SEPTEMBER 11, 2010

DIVE REPORT — WEST PALM BEACH (click on pic for a better image; all copyright rights reserved)

Mediocre diving today.  The water was nice: visibility of 50 to 60, but cloudy and hazy, not many particles; 84 degrees; flat seas; strong north current; but, not much marine life to see.

We headed to the shallow reefs to the south.  Early on the first dive, we came across a nice sized Goliath Grouper, but the rest of the dive was uneventful.

Early on the second dive, we ran into a beautiful small Green Turtle.  This may have been the first time this turtle has seen a scuba diver.  After taking the picture, the turtle immediately swam under the nearest ledge to hide.  We did not want to scare it, so we drifted right over it. 

Hopefully, there will be more to see next week.

SEPTEMBER 4, 2010

DIVE REPORT — WEST PALM BEACH (click on pic for better image; all rights reserved, including copyrights)

I did not post last week due to some internet issues; accordingly, I will post some of my Goliath pics from last week in this post.

We headed south out of the inlet.  Due to the hurricane shooting north to the east of us, we had some serious waves for most of the week.  The waves and a groundswell tossed the sand and in certain places the visibility was not very good.

We heard there was blue water on the shallow reefs to the south…… and, there was!!!  We dove South Flower Gardens and Breaker’s/Turtle Mound.  The visibility was top to bottom and horizontally probably varied from 60 to 100 feet.  It was nice blue water.  The current was moving fairly strong to the north.

  Although the water was nice, there was not much out.  I did run into Hawksbill Turtle YYJ-839, which was my first confirmed encounter with this turtle.  It is always good to run into a new turtle.  This is a large female who came right up to us; no fear at all.  We heard there were some Lemon Sharks on Breaker’s Reef, but I did not see them.  A couple on the boat stated that they saw them and that they counted 5 of them swimming together.

On our safety stop, we encounted some large Moon Jellyfish.  The strong winds out of the east from the Hurricane must have blown them in. 

It was not a bad day to dive, the seas were flat and the water was warm.  But, not very many great encounters.  The Hurricane must have scared everything into the deeper waters; they will likely be coming back to the reef very soon now that the Hurricane has passed.

AUGUST 21, 2010

DIVE REPORT — WEST PALM BEACH (click on pic for better quality and larger image; all rights including copyrights reserved)

1000th dive!!!!  Logged my 1000th dive today and still alive!

The bad news is the visibility still sucks!  We probably had 20 to 30 feet of vis with numerous particles in the water.  But, the good news is that we had some great encounters with a variety of marine life, including two spotted eagle rays.  Unfortunately, due to the poor visibility the photos of the eagle rays are horrible — they will be deleted after I write this report.

We encountered the eagle rays on the back side of Breaker’s Reef in about 70 feet of water.  They were doing something in the sand.  As we approached, they circled us and then went right back to the spot of sand to continue whatever it was that they were doing.  It seems I have my best encounters with the eagle ray — which tend to be very shy in these waters — when the vis is poor, perhaps they don’t see us coming.

The Goliaths were on the reef.  We ran into a couple of big boys (which are actually girls).  But, apparently, the vis was even worse to the north where the wrecks are located so we could check to see if the wrecks were loaded with Goliaths.

We also ran into numerous larg turtles, including Greens, Loggerheads, and Hawksbills.  I ran into a Hawksbill Turtle wearing tag no. YYJ-879.  This was my first confirmed sighting of this turtle.  She was very friendly, came right up to us, hung out for a while and for a few pics.

Although the vis was poor, a good day of diving and glad to get my 1000th dive out of the way; assumed I would die before hitting 1000 — baaaa haaa haaa!!!!

AUGUST 14, 2010

DIVE REPORT — WEST PALM BEACH (click on pic for better image; all rights reserved).

The visibility sucked this Saturday!  The seas were flat; the sun was shining; the water was warm; but, the visibility was poor!

We headed north to Juno Ledge for the the first dive.  We had no more than 30 feet of visibility and there were large chunks of seaweed/algae in the water column.  The current was fairly strong. 

The reef was full of fish, a few large turtles, and at least 10 to 15 Goliaths.  But, poor visibility — we are not in Cozumel any longer.  Today was not a good day for photography. 

I did, however, run into “Barnacle” on Juno Ledge. “Barnacle” is now a large female Green Turtle who I first encountered about 2 years ago.  She is growing quickly.  She is easy to identify because Green Turtles rarely have barnacles on their shells; she has one on her third right shell “plate.”  I have photograhed her on at least 6 or 7 separate occassions; but, this is the first time that I have seen her away from Shark Canyon.  Shark Canyon is not far from Juno Ledge.  See Turtle Tags for info. regarding “Barnacle.”

