Cozumel Trip Report

[Reidster]

Great report and awesome photos!!! Thanks for sharing!!!

 

[Pelagicsal]

I wonder if the unidentified shrimp is a spotted cleaner shrimp and the spots on the back are not showing up clearly for some reason?

I don't think so. Compare the leg colors of the spotted and the unknown.
I think it might be a sun anemone shrimp, though it's not on a sun anemone, and the angle is wrong for me to see its markings. The legs and eyes though... they're right for sun anemone shrimp.

Yes, thank you for sharing your pictures. Next time you visit Cozumel, you'll be quicker to adapt, and if you are like the rest of us addicts, you'll stay longer!

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Here's another angle. It has different markings than the Sun Anemone shrimp as well.

 

[Pelagicsal]

Here's another angle. It has different markings than the Sun Anemone shrimp as well.

True enough! Maybe someone will pop in with a better ID.

 

[Mossman]

Very nice shots, seems you had no problem making the transition from cold to warm water photography. Too bad you felt so rushed but that's the way it is with many guided group dive ops. May I suggest a smaller more personal dive op for your next trip, along the likes of Living Underwater whose owner, Jeremy, is one of the slowest guides anywhere! I know exactly how you feel, as I've had DMs bug me the entire dive to catch up, constantly giving me a come closer signal, and by the time I furiously fin to their location just to appease them, they've already relocated another 100 feet down the reef. That's why I usually prefer non-guided dives, as in Bonaire (or SoCal, of course, were it only a bit warmer), or a place like Wakatobi where they'll let you "solo" well behind the group as long as you carry a pony and have demonstrable solo training/experience (solo or instructor card), because the last thing I want when I'm paying good money to dive and take pictures is someone constantly annoying me to go faster and miss setting up my shots.

That's why I was gratified to stumble across Jeremy. He charges more than the cattleboat ops (and obviously isn't packaged with Scuba Club or any other resort) but you won't have to worry about blowing through an 80 in 27 minutes with a 120 on your back and the price actually works out better when you price it per minute of bottom time, which is actually a much better measure than per dive when you're comparing a 90 minute dive to a 27 minutes (assuming your air consumption would be far better if you weren't having to constantly fin to keep up with a group).

Cozumel has a wide variety of dive ops. In my opinion, the big group boats are better for big groups. They already want to dive together and peer pressure keeps them from straying too far. But for individuals/couples who have lots of underwater experience and are serious about taking photos, an independent "premium" six-pack is the way to go and Living Underwater is the best of those that I've experienced to date, in Cozumel or elsewhere. (Beyond that, you can always charter your own boat/DM, but that can obviously be far more expensive than a premium six pack).

---------- Post Merged at 10:46 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 10:42 AM ----------

True enough! Maybe someone will pop in with a better ID.

I doubt that. Even Humann/DeLoach can't positively identify their own pic of a Spotted Cleaner Shrimp: "NOTE: Identification is probable. Because there are several similar appearing species, positive identification requires microscopic examination." (Reef Creature Identification, Enlarged 2nd ed., p. 176). Next time bring your u/w microscope!

 

[Merchant]

fanatic photos ! nice report

 

[stronj1]

True enough! Maybe someone will pop in with a better ID.

MaxBottomtime's photos are better than the ID book pictures, I can't find a match to this one. Hope someone knows!