“The first dive we will be doing today is a site called Ringbolt Rapids,” said the divemaster. My eyebrows furrowed involuntarily. Did he just say “diving” and “rapids” in the same sentence? Those are two words I thought I’d never hear used together. I leaned closer with rapt attention, starting to feel a bit apprehensive about today’s adventure.
“We will start our dive just south of the Hoover Dam, “continued the divemaster. “The current in the river can range between 3 – 12 knots, depending on when water is released from the dam. “ I really didn’t know how fast a knot is as it relates to scuba diving, because frankly, it had never come up before in my diving career. I had been drift diving many times, but I’ve never heard the current described in knots before in a dive briefing. I glanced around at the other divers on the boat to see their reaction, but everyone looked completely nonplussed.
“How many of you have dove here with us before?” asked the divemaster and everyone’s hand went up but mine. I seemed to be the only tourist on the boat. I was visiting my father who lived in nearby Las Vegas and had decided to spend a day checking out the area’s scuba diving opportunities, which included Lake Mead and the Colorado River.
Okay, I thought to myself. This dive must be okay my fellow divers not only survived it, but have come back to do it again. I started to relax a bit, but the divemaster’s next words instantly brought back my concern.
“You are basically on your own for this dive. The divemaster will be in the lead, but the current is too strong for him to turn around and try and assist you if you get into trouble. So you need to take the following precautions before getting into the water. First, remove your snorkel from your mask or it will cause your mask to get ripped off your face. Next, make sure you don’t have any equipment dangling – all hoses and gauges should be securely attached to your BCD and not hanging out. Lose equipment could get snagged in the rocks and cause you to get into real trouble, real quick.” Hmmm, I thought, this sounds pretty serious. I quickly began making the recommended adjustments to my equipment as he continued with the dive briefing. I noticed the river was growing narrower as we traveled closer to the dam, and the cliffs along the banks were growing taller, starting to form into a real canyon.
“The average depth of the river is between 20-25 feet deep,” said the divemaster.
Okay, good, I thought, not too deep, we should be pretty safe.
“However,” continued the divemaster, “about five minutes into the dive, you will hit a spot where you will rapidly be plunged down to about 60 feet. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT add any extra air to your BCD to compensate because you will quickly be coming back up to shallower depths. Its just a crevice in the bottom of the river we will be passing through, and if you add any air to your BCD you could quite literally shot yourself right to the surface and risk a decompression injury.”
Is he kidding us? I thought to myself, now thoroughly alarmed. I quickly scanned the faces of the other divers again but could not detect any visible signs of concern. Most were casually making adjustment to their equipment as they listened to the briefing, getting ready for the upcoming dive.
“Oh, and one other thing you need to know. After the crevice, the river will take a hard left. Do not get close to the rocks on the right hand side of the underwater canyon or you will get caught in a very strong eddy. Stay in the middle of the river at all times, if possible, However, if this does happens to you, the only way to get yourself out of the eddy is to use the rock wall to pull yourself up to the surface and the boat will pick you up. The dive will be about 30 minutes in length. Any questions before we get started?”asked the divemaster.
I stared at him in wide-eyed amazement, hope fading that perhaps the dive briefing had been a practical joke and he was about to give us the real briefing. The boat was pulling into a small sandy little beach area at the base of left-side of the canyon and everyone starting hopping out into waist deep water. It was decision time. Do I go through with the dive after everything I had just heard?
How bad can it be if all these other divers are back for more? If it was truly dangerous, the dive operation wouldn’t allow us to dive here, I quickly reasoned with myself. Curiousity overruled caution, and I jumped down from the boat into the startling cold water of the Colorado River. The divemaster had already disappeared underwater and others were following. I could see the divemaster’s float ball bobbing along the surface of the water as it very quickly headed south downriver. The float ball allows the dive boat to easily follow the divers’ underwater direction.
Now or never, I thought, and stuck my head underwater to follow the other divers. I swam a few feet forward, closer to the center of the narrow river, and the current suddenly caught me and swept me sideways. I struggled to right myself so I was facing the right way, just in time to dodge a large boulder that appeared in my path. The current was now in complete control – I was just along for the ride. In most drift diving experience, you just relax and enjoy the scenery - there is no reason to kick or exert any effort at all. In this dive, however, I found myself dodging boulder after boulder that appeared in front of me as I whizzed along downriver. The current mostly carried you around the rocks but I was starting to feel like a pinball as body parts bumped and brushed past the obstacles.
This is supposed to be fun? I thought, questioning the sanity of the other divers who were repeat customers. Just as I was getting the knack of dodging boulders, they disappeared from the path in front of me.
Cool! I thought It looks like clearing sailing from here. However, realization dawned on me and why the boulders were gone in the same instant I felt myself beginning swept over the edge of the crevice, descending faster than I had ever done before. I felt like I was in a freefall. Deeper and deeper the current pulled me. I frantically started swallowing to try and relieve the pressure building on my ears, thinking I am going to be so pissed if I blow an eardrum out and ruin my diving career. I didn’t even have time to check my depth gauge before I was rushing back to the surface, crevice successfully traversed and mercifully, eardrums intact.
Oh, good lord, I thought as the river bent and I felt myself being pulled sideways, away from the center of the river. Not the eddy!! I kicked frantically and managed to get securely back into the current’s embrace as it continued to hurl down river through the underwater canyon. The canyon gradually began to widen and the current grew slower. Ahead of me, I saw the divemaster and several other divers waiting for the rest of us to join them. The current mysteriously dissipated and I was once again swimming under my own power. I nonchalantly swam over to the group, trying to look as composed and competent as possible, hugely relieved the dive was over and I was still in once piece. While we waited for everyone else in the group to catch up, I took some time to look around the river’s underwater environment and finally realized why everyone here likes to dive Ringbolt Rapids. Unlike the ocean, which is full of life, the river was barren. There was nothing to see in it but rocks and muck. The only scuba pleasure to be obtained here was through adrenalin rush of speed!
Would I do it again? Probably not. It was not my cup of tea. However, if I had to live in the desert and this was the only diving available to me I would probably come to appreciate underwater speed. I learned afterwards that this was a slow knot day – we were travelling only about 3 knots. The locals consider it safe to dive up in up to 8 knots current!
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