Cozumel Scuba Diving

Monday, January 2nd

My first dive of 2012 was on Palancar Bricks with Miguel, Mike, Kim, Joe, Teri, Gay, Jungho and Rebecca. We had a little bit of current on that dive. Since there had been no current earlier in the week everyone thought that the current was strong but it was really less than 1 knot :) I thought it was cute but we all thanked God that it hadn’t been stronger this week!

Rebecca wanted to see El Cielo so after snorkeling with the starfish we took them over to Colombia Shallow again. We saw a couple of turtles right at the beginning of the dive. Joe found a really big lobster. We also saw an enormous grouper and of course lots of schools of fish.

Thursday, January 5th

We missed a couple of days of diving due to the cold front. I went back to work with Jungho, Rebecca, Mel, Al, David, Justin and Heather. Jungho requested Santa Rosa Wall and we had really nice conditions with minimal current. The first shark was well hidden under the reef but when we all gathered around for a look it got agitated and swam off. The second shark was swimming well below us on the wall. Al went down for a better look. The third shark was also swimming around on the wall and took off fast. When Rebecca went up a turtle paid us a visit. Justin and Heather checked out a southern stingray and found a big black grouper.

We did our second tank on Dalila. We saw lobsters and found another turtle that sat really still on the bottom having a sponge for lunch.

Friday, January 6th

Gary got mugged on this dive. Here’s how it all went down: Steven and Sandra had not been diving in a while. I thought that it would be a good idea to go to the Gardens because usually it is an easy dive. Andrea and Carol said that they had heard good things about Palancar. I told Gary that Gardens was where I saw the hammerhead in December so it wasn’t a hard sell. David, Mel and Al had not been there yet this trip so off we went. The beginning of the dive went well. We all stayed shallow while Gary went deep and shot a huge lionfish. I saw him trying to get it off of the stick and then later saw him swimming around with it. I offered him my stick to use for removing the lionfish and he signaled ¬®no¬® and that he wanted to take it up and eat it. So Gary swam around with his fish-kebob for an hour or so. About half way through the dive the current kicked in and it kicked in hard and fast. We all zipped around in that current and drifted over to the shallow area. After almost everyone made a safety stop and got on the boat I hung out with Al. First a medium sized nurse shark swam right under Al. I thought he might reach down and pet it. While he did his 3 minutes I could see Gary in the distance. Then I saw the nurse shark up in mid water where Gary was. Nurse sharks almost always stay on the bottom. I looked more closely and a battle was going on. First the nurse shark bumped Gary in the leg, HARD. Then it got in Gary’s face so he kicked it a couple of times to make it go away. Then the shark swam right up at him so he tried to poke it with the spear. The shark sucked the prize lionfish right off the end of Gary’s spear and then swam off. I really wished that I had a video of that! I almost soiled my wetsuit.

I took them over to my secret spot for the second dive in search of a turtle for Andrea. We saw several big crabs before the first turtle appeared. Andrea got a good long look at the turtle. Yeah! After she went up we saw 2 more turtles and a small nurse shark. I teased Gary and told him to pull it’s tail to get it to swim. Of course we would never actually DO that :)

Saturday, January 7th

I only had 5 good divers, Gary, Mel, Al, David and Tyler. I took them to Colombia. While we were floating around in about 80 feet of water a rather large eagle ray made a slow pass. We all enjoyed the show.

On French Reef Mel kept pointing out the turtles for me. We saw several large crabs and a few lobsters. I stopped in on my intermediate phase spotted drum. Later I saw a really big adult spotted drum well hidden in the reef. A southern stingray swam under us during the safety stop.

Sunday, January 8th

Gary had been requesting Bolones de Chankanaab for months now. David, Shirley and Paul all got on the boat at Caleta so I finally got to grant Gary his wish. Carlos dropped us off in 100 feet of water by accident but fortunately everyone on the dive was a good diver and it wasn’t a problem. The only hassle was swimming against a mild current to reach a shallower area. Gary shot a huge lionfish and fed it to an eel. David showed Gary a small lionfish that ended up as breakfast for a lobster. Gary likes to feed the fish. Nothing goes to waste.

Then we went to Gary’s favorite, San Francisco Wall. One of the highlights of the dive was a huge school of big yellow fish (schoolmasters) that were being chased around by a pair of hungry black groupers. As Gary and I made our safety stop I looked down to see a fat grouper in a small hole that is frequented by green morays so I sank back down for a look. There was indeed a green moray eel co-habitating with the grouper and the pair was adorable. I insisted that Gary take a couple of pictures.

Monday, January 9th

Finally we had a little southeast wind on Palancar Horseshoe. Not one of my divers: Gary, Shirley, Paul, Paul, Denise, Cam, Mel or Al get sea sick :) We had a nice easy dive and upon reaching the bottom we were greeted by a medium sized turtle. Everyone followed after it and took pictures. We saw another small turtle at the end of the dive.

Gary described the dive at Paso Del Cedral as boring. I didn’t think so. We saw some huge groupers torturing a school of yellow fish and I found a splendid toadfish in a hole. There were plenty of lobsters and crabs there too. Gary is getting a little spoiled if we don’t have a shark attack :)

Tuesday, January 10th

I chose Palancar Caves for our first site. My divers were James, Ryan, Andrew, Cam, Paul, Shirley, Mel and Al. I felt blessed to have ideal conditions this morning. We saw several turtles and about 30 minutes into the dive I found a small lionfish. Gary wasn’t around so after a bit of thought I decided to try to shoot it. Something told me to just blow it off but my conscience wouldn’t let me swim away. I got out my spear which had 3 prongs and is designed for an 8 inch fish. This little guy was too small so I used a hair tie wrapped around the end 3 times to make the points come closer together. I took a shot and I thought I missed. The little guy shot into a hole as all the divers looked on. I started to take apart the prongs by removing the rubber bands. I felt a prick and a sting! Yup! I looked down and saw one thin spine sticking out of the rubber band. I had hit the lionfish’s fin and a venom filled spine had stuck in the rubber band! I looked at my left index finger and discovered another spine sticking out. I was really scared. Mel says that my eyes were wide and took up my whole mask. I had no idea what was going to happen to me. At this point it only hurt a little like a bee sting. I pointed to my finger and made a motion indicating that I had been stung but everyone thought that I was joking since I never hit the little bugger. Well to make a long story short, the pain and swelling were minimal. I think that the bee sting I had a few weeks ago was worse. I think that the venom was fired into the rubber band on contact and there was very little venom left in the spine that was stuck in my finger. Or perhaps the ¬®business end¬® of the spine was stuck in the rubber band and the end of the spine stuck in my finger was the ¬®not-so-venomous¬® end??? Anyway, it did hurt, it did swell a little bit and I applied heat when I got back on the boat and took a nap during the surface interval. The whole ordeal was TERRIFYING but not nearly as painful as I imagined. I knew that I would get stung someday. Thank God it was just a little sting!!!!

My hand was fine for our dive on Dalila. Shirley looked me in the eye that morning and told me that she wanted to see a nurse shark before she went home. So I made it my mission to find one. I was floating along when Mel started pointing madly at a big nurse shark swimming right past a turtle. I got Shirley’s attention and she saw it as it swam off. I thought to myself that I would like to find one for her that sits still. I got lucky. In the ¬®green moray hole¬® I found a nurse shark instead. Mel said that she could hear me screaming through my regulator when I found it. I passed Shirley my flashlight and she indulged herself for a few minutes. I was very pleased and satisfied with our dive.

Wednesday, January 11th

Sam got on the boat and I asked him when his last dive was. He told me, ¬®yesterday¬®. I asked how deep he went. He said, ¬®75¬®. I asked how deep he was comfortable diving to and he said, ¬®110¬®. I said, ¬®OK, let’s go to Punta Sur!¬® That made Gary happy. Mel and Al had never been there. Paul and Shirley were good with that. So off we went. I got in to check the current and the drop spot. Carlos dropped me where he is supposed to drop me but I don’t like it because it requires a swim. So I swam over to the wall to have Carlos drop everyone off there. As I was in about 25 feet of water all alone I looked down and saw a HUGE shark swimming below me. It had long pectoral fins and was probably about 10 feet long. I don’t know if it was a reef shark or a bull shark. All I know is that it was not a nurse shark or a hammerhead! I shouted to Carlos to get the divers in the water. Then I told Gary in a low voice, ¬®Look down, there is a big F*#%& shark down there. Gary and Shirley both saw it too. It was awesome! We saw a few turtles and lots of big southern stingrays on the dive. Gary killed 3 lionfish.

Everyone LOVED the dive on Cedral Wall. We had a normal current for that spot. We saw a rather large turtle lounging on the bottom having lunch. Gary showed us a big eagle ray out in the blue. As they were finishing up gazing at the eagle ray a big green moray eel swam under Shirley and everyone took off after it for a photo. We saw more turtles and a swimming nurse shark. The friendly green moray was in her normal spot. She didn’t try to nip at me this time. The last nurse shark was at the end of the dive and Gary is the only one who saw it. Everyone was pretty excited when they got back on the boat.

