OUsnakebyte February 28, 2006 February 28, 2006 Well, we headed to Mexico despite good 'ol Wilma's attempts to move Cancun into the middle of the gulf. It was still awesome, though you could certainly still see where the damage had been done. It looked like winter in Cozumel (well... I guess it technically was...) - the trees had no leaves. We spent the first week in Akumal, just north of Tulum. Despite some minor setbacks (the travel company double-booking our reservation and some family already there - don't worry, we got another place to stay just down the road...), it was a fantastic time. Jen got a Sealife 5.0 megapixel digital camera for Christmas, complete with underwater housing, big honkin' external flash, wide-angle lens - the works. But, guess who got to play with it...?!?!?! Me!!! :P So, these first pics are from Akumal, where we didn't actually need to dive - the reef was so shallow, you could actually stand above water on it at low tide (no, I didn't...). Anyway, I am snorkeling here, but more importantly, just learning the camera. First pic here is from our balcony at sunrise. You can see how close to shore the reef is - where the waves are breaking. It's only about 100 yards from shore - an easy swim. Maze brain, I think...? Complete with Xmas tree worms... This next series of pics is of a school of Atlantic Blue Tangs that swam right by us. This is from about 30 minutes north of Akumal - in Xcaret. Still from Xcaret - Fire Coral!!! Don't touch!!! Still from Xcaret - a "Flamingo Tongue" on a gorgonian A "sea of Sea Fans!!" Another from Xcaret - Acropora palmata or Elkhorn Coral - a soon-to-be member of the endangered species list... :( Back at Akumal - a Flying Gurnard!!! Cutie!!! Another of the gurnard - he was awesome... That's it for Akumal and Xcaret. Of course, I have a ton of other pics, but so many didn't turn out so great - Newbie at this camera... One thing to notice when we are in shallow water is the relative "yellowish" color. The next series of pics comes while diving in Cozumel, and will be more blue in color, due to the depth. Cheers Mike
Armson February 28, 2006 February 28, 2006 Mike , I am planning on diving down there sometime this summer. I have allready been to Cozumel 3 times in the past 5 years. How did the reefs look after the hurricane? I am curious about a bunch of the little shops I use to frequent in the heart of town as well. Where did you end up staying on the island? Byron
HowardofNOVA February 28, 2006 February 28, 2006 Dittos! I was thinking of going to Cozumel as well to dive. Accomodations acceptable or would you recommend waiting another year or two? I've heard that it would take 3-5yrs to get things back to normal?
mogurnda February 28, 2006 February 28, 2006 Wonderful pics, Mike. The tang parade brings back many great memories. Keep them coming!
Guest HVF21221 March 1, 2006 March 1, 2006 I loved Akumal better than Cozumel. The first pic looks like it was from the Akumal dive center, did you stay in one of there rooms? I tell people I thought the snorkelling in Akumal was almost as good ad Hawaii.
Armson March 1, 2006 March 1, 2006 Awesome pics! What's that I smell? WAMAS dive trip? Hmmm.... 54641[/snapback] I have been pushing that for years, Never seems to be to much interest. I am always up for a dive trip .....Under the following conditions. 1) Nothing more than a 3 mm wetsuit is needed. 2) Vis is 40 Ft or better. Those people that dive in cold water are Crazy! Byron
BeltwayBandit March 1, 2006 March 1, 2006 I have been pushing that for years, Never seems to be to much interest. I am always up for a dive trip .....Under the following conditions. 1) Nothing more than a 3 mm wetsuit is needed. 2) Vis is 40 Ft or better. Those people that dive in cold water are Crazy! Byron 54643[/snapback] If it ever works out I vote for Bonaire! Best diving (well I only snorkled due to a sinus infection) I ever did in the Carribbean. Although I never got over to Mexico or any of the central american dive sites. Awesome pics. Makes me want to dive again.
Caribbean Jake March 1, 2006 March 1, 2006 Xcaret.. beautiful place. Did you go into the under ground rivers? That place is awesom. Also, the reef off the Tulaya Temple is a great place to go.