We headed to the Mizpah for the second dive.  There was virtually no current and the water was a little better and bluer — probably 40 feet of visibility.  There were likely at least 30 Goliaths on the Mizpah, but they were scattered around it and not in one large group.  Over the next two weeks, we shall wait and see if they congregate in the large numbers like they did last year; also, no bait ball here yet.  Stay tuned!!!

August 7 through 10, 2010

DIVE REPORT: ISLA MUJERES & COZUMEL (click on pic for larger and better image; all copyright rights reserved).

After snorkeling with the Whale Sharks out of Isla Mujeres, we decided to dive the reefs around the island the following day.  We did only two dives.  The reefs are acceptable; they were filled with large schools of fish.  But, the reefs cannot compare to the much more beautiful reefs of Cozumel, a few 10 of miles to the south; the visibility was 50 to 60 feet; again, it could not compare to the Cozumel visibility.

We did see 3 turtles; 2 Hawksbill and 1 Green.  The Green and one of the Hawksbills were huge!  We were told that they saw 6 Leatherbacks the prior day; we still do not know whether they were lying to us. 

On to Cozumel!

We spent 3 days diving in Cozumel and got in 9 dives.  Cozumel never disappoints!  The visibility was spectacular; the reefs are beautiful; and, the marine life was abundant, especially the Hawksbill Turtles — they were everywhere!  We saw only about 3 large Hawksbills, the rest were smaller and we were seeing up to 5 to 7 on some dives.  We assumed the large Hawksbills that are abundant during the winter months were off somewhere mating and laying eggs.  We saw 2 Green Turles and 1 Loggerhead – -the first time I have ever seen a Loggerhead in Cozumel and I have only seen a total of 3 Greens.

We had a couple of outstanding dives in the Palancar/Columbia area.  If you have never dove this area, you have no idea what you are missing.  This is by far the most beautiful underwater area that I have ever seen anywhere in the world to date.  If there is a more beautiful area, please let me know so that I can dive it!

The reef scenery in Cozumel is spectacular and the abundant marine life means that there is always something to see on every dive.  It is really difficult diving anywhere else when you know that Cozumel never disappoints! 

If you are into photography, you must put Cozumel on your list due to the crystal clear waters and the abundant marine life.  To date, many of my best turtle pics are from Cozumel.

Dove with Papa Hogs.  I have done about 65 dives with Papa Hogs over the past 3 to 4 years; I will never dive with anyone else on the island.  Simply the best; especially if you are an experienced diver or a photographer.  The boats are smaller and most of the time will not have more than 6 divers (maximum of 8), and Papa Hogs lets you pick the dive sites and dive the way you want to dive.  Not to mention, Papa Hogs’ restaurant, the Hog Town Cafe, has some of the best food on the island — I did not eat anywhere else this trip.

I will probably be back in November!

AUGUST 6, 2010

WHALE SHARKS IN ISLA MUJERES — DIVE REPORT — PAPA HOGS

One word: OUTSTANDING!!!! (click on pic for a better and larger image; all copyright rights reserved)

This was an exploratory trip for me and Missy and James Starling.  We met Mike, the owner of Papa Hogs Scuba Emporium (located on Cozumel), in Isla Mujeres at his 55 foot boat for a private charter.  This was our first trip to snorkel with the Whale Sharks, so, we had no idea about what to expect.

As we approached the area where the Whale Sharks congregate, we saw numerous fins breaking the surface.  We stayed away from the large number of tourist boats in the area and entered the water near a congregation of about 15 to 30 Whale Sharks.  This group of 15 to 30 were outside the main congregation of Whale Sharks, which estimated at around 200 Whale Sharks.

This was my first time seeing a Whale Shark.  Before we entered the water, they were swimming around the boat, almost bumping into the boat — they were that close.  Snorkeling along side of them — the largest estimated to be around 40 feet in length — is simply indescribable. 

The water is blue here, not like the green water at Holbox.  There was plankton and particles in the blue water; the Whale Sharks were feeding on the plankton and particles.

We spent 3 to 4 hours in the water with them; they definitely are aware of your presence. I guess the best way to describe the trip is “I can’t wait to come back next year.”  If you want to do this, Papa Hogs is the way to go; the tourist boats do not look like much fun. 

I have just started the count down for next year’s trip!!!

