Cozumel diving today
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Fortunately, it is believed that mosquitoes cannot be a carrier for coronavirus.
Mosquitoes: Do they carry the coronavirus (COVID-19) | Rentokil
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Friday, last day diving.
There were a few beers involved after diving so I did not post yesterday (which is probably a good thing).
Weather was much sunnier and I think fewer mosquitoes though they were definitely out.
First dive was the end of Santa Rosa and through to San Francisco. Water warm and decent visibility. Slow current. We call it Santa Frisco.
We started on the wall and moved inland then back out to the wall on San Francisco. We saw a pair of flying gunards which one is below with it’s wings out. While looking in the sand we found a lettuce seal slug. Quite a few splendid toadfish. Once again, Green Moray eels. We found a few lionfish.
I used a rental bcd that was a bit small but worked. The broken inflator hose flange on my back inflate is not repairable so I am looking for a replacement bladder.
SI was at the concrete pier at sunscape. No one came out to run us off. We noticed a few sand fleas coming out to the boat.
Second dive was the end of Yucab and then to Tormentos. Slow current mostly. Cooler water and good visibility. More green and brown spotted eels. In a sand channel Raul found a small pipefish looked at first more like a piece of grass.
Diving this week we expected the reefs would be inundated with lionfish and although we saw more, the lower numbers surprised us.
I had hoped for some ocean miracle where rarer sharks, squid, other fish, creatures or kraken would show up after many months but it was pretty much the same as before. Still all good.
During quarantine we did see dolphins swimming close to the beach, more shore birds, and wildlife appear that we normally do not see.
I think we saw at least one Green Moray eel on every dive in addition to many brown spotted eels. We looked for seahorses on numerous dives but did not see one. We encountered quite a few green turtles which is a bit surprising as it is mating season and I have observed them congregate near the mainland especially around Akumal this time of year.
It seems to me that the fish let me approach closer than usual although I did make conscious efforts to move as little as possible.
Overall the water was warm, the currents slow to non-existent but at some sites the visibility was down.
We considered a night dive and did not do one. With the new rules we were not sure of the port would be open not to mention the mosquitoes.
Though the port is open, dive ops are hurting due to lack of tourists and limits on numbers of divers. I understand that El Cielo is open as well.
I used 12-50 mm (m4/3) zoom lens with macro capability the entire week. I found that the overcast and on/off clouds made it a chore for lighting and on many occasions I dialed up strobe power more than usual. Shooting into sand with these conditions was especially challenging as the sun would poke through and overexpose shots. I had wanted to use wide angle or macro on some days but since my friend was visiting, she generally got to choose the dive site on the boat so I never knew what to expect therfore I used a general purpose lens all the time. WA would have been good for C53 bow shots.
I was good to be back in the water after many months.
Green Turtle. This one was on a mission going south.
Green Moray Eel
Very large Cubera Snapper. It was a big as any of the larger black grouper I have seen here.
I am calling this shortfin Pipefish and it was very small so it could be juvenile. At first I though it was a blade of grass. Some of the markings though are not consistent with shortfin. It does have a small dorsal fin which you can't see here. Some may identify it as a slender pipefish.
Bridled Goby. If you look very closely you can see me in the fish's eye.
Southern Stingray digging in the sand.
Porcupinefish
Flying Gunard. It was one of a pair.
Lettuce Sea Slug
Splendid Toadfish.
There were a few beers involved after diving so I did not post yesterday (which is probably a good thing).
Weather was much sunnier and I think fewer mosquitoes though they were definitely out.
First dive was the end of Santa Rosa and through to San Francisco. Water warm and decent visibility. Slow current. We call it Santa Frisco.
We started on the wall and moved inland then back out to the wall on San Francisco. We saw a pair of flying gunards which one is below with it’s wings out. While looking in the sand we found a lettuce seal slug. Quite a few splendid toadfish. Once again, Green Moray eels. We found a few lionfish.
I used a rental bcd that was a bit small but worked. The broken inflator hose flange on my back inflate is not repairable so I am looking for a replacement bladder.
SI was at the concrete pier at sunscape. No one came out to run us off. We noticed a few sand fleas coming out to the boat.
Second dive was the end of Yucab and then to Tormentos. Slow current mostly. Cooler water and good visibility. More green and brown spotted eels. In a sand channel Raul found a small pipefish looked at first more like a piece of grass.
Diving this week we expected the reefs would be inundated with lionfish and although we saw more, the lower numbers surprised us.
I had hoped for some ocean miracle where rarer sharks, squid, other fish, creatures or kraken would show up after many months but it was pretty much the same as before. Still all good.
During quarantine we did see dolphins swimming close to the beach, more shore birds, and wildlife appear that we normally do not see.
I think we saw at least one Green Moray eel on every dive in addition to many brown spotted eels. We looked for seahorses on numerous dives but did not see one. We encountered quite a few green turtles which is a bit surprising as it is mating season and I have observed them congregate near the mainland especially around Akumal this time of year.
It seems to me that the fish let me approach closer than usual although I did make conscious efforts to move as little as possible.
Overall the water was warm, the currents slow to non-existent but at some sites the visibility was down.
We considered a night dive and did not do one. With the new rules we were not sure of the port would be open not to mention the mosquitoes.
Though the port is open, dive ops are hurting due to lack of tourists and limits on numbers of divers. I understand that El Cielo is open as well.
I used 12-50 mm (m4/3) zoom lens with macro capability the entire week. I found that the overcast and on/off clouds made it a chore for lighting and on many occasions I dialed up strobe power more than usual. Shooting into sand with these conditions was especially challenging as the sun would poke through and overexpose shots. I had wanted to use wide angle or macro on some days but since my friend was visiting, she generally got to choose the dive site on the boat so I never knew what to expect therfore I used a general purpose lens all the time. WA would have been good for C53 bow shots.
I was good to be back in the water after many months.
Green Turtle. This one was on a mission going south.
Green Moray Eel
Very large Cubera Snapper. It was a big as any of the larger black grouper I have seen here.
I am calling this shortfin Pipefish and it was very small so it could be juvenile. At first I though it was a blade of grass. Some of the markings though are not consistent with shortfin. It does have a small dorsal fin which you can't see here. Some may identify it as a slender pipefish.
Bridled Goby. If you look very closely you can see me in the fish's eye.
Southern Stingray digging in the sand.
Porcupinefish
Flying Gunard. It was one of a pair.
Lettuce Sea Slug
Splendid Toadfish.
scuba5150
Contributor
The two times I've been to Cozumel, we stayed at the Iberostar towards the south. They sprayed at night for mosquitoes a couple of times each week and that kept them under control. I'm not a fan of spraying 'cause I worry a little about what it does to us, then too mosquitoes carry a few diseases, so it's a trade off.
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Georgeous Flying Gurnard
Ministryofgiraffes
Contributor
They brought out the fog machines this weekend at presidente. Mosquitos weren’t as bad by sat. Went from 20/30 chomps a day down to about 8-10
Redfoot
Contributor
Thanks all for the updates.
While I am jealous of the diving, I am NOT jealous of the bugs.
Keep enjoying for the rest of us!
Here are a few pics from my weekend motorcycle camp trip along the shores of Lake Huron. Perfect weather and very few bugs.
While I am jealous of the diving, I am NOT jealous of the bugs.
Keep enjoying for the rest of us!
Here are a few pics from my weekend motorcycle camp trip along the shores of Lake Huron. Perfect weather and very few bugs.
JFS
Contributor
horn34
Contributor
got attacked by a huge free swimming green moray at Cedral today. He hit my gopro so hard it is still messed up. Super aggressive.