OUsnakebyte March 1, 2006 Author March 1, 2006 Mike , I am planning on diving down there sometime this summer. I have allready been to Cozumel 3 times in the past 5 years. How did the reefs look after the hurricane? I am curious about a bunch of the little shops I use to frequent in the heart of town as well. Where did you end up staying on the island? Byron 54610[/snapback] Well, I fear I suffer from what researchers call the "Shifting Baseline." They look okay to me, but this was my first time to the Yucatan - I have no other experience to compare it to. So, my impression and opinion will be much different than someone who has been diving there for the past 10 to 20 to 30 years, etc. and has a more "trained eye." Having said that, you could certainly tell that damage had been done, especially to the more shallow reefs - sand kicked around everywhere, some of the big barrel sponges ripped away, corals toppled on top of others, etc. And... no seahorses... bummer. There were still plenty of corals around though, and the fish and invertebrate life seemed quite healty. However... shifting baseline here... After Akumal, we ended up staying on the mainland - in Playa del Carmen. So, we had to ferry over to Cozumel each day to dive (yes, that sucked...). The "front" of Cozumel (and Playa for that matter) was quite nice. You almost could not tell there was ever a 'cane. But.... get back off the main streets and you could tell the damage had been done. There was still quite a bit of debris, torn buildings, etc. It will definitely take more time for recovery. Dittos!I was thinking of going to Cozumel as well to dive. Accomodations acceptable or would you recommend waiting another year or two? I've heard that it would take 3-5yrs to get things back to normal? 54615[/snapback] Well, I have no previous experience with the Yucatan, but I am about the easiest when it comes to accomodations - I prefer backpacking to lugging around a bunch of luggage. Open up the Lonely Planet guide, and there you will find a picture of me chillin' in a hammock, Sol in hand, for my necessary accomodations.... But seriously, I was happy we did not cancel our plans (which we considered). It was a great vacation, and I was happy I could contribute to their efforts of recovery by injecting much-needed money into their economy. As I read in the paper before we went - "Mexico and Cancun are open for business." I'm glad I went. I loved Akumal better than Cozumel. The first pic looks like it was from the Akumal dive center, did you stay in one of there rooms? I tell people I thought the snorkelling in Akumal was almost as good ad Hawaii. 54622[/snapback] The Akumal Dive Center was just down the beach from our house. And, many people had indeed canceled their plans, so the beach was quite pleasant - not many people around. Xcaret.. beautiful place. Did you go into the under ground rivers? That place is awesom. Also, the reef off the Tulaya Temple is a great place to go. 54653[/snapback] Yup, I did swim one of the cenotes - mighty chilly! Cozumel pics comin' up. Cheers Mike
OUsnakebyte March 2, 2006 Author March 2, 2006 We ended up logging 6 dives in Cozumel. I didn't take the camera on the first dive, as I wanted to get my "diving legs" back in shape. So, these start with the second of our dives. Unfortunately, I can't remember the names of all the reefs, but thankfully Jen wrote them down in her log book. First two pics are of course the spiny lobster - which are everywhere... Check out that eye shine! Of course, I didn't get that close to this one, as I was off dorking around with the lobsters, trying to get a worty close-up. But, jen and the dive master actually got quite close to this nurse shark, which cruised away quite quickly. We actually saw a turtle on our first dive, and of course... I didn't have the camera. Grrrr!!! Happily, we found another. All told, we ended up seeing three turtles - all Hawksbills. We actually got to see this one ascend to the surface to get air. I think we are only about 40ft here. It's easy to get caught up (not only in the current...) in the megafauna down there - sharks, turtles, big lobsters, large fishes, etc. - but any eye can see why those animals are magnificant. So I tried to not forget the main reason I am in this hobby - the corals and other small inverts. These next few pics will reflect that: Someone help me with an ID. I don't have my guide with me right now... A sweet, colorful sponge... Zoanthids!!!! Woo hoo!!! Yes, I think I was the only dork on the boat who could appreciate the zoas... Well, Jen could, but she missed these, as this was a serious drift dive - I'm hangin' on for dear life here.... Here I'm trying to get a picture of "aquascaping" that nature does so easily. Plus, I liked the gorgonian and angle in the background. The locals call it a "honeycomb" fish, but I think it's in the boxfish family, right? Again, don't have my guide with me tonight, but the guy was about 3 ft long and cruised right by me. Ahhhh.... the Queen herself. Seriously, I must have taken over 20 pics of the Queen Angle, and none came out like I wanted them too... I just thought it was cool how this grouper was "resting" across this sponge.