Thursday, January 12th

I dived Santa Rosa Wall with Gary, David, Paul, Shirley, Matt, Andrew, Ryan and Jim. We started the dive with a swimming nurse shark for Matt. Later in the dive we saw lobsters, big groupers and a green turtle which is a little uncommon. We finished the dive with a big spotted eagle ray in the shallow area.

For a little adventure we went to Punta Tunich. The current was mild for Tunich which means that it was swift but we could stop and look at stuff. The first thing we stopped for was a big green moray in the hole with the glassy sweepers. Later we stopped to observe a hawksbill turtle with a pair of green angels feeding on the bottom. Then we saw a baby turtle that seemed to be frightened of us. On a safety stop we drifted over a big nurse shark sucking it’s lunch out of a hole. Gary and Shirley saw an immense turtle but I missed that one. At the very end of the dive a medium sized eagle ray glided by us and Gary followed it a bit.

Friday, January 13th

I was extra careful this Friday the 13th with Marla, Amber, Gary, Kevin, Nicole, Jackie and Matt. I took them to Colombia for the first dive. While we were looking at a big turtle in about 70 feet of water a nurse shark swam by below us. Gary and I saw a bunch of turtles on that dive. Gary shot one small lionfish. Nicole really liked the swim through and she thanked me on the boat for taking her there.

Matt did his navigation for the advanced course on ¬®My Secret Spot¬®. It wasn’t so secret though. There was a heard of other divers on the same reef with us :) We saw another turtle and a family of 7 lobsters all waving at us from below a rock.

Saturday, January 14th

I brought Tony to Palancar Gardens with me to help out with Matt’s deep dive. I stayed shallow with Marla, Amber, Eric and Bobby. Gary got lost and we didn’t see him for the first half an hour of the dive. Ten minutes into the dive Matt and Tony rejoined the group. I told Tony to go find Gary and we carried on in the shallows. We were admiring a friendly turtle when a spotted eagle ray swam right up to us. Everyone was amazed and I hope that Matt got some good pictures. Gary appeared later with a lionfish on the end of his spear.

We had quite the dive on French Reef. Matt had requested a shark. We saw a normal nurse shark cruise by and I felt like Matt got his wish. We saw a few turtles and some lobsters. Towards the end of the dive ¬®The Mugger¬® (the shark that stole Gary’s lionfish the previous week) showed up and went after Gary again who of course was carrying around a lionfish. Gary let the lionfish go to the bottom but the nurse shark continued trying to slam into Gary and swam around him in circles. Then the shark went over and started hassling Tony. Tony had never seen a shark do that before and he was really surprised. Then the shark went over to bother Matt who banged it in the head with his camera so the shark went away. I had a bunch of very excited divers when I got back on the boat!

Sunday, January 15th

I took Gary, Joann, Jessica, Bob, Marla, Amber and Matt to San Francisco Wall. It was Matt that pointed out the little turtle at the surface that soon dived down to join us. We saw an enormous lobster too. At the very end of the dive when only Gary and I were hanging out a big green moray swam around with a fat grouper following it.

We saw another big green moray being followed by a grouper on Yucab. We had a nice, easy, relaxing dive.

Tuesday, January 17th

It was an easy day with only three divers: Gary, MaryBeth and Bob on Santa Rosa Wall. We did have good current going on though. Gary found a family of five lionfish and used up all his air trying to eliminate them. A six foot nurse shark swam below us in the blue water.

The current was clipping along on Tormentos too. There we saw a perfect six foot moray eel slithering along the bottom. She didn’t seem to mind us at all and we hung around for a good look. A lovely green turtle swam right behind Gary. He also found a big spotted moray and I found a little goldentail eel. Gary fed a small lionfish to a hungry mutton snapper.

Friday, January 20th

I dived Palancar Gardens with Gary, Teri, Christi, Trish, Jordan, Blake, Shawn and Keegan. We had no current and small waves. We saw a few big barracuda and Gary caught a few big lionfish.

We did our second dive on French Reef where we saw more big barracudas, Gary caught more big lionfish and I swam everyone through the long cave.

Monday, January 23rd

After 2 relaxing days off with Mom I went back to work with Loke, Jan, Ken, Richard and Mike. We had perfect conditions and we saw 3 turtles. The first one surfaced for air. The second one sat still while Mike photographed it. The third one was big and off in the distance. I am not sure that everyone got to see it. A huge barracuda sat on the bottom and everyone was a bit hesitant to swim past it.

On ¨My Secret Spot¨ we saw a family of 5 lobsters hanging out under a coral head. I found the empty shell of a crab that had molted. I pointed out 2 splendid toadfish but since I didn´t have my flashlight I am not sure that anyone knew what I was pointing at. There were lots of huge black groupers on that dive too.

Tuesday, January 24th

The first tank was on Palancar Caves with Mike, Richard and Ken. I saw 3 turtles but I think that the boys only saw one. Maybe Mike saw the last one while he was making his safety stop. I shot a big lionfish on that dive. There were 3 big lobsters all clustered together in about 50 feet of water.

The boys liked the big coral formations so I took them to Santa Rosa Wall for the second tank. Richard really liked the big schools of horse eyed jacks. We saw some big groupers on that dive and I took pictures of them swimming through caves.

Thursday, January 26th

We had strong South East wind and big waves on Palacar Gardens. Susan, Bob, Debbie, John, Joe and Jen didn´t get sea sick so we hurried up to get to the bottom. We swam through the big archways. Only Bob and I saw the big green moray eel swim past. I chased after it and pointed but no one else saw it. They were impressed by the big horse eyed jacks.

I didn´t want any current for the second dive so I took them to French Reef. The first big animal that we saw was a southern stingray with a bar jack following it around as it foraged in the sand for breakfast. When we came out of the cave Joe discovered a hawksbill turtle on the bottom and everyone thoroughly enjoyed turtle watching.

Friday, January 27th

Thankfully the South East wind had died down for Leah, Desiree, Chelsea, Josh, Stephanie, Kyle, Andy, Judy, Jessica and Caleb. They had come all the way over from Akumal for the day to see the world famous Palancar. We had very good conditions for our dive. At the end of the dive we saw a big crab and Andy found a green moray eel.

The second dive was in my secret spot. Upon reaching the bottom we were greeted by an even bigger green moray eel which was about 6 feet long. It swam right under Kyle and I wondered if it would freak him out. He seemed to deal with it well.

Saturday, January 28th

The seas were flat and calm. My divers Jason, Corey, Pete, John, Javier and Debbie had all been diving recently and were all good divers so I took them to Palancar Caves. We saw a bunch of turtles there. One was not afraid of us at all. It practically swam into Jason´s camera. I shot a lionfish in a sponge. When I went to take it out of the sponge it kind of braced itself against the inside of the sponge and wiggled off of the end of my spear and got away. Coming out of the second cave a large lobster pranced around and danced for us.

About 45 minutes into our dive on Paso Del Cedral I started wondering why we hadn´t seen a nurse shark. Not long after I that, a rather large one woke up and swam off in front of us. We saw a lot of big groupers on that dive too.

Sunday, January 29th

Palancar Horseshoe is where I chose to take Pete, Sean, Robin, Susan, Bob, Debbie and John. We saw several lobsters and a few turtles too.

There was light current on Dalila. Finally I got to show them a nurse shark at the very end of the dive. Pete found it and pointed it out. We swam after it but not everyone got to see it.

Monday, January 30th

I took Tom, Donn, Sean, Robin, Jason, Corey and Pete to Colombia Deep. I found a small nurse shark resting peacefully under the reef. Jason decided to wake it up. I took a shot at a lionfish and missed. I took them through my favorite caves and we had a good dive.

We went to Yucab looking for splendid toadfish. Pete found one and when I tried to coax it out of the hole for Jason´s camera it did the opposite and scooted back in further. While I was counting heads I found a really big eagle ray in our group. It was (according to Pete) the biggest one that he has ever seen. It had 2 remoras attached to it´s underside and a short tail. It didn´t seem too bothered by us and it hung around for a minute. Jason took lots of pictures of a yellow stingray and we saw a big nurse shark go by. Pete and Jason took pictures of a big lobster they found.

Tuesday, January 31st

We had calm seas at the surface on Palancar Gardens where I took Heidi, Todd, Justin, Mike, Sean, Robin and Pete diving. Pete showed us a swimming nurse shark at the end of the dive. The current was weird for most of the dive and I think it took most of us by surprise.

The current was nice and mild at Colombia Shallows where we saw a bunch of turtles. The snorkelers over us saw a small nurse shark and a bunch of dolphins. Heidi, Pete and I saw a one eyed green moray eel out hunting for lunch.

Wednesday, February 1st

Pete asked to go to Santa Rosa Wall and since I knew all of my divers: Robin, Sean, Heidi, Todd, Tom, Donn and Phil I figured that this was the best day to go there. Pete found a lazy nurse shark lounging about. He also found a nice turtle on the way down but I missed it. We saw plenty of big grouper and Heidi attracted yet another big green moray eel swimming around.

I picked San Francisco Wall for the next stop. We saw a big turtle just sitting still for everyone´s cameras. I shot a lionfish and before I could kill it a big mutton snapper sucked it right off of my spear. At the very end of the dive Heidi´s green moray eel appeared again and a bunch of us all got to swim with it.

