Fastest drift dive

Fastest drift dive

Last updated: May 30, 2020 at 17:55 pm

17.68 knots (32.74 km/h / 20.34 mph) — Sechelt Rapids (Skookumchuck Narrows), British Columbia, Canada. It is estimated that for a 3.6 m (12 ft) tide, 757 billion litres (200 billion gallons) of seawater flow through the Sechelt Rapids in six hours. Several charter operators offer dives at the site during slack tide. Divers are attracted to the “Skook” for its abundance of marine life, especially the sessile invertebrates that cling to the rocks to catch passing plankton on the fly in the ripping current.

The Nakwakto Rapids, which are also in British Columbia, have been clocked at speeds up to 16 knots (29.6 km1h | 18.4 mph).

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EDITOR’S NOTE: Diving the Sechelt Rapids during tidal movements when the current is at high velocity is obviously not recommended as it would be extremely dangerous. Usual drift dives in the Skookumchuck Narrows thus do not attain speeds anywhere near 17.68 knots. The fastest drift dives may instead be unintentional, occurring under extreme and unexpected conditions such as divers getting caught by rip currents or even a tsunami.

Skookumchuck Narrows Provincial Park, BC Parks

WWW Tide and Current Predictor, Sechelt Rapids, British Columbia station

Skookumchuck Narrows (Sechelt Rapids) at high tide. Photo by Kantokano (Creative Commons)

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