Drift Diving is some of the best fun you can have underwater! You don't even have to use your fins if you dive in strong currents. You simply fly along the reef enjoying its beauty without a care in the world. Drift diving is the closest we mere mortals will get to feeling what flying is like as you are carried past corals and life. However, there is more to drift diving than currents. Lots of "big Stuff" likes to hang around in the current. So if you want to put your Underwater iPhone case to good use and capture some large pelagics, you will almost certainly end up doing some drift diving!
What is Drift Diving & Should You Do it?
Officially if you look up the formal definition of drift diving, it is when the point of entry and exit are not the same. Which such a broad definition, gentle swims parallel to the shore are classed in the same way as high-octane dives on reefs with currents running at several knots per hour, in washing machine-like conditions pushing you in every direction.
Clearly, these are two different propositions entirely. And while a newly qualified open water diver can, in all likely hood, perform the first dive safely. Undertaken, the second one would probably end in disaster.
So should you drift dive? The answer is yes, according to your diving abilities. As a novice, you can undertake very gentle drift dives. However, as the conditions become more challenging, you need to be prepared. Good divers with great skills, including perfect buoyancy, can undertake most drift dives but not all.
Drift diving can be one of the most physically challenging dives you do. That is why perfect dive skills are not enough. You also need to have a great level of fitness when you start pushing the envelope and undertaking more challenging diving. Swimming against a strong current, even only briefly, to adjust your position is a drain on anyone. So you need to be physically up to the challenge.
Drift Diving Skills to Perfect
There are a couple of skills that you need to develop and master if you are going to drift dive successfully, using an SMB/DSMB and negative entries.
Master Your DSMB/SMB
By far, the most important skill when it comes to drift diving is mastering your SMB/DSMB. Without these skills, you can not drift dive safely. A Surface Marker Bouy SMB is exactly as you would imagine a large Red, orange, or yellow buoy with a rope attached to it. The lead diver has the SMB in hand and drifts with the current holding the line. The rest of the dive group stays with the lead diver, and the dive boat follows.
The main problem with SMBs is that they can be difficult to use in certain conditions. Quite often, the current underwater is running one way. But the waves on the surface are running in the opposite direction due to the action of the wind. Clearly, in this case, it is virtually impossible to use an SMB because the lead diver cannot drag it against the force of the wind. This is where DSMBs come into play.
As its name suggests, a Delayed Surface Marker Bouy is a marker whose deployment is delayed to when it is needed near the end of the dive. These tend to be more popular since they are easier to use, and, more importantly, every diver can have their own. That way, near the end of the dive, as the buoys pop to the surface, the crew can count them and know that every diver is accounted for.
There are lots of different types of DSMBs available, as well as different ways of deploying them. Some recreational agencies promote using your octopus to inflate your DSMB, while technical diving agencies promote using your exhaled breath. Which DSMB and your choice of inflation techniques will vary according to your skill and training methods.
Negative Entry
Negative entries can be a regular occurrence when drift diving, especially if the surface current and waves are running in a direction contrary to the dive current. Your BCD is fully inflated when you usually perform a giant stride entry or back roll. The divers jump in, pop to the surface, and once everyone is ready, the group descends together. With strong surface currents, by the time everyone is in the water and ready to descend. Several, if not all, of the group members, are likely to have been blown off the site. This is where negative entries come in!
A negative entry is simply like any other giant stride or backroll. However, this time around, your BCD is totally deflated, and the minute you hit the water, you keep descending without popping back to the surface. This allows you to avoid surface currents. When briefing a negative entry, the divers will usually descend to 10/12m~30/40ft and wait there for the group to form. After that, the dive group will then descend to the planned depth and start their dive. If you will start doing more challenging drift dives, then it is best to practice and master your negative entries!
Never Fight You Can't Win!
When it comes to keeping score, it is currents one humans a big zero since the dawn of time. You generally cannot fight the current for any length of time. You will get tired the current will not. In fact, in some instances, as you tire, the current will get stronger depending on the geography. So, the golden rule of drift diving is never to fight the current for any sustainable amount of time.