Thursday, February 2nd

Heidi, Todd, Pete and Phil were my divers on Tormentos while Marissa and Adam snorkeled over us. We saw a bunch of good stuff on Tormentos including a lionfish, lots of big groupers, several huge barracudas and a sleeping nurse shark. The grand finale was a hungry spotted moray swimming around after Pete.

Marissa and Adam joined us on a dive at Paradise. We went slow and checked out all the small stuff. We saw lots of flamingo tongues, Christmas tree worms, a splendid toadfish, a few goldentail morays and a spotted moray. The angels were very friendly there and swam right up into Phil´s face.

Friday, February 3rd

I dived Palancar Horseshoe with Pete, Phil, John and Michael. All the divers on board were experienced divers and it was a super easy day for me. I was looking at the group of divers in front of us and I swam right past a nice turtle just sitting around munching on the reef. Phil tapped me on the shoulder and pointed it out to me. I found a huge lobster in a dark recess and I saw that big grouper with the black splotch on his face.

The current was cooperative and so were the divers so we went to Cedral Wall. I lost count of how many turtles we saw. They were all hawksbill turtles but some were big, some were small and they were all over the place. Some were on the bottom, one was ascending and some just swam away from Pete´s camera. The usual green moray eel was in her normal spot and we saw another big one swimming around. Pete found a small nurse shark in a hole and we all gathered around for a good look.

Saturday, February 4th

My divers were P.J., Josh, Michael, John, Mark, Rachel, Dave and Susan. Since a couple of my divers were rusty we went to my old standby, Palancar Gardens. We had perfect conditions and everyone really enjoyed the dive. When only John and I were still down we saw a turtle and a nurse shark.

The dive on Paso Del Cedral was action packed. First a rather large barracuda hovered near the bottom and everyone took pictures. Then we drifted up to a huge black grouper. I looked up at Rachel and she pointed madly to a nurse shark that swam right through the middle of our little group. Not long after that another swimming nurse shark appeared. John grabbed Michael´s fin to get his attention so that he could take a picture of it. Near the end of the dive I spied a huge spotted eagle ray munching on a conch. Off in the sandy area a big turtle sat on the bottom. Speaking of bottoms, as we watched the turtle, John watched a bottom in a small white bikini. He was momentarily distracted from the bottom by yet another shark going by. I laughed so hard that my mask filled with water. I indulged John in bottom watching for another 5 minutes before I called the dive.

Sunday, February 5th

John reminded me that I had promised to take Mark, Rachel, P.J., Josh, Michael, Phil, Paul and he to Palancar Caves. It was a beautiful dive. We saw turtle after turtle after turtle. There were some big lobsters too. The divers liked what they saw up on top of the reef in the shallower water just as much as they liked the drop off and caves.

We had more action on Dalila. There was only a mild drift which is unusual for Dalila. We slowly floated along and we saw three or four nurse sharks throughout the dive. We also found more than one big, fat turtle. John and I found 3 juvenile spotted drums fluttering around under an overhang at the end of the dive.

Monday, February 6th

Tank numero uno was on Palancar Horseshoe with Mark, Rachel, Phil, Jolei, Art, Steve and Paul. I shot a decent sized lionfish and fed it to a pair of hungry queen triggers while a mutton snapper tried to get in on the action. The crab was described as ¨on steroids¨ because it was so big but the lobster was huge as well.

Art and Jolei wanted to see a nurse shark so I took them to Paso Del Cedral. I had seen 3 there the other day. I bombed out on the nurse shark but we did see that enormous barracuda again. I was thinking as I drifted past it that it´s head was almost as big as my head. Everyone enjoyed the schools of fish and we watched as a turtle dived back down to the bottom after being at the top for a while.

Tuesday, February 7th

My divers were Mark, Rachel, Liz, Seth, Phil, Steve and Paul on Palancar Bricks. We swam through huge coral canyons and watched a turtle for a while.

Everyone was excited after our dive on Cedral Wall. It was action packed with lots of turtles, a big swimming nurse shark and 3 small juvenile spotted drums that Phil got to see. Rachel was stoked up because she got to see a puffer fish which is her favorite. When only Paul and I were down at the end of the dive we drifted over a rather large nurse shark sleeping a good 30 feet below us.

Wednesday, February 8th

Phil, Steve, Mark and Paul had a lovely dive on Colombia Deep. We saw only one turtle but Paul said that Colombia is one of his favorites because the structures are so magnificent.

They were happy to go back to Cedral Wall for our second dive. Paul and I counted 6 turtles. Most sat very still and were camera friendly. We saw a family of about 20 lobsters all snuggled together under a small coral head. I got to stop and check out those 3 tiny juvenile spotted drums all fluttering around together. I will check on them every time I go there now.

Thursday, February 9th

Dive one was on Palancar Horseshoe with Josh, P.J., Jolei, Art, LaCasta, Jeff, Robin and Greg. Eduardo came along with me to help out. They saw a huge lionfish at the beginning of the dive but I missed it. Eduardo pointed out a big turtle and a small turtle and everyone had a fantastic time.

I took them to Colombia Shallow for the second dive. Eduardo showed our group turtle after turtle after turtle. He also found a small nurse shark. Everyone loved swimming through the schools of pretty fish.

Saturday, February 11th

It had been a few years since Anthony, Scott and Lacey had been diving. Andy, LaCasta and Jeff didn´t seem to mind where we went. Quyen and hubby had been on Colombia Deep the day before so the logical choice for a dive site was on Palancar Gardens. Aside from a bit of chaos for the first 15 minutes everything went pretty well. Fortunately there was zero current and excellent visibility and every enjoyed the dive. I used my flashlight to highlight a crab in a dark crevice. Someone pointed out a dinosaur sized lobster out for a stroll. I saw Quyen´s hubby off chasing a turtle but not everyone got to see that turtle.

Everyone did get to see the turtle on Colombia Shallows. It was the same turtle that we saw the other day. We saw another turtle that everyone chased a bit and I had to put a stop to the turtle torture by sending up the chasers to the boat. They were low on air :)

Monday, February 13th

We missed a day of diving due to the cold front that blew through. The water felt more chilly than usual when I took Andy, Melissa, Scott, Lacey, Robin and Greg to Palancar Horseshoe. We didn´t see any big critters but we did enjoy the gorgeous reef formations.

I took them to my secret spot for the second dive. A small nurse shark swam right up to our group. We saw a couple of small lobsters and I shot a really big lionfish.

Tuesday, February 14th Valentine's Day

My divers were Andy, Rick, Susan, Matthew, Bob, Maureen, Carol and Deanna. I gave Andy a choice between Colombia Deep and Palancar Caves. He picked Colombia Deep. The photographers had a field day with all of the turtles that they saw. The best was when a pair of turtles swam by. The last turtle was a little green turtle swimming over the shallow sandy area. I looked down to see Susan swimming with her camera out in front of her and then I discovered what it was that she found. It was a sleeping nurse shark. Deanna shot 3 full minutes of high definition video of that shark. Deanna was one very happy camper!

The second dive was on Paso Del Cedral. I used my dive light to show off a splendid toadfish in a hole and a big lobster. Rick showed me a big green moray eel that swam right past our group of divers. Later in the dive he showed me a nurse shark being followed by a few big black groupers off in the distance.

Wednesday, February 15th

It had been about 5 years since Dave and Shawn had last been diving. Deanna and Chace were feeling a little ¨slow' so Carol, Rick and Susan did not complain when I announced that we were going to Palancar Gardens. I felt a little ¨slow¨ myself when I took a shot at the little lionfish and goofed it up. Dave and Shawn had not been diving here for such a long time and they said that the reef was looking great!

I asked everyone where they wanted to go on the second dive and only Chace had an opinion. I think she picked Dalila just to shut me up. We saw a nurse shark swim by more than once and later I think it was the same shark sleeping in a crevice that everyone took pictures of. Chace showed us 3 darling little spotted drums and we saw a very big turtle too.

Thursday, February 16th

I took John, Rick, Susan, Matthew, Jen, Chace, Deanna and Carol to Palancar Horseshoe. We saw a few turtles and we had an extra long dive.

I let Jen pick the second reef and she picked Paso Del Cedral. We saw a bunch of nurse sharks. The first shark was sleeping but we woke it up and it took off. The second and third sighting might have been the same shark just coming back again and again or it might have been a new one. Jen found a small nurse shark inside the cave. Chace showed us a turtle. I found an octopus in it's den and while Chace, Deanna and I were making a safety stop we found another little baby nurse shark about 2 and a half feet long under a ledge.

Friday, February 17th

I wanted to take everyone to a place that Andy had not already been this week so I took Carol, Deanna, Chace, Rick, Susan, Andy, Bob and Maureen to Palancar Bricks. I shot a medium sized lionfish but when I tried to get it out of the hole it was in, the lionfish scooted off of my spear and swam off. Bummer. We saw TONS of turtles on that dive and the photographers had a lot of fun.

For the second stop we went to San Francisco to look for ¨Buster¨ but the current was so mild that we never even made it far enough North to check out Buster's usually hiding holes. We saw so many spotted drums that we lost count. At the end of the dive Chace, Deanna and I saw a spotted eagle ray. Deanna made a swim for it to film the ray but got tired and gave up. We had been down for more than an hour and a half!

