A few photos from diving at the end of October and beginning of November.
The weather changed a bit and was a bit cooler. Currents at the end of October were running slowly to the south at about 0.5 knots on a day or two. We dove Punta Tunich and the top of San Francisco wall backwards.
Generally currents were both non-existent to very slow at southern dive sites and changed back to South to North. This made photography easier but also required more finning.
Visibility was down at many southern sites especially around the Palancars.
Water temps were generally warm though in a few spots cooler fresh water was entering from the island.
We did see one large Eagle Ray at Santa Rosa shallows, and in general, quite a lot of Hawksbill turtles, juvenile Drums, Porcupinefish, and found more pipefishes and pipehorses than usual. I did also notice more mantis shrimp but possibly because I was keying on them. I could not coax any out except one who just sat outside his burrow. Alas, no camera.
We had heard that a hammerhead shark was spotted on Cedral Wall recently so we spent a dive on the outside of the wall with slow current looking for it. However it seems the hammerhead had moved south to San Francisco wall that day. Nice to dive Cedral Wall with low current for a change.
I found a small fish in a sand channel but we could not identify it. I posted photos in the Name that Critter section.
A friend staying at Sabor/Secrets was still dealing with their pier fee. An "attendant" was always on the pier when we dropped him off, taking names of people and boats.
I sprung for 50 pesos one day to use the Palancar stone and concrete pier instead of tying off at the beach club. It's not as crowded now and easier to exit. Less sand too.
I dove with Raul Platas of Bottom Time Divers who provided me with a large bin for my camera. Since we did not have many divers and we all knew each other, Raul spent a great deal of time spotting.
More photos to come.
The weather changed a bit and was a bit cooler. Currents at the end of October were running slowly to the south at about 0.5 knots on a day or two. We dove Punta Tunich and the top of San Francisco wall backwards.
Generally currents were both non-existent to very slow at southern dive sites and changed back to South to North. This made photography easier but also required more finning.
Visibility was down at many southern sites especially around the Palancars.
Water temps were generally warm though in a few spots cooler fresh water was entering from the island.
We did see one large Eagle Ray at Santa Rosa shallows, and in general, quite a lot of Hawksbill turtles, juvenile Drums, Porcupinefish, and found more pipefishes and pipehorses than usual. I did also notice more mantis shrimp but possibly because I was keying on them. I could not coax any out except one who just sat outside his burrow. Alas, no camera.
We had heard that a hammerhead shark was spotted on Cedral Wall recently so we spent a dive on the outside of the wall with slow current looking for it. However it seems the hammerhead had moved south to San Francisco wall that day. Nice to dive Cedral Wall with low current for a change.
I found a small fish in a sand channel but we could not identify it. I posted photos in the Name that Critter section.
A friend staying at Sabor/Secrets was still dealing with their pier fee. An "attendant" was always on the pier when we dropped him off, taking names of people and boats.
I sprung for 50 pesos one day to use the Palancar stone and concrete pier instead of tying off at the beach club. It's not as crowded now and easier to exit. Less sand too.
I dove with Raul Platas of Bottom Time Divers who provided me with a large bin for my camera. Since we did not have many divers and we all knew each other, Raul spent a great deal of time spotting.
More photos to come.
