Diving Cozumel !!

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Chrisan

Registered
Messages
31
Reaction score
7
Location
Michigan
# of dives
50 - 99
Hey everyone, I'm down in Cozumel diving this week. I was here years ago diving and don't remember much. Through a variety of circumstances I only ended up diving twice, and only once with my camera. I was left a little underwhelmed. Not sure if I'll be back. The drift diving format was just not real conducive to composing good pics. Everything was shot totally on the fly as I drifted by. Missed a bunch of shots I thought would have been good. And for whatever reason I didn't see a lot of fish. I saw way more fish in the Florida Keys a couple years ago. What has your experience been?

Chris
 
Well, I don't shoot a Sony camera, but I have dove in Cozumel. I think a lot depends on what you aim to do.

1.) I liked the underwater topography, particularly the Palancar sites, enjoyed the variety.

2.) I liked the marine life - thought it was pretty fishy and had a decent amount of fairly big animals - black grouper, nurse sharks, green moray eels, eagle rays, etc... That said, I was impressed with the fishiness of Key Largo back in 2013. A lot may depend on what you compare Cozumel to.

3.) Drift diving I can take or leave. It can be fun to ride the current, or frustrating to pace the guide who's drifting at a different rate (I was a bit shallower, granted, which may've been causative).

4.) I mainly take snap shots of medium or large creatures with a point & shoot camera. I don't carefully compose photos of macro subjects, change lenses or filters, set custom white balance, use manual mode or otherwise do much 'fussing' with my rig (other than switch flash mode from 'Off' to 'On' and back).

I'd suggest do multiple dives across multiple sites, enjoy Cozumel for what it is, and consider what your diving and photography goals are. Do you like hovering over a coral head carefully composing macro shots of nudibranchs? Or waiting for the yellow-headed jawfish with the mouthful of eggs to pop up and pose?

What other destinations have you been to compare it to?
 
After you’ve been diving there awhile you learn how to manipulate around the current in order to get some good shots. Not every shot is obtainable but certainly more than the first few dives there.
 
I think you guys gave good advice. It may just have been the particular dive I was on. My brother in law stayed longer and did a few more dives and took pictures of a bunch of critters. Still not wild about the drift dives. :)
 
If you let the operator know that you are a shooter, they may be able to group you with a guide and dives that are more suitable. I know Aldora does.
 
I dive Cozumel about once a year. The current can be challenging on some sites but the sites with the strongest currents (you don't get to these often) tend to have the most sea life. Most Cozumel sites have no more (and often less) current than I find frequently at Jupiter and sometimes West Palm Beach, FL. Cozumel is certainly the most economical place to dive in the Caribbean as long as you don't stay in the big resorts. You can see some of my photos here: Richard Eaker’s albums | Flickr .
 
Cozumel's amazing coral colors beg for photographs. Some of the most colorful reefs in the Caribbean. It helps to get out of the current to frame pictures. These are some shots from last week.

sponges (1 of 1)-3.jpg


coral 8  (1 of 1).jpg


coral 17 (1 of 1).jpg


coral 14 (1 of 1).jpg


turtle (1 of 1)-2.jpg


Sailfin Blennie 2 (1 of 1)-2.jpg


Star Fish 3 (1 of 1).jpg


fans (1 of 1).jpg
 

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