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PREDICTING CURRENT SPEED

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doyenofcastle

Well-Known Member
Oct 30, 2012
230
16
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HI EVERY ONE ,

I have a question regarding predicting the current speed during the day ,in my area (arab gulf ) the range difference usually between peaks is (1-2 m) ,to plan my dive I need to swim for 1 km to my spot but because of the current speed and direction its very difficult ,I want to know what the best time to enter the water and there is small current , is it the time between peak of low tide till before the high tide peak ? i have notice the speed of current is significant high after the high tide peak even during the quarter moon ,is that true ?
 
As I'm sure you know it's not just tide which influences current but as you are specifically taking about tides I'll focus on that.

The time when the tidal current will be the slowest is during the turn of the tide, either from low to high or from high to low.

Moon phases definitely influences the height of the tide which in turn will influence the speed of the current. Full moon and new moon will create spring tides and will provide the largest tidal variance and fastest tidal current flow. First quarter and third quarter moon will create neap tides which in turn will provide the smallest tidal variance / tidal current flow.

Something else to keep in mind is tidal currents will also be influenced by structure, having a lot of water rushing through a small outlet will speed it up dramatically, for example of the mouth of a lagoon or the entrance of an atoll.

Concerning the best times to dive, I can't speak about the the Arabian Gulf as I have very little experience diving there but in SA and Mozambique in some areas the MORE current the better. In these areas unless you have a proper current running you simply will not find fish, so having little or no current isn't always the best time to be spearfishing.
 
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Reactions: Diving Gecko and doyenofcastle
I can do that in areas were I have been diving for many years,wind,tide,temp,moon face,time of the year,etc.
 
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