how to prove last dive?

[captainron]

Hi,

The southwest side of Cozumel is great and drift dives are super...kind of a lazy way of diving...you hardly have to kick except to go up or down. You just let the current carry you and the boat picks you up downdrift when you're back to the surface.

 

I wouldn't be overly concerned, as the drift is only about 2-3km/hr or about 2 mph. Great diving at both Playancar and Santa Rosa reefs for drift diving. Tank up and go for it.

 

Most of the dives are 50-70 feet and if your DM goes over the wall with you great but be ready to decompress upward. We went over the edge at 80' and went down to 110' where we lazily rolled over on our backs and looked at the fish, boats, other divers and sky all above us.

 

Great diving in Cozumel...experience your first drift dive.

 

Ciao for now!!!

 

[Sandra*]

Hey Thom,

Yes, I will be diving this December.... I'm with a group cruise on C.C....

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=245

Thanks for the info. Our group leader already has the dive excursions planned.... I may for go Cozumel.. I'm real nervous about doing a drift dive as I've never done one.... Hoping to somehow get some experience with before December....

 

cruzegirl,

I did my first drift dive at the Playancar reef in Cozumel and it was amazing. Exactly like captainron said..you sort of float slowly around and hardly have to kick at all. I was nervous before I got in the water, having mental images of myself shooting through the reef like a speed train stuck in this superfast current. It is so relaxing and wonderful, lots of grouper and barracuda, even a nurse shark. You'll love it.

As for the divemasters...I heard that alot of scuba places say that you get a 'dive master' when you actually really get a guide, not a certified DM. Something to watch out for, especially for those less experienced divers who are counting on their 'dive master' to keep a watch on things. It's not a bad idea to check the 'dive masters' out themselves...they have to be certified and have their cards too, not just the divers. I'm lucky in that my husband is a certified Dive Master...so I have one with me on all my dives, regardless of whether the guide is one!

[cmdchiefthom]

cruzegirl

 

Drift diving really isn't much of a big change from diving a wall or reef with minimal current. The key is excellent bouyancy control, and understanding its difficult to switch directions and fight the current. Entrance and exits are tricky simply because of the surface current. Most boat operators will put out a tag line that will run with the current. As long as you don't get behind the end of that line, no problem. Most dives began by descending from the line (no anchor line) and drifting as a group. As long as none of the divers in the group has any problems on descent,things are cool. However, should someone have an ear block, or bouyancy problems, things can get dicey. Part of the group may be on the bottom, and those with problems may be in-between. If the divemaster stays with bottom group, those left behind simply drift along trying to work the problem. In theory, the dive boat captain is supposed to follow the bubbles throughout the entire dive. But as you can guess, if divers get separated, which bubbles does he or she follow?

 

This happened to my wife and I six or seven years ago in Cozumel on a dive we booked through the ship. My wife had an ear block at around 30 feet. Tried to clear it for probably five minutes. The divemaster wasn't paying attention and we watched him head off into the sunset. We finally decided abort the dive, surface and get back on the boat. Of course when we surfaced, there was no boat, nada, nothing! We could see several boats, several hundred yards away, but it was obvious they weren't looking for us. I believe I said something to my wife about floating to Cuba!:eek: After twenty minutes or so, one of them must have seen me flashing the glass on my mask in the sun like a signal mirror and came over. It wasn't the boat that brought us, although they offered to take us aboard. They had a radio, and I told them "I leave with the one I brought to the dance." I told them to radio our dive boat, and about ten minutes later, it came over and picked us up. Turns out, the boat crew had gone fishing for their supper.:mad:

 

If all goes according to the dive plan, you simply drift along the wall, or the top of the reef. Its very relaxing, unless you see something and want to stop. Then your fighting the current to stay in one place or backtracking. That takes a lot of energy. The other concern is maintaining your bouyancy. You can get so relaxed, you don't realize where you're at in the water column. You can easily rise or sink five to ten feet without realizing it. You have to really be aware of your depth and your neutral bouyancy, especially diving laterally along what seems a bottomless wall.

 

Ascent is another tricky issue. Most dive boat crews will drop several weighted lines over the side with markings for safety stops. That's the best way to do it. Without the lines, again your drifiting along, hopefully with the dive boat drifting with you. One problem, especially on cattle boats, is if everyone surfaces at the end of the safety stop, then you have a whole group of divers trying to hang on to the tag line while one at a time, they scramble onboard. Hanging on a tag line, especially in a strong current is really a pain. You literally hang on for dear life, and you can't relax, you just hold on. What I've learned over the years, is to stay under the boat on the safety line at ten feet and watch the gaggle above. Once the crowd is aboard, I swim directly to the ladder, remove my weighbelt and fins and climb aboard. Piece of cake!;)

 

So should you be afraid of drift diving? Not really, just anticipate the descent and ascent issues. If you're ears clear easily, once you begin your descent, head for the bottom. Don't hang around in the water column. Bouyancy, bouyancy, bouyancy! On ascent, either be first or second in line to reboard, or wait on the safety line until the crowd clears. The bottom line is that Cozumel diving is simply awesome!:D Enjoy!