JULY 31, 2010

DIVE REPORT: WEST PALM BEACH (click on pic for better image; all copyright rights reserved):  Great diving in West Palm Beach on Saturday.  So good, we stayed out all day; 2 dives to the north in the morning and 2 dives closer to the inlet in the afternoon.

Headed to Juno Ledge and Shark Canyon for the morning dives.  The visibility was 60 to 80; warm water; and, a strong current.  The sharks were out; we saw a couple of Caribbean Reef Sharks on Juno Ledge and about 5 or 6 Reefers on Shark Canyon.  Of course, all the usual suspects were out also, goliath, turtles, and large schools of fish.

Dropped on The Corridor for the first afternoon dive.  A couple of turtles were on the Mizpah, including a Hawksbill with a tag, but I could not get the tag number.  About 8 to 10 Goliaths; but, still not seeing the Goliaths in large numbers.

A very large Goliath was in the Amarylis.  She let me get real close for some nice pics. 

Dropped on Secret Spot for the second dive of the afternoon.  This is a great dive site.  It has numerous ledges and some very nice growth.  I have only dove this site a couple of times.  We did not see anything big on the dive; but, there was a lot of large schools of fish, a few Green Morays, and some nice reef formations.  I think we will be dropping on this site more often.

Again, a great day to be spend the entire day on the water. 

Will be heading to Mexico soon to hopefully get some shots of the Whale Sharks.

JULY 24, 2010

DIVE REPORT — BOYNTON BEACH (click on pic for better quality image; all copyright rights reserved):  Dove the beautiful reefs of Boynton Beach today.

Went diving with Underwater Explorers.  This is definitely the operation to dive with in Boynton Beach.  Kevin, the owner, runs a 30+ foot boat that caters to photographers, and its a 6-pack — need I say more!

We did two dives.  The seas were sloppy due to Tropical Storm Bonnie shooting by the day before, but there was not a cloud in the sky, the visibility was a beautifully blue 60 to 100 feet, very mild current, and no particles at all in the water!  Because of the sloppy seas, we had the reefs all to ourselves — that’s a great time to dive.

I have only done about 10 to 15 dives in Boynton over the years; but, I need to dive here more often.  Boynton has beautifully thick and healthy reefs, serious ledges and overhangs, and probably the best coral and sponges in Palm Beach County.

We were not sure if we would see much on the reef due to the tropical storm; but, the Loggerheads were out, a Goliath, a lot of fish, and Kevin got buzzed by a Bull Shark.

The first dive was on a deeper reef called The Fingers and the second dive was on a 60 foot reef named Clubhouse.  Again, both great dives with virtually non-stop overhangs and ledges, and impressive coral and sponge formations. 

I need to dive here more often!!!

JULY 17, 2010

DIVE REPORT (click on pic for better image; all copyright rights reserved):  Dove today in Key Largo with Quiescence Dive Charters (about mile marker 104 to 105, I think).  This is the only operation I dive with in Key Largo — six-pack boats and great service.

The seas were rough — 5 to 7 feet.  But, that meant that very few boats went out and very few divers on the boats that did in fact go out.  I had one other diver on the boat — yes, a grand total of two divers.  We headed to Molasses Reef on the theory that due to the high seas and the proximity of that reef to deeper waters, the visibility would be pretty good at Molasses — and it was!!!

There was  serious surge on the shallow water reef due to the high seas; but, the visibility was 60 to 80 feet.  The great thing about the Keys is that even if the diving conditions are not great, one can still get damn good pictures due to the shallow water and the penetration of the light; the white sand in shallow water is a nice reflector of light also; so, plenty of light on the shallow reefs.

Because few boats were out, we did two dives on Molasses Reef — the first dive was on the east side of the reef and the second dive was on the west side of the reef.  Very nice Elkhorn Coral and other corals on this reef.

The highlight of the dive was several Goliaths sitting under a ledge.  They had no fear and I hung out with them for 15 minutes.  They gave me some great colorful shots!!  Also, saw the largest Atlantic Spadefish I had ever seen.

Unfortunately, due to the high seas and poor visibility at the other shallow reefs, I could not get shots of the large silverside concentrations that move into the reefs this time of year that I had hoped to get on this trip.  I will be back soon to get those shots, however!!!!

JULY 10, 2010

DIVE REPORT: Horrible diving today in West Palm Beach — a waste of my time.

Flat seas and not a cloud in the sky; but, horrible dive site selection, horrible drops on the dive sites, the vis was not great with a lot of particles in the water, and the current was very strong and pulling to the west, so it was difficult to stay on the reefs.

In fact, I do not have a single picture to display!!!!

It is time for a change of scenery!!!