifically. It should be fairly simple to send down a suspended down current measuring device from a boat at different points around the downcurrent to map this, so we can see how far from the wall it extends.

 

[Peter69_56]

I'm surprised no one has studied this scientifically. It should be fairly simple to send down a suspended down current measuring device from a boat at different points around the downcurrent to map this, so we can see how far from the wall it extends.

I agree, I was not game to go out into it as his comment was "we lose a diver here every year due to this". I for one was not going to go against the local dive guide's advice.

We were hit a few more times while drift diving as well but mainly the down current was not wide and often it quickly stopped.

More needs to be known about the subject.

 

[flots am]

Three divers were apparently caught in a downcurrent in Mexico several years ago towards the end of a dive, and died. There was a thread here.

It's been a while, but I seem to remember that the downcurrent was actually a story that was cooked up to cover up the actual accident.

Might be mixing it up with something else, but I'm pretty sure it turned out to not be a down-current, at least not down to 300'+

 

[Ayisha]

No, that's a different one in Cozumel where the dive op owner died, one diver got paralyzed and one diver was ok. That incident was long after the one that I was thinking of, which might have been in the Mayan Riviera somewhere. All 3 were never seen again, I believe, and presumed drowned.

---------- Post added October 14th, 2013 at 12:44 AM ----------

Here is the incident that I was thinking of. The real information starts to come out at post #21 and on:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/accidents-incidents/212062-3-missing-deep-dive-incident-mexico.html

 

[Yank]

No, that's a different one in Cozumel where the dive op owner died, one diver got paralyzed and one diver was ok. That incident was long after the one that I was thinking of, which might have been in the Mayan Riviera somewhere. All 3 were never seen again, I believe, and presumed drowned.

---------- Post added October 14th, 2013 at 12:44 AM ----------

Here is the incident that I was thinking of. The real information starts to come out at post #21 and on:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/accidents-incidents/212062-3-missing-deep-dive-incident-mexico.html

I think the old "downcurrent" accident was on the west coast of Mexico. Maybe Cabo or thereabouts.

 

[Mike]

Three divers were apparently caught in a downcurrent in Mexico several years ago towards the end of a dive, and died. There was a thread here.

Three friends of mine were caught in a downcurrent in Cozumel from 90 feet to 120 feet or so. The instructor swam his way out to the side and back up while the couple shot all the way down to 120 until they swam out of it. This happened early in the dive so they had lots of air to deal with it, and everyone was ok.

This was in Puerto Vallarta in December of 2007. I was there around the week that it happened, there were federalies shutting down access to the dive site which was at Los Arcos. Nobody could ever figure out what happened to them, there was no cause of death, no bodies every recovered and the down current was all speculation based on somebody on the boat witnesssing the buoy bobbing which turned into 'disappearing' etc... there were many theories about it, including undewater earth quakes and collapse of land masses, rumors of an ROV that surveyed the bottom a couple of times and found huge differences where the bottom changed in the same place by 100 ft from day to day, caves collapsing... they were apparently highly trained divers on a tec training dive... supposedly...

The main point is that according to statistics from DAN of divers who die while diving 86% were alone when they died. Dive alone, die alone. 900% better chance of surviving a dive with a dive buddy following proper dive buddy protocols.

 

[Dr. Lecter]

The main point is that according to statistics from DAN of divers who die while diving 86% were alone when they died. Dive alone, die alone. 900% better chance of surviving a dive with a dive buddy following proper dive buddy protocols.

I guess statistics really are hard to understand -- or just easy for you to misrepresent. When you find a way to compare properly trained and equipped solo divers' fatality rates with those for all buddy divers (you get the ones who weren't following the buddy rules as well as you think they should have been, sorry, they don't belong with the solo divers as poor buddy skills/ease of buddy separation is a weakness inherent in the buddy system), please let us all know.