Trip Report (The Trip that Almost Wasn't)

[deepsea21]

He took us on a swim thru in Palancar Caves that was so narrow I thought I might get stuck not to mention the fact that it was impossible to keep from hitting and doing damage. Never again!

Believe me, those swim thru's have had so many 100's of thousands of divers through them you aren't going to do any damage that hasn't already been done. For the most part they are just barren caves scraped bare due to "diver erosion" which is why I personally could care less about them. I too prefer to stay out of them where there is more life to see and to stay shallower where there is more light from the sun and more color to be seen without using a light. If the DM is going to lead a group through he knows we won't be participating and will follow the bubbles coming up on top of the reef. How many times has the group been in one of those swim thru's and we've been on top (usually with a few other UW photographers) and seen eagle rays glide by, turtles feeding and sleeping, sharks cruising, moray's of all sorts, all kinds of great sea life while they fin their way through some dank, lifeless hole below. To each his/her own though.