Saturday, February 18th

Carol, Deanna, Chace, Rick, Brad and Sally were my divers on Palancar Gardens. I stayed shallow with Sally while everyone else stayed together below Sally and I. Sally pointed out a dinosaur sized lobster crawling around on top of the reef. Rick showed us a nurse shark that he found in a hole.

Sally got off of the boat between dives and we went to Punta Tunich. We ducked down into the little cave full of glassy sweepers. The big green moray was right where it was supposed to be and had a banded cleaner shrimp crawling around on it's back posing for the cameras. I was hiding behind a little ledge waiting for the group to catch up and Deanna noticed a group of 4 juvenile spotted drums fluttering around under a purple rope sponge. That was really exciting!

Sunday, February 19th

Carlos came diving with us because we went to see the eagle rays. ¨We¨ were Carol, Deanna, Chace, Rick, Susan, Matthew and Andy. The current was strong as usual. As soon as we got in we had to rush to get down into the protected area away from the current. After a slight delay I rejoined the group and asked them if they had seen any rays. They said no. I popped out to the wall and there appeared the very first one. I called them over but not everyone got a good look. They were slow to come join me. After missing the first one, they didn't delay to come see the pair that followed a minute later. We hung out until a couple of dive computers were giving only 5 minutes of bottom time left and then we came out of hiding and drifted with the swift current. That is where we saw the second pair and they were much closer. We swam for about 10 minutes and reached the shallow, grassy area near shore and we goofed around there for a while. I found a baby eel in a bottle and Andy found a hermit crab and a snake eel. We had a lot of mixed comments about the dive back on board the boat but all said that they would do it again. Deanna said that she would do that dive every single day if I let her :)

Our second tank was on Paradise where we bottom crawled and found some really cool stuff. The list included a rare bat fish, three mantis shrimp, spotted scorpionfish, a pike blenny, a sailfin blenny, a pipefish and Deanna got a gold star when she found the pregnant seahorse. Everyone said, ¨Wow!¨ when they got back on board.

Monday, February 20th

When Rick, Susan, Brad, JT and Amy got on the boat I didn't give them a lot of choice. I just told them that we were going to Santa Rosa Wall because we hadn't been there in a while. Arriving on the bottom we were greeted by a swimming nurse shark. The gang didn't even have their cameras ready when the shark showed up. We saw a few big black groupers and several schools of humans on that dive.

The Carnival Parade was on Paradise. We went back so that Rick and Susan could get pictures of the seahorse. It turned out that Deanna's seahorse was well known and that I was the last to find out about it's whereabouts. There was already one group of divers at the seahorse when we arrived and there were three more big groups of divers behind us in line to see the little guy. If we have a parade like that going by daily I am sure that it won't be there long….

Tuesday, February 21st

I dived Palancar Horseshoe with Gil, Roi, Elise, Rick, Chace, Brad and Lynne. The first big lobster out walking around was noticed at the beginning of the dive. Towards the end of the dive another huge lobster strutted around in the sand below us. Could it be that they know it's a National Park and that no one will eat them? Chace, Rick and I saw a lazy turtle at the end of the dive sharing a sponge with a queen angel.

I took them to Yucab for the second dive. It was Elise who showed me the 6 foot nurse shark swimming past. Chace had a go at a lionfish and we saw another turtle at the end of the dive.

Thursday, February 23rd

JT, Amy and Scott requested the shipwreck. Andy and Lynne were kind enough to go along with the request. Lynne's turtles will just have to wait another day J We had perfect conditions on the wreck and those who were seeing it for the first time thought that it was really cool. Scott told me after the dive that he had always wanted to swim through a shipwreck and now he could cross it off of his bucket list!

Andy said that he wanted a picture of the seahorse on Paradise. When we got in there was very little current and all started out well. After seeing a splendid toadfish the current started to reverse but we kept swimming in the direction of the sea horse anyway. After about 45 minutes the current got to be so strong we gave up on the seahorse and I turned the group around and we drifted back with the current. The current ended up being really strong and after we finished the entire reef we drifted over sand and algae for a while. That is where I found the spotted scorpion fish. It felt like an adventure.

Friday, February 24th

We had really strong South East wind so I stayed up North at San Francisco Wall with Amy, JT, Scott, Lynne, Mark and Jill. It was choppy but the current below was mild so we were happy. We saw a few big southern stingrays and when the spotted eagle ray glided by Amy and JT were absolutely thrilled!

No one wanted to be in strong current so we went to Chankanaab on the second dive. Mark found a big green eel for us. I saw a small population of yellow headed jawfish which made me very happy. It was an easy, relaxing dive.

That afternoon I split my group with Eduardo. He took Jen, Alex, Brian and Derek diving on Chankanaab to find that eel again. I stayed near shore at Playa Corona with George and Catherine. It was their very first dive towards certification and we did some skills and learned to equalize and swim.

The second stop was on Paradise. Eduardo took my certified divers on the reef where they found a spotted eagle ray. Jen said that it swam right up to her. Near shore where George, Cat and I were we saw a big spotted eel and a crab.

Saturday, February 25th

Dive one was on Palancar Gardens with Brock, Brian, Amy, JT, Lynne, Scott, Jill and Mark. Lynne wanted to go through swim throughs and she wanted to see a turtle. We did both. But we also ended up surrounded by hundreds of other divers. Some were coming at us from the south and some came at us from the north so we just hugged the wall, sat tight and waited for them all to pass. What a cluster F*#¡%.

Dive two was on Colombia Shallow where we didn't see any other divers until an hour and 15 minutes into the dive. How peaceful! We saw loads of turtles there and the little stuff is always fun too.

Dive three was on Palancar Gardens again with Jen, Alex, Brian, Derek, Cat and George. It was George who found the sleeping nurse shark. Jen ducked down for a picture and woke it up. We saw a few nice turtles and some big crabs on that dive too.

Dive four was on Yucab. The current was going the wrong way so I had to get back on the boat and we had to drive to the other end to start our dive. We saw both hawksbills and a green turtle. Jen got up close and personal with the green turtle. I kept seeing all those blue parrotfish with their mouth on the bottom and thought of Paul every time I saw one.

Dive five was on Yucab again all by myself. When we came up from the fourth dive I saw Carlos climbing down the ladder and dipping his foot in the water trying to scoop something up. I knew that something had fallen into the water and he was desperate to get it. He came and picked me up and he told me that his phone had fallen in. He had tossed in a marker buoy so that I could go and get it. I made him go back and pick up all the divers first and then I suited back up and went in again. By then it was getting dark. He told me to look where the sand met the algae on the border. I dropped back down to 55 feet and turned on my flashlight. I checked my depth, I checked my air (1000 psi) and my computer said that I was fine so I started the search. I found the phone about a minute later in the sand. While I was doing my safety stop I drifted into the line for the marker buoy and I lifted that too. Carlos was so happy that I found his phone. It doesn't matter that the phone is ruined. Rick had just given him a new phone a few days prior. The thing that Carlos wanted so badly was that media card. It has all the photos of his grandbaby, videos of special events and all of his music. He dried out the media card, stuck it in the new phone and it worked just fine. Carlos was so grateful.

Sunday, February 26th

My divers were Jen, Alex, Cat, George, Brian, Derek and Mark. Mark requested Palancar Bricks. Cat found the enormity of it intimidating at first but got over and enjoyed the dive. Jen got some close ups of a cooperative turtle.

I asked Jen where she wanted to go on the second dive and she picked Colombia Shallow. We were not down one minute when I found the sleeping turtle. Next we saw another big turtle surface over Cat. I found a pair of juvenile spotted drums fluttering around together. Mark found a baby nurse shark under a small coral head. I shot a small lionfish right before the big nurse shark swam by. Late in the dive a hungry 5 foot barracuda came right up to us. I think it was patrolling for it's lunch. I didn't see as many schools of fish. I wonder if they were avoiding that big barracuda.

Monday, February 27th

Once I got Jen, Alex, Brian, Derek, George and Kim all suited up on the side of the boat I realized that the current had carried us South of Santa Rosa Wall so I asked Carlos to drive us back to the north end of the site to start the dive. I got in and the current was heading North there. So I got back on the boat and he drove us back to the beginning of Santa Rosa. I told him that I didn't care which way the current was going, I would go either direction. We ended up diving Cedral Wall backwards. We saw a ton of stuff because we were the first divers to get there that morning. The first turtle we saw went to the surface and came back down again. While Jen and Kim were taking pictures the turtle actually pooped. It was really funny. We found 2 big nurse sharks lying in the sand in front of a cave where a big green moray eel was hiding. They were all hanging out together. It was really cool. We saw a splendid toadfish with a little spotted drum fluttering around in front of it. I wondered how long it would take for that toadfish to eat the spotted drum. The 3 spotted drums were in the same place too. The current picked up and became pretty fast so we had to kick hard to look at the big hawksbill parked lazily on the bottom. Why is it so easy for them to sit still in that current? Maybe because of the shape of their shell? Maybe they are a little negatively buoyant? Hmmmmm?

