Isla Mujeres & Harrowsmith

[travelure]

Hi,

I will be on Isla Mujeres July 27,28,29 and would like to get out to Harrowsmith. If anyone else is going to be in the area and would like to go, give me a shout.

Also if anyone has been there please send me some info on it.

Thanks,

Sam

 

[scubakevinp]

Hey Sammy,
We are on Isla now, going to Picos (the Hills ) on Sunday. Hopefully we will find those hammerheads I have been looking for. Wish I was going to be there to go to Arrowsmith with you. We have been diving, spearfishing and lobstering just about everyday. We got 9 lobsters the other day and had lobster taco party at our casa. I missed a huge grouper at Ultrafreeze today, I still want my big grouper. I have been here 7 days and have 8 more to go. We might have to make Kiki take us to Arrowsmith before we go home. See you later.
Kevin and Tonda

Here is a link to a map the shows Arrowsmith
http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1997/ofr-97-470/OF97-470K/spatial/pdf/caribbean.pdf

Best adventure diving on Isla Mujeres - Enrique's Unique Dives
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[ben@scorpiodivers.com]

i went to arrowsmith around a month ago, not your average tourist site to say the least, if you go be VERY CAREFUL. you need a captain you can trust and knows the areas/currents, if you guys have less than a few hundred dives (200-499 you ll be ok) DONT GO and take a very good and very long smb and line, thats your lifeline at arrowsmith. i think the lobsters eat steroids at this place!
its still early for the hammers at los picos too, thats more end/july and august but if they are kicking around early let me know! last year we saw 15 big great hammerheads at 150ft and 2 just snorkeling on the surface.
good luck at arrowsmith, its a very cool place

 

[scubakevinp]

Ben, you are correct, these are advanced dives, you and the boat crew need to know what they are doing. Most of the dive shop will not even consider taking any one. 3 years ago I heard about Arrowsmith and my good friend Kiki (Enrique's Unique Dives) was willing to arrange it, he grew up on Isla and had never been either. We hired some spear fishermen to take us. One lead us, the other hung on to the boat in the water, with mask and fins telling the boat captain were we were at all times. Any time we looked up, from 100 ft., they were above us.
Last year we did Picos, on the way out we saw hundreds of whale sharks. The dives were deep, 150ft., saw bull shark, 2 big black tips and 1 hammerhead on the surface kind of. The spearfishermen said there was one, I grabbed a mask, dove in and saw a tail swimming away. They thought I was crazy.

I know Sammy, who wants to go. He is a dive master and a great diver, I have dove with him before. Anyone wanting to do these dives needs to be experienced, no just have an advanced card. These are deep deco dives. No room for mistakes. That said, they are some of the most awesome dives I have done.

 

[ben@scorpiodivers.com]

agreed my man.
picos is way easier than arrowsmith but very 'hit and miss' with the animals, for arrowsmith i go with 'cachetes' 'cheeks' in english, his real name is miguel and you can find him at the aquarium in plaza la isla. hes been spearfishing for over 20 years and knows arrowsmith very well, hes also the man that got the bull sharks from arrowsmith for the aquarium! dont ask how!
good luck!

 

[travelure]

Kevin I am very jealous...seems you and Tonda have had a great trip. Glad you've had luck fishing...but I'll get the grouper and send you a pic.

we are only on Isla for 3 days short trip this time. I hope the weather is good. If we can't get out to Arrowsmith or Picos, maybe Tonda's reef and see those "sharks" that were swimming around you. We will be down in Nov and at Christmas, so maybe we will get together again.

So it is Arrowsmith not Harrowsmith, I will try googling it.

Thanks Ben, anymore info you can send me on what to expect at Arrowsmith would be great. As Kevin says, KiKi is great, and takes whatever precautions are necessary if we haven't dived there before.

Sam

 

[scubakevinp]

We made it out to Picos today. Saw hundreds of whale sharks on the way out. Boats ride was about 1 hour 45 minutes. On the way down, thermalclin about 60 feet down, soup for the next 50 feet and then we saw the bottom at 160. Found the cave, swam in, saw a black tip and then a bull. So many big groupers, I did not get one. On these deep dives, the bottom time is only about 18 minutes, if I spear, it is a lot less. Great dive. No hammerheads but I will try again, maybe in August like Ben said.
Then we went to Tonda's reef. I got 2 big hogfish and an AJ. I still did not get my grouper, but I will keep trying.

 

[ben@scorpiodivers.com]

sounds good kevin,
the whale sharks are just insane right now, all over the place! how cold was it at 160?? i ll be organizing a trip to picos within a couple weeks.
nice info!

 

[trigfunctions]

Here is a link to a map the shows Arrowsmith
http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1997/ofr-97-470/OF97-470K/spatial/pdf/caribbean.pdf

Best adventure diving on Isla Mujeres - Enrique's Unique Dives
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That is a GREAT map. Thanks!

Also, we dove with Enrique's outfit a couple weeks ago and they did a great job.

 

[scubakevinp]

Hey Ben,
It was cold, 62 degrees F. My wife is still bitching about how cold it was. All the dives we have done this trip had thermalclin. But we loved the dives. 2 more dive days, then back home to Dallas.