TEK Diving in Currents: How to Avoid Drifting, Deadly Traps, and Return Alive!

Ascend, yes… But in the right zone!

In diving, safety doesn’t stop at simply surfacing. It is still necessary to resurface in the right place: beach, boat, or sheltered area. This exit point is the crucial link between your underwater playground and dry land. Unfortunately, various factors such as currents can complicate this return, carrying you away from the watchful eye of the sailor or out of reach to return to your extraction point, especially in tek diving where extended decompression times delay the return to the surface.

Real drifting stories

There are many anecdotes of dives ending unexpectedly: drifts through the passes of the Maldives or Polynesia, violent currents during the exploration of wrecks in Var or Brittany… Sometimes comparable to cartoon scenes where, like a coyote on a rocket, the diver totally loses control of their trajectory. These incidents have even inspired disaster films. Whether it’s divers retrieved in a few minutes or castaways wandering in the blue for hours—or even days—alone with their anxiety (and sometimes the curiosity of oceanic whitetip sharks), it quickly becomes apparent: this risk is not just for ‘others.’ To ensure your adventures remain sources of pleasure and not fear, Dive! offers you a set of prudence tips, fueled by feedback.

Authentic story: icy dive in the calanques

To illustrate the importance of this theme, here’s a story experienced by the author. March 2019, the calanques are covered in snow, a layer of ice crowns the boat, and the team departs from Marseille to explore the Imperial de Large despite difficult weather: icy mistral and slight southern swell. Everything seemed under control—except for a moderate surface current—until the moment of immersion. A team member is delayed by a few seconds due to a mishap with their suit, slightly postponing the group’s descent. To visually relocate the relief, the descent accelerates… 20 m, 40 m, 60 m… still nothing in the light of the torches.

Lacking landmarks after 3 minutes, the decision is made to ascend. At 40 m, a safety sausage is launched and, arriving at 6 m, only two minutes of decompression stop remain. Yet, no sign of a boat around: enough to seriously worry…

A kilometer of drift in a few minutes

The ascent completed, the group faces a surprise: they have drifted a kilometer south of the Imperial de Large. Instructions are given: everyone on their backs, strong and continuous finning following the leader’s voice, sausages raised for increased visibility. But nothing to be done, the swell and wind keep them at a distance; the boat, meanwhile, circles around, unaware of their efforts. At this moment, the narrator bitterly regrets not having invested in a safety beacon, which would have made all the difference…