We went back to Paradise in search of the big seahorse. I spent 20 minutes in the spot and didn't find it. I didn't feel so bad though considering that 3 other divemasters came by and they didn't find it either, so it's not just me :) We saw some big black groupers on that dive.

Sunday, March 4th

There was a north wind predicted for mid morning. The port was open so I told JF, Nathalie, JP, Louis, Stephanie, Rebecca, Jeff and Lana that I would take them out but I would not go far. I took them to Chankanaab. It was choppy and rough when we got in and I spent the whole dive worrying about the weather and listening for the emergency recall signal from Carlos. Fortunately Carlos did not call us up. The bottom was calm and beautiful. We saw lobsters, crabs, a spotted drum and a bristle worm. JF showed me a small lionfish and I shot it. Everyone looked like they were having a great time. When we got low on air and came up the surface was much worse. I was very nervous and worried about making the second dive. Even though other dive boats were staying out and doing a second dive I opted to go back in and call it a day. I just couldn't stand the idea of coming up to worse conditions and fighting to get everyone on the boat and then fighting for a spot in the marina. No one liked my decision. They all wanted to stay out and dive at Paradise. Even Carlos didn't want to go back in. I was alone in my decision but since I am in charge of the safety of 10 people I have to err on the safe side. To take the bite out of my decision I told everyone that the dive that morning was free. Diving was on me that morning. No one except Carlos seemed angry and we left the morning on a happy note.

Tuesday, March 6th

The harbor master let us out a little late but we got to go diving in the morning. I had the same group, JF, Nathalie, JP, Louis, Stephanie, Rebecca, Jeff and Lana . It was pretty rough and choppy but not as bad as on Sunday. We went to Palancar Gardens first and we had an easy dive. There were schools of humans everywhere so we kind of stayed up on top of the reef and away from the groups. At one point a turtle sat on the bottom in the deeper area but there were other groups of divers looking at it so I decided to skip it. We saw a few big crabs on that dive and everyone had fun.

Our second stop was Colombia Shallow where someone found a small nurse shark with it's head in a hole. Then someone else pointed out a small turtle on napping under a coral head. Nathalie found a spotted drum. Lana showed me a lionfish and I shot it.

Wednesday, March 7th

Dive one was on Palancar Caves with David, Nancy, JF, Nathalie, JP, Luis and Stephanie. Right at the beginning of the dive I crossed over to the drop off and I saw a 4 foot black tip cruise by. It was not the least bit scared of us and took it's time going by so everyone got a good look. We saw a bunch of turtles and a couple of lobsters too.

Nancy liked Dalila better than Palancar. She said that there were more fish and more color there. A friendly nurse shark swam right up to JF. A big black grouper followed us around for a while. Nancy described the turtle as spectacular. Actually, we saw several again. Everyone was happy with the dive on Dalila.

Thursday, March 8th

The wind was significantly calmer when David, Nancy, JF, Nathalie, JP, Luis, Rebeka and Stephanie came with me to Palancar Horseshoe. Rebeka finished up her certification on this dive and she got to see the gorgeous towering coral formations on her fourth dive.

There was significant current on Paso del Cedral but we got to see a lot of big critters too. We saw a couple of turtles. JF pointed out a big swimming nurse shark off in the distance and I found a green moray eel. It was a good dive despite the challenge of the current.

Friday, March 9th

David, John, JF, Nathalie, Louis, JP, Rebeka and Stephanie had nice calm conditions for our dive on Santa Rosa Wall. JF conducted the deep dive for Rebeka's advanced course. Nathalie showed me a big lionfish. I shot at it and I missed. I guess that is good because David doesn't like it when I kill the lionfish. We saw plenty of big groupers and splendid toadfish.

Since the current was cooperating I took them to Cedral Wall. The 3 little spotted drums were still in the same place. Nathalie got close to a big turtle and we saw a few more small turtles along the way. David found the first green moray eel while we were all looking at a splendid toadfish. We all got a good look at the second green moray and the huge groupers getting cleaned up at the cleaning station. JF found a spotted moray eel opening and closing it's mouth. Only Stephanie, JF and I saw the third green moray because I went back down to pick up some weights that I found on the bottom so we over stayed our safety stop. That is when the last green moray swam by.

Saturday, March 10th

I took David, John, Kathy, Alan, Nancy and David to Palancar Bricks. We saw so many turtles I lost count. It was a really beautiful dive.

They all made fun of me when I announced that we were going to ¨My Secret Spot¨. They made funny suggestions. David asked me if many divers had been on ¨My Secret Spot¨. We saw more turtles and a nurse shark there. We also saw lobsters and crabs and everyone liked that site.

Sunday, March 11th

David and Nancy wanted to go to Santa Rosa Wall but it was the first day of diving for Ronnie, Craig and Tut. Kathy and Alan love Palancar Gardens so that is where we went. We saw a hawksbill turtle and Kathy pointed out a swimming nurse shark. Alan said that it was his new favorite dive.

Then we went to French Reef where Kathy found another shark for us. Ronnie got to see the shark and the turtle up close. He had missed both on the first dive. These were his first dives after certification so it must have been really exciting to have a big nurse shark swim right below him. I showed Kathy a spotted drum and I showed Ronnie a barracuda. I don´t think that he was impressed with the barracuda after seeing the shark.

Monday, March 12th

It was choppy when I took Tut, Kathy, Alan, Ronnie and Craig diving on Colombia Deep. Underwater there was very little water movement. The first shark was sleeping under an overhang. Everyone dove down and took lots of pictures. The second shark was trying to suck something out of a hole. We couldn´t see it´s head. We only saw the back half of the shark which was about 5 feet long total. We saw a few turtles and I took them through one of the easier caves. Craig says that he remembers that cave from the last trip.

We took Tut´s son Josh to El Cielo and taught him how to snorkel. Then we all went over to Colombia Shallow and Josh snorkeled over us while we dived. We saw a few turtles and many schools of humans. Tut took pictures of the girls in bikinis snorkeling over us.

Tuesday, March 13th

Kathy, Alan, John, Ronnie, Brent and Troy were asking to go to Santa Rosa. Kathy had not been diving for a year so I decided to take them to Alan´s old favorite Horseshoe instead. Troy pointed out a turtle right at the beginning of the dive. John chased it around and got some photos of it. We saw a big lobster crawling around the bottom and a crab clinging to the side of the reef. Later in the dive another turtle paid us a visit and it swam right up to Kathy´s camera and I thought that maybe she might have to gently push it out of the way. I thought that the turtle was going to bump right into her. She just smiled and waved.

John got the big groupers that he had requested on Dalila. Troy pointed out the swimming nurse shark. It took off and then doubled back for a second pass. We found another nice turtle which seemed not to be camera shy. We also saw another huge lobster out for stroll.

Wednesday, March 14th

Dive one was on Santa Rosa Wall by special request with Troy, Brent, Kathy, Alan, Kathy and Julie. We had hardly any current at all and I thought that felt suspicious. It turned out to be a great dive. First we saw a juvenile spotted drum fluttering around at the end of the first section of reef. Then a good sized turtle sat on the bottom as we approached slowly. I saw big lobsters and crabs. The highlight of the dive was when I heard Brent shout through his regulator. He found a big eagle ray way deep below us and we dropped down for a peek. We stopped going down at 90 feet and the ray was still well below us.

The second stop was on San Francisco Wall. I should have checked the current because when we got down to the bottom I began to ask myself if the current was going the opposite direction of usual. About 15 minutes into the dive the current started pushing out to sea so we avoided it by hiding behind the reef. Forty five minutes into the dive the current picked up enough speed to warrant turning around so we went back the direction that we came from. We encountered many groups of divers doing the same thing so I didn´t feel stupid :)

Thursday, March 15th

It was Mary´s first day of diving and she was hoping for no current. Tut, Brent, Troy, Kathy and Alan are veteran drift divers. Craig wouldn´t know what to do if he actually had to kick. Ronnie got to experience his first real drift dive. Mary did great too! We got in at Caves and at first there was almost no current. It only took minutes for that current to kick up and we floated along. We went through a bunch of caves. Just when Kathy had given up on seeing a turtle along came a nice one that swam right up past the group. We ended up seeing a few more small turtles. The last one was just a baby about the size of a dinner plate. It was really cute. I saw a big lobster that climbed down the reef for a while and then took a leap and floated down another 10 feet or so and landed on his feet and walked away.

I wanted to go to French reef for the second dive but they had already been there so I took them to Paso del Cedral. The current was pretty fast there. Right before we got in someone said, ¨Hey it looks like there are no other divers here!¨ I said, ¨Don´t worry, it won´t take long for them to get here.¨ Sure enough, a group dropped right on top of us within 5 minutes. The good thing is that the divemaster from the group is an old friend of mine and he showed us a pair of spotted eagle rays which thrilled Kathy and Alan to no end. We saw a big nurse shark hiding in a dark crevice avoiding the divers unsuccessfully and a third eagle ray passed behind the group so Kathy and Alan really got a good look but the rest of us didn´t. Despite the current we all had a good time.