OUsnakebyte March 2, 2006 Author March 2, 2006 Anemones.... the Flowers of the Sea - which is indeed the reason I get into this obsession, 'er, hobby. I love all anemones - clownfish hosting or not, warm water, cold water, you name it - they are my favorite animals. This one is on the Santa Rosa Wall, about 80 ft down. It is only about 4-6 inches in diameter, but beautiful. A condy - coming in both green and purple-tipped varieties. Check out the anemone shrimp... Love it! I actually have video of this one too... Another Atlantic carpet, this time with an arrow crab just below. Okay, back to the megafauna... The Gray angle - Pomacanthus arcuatus, right? Of course, no dive trip is complete without those barracuda! These guys actually came right toward us, and then turned away - about 10 feet from us.... Little porcupine puffer.... Love the googly eyes. Cutie! A couple of rays - these guys were everywhere.... A "three amigo" coral shot, just trying to show the "natural" placement of things. I believe this is what is called a cactus coral? Correct me if I'm wrong. I need to look up what the other two are... Whenever possible (i.e. when the current is not blasting you along), I like to stay in one area and see what small life I can find. This little fish was just perched on this... montastrea, is it? Note the blue-headed one just above. That same blue-headed one from above - this time right in the middle. A closer shot of that same little blue-headed fish from before... Mouth-open shot of what the locals call a "sand diver...?" And here I'm just tryin' to be an artsy-fartsy dork. But, I thought it looked kinda cool. It's from about 40 ft down along Paradise Reef. And finally - us! Jen, on her descent down the Santa Rosa Wall, but she's doin' "okay." Bye-bye Jen!!! Just me, and I'm doin' "okay" too... I think b/c my friggin' ears finally cleared, which, yes, I often do have a problem with... I of course took several general "reef shots," but they never turn out quite as well as you think they will. I guess it's always better to have someone or something in them...? I dunno - again, I'm a beginner here. This camera, like most digitals these days, also took videos, and some of them are quite fun. You can even hear my Darth Vader breathing, complete with bubbles gurgling by!!! But, I cannot figure out how to post the videos here. Photobucket only takes, well... photos... Any suggestions? Anyway, on our last dive of the trip, we still had not seen any eagle rays. Being the pessimist I am, I decided we were not going to see one, so I took all the shots/video I could, thus running the camera out of batteries. And then, during our safety stop, guess what comes scootin' by...? Yup, a HUGE, beautiful eagle ray - just scooping the substrate lookin' for an early dinner. It was soooo awesome to see it sift through the sand. It was truly breathtaking, and unfortunately, I cannot share it with you all. But, the snapshot is forever engraved in my memory, and I took that with me from Cozumel. Cheers Mike
dbartco March 3, 2006 March 3, 2006 Thanks for the show. Unfortunately, then make me contemplate draining the wallet again for another trip. Why must you guys tempt me like this!
HowardofNOVA March 3, 2006 March 3, 2006 Well so much for a destroyed coral reef from the Hurricane! Thanks for the pics, beautiful to say the least! ....road trip coming up soon!!! :D
Guest mikesroth March 3, 2006 March 3, 2006 Nice Pictures Mike!!! They are so nice that My Jen just said that she wanted to learn how to SCUBA. :o Personally, I think it might just be the Cold Medicine talking... but... if I can just get her to put that down in writing :deal2: I finally get to do something I want to do.... :D
Tang-away March 3, 2006 March 3, 2006 Mike, Thanks for sharing your experience with us!!! Those are some great pictures!! Sounds like you had the time of your life. B)
ErikS March 3, 2006 March 3, 2006 I'll echo all the others - thanks for sharing! Cool pics, especially like those overgrown crayfish :D
HowardofNOVA March 3, 2006 March 3, 2006 On the subject, while my daughters and I went down the Keys last summer, while snorkeling at the Resort Area in Islamaroda, if anyone is doing this in the fenced in swimming area at the resort, there is a boat channel dredged in the middle of it. LOADED with lobsters all along the walls! HUNDREDS of them! Most are from 10' deep and below. ....pass the butter please! :D
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