This does not mean you should not fight it for the odd kick or two to get yourself in a better position. As a rule, avoid fighting the current as part of the dive plan. You are there to go with the current, not fight it!
Reef Hooks
Arguably one of the most controversial topics in the diving industry, reef hooks are hated by many and equally loved by many. Like a lot of things in life, the situation with reef hooks is nuanced. Used correctly by caring individuals, they are an excellent tool. Used incorrectly or by an uncaring individual, they are a massive liability. That being said, they should be a tool in the arsenal of every drift diver as long as they are used responsibly.
People's main issue with reef hooks is placing them on coral- as their names suggest- which can lead to damage and breakages. Their main use is to maintain your position in the water when diving in a strong current. For instance, at the edge of a reef, to watch big sharks or tuna pass in the blue.
Good practice is selecting a piece of rock or stone to attach your hook, which takes precedence over how good your viewing position is. Bad practice is finding the perfect spot to see the sharks, then attaching your reef hook to the nearest object, whether it is coral or not. Choosing the second option will not make you any friends in the diving community, and rightly so. The key takeaway is if you are going to use reef hooks, make sure you use them correctly.
Choose Your Site and Crew
By far, the most important thing you need to do when going drift diving is choose a good and, more importantly, choose a great boat crew. Performing a risk assessment on the site, knowing the layout, tides, and such, is important in performing the dive safely.
For instance, if you expect the current to run north to south but is running in the opposite direction, you need to adjust your plan and inform the crew. That is why current checks are important in some locations. Current switching happens a lot in the tropics with changes in the tide, so you may dive a site north to south in the morning and then come back again in the afternoon and dive south to north after the current changed direction.
Choosing a good boat crew experienced with drift diving is crucial to a safe and enjoyable experience. No matter how good your skills are, if you surface and there is no one there because they missed you, you have a major problem, to say the least.
You need to have a professional boat crew that is switched on and experienced with drift dives to avoid unpleasant accidents. I can not stress the importance of the crew enough after spending nearly 90 minutes with 2 friends on top of the reef waiting to be picked up. Sadly near the end of the day, the crew was not concentrating and followed the wrong SMB. Fortunately, all was good, and due to the tropical location, we didn’t suffer much except for a minor sunburn on our faces! Choose your boat crew well. They are critical to your safety!
Emergency Personal Locator Beacon
If you are going to get serious about your drift diving and plan on diving at various locations worldwide where the currents are strong. Then a Personal Locator Beacon PLB is an investment that, if needed, will be worth its weight in diamonds, not gold!
One of the biggest dangers of Drift diving is separation from the dive boat/tender in the open ocean. While these events are incredibly rare, they have happened, and the consequences are often catastrophic.
Surfacing from a dive to find no tender close by or within the site leaves a fear in the pit of your stomach, As you realize you are all alone in the middle of the ocean! At that moment in time, you would give anything to be able to summon assistance remotely and guide them to your location. That is where a PLB comes in.
Triggering a PLB will send a signal on the Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking SARSAT network. Crucially, this summons assistance and submits your GPS coordinates, making a pick much more likely.
Sadly searching hundreds of square miles for one or two heads bobbing in the water is very difficult, and often divers will be missed. On the other hand, a flashing locator beacon transmitting coordinates makes rescue a far more likely proposition.
Final Thoughts
While drift diving can be dangerous, that tends to be at the extreme end of the spectrum. Thousands of drift dives are performed perfectly safely every day, even in big currents. So while you may be nervous about a drift dive, there really is no need. Take the plunge and enjoy an amazing sensation.
Ultimately, most drift dives are gentle affairs where you slowly swim and explore a reef wall due to the slow or even no current. So if you are presented with the opportunity in a safe environment, you should seriously consider taking the option. Not only is it safe and fun, but it also opens a whole new avenue of diving adventure!
