Playa del Carmen Dive Report

[PARADISE HUNTER]

Thanks again for the posts. Lots of great information in them.

How close are you normally able to get to the bulls? How do they react to strobe flashes from photographers?

Thanks.

PH

 

[Geofish Dive in Playa]

Just the other day they came right up to us, probably about 3-5 feet away from us. The one time that I took pictures of them with a strobe flash they didn't react at all, not to say that that would be the case every time. But for the most part they are curious and come pretty close, but just as they get close enough they veer off. They will be gone in probably two or three weeks......going to miss them!

Thanks for taking the time to read the reports and we are glad that people are enjoying them.

 

[Geofish Dive in Playa]

February 4, 2009: Barracuda and Sabalos

Today was a bit chilly in the morning. The temperature was 71F/22C and the wind was blowing from the NNE at 15mph/13knots. But the sun was shining and the water looked great!

Barracuda: At about 46ft/14m the visibility was around 65-70ft/19-21m. Today the fish were out as well as the turtles. Saw a couple channel clinging crabs and lobster. I love the horseshoe portion of this dive. It is always different and there is always something new to see.

Sabalos: Visibility was about the same until we got to the end of the dive where it got a bit murky. Saw two turtles, a few Green Moray eels and tons of fish. We also saw a spotted stingray, very beautiful animal.

On deck for tomorrow: Tortugas and Sabalos.

 

[Geofish Dive in Playa]

February 6, 2009: Chiken-Ha Cenote

The port was closed with string winds from the ENE at about 23mph/20knots. On days like these we are so blessed that we have a back up plan.........and a very good one at that! The sun was shining bright and that is all that matters when it comes to Cenote diving.

Chiken-Ha: I am going to be honest in these Cenote reports you won't read anything about any fish spotting's unless it is a blind fish or two. Mainly it is about the formations and the lighting of that particular day. And on the 6th the lighting was impeccable. There was a greenish glow about the Cenote and the clarity of the water allows you to feel and see the affects of that light at depths of 60ft/18m. The light was illuminating the stalactites and stalagmites beautifully. Great day for cenote diving and hopefully this weather turns for the better here soon.

On Deck: 3 courses starting, Port is closed again today the 7th of February, so since I can see into the future, I see a little theory and some confined sessions for a day or two. Haha. Safe diving to all of you!


Academy of Scuba: Phoenix AZ - Arizona's Dive Training Choice

 

[Geofish Dive in Playa]

February 10, 2009

Finally the port is open!!! 3 days straight of wind and waves have caused the port to be closed and finally the diving gods have given us a break. I will have a Shark dive report for everyone at approximately 11:30 and hopefully they haven't migrated already. Cross your fingers for them to be there!

 

[PARADISE HUNTER]

Geofish,

I have an annual dive trip to Cozumel in October, that's usually in the second half of the month. We don't mind jumping channel to dive for a couple of days. Any chance that the bulls would be back that early?

PH

 

[Geofish Dive in Playa]

It is a very very very low chance that they would be here, but what we could do is this. You remind me when it gets closer to the dates of your trip and we can go dive the spots where they are and see if they are there. They usually show up in the middle or end of November, but I can definitely check it out and let you know. I am PM'ing you some additional information. Thanks.

 

[Geofish Dive in Playa]

January 10, 2009: Shark Gardens

Today was a blessing from the dive gods. They still made it windy, but they must have brain washed the harbor master to open the port. THANK YOU!! We had strong winds at 13mph/11knots coming from the ESE. The temperature was 77F/25C.

They were still there!!!! And there were a lot of them. We saw about 8 different ones, but 6 of them were hanging around us for the entirety of the dive. The Remoras were of course being their curious selves and a couple actually tried to attach onto a client. The Remoras are just sucker fish that latch onto the sharks, so they are harmless and very annoying at times. Two sharks followed us up to 55ft and then turned around and headed back. Great great dive. Visibility was not great, but that was expected. Just glad to be back in the water again, and every extra day with the Bulls is a bonus.

We dive with the Bull Sharks in the Morning because every other shop that does shark dives do them in the afternoon. We also like the morning because in the afternoon a lot of shops are feeding them and we will never put any of our customers in that kind of risky situation. This causes them to start expecting food from humans and can lead to a bad situation. In the Mornings they are full, fat and not expecting food and that is why we will continue to dive with them in the AM.

Thanks everyone for taking the time to read our reports. Hope they are helpful.


Academy of Scuba: Phoenix AZ - Arizona's Dive Training Choice

 

[Geofish Dive in Playa]

February 11, 2009: Sabalos and Barracuda

It was still windy, but the port was open with precaution. The temp was 77F/25C and the wind the blowing at 12mph/11knots.

The visibility was a lot better than I expected, but still below average at about 50ft/15m. At the moment there are more turtles at both of these reefs than at the actual Tortugas reef. Every time we go to Sabalos and Barracuda we see a number of Hawksbill turtles.


Academy of Scuba: Phoenix AZ - Arizona's Dive Training Choice

 

[Geofish Dive in Playa]

February 12, 2009: Tortugas and Sabalos

Today was a beautiful day. The wind has pretty much died down and the water was great. Now visibility is another story, but that will take a couple days of calm weather to settle. The wind was blowing at 8mph/7knots from the ESE. The temperature was 78.8F/26C.

Tortugas: Visibility was about 55ft/17m, but the turtles were in plain sight. They are back and they are back in numbers. We saw 4 turtles in the first 10 minutes of the dive and it was so nice to see them at Tortugas again. Saw a large school of Atlantic Spade Fish and 2 green Moray's. Good dive and it was nice getting back to Tortugas.

Sabalos: Now this dive was great as always, but we saw something during the dive that made it kind of depressing. Now for those who don't know what Sabalos means in Spanish, it means Tarpon and due to the amounts of these fish that are there, someone named it after them. And what do you know towards the end of the reef where they are almost always spotted in season we ran into about 60 of them and I am not exaggerating none were less than 4ft/1.2m. Now you reading this are probably asking yourselves "why would that be depressing", well when you spot Tarpon towards the end of the Winter that means the Bull Sharks are on their way out of Playa. I know I know, tragic! Well we got to enjoy them for over 4 months and possibly a week more. Adios Tiburones de Toro, hasta proximo invierno!

Tomorrow calls for a fun dive to either Moche Deep or the Canitl (the wall).


Academy of Scuba: Phoenix AZ - Arizona's Dive Training Choice