Friday, March 16th

It was Brent and Troy´s last day of diving and they requested Colombia Deep. Kathy, Alan and Craig didn´t mind going back. Mary had never been there so off we went. The water was colder than normal. My computer registered 77 degrees while Kathy´s registered 75 degrees. That was the coldest water that I had been in all winter long. We saw a bunch of turtles, the first one was a beautiful green turtle. About 40 minutes into the dive a big spotted eagle ray swam right up to me. When it realized that I was there it quickly veered off but everyone got a good look and Kathy was thrilled!

We took Kathy back to her favorite spot, Colombia Shallows. We saw a bunch of turtles and a lot of big crabs. We stayed down an hour and 45 minutes on that dive. When we came up Mary said that Colombia Shallows is now her favorite dive too.

Saturday, March 17th

The current was going the opposite direction of normal when Carlos dropped us off at the Gardens. So instead of the Gardens, Kathy, Alan, Mary, Julie, Lisa, Mark, Kaiya, Jess and I dived on Palancar Horseshoe. Coming around the first big coral head we had a 6 foot nurse shark swimming below us. Someone pointed out a big crab. At the end of the dive Kathy, Mary and I saw a couple of huge lobsters crawling around on top of the reef.

I didn´t want any current so I told Carlos to drop us off in front of the pier. This way it didn´t matter which way the current was going. We had good reef either direction. We ended up in pretty strong current heading towards town. We saw loads of turtles, a big nurse shark but the best part was the spotted eagle ray which is Kathy´s favorite.

Monday, March 19th

When Jason, Blake, Chase, Mike, Lisa, Mark, Kaiya, Jess and I got in at Palancar Gardens there was almost no current at all. Coming out of the first cave is when the current started up. It began gradually and by about half way through the dive it was really cooking! The divers did a good job of staying together and we had a good dive.

Trying to stay out of the current I took them to French Reef. I would estimate the current at 2 to 3 knots throughout the dive. We saw tons of turtles. I stopped counting after a while but I am guessing that we saw around 8 turtles on that dive. I took everyone through the long cave too.

Tuesday, March 20th

A strong South wind kicked up and Palancar Gardens was choppy. I took John, David, Sean, Robin, Paul, Tanya, Steve and Mary diving. Sean and Robins kids were going to snorkel up above with Carlos. Unfortunately Joseph got seasick and the kids didn´t snorkel. So after the dive we dropped them off at Paradise Beach.

We tried to do the second dive on San Francisco Wall. When we got in I looked down and the current was still. I told Paul, ¨Hey, I hate to say it but the conditions look perfect!¨ Well that didn´t last for more than 5 minutes. The current switched directions and picked up a lot of speed. We hid behind the reef for about 5 minutes during the worst of it and then when it calmed down we started swimming towards the wall. The current slowly got stronger and stronger so I gave in, turned around and headed the other direction. We finished the little bit of reef that we had already seen in about 10 minutes and then we drifted over grass for about 10 more minutes. We saw a southern stingray, a hermit crab and a few fish. Tanya, Steve, John and David went up right about the time that arrived at the next reef. Paul took a bunch of pictures of a white spotted file fish and then he went up. Mary and I stayed down and chased a green sea turtle. It was an adventure to say the least.

Wednesday, March 21st

The south wind continued so I took Paul, Mary, Matt, Louise, Lars, Leslie, Cindy and Mike to San Francisco Wall. The current was pretty strong but everyone managed it well. We saw a bunch of stuff. The visibility was bad due to all the sand and particles flying around so not everyone got to see the first big turtle. Lars pointed out a swimming nurse shark that disappeared and then doubled back. Louise was happy because she got to see the shark too. We later saw another turtle that everyone got a look at. At the end of the dive the green moray eel was under her usual ledge and she stuck her head way out and said hello.

We tried to dive Yucab but when I got in to check the current was HORRENDOUS and the visibility was only about 30 feet so I got back on the boat and made Carlos drive us over to Chankanaab where the visibility was good and there was almost no current at all. Mike found an enormous lobster which was joined by a second enormous lobster a minute later. It was a nice relaxing dive.

Thursday, March 22nd

Paul wanted to go see the anchor at Colombia. Gary, Steve, Louise, Matt and Fulvio were happy with that choice. We had big waves and really strong current on that dive but Paul got his photos at the anchor. Gary and Fulvio took off at the beginning of the dive over the wall. I called the rest of the divers back to the shallow area and we spent the rest of the time worrying about Gary and Fulvio. We saw a few turtles, we went up and then drove around looking for Gary and Fulvio. We found them about a half an hour later. They were happy as clams and they had a good dive so no harm done.

I wanted something easy for the second dive so I took them to my ¨secret spot¨. We had very light current for the first half an hour. We all saw a big crab. Gary saw a really big shark. The current kicked up and we spent the last half of the dive flying around.

Friday, March 23rd

I let Carlos choose where we dived with Paul, Gary, Louise, Matt, Kristi and Roy. We had minimal current and we saw a bunch of turtles. We also saw lots of big lobsters out and about and a crab too.

I let Paul pick the second spot and he chose Paso Del Cedral. We got to watch a really cool show. A young lady from another group of divers waved her camera in front of a big green moray eel and it swam out of the hole and charged her. After she played with it for a few minutes the eel swam right at Matt. I had to smile when he looked a little surprised and backed away. We enjoyed that show for several minutes. We also saw a splendid toadfish and another turtle.

Saturday, March 24th

There wasn´t much current at Palancar Horseshoe where I took Paul, Gary, Ken, Mor and Chen. We had a nice, easy dive. Right at the beginning of the dive I found a crab. At first I thought it was just the shell because it wasn´t moving. I went in closer for a better look and discovered that it was a pair of crabs, one on top of the other. The one on the bottom was upside down with it´s shell open on the bottom and wiggling it´s legs. I figured that the pair were just making more crabs. Gary pointed out a big lobster crawling over the reef. We saw a turtle on that dive too.

Gary picked French Reef for the second dive. The current started out fine but it didn´t take long before that current was ripping. We saw tons of turtles, another lobster or two and at the end of the dive Gary, Paul and I chased a big nurse shark around. By then we were on Dalila.

Sunday, March 25th

For my first dive I took John and Andrew to Palancar Caves. Michelle, Matt, Jeff, Karen, AnneMarie, Carlee and Dana snorkeled over us with Tony. We saw a ton of good stuff starting with a swimming nurse shark. We saw a pair of lobsters out in the open and a turtle swam right up to me.

Tony helped me and I took the snorkelers on a ¨Discover Scuba Dive¨ at Palancar Shallows for our second stop. When we arrived at the bottom we saw a little turtle. There were a few schools of blue striped grunts. I showed everyone a big queen conch and a furry sea cucumber. Andrew liked swimming through the school of horse eyed jacks.

Monday, March 26th

John chartered the boat. I dived with John, Andy and Matt. Tony took everyone else snorkeling. We went to the shipwreck first. When we got in there was no current. We went down and the current started up about 10 minutes into the dive. The snorkelers over us couldn´t stay over the wreck so the boys put them on the boat and took them close to shore to snorkel. When we came up from the dive a different boat was on the ascent line. Carlos didn´t take long to come back for us and it all worked out well.

We all went to Paradise for the second stop. We saw a spotted moray, a goldentail moray, a big crab and a yellow stingray. The current was going the opposite direction of normal on that dive.

Tuesday, March 27th

I took Gary, Allyson, Roy, Haley and Roger to Palancar. I told Carlos to drive around and find a spot that doesn´t have a lot of current and to drop us there. We wound up on the Caves. Everyone had a good time and we swam through a bunch of caves. We saw a big crab hidden in a dark recess. Someone pointed out a turtle too.

I told Carlos that I wanted to check out Yucab. When I got in I looked down and realized that I was on Tormentos. I guess he dropped me between Yucab and Tormentos so that we could go either direction depending on what the current was doing. My divers got a crash course on drift diving. The current didn´t take long to pick up. We learned to hide behind the reef to get out of the current and to stay close to the bottom to go slow. We saw another crab and a couple of spotted morays. Gary showed us a nurse shark near the end of the dive. I didn't get a good look because I was bringing Roy up.

Wednesday, March 28th

My divers were John, Matt, Andy, Gary, Troy and Allyson. Andy requested the wall. I asked Tony (who was driving the boat that day) how Santa Rosa looked. He said that the current was strong there. I told him to go over to Palancar and drive around. He looked for the spot with the least current. There wasn´t one. He picked Horseshoe. There was current everywhere. Going down wasn´t bad. It didn´t take more than a few minutes for that current to whip up and we flew around a lot. We parked behind a big wall of coral waiting for Gary to catch up and we discovered a turtle had the same idea. That turtle hunkered down with us and entertained us while we waited. When only Gary and I were still down we went back down over the wall just a little bit and watched tornados of bubbles spin all around. It was not a boring dive!

French Reef surprised me with almost no current at all. It was such a nice break to have to kick a little. I swam everyone through the long cave. We saw a juvenile spotted drum and a few turtles. There were enough lobsters on that dive to open a restaurant.

Thursday, March 29th

I did the same thing with Gary, Rod, Haley, Roy, Kim, Bryan, Nancy and Kandace. I told Carlos to drive around and look for a spot with no current. Gary had requested Colombia Deep and we suited up there. The current kicked up and Carlos drove us over to Palancar Bricks and dropped us in. The current was about 2 knots and quite manageable. We hid behind the reef, swam through channels, canyons and caves to hide from the current. We saw a turtle, a big southern stingray and a rock with 9 lobsters under it. I had a boat full of happy divers.

