Question Muck/Macro Diving - Why do you like it?

[NauticalNick]

Hi all,

I have been replying and following posts for a while but this is my first topic as I have been scratching my head on this for some time. I'm relatively early in my diving career so I love the big pelagic fish far and away the most, followed by reefs and swim-through / cenote diving. I'm also starting to get into wreck diving a bit and hoping to do my certification later this summer as I like this history behind it and I really want to work my way up to the Thistlegorm. The one thing I cannot figure out though, and I mean this in genuine curiosity rather than with judgement, why do people do muck / macro diving? I know there's a very strong photography angle for people who are passionate about that but I was just curious if there was anything else I was missing or perhaps not appreciating but slowly looking through the dirt for teeny-tiny bugs seems very tedious to ignorant me.

Thanks in advance,
NN

 

[Rilelen]

It’s a treasure hunt. I think newer divers are unlikely to find it as fun because when you start out, EVERYTHING feels like a treasure hunt - oh, a coral, a fish! A turtle!

But once you’ve seen all those things a ton, it can become fun to try to find the “small stuff” - it’s part luck, part setting yourself up for success (pick the right spot), but also a lot of skill. Knowing which sponges a certain critter lives in, or knowing to turn over a specific kind of algae on a sandy muddy floor to look for teeny tiny little nudribranchs. The rush of finding one is exciting!

It does help if you’re into photography because you get to “shoot” your finds. But I think folks enjoy muck/macro diving for many of the same reasons people enjoy hunting, birding, fishing etc. The long search and the sudden payoff (when you find it!) is very rewarding.

Some photos of a DM in Roatan teaching me how to spot eyespot costasiella:

 

[Damselfish]

I think liking the bigger stuff first and getting into the small stuff later is fairly common. I like to see big stuff, but there is a huge variety of small stuff out there and they are often weird and wonderful. And rewarding when you find them. It’s all good.

Its true small stuff is great for photographers. They tend to stay put and not swim away. Fewer fish butt pics.

 

[NauticalNick]

It’s a treasure hunt. I think newer divers are unlikely to find it as fun because when you start out, EVERYTHING feels like a treasure hunt - oh, a coral, a fish! A turtle!

But once you’ve seen all those things a ton, it can become fun to try to find the “small stuff” - it’s part luck, part setting yourself up for success (pick the right spot), but also a lot of skill. Knowing which sponges a certain critter lives in, or knowing to turn over a specific kind of algae on a sandy muddy floor to look for teeny tiny little nudribranchs. The rush of finding one is exciting!

It does help if you’re into photography because you get to “shoot” your finds. But I think folks enjoy muck/macro diving for many of the same reasons people enjoy hunting, birding, fishing etc. The long search and the sudden payoff (when you find it!) is very rewarding.

Some photos of a DM in Roatan teaching me how to spot eyespot costasiella:



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This is a great response and I never really thought about it this way. Thanks for your perspective.

 

[MrChen]

I evolved from a crappy point and shoot to a GoPro to a better point and shoot into a DSLR setup. Learning photography was a lot of fun. Muck diving is challenging, relaxing, rewarding, and many more things. Very few dive types can I do a 3-4 hour dive. There are hundreds of things to find in the muck vs the dozen or so big things. I still like seeing the big things and find it funny when I point out something small and wonderful, but get a look of why are you pointing there? It's like there's another world right below you, you only have to stop for a moment and look.

And finding things which take a lot of work is cool. For example, finding a skeleton shrimp which is thinner than a blade of algae, a nudibranch, or finding a dwarf frogfish hiding in the hydroids. We also find a lot of seahorses and octopus hiding in things.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Muck diving is like stopping to smell the roses. There is an entire universe of animals that most divers swim past as they race to see the next rock. Once you learn what to look for and appreciate it, your air consumption goes way down. You come away from dives feeling like you didn't miss out if you didn't see the manta or whale shark. There is a lot of beauty in the ocean, and most of it is small.

 

[happy-diver]

Yuck I feel sick, if you can't see it cruising along, it's not meant to be seen
certainly not at five million magnifications just not natural for the eyeballs

and I dive so cruisy, they send someone to swim over and check my pulse

20,000 leagues under the sea diving to adventure
in a silent world with my ceiling the waves....Emile

 

[Searcaigh]

There's a lot more small stuff than big stuff for starters.

As others have mentioned, the hunt, the challenge and research to find special critters and to ID them too. I've spent a small fortune in camera gear over the years as well as literature on various nudibranchs in particular, no regrets.

Learning about these creatures is also addictive

 

[NauticalNick]

Muck diving is like stopping to smell the roses. There is an entire universe of animals that most divers swim past as they race to see the next rock. Once you learn what to look for and appreciate it, your air consumption goes way down. You come away from dives feeling like you didn't miss out if you didn't see the manta or whale shark. There is a lot of beauty in the ocean, and most of it is small.

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These are really stunning. Is this all done in post or is it volcanic rock / sand? The contrast/background.

 

[VsubT]

The big stuff can be fun, but the little guys are where it's at for me. One of the most magical moments on dives is when the "clown cloud" swims away, and the reef or bottom slowly comes back to life. Moving slowly and interacting with tiny wild critters up close is different and special.

Lance