For the second dive I took them over to Yucab. We saw a spotted moray. Gary found a splendid toadfish and everyone took pictures. I pointed out a juvenile spotted drum. While Haley and Rod did a safety stop Gary ducked into a hole with a green moray. Every time we saw blue parrotfish I told Gary to take a picture so he got about 20 pictures of the blue parrotfish. Paul will be jealous...

Saturday, March 31st

Once more I left the choice of reefs up to Carlos. He took Camilla, Jeannie, Gary and Troy to Paso Del Cedral. The current was really fast but at least we wouldn´t get sucked down. We saw several turtles and a big nurse shark. There were a few lobsters around too. When only Gary, Camilla and I were still down I crossed Gary over to the wall so that he could go ¨play¨ a little.

We did out second dive on San Francisco Wall. The current was running the opposite direction of normal. We didn´t see anything spectacular but we did have a good dive.

Sunday, April 1st

Finally the current let up and I took Gary, Eric, Jeannie, Camilla, Laurie and Don to Palancar Caves. It was a beautiful, easy dive. We saw a pair of big nurse sharks lying together on the bottom of the last swim through. I scared them off when I got too close and they swam over to say hello to Gary. We also saw a turtle on that dive.

Since the current was cooperative I took everyone to Dalila. Well the current was pretty fast there but manageable. We saw several turtles and a huge spotted eagle ray. I lost Gary again when he swam after the eagle ray for a photo. He got a good picture though.

Monday, April 2nd

Karl, Gary, Jeannie, Camilla, Don, Laurie and I let Carlos pick the reef again. Carlos picked Palancar Bricks. We had very light current and a very beautiful dive. Laurel especially liked that dive. There seemed to be turtles everywhere. Gary finally got to shoot a lionfish too. There was another pair of big lionfish under a rock but as he approached they backed into a safe area and escaped. I found a rock with 11 lobsters under it. That would have fed everyone on the boat plus more!

Don wanted to see Santa Rosa Wall before he goes home. Normally Santa Rosa is a deeper dive and we do that one first. But our conditions were good and I was feeling lucky so I took everyone there for our second dive. I told them all to stay up on top in 40 to 60 feet of water. It turned out very well and Karl showed us a big lobster prowling around.

Tuesday, April 3rd

Jeannie, Camilla, Don, Laurie, Bob and I had another light current dive on Colombia Deep. It is such a relief to have the current back to normal! We saw a couple of turtles and Laurie saw a lionfish but by the time she figured out how to tell me we had drifted past it and she didn´t want to go back.

Per special request we went to Colombia Shallows for our next dive. I found another turtle, a big southern stingray and a small nurse shark sleeping under the reef. We also looked at an arrow crab, lots of flamingo tongues and a lizardfish.

Wednesday, April 4th

It was such a relief to have the currents calm down. Jeannie and Camilla picked Palancar Gardens for the first dive. Diane, Mark, Kim and Mike had never been to Cozumel before and this was the first Cozumel reef they were to see. We had very mild current and Diane got excited when we saw a turtle. We also saw a big lobster out parading around and a big crab clinging to the reef.

There was light current on ¨My Secret Spot¨ too. We had another good dive with lots of turtles, another huge lobster and tons of barracuda. There was one big barracuda at a cleaning station. As the divers approached for a look the barracuda made some sudden movements and took off. I think it made everyone just a little uncomfortable :)

Thursday, April 5th

My divers were Jeannie, Camilla, Karl, Diane and Mark and we went to Santa Rosa Wall. We had some current there but not too bad. We saw a big lobster and a lot of other divers there. But that is normal. We always see crowds at Santa Rosa Wall.

Dive number two was on Yucab. The current kept switching directions on us so we didn´t go very far but we stopped and looked at splendid toadfish, soapfish, flamingo tongues and Diane showed us a green turtle. I discovered a big eagle ray passing over head. Not everyone got to see it because it moved so quickly. It was gone in a couple of minutes.

Friday, April 6th

I took Jeannie, Camilla, Scott, Mark W, Mark R, Diane and Karl to Palancar Horseshoe. We had a wonderful dive. Upon reaching the bottom we found a slipper lobster. Diane said that it looked like a roley poley bug. We observed a huge spiny lobster under a ledge. Everyone really enjoyed the scenic beauty of the reef. At the end of the dive a nurse shark swam under Camilla, Diane and I. Camilla came up from dive and announced on the boat that it was a gorgeous dive.

The best was yet to come on French Reef. Before we got in Diane shouted, ¨I know we are going to see a bunch of really great stuff on this dive! I can just feel it!¨ She was right. We started out watching a pair of hunting buddies. A nurse shark had it´s head in a hole trying to suck out lunch. A big green moray waited patiently by it´s side about a foot away. When the shark gave up the eel moved in quickly to take over and the eel went about 2 feet into the hole. I don´t know if the eel got it´s prey or not because it was a small hole and the eel was pretty far in. There were a bunch of lobsters all around so we assumed it was eating lobsters. Soon after I found a big lionfish and I shot it. After I killed it I looked around for something that might want to eat it. I considered dragging it around on my stick but decided against it. I just put it on the bottom under a big conch shell. Within minutes Nurse Jackie appeared and swam right around us looking for lunch. I started to swim back to the lionfish but decided against it. The nurse shark swam against the current and headed right to the dead lionfish. There is no doubt in my mind that Nurse Jackie found and ate that lionfish. Meanwhile the divers were surprised at how close she approached everyone. We saw a whole bunch of turtles during that dive and later we saw a really big nurse shark swimming around. It was a really cool dive.

Saturday, April 7th

The conditions were nice on Bolones de Chankanaab. Camilla, Jeannie, Aaron and I saw lots of big crabs and lobsters on the dive. After Jeannie and Aaron were up we saw a big green moray eel and a pair of lobsters having what looked to me like a territorial battle. One enormous lobster chased the other around until it gave up and went into a hole. It was fun to watch.

On Chankanaab Reef we saw many more crabs and lobsters. Aaron said that the lobster we saw was the biggest lobster that he had seen in his life. We observed ocean triggerfish guarding nests on the bottom. The eggs were obvious and the nests were about a foot and a half in circumference.

Sunday, April 8th

I took Cornel, Anca, Peter and Aaron to Palancar Horseshoe for our first dive. We had nice conditions with very light current. We saw a turtle, a green moray eel, a juvenile spotted drum and a huge lobster.

The second dive was on Chankanaab where we saw a spotted eel and another dinosaur sized lobster. It must be lobster mating season or something because they are all out walking around this week.

Monday, April 9th

The first stop was on Palancar Gardens with Scott, Austin, Aaron and Wayne. Scott´s wife and daughter snorkeled over us while we dived. We started out with no current. There was another group of divers right behind us. I was turned around looking behind and I saw one diver from the other group shoot up from 60 feet straight to the surface as fast as I have ever seen a diver go. His BCD must have been completely full. I could see his green fins in a huge cloud of bubbles and I watched him at the surface to see if he moved. His divemaster went up to check on him and he seemed to be all right and he got up the ladder of his boat on his own. It scared the hell out of me. Austin saw it too. About 15 minutes into the dive the current picked up and I felt like we were diving in a washing machine. The bubbles swirled around in circles but didn´t go up. We just hid in the canyons and swim throughs until Wayne came over and showed me that his air integrated dive computer was blank. We both agreed that he should go up so I called the group over to the shallow area and we drifted with the current until everyone was low on air. When Aaron and I were still down he pointed out a free swimming green moray. Then I saw a group of divers all looking at something so we went over for a look. It was a medium sized nurse shark. It swam away and we followed it for a few minutes. When Aaron signaled up I noticed a turtle swimming up ahead. Aaron came up with a big smile on his face.

Since we had some snorkelers we did our second dive on Colombia Shallow. Everyone loved that dive. We saw tons of big barracudas. I have noticed that there are less schools of yellow fish and the schools that remain are smaller so I think those big barracudas are just pigging out on the grunts. We saw 2 green turtles and a couple of hawksbill turtles. One hawksbill was just a baby. I found a sleeping nurse shark. I don´t normally disturb them and make them swim but I knew that the girls up top wouldn´t get to see the shark unless I scared it out of it´s hiding hole. The girls were thrilled. We also saw crabs and lobsters. Aaron chased a pair of Caribbean squid.

Tuesday, April 10th

So the currents started up again. We checked Palancar Bricks well before Sandy, George, Aaron, Wayne, Jean, Lance and Victor got in. The current seemed fine. Not 5 minutes later the current got weird. It was like a washing machine again. Fortunately we had plenty of canyons to hide in and I just stayed away from the wall. We saw a ton of turtles and several southern stingrays. That rock with all the little lobsters was still full of lobsters which was nice to see. We had a good dive despite the challenging conditions.

I was hoping for lighter current on ¨My Special Spot¨. I got strong current but at least it was all going just one direction and everyone was a good swimmer :) We saw more turtles there. Aaron waved me over to point out a splendid toadfish and everyone joked that it was a ¨burn up lots of air fish¨. We saw a big crab, a pair of friendly lobsters and we saw a spotted moray too.

Wednesday, April 11th

The current calmed WAY down for Jean, Lance, George, Sandy, Wayne, Aaron, Tammy and Bob. Tammy requested Palancar Caves. We saw yet another big huge lobster cruising around. Lance got some really great photos of it. We saw a couple of turtles and I just appreciated the light current. Sandy did a good job of going through the caves and it was a small victory for her.

Since the current was cooperating I took them to Paso Del Cedral. I found that big green moray in the usual spot. We saw more lobsters and at the very end of the dive Jean, Lance, Bob and I saw a big swimming nurse shark. I told Jean it was a man eater but she didn´t believe me :)

Thursday, April 12th

There was almost no current at all at Santa Rosa. It was Aaron´s last day of diving and he wanted to go to the wall so Peggy, Lance, Jean, Wayne, Bob and Victor agreed. We saw a turtle make it´s way up to the surface for a breath of fresh air. We saw yet another huge lobster out on the prowl. We also saw a goldentail moray and a southern stingray on that dive. There were a million other divers everywhere as always on Santa Rosa Wall.

San Francisco Wall was our next stop with light to no current again. We saw another golden tail moray and Aaron showed me a splendid toadfish. That wall always strikes me as one of the most colorful in all of Cozumel. I am not sure if it is because of the way that the sunlight hits it and shows off the colors of the sponges better or maybe it just is more colorful….?

Friday, April 13th

Well the current kicked up again on Palancar Gardens when I took Peggy, Lance, Jean, Stacy, Mike, Andy, Scott and Bill diving. The current was tricky so I took them through the swim throughs where there is no current. When the first person got low on air I brought everyone up to the top of the reef and we drifted with the current. We found a medium sized nurse shark sucking something out of a hole. It was lying on it´s side so I kind of convinced it to come out of the hole for us..........Stacy liked the shark!

Our second tank was on Colombia Shallows and the current was hauling butt there too. Lance got to take a video of a turtle but we didn´t see the normal good stuff because we were blowing around like leaves in the wind. It was a disappointing dive due to the strong current and lack of visibility.

That afternoon I took Jeff, Barb, Monica, Mary Jo and Chuck to Palancar Gardens again. We saw 4 turtles total and some crabs and a big lobster. The current was still crazy there in the afternoon.

I was hoping to avoid more current on Chankanaab but when I got in to check the current it was going the opposite direction of normal. I told Carlos to put me back on the boat and drive me to the other end of the reef. I got in and checked the current and it was much stronger but we dived there anyway. If the current is strong on Chankanaab it would be horrible anywhere else. We saw a couple of turtles and the current slowed down about 20 minutes into the dive. Then it stopped, changed direction and took us back towards where we started from. Jeff enjoyed taking pictures of the midnight parrotfish and I pointed out one lobster. Usually we saw a lot more than just one lobster there. It was weird but it was also a good dive.

Saturday, April 14th

It was a relief when I jumped in on Colombia Deep with Barb, Jeff, Monica, Mary Jo, Peggy and Wayne. The current was mild and gentle. I took them through three swim throughs. Barb found a big nurse shark lying under the reef. I shined my flashlight on crab hiding in a dark crevice.

Since the current was mild I took them to Dalila. First a big nurse shark swam past. Then as I was watching a turtle I saw Wayne pointing to something back a few yards. I looked more closely and discovered a good sized lionfish. I went back and shot it. We saw crabs and lobster. At the end of the dive a nurse shark posed for the cameras and we got to spend some time with the shark. When we got back on the boat everyone was talking about the schools of trunkfish, the filefish and the yellow headed jawfish. I thought that it was interesting that they were more excited about the types of fish that they saw rather than the big critters. Peggy said, ¨I thought that the current was always strong on Dalila¨. I reassured her that it normally is but the currents have been weird lately.

Sunday, April 15th

Per special request I took Barb, Jeff, Monica, Mary Jo and Peggy to Santa Rosa Wall. At the beginning of the dive we saw a swimming nurse shark up over the top of the reef. Barb and Mary Jo pointed out a lionfish. I shot it and a big mutton snapper snatched it off of the end of my spear. Later in the dive I heard another divemaster making noise and when I turned to see what he was excited about I saw him pointing to another swimming nurse shark. Jeff swam over and took photos. We managed to stay between groups of divers there and not get mixed up with others dive teams.

Since the current was so calm I took them to Cedral Wall. The three little spotted drums have either been eaten or swept away by those horrid currents that we have had lately. But we did see one big turtle sharing a leathery sponge breakfast with several angelfish. I checked the normal spot for the green eel and found a rather large nurse shark lounging in front. When the shark swam away we could all see the eel that had been hiding behind the shark. We saw a second shark moments later that was out swimming around. Everyone like the huge hogfish in the dark recess. We saw another big lobster out walking around and I found a pair of yellow headed jawfish for Barb at the end of the dive.

Monday, April 16th

Dive one was on Palancar Horseshoe with Roni, Dave, Vladimiro, Barb, Jeff, Monica, Mary Jo and Peggy. We had excellent conditions and we saw a couple of turtles and a big lobster.

I took them to my ¨secret spot¨ for the second dive where we saw countless turtles and a big nurse shark hiding under the reef. Someone pointed out a lionfish but it ducked into a hole before I could get it. We also saw a southern stingray.

Tuesday, April 17th

I took Alicia, Will, Ben, Angela, Sharon, Laura, Peggy and Vladimiro diving on Palancar Gardens. Horacio came along to help out. The dive started out with no current but poor visibility. About 15 minutes into the dive the current picked up and we ended up at a good clip for the rest of the dive. I took them through some swim throughs. Laura´s mask strap slipped out of the clip and she ended up holding the mask on her face while Horacio put the whole thing back together again underwater. That was a bit more excitement than she had bargained for. Good thing she didn´t panic :)

The second dive was on French Reef. We saw tons of turtles on that dive. As we reached the bottom a big green moray slithered over and swam right below me. I had to resist the temptation to reach down and pet it because I don´t know that particular eel and I don´t know if it is temper mental or not. We saw a southern stingray at the very end of the dive and a big lobster out walking around.

Wednesday, April 18th

My divers were Roni, Dave, Vladimiro, Barry, Jerry, Alice and Allison on Palancar Caves. The current was crazy again and I spent most of the dive trying to keep my group separated from other groups, staying in the shallow canyons so that no one would drift out to sea and trying to find places to settle down and rest from the current. I was surprised when I got back on the boat and everyone seemed happy with the dive. No one complained at all. Weird..... :)

The current was RIPPING on Paso Del Cedral. We flew past a big male loggerhead turtle. Soon afterwards a six foot nurse shark swam right under Allison. It was close enough at one point that she could have reached down and petted it. We finished that entire site in 15 minutes and spent the rest of the dive on Santa Rosa Shallow where I found a big green moray being chased around by a pair of big groupers. On the safety stop Vladimiro and I saw a bill fish go by. Since the dorsal fin was down I don´t know if it was a sailfish or a marlin. My guess is that it was a sailfish. Vladimiro had already turned off and clipped up his camera so there is no picture to ID it with.

Thursday, April 19th

I gambled on the current at Palancar Bricks where I took Roni, Dave, Vladimiro, Erica, Casey and Barry. I was lucky and the current was mild. Also we saw several turtles and Erica pointed out a nurse shark swimming in the deep water below us. I checked that ¨lobster rock¨ that had so many lobsters under it a couple of weeks ago but only 3 lobsters remained.

I decided that I was on a lucky streak so I took them to Dalila where we had current that was lighter than normal. My prayer to the Mayan Current God had been granted. Erica and Casey had never experienced current before so they asked on the boat if that was a strong current and everyone that had been diving the day before laughed and told them that it was like a ¨gentle breeze¨. During the first half of the dive a friendly turtle went to the surface for a few breaths of air and then returned to the bottom and sat right in the middle of our group. It was as if the turtle thought that it was just another diver. It was a nice, easy dive.

Friday, April 20th

Once again we had really nice conditions on Palancar Gardens. My divers were Casey, Erica, Al, Maria, Phillip and Barry. We swam through lots of caves. Horacio came along and took a video. He found a nice turtle that posed for the video.

The current was tranquil on the second dive too. Since the divers liked the swim throughs I took them through the longer caves at French Reef. We saw tons of turtles and a big nurse shark. Horacio swam after the nurse shark and got some good footage.

Tuesday, April 24th

The ocean was a bit choppy when I took Al, Nathalie, Heide, Jim and Tony diving on Palancar Bricks. Once we got to the bottom it was calmer. The current was constant but not difficult. We drifted along and found 2 big turtles together. I showed everyone a little black and white spotted drum with ribbon-like fins. Later we found another smaller turtle. Everyone had to swim a bit to see it.

The current started out OK on ¨My Secret Spot¨ but around half way through the dive it picked up speed and we did a good old fashioned Cozumel Drift Dive. I encouraged everyone to stay closer to the bottom to go more slowly. We found another turtle and a big crab in a dark space under the reef. We saw several big black groupers that delighted my dive team. It was a good dive.

Wednesday, April 25th

I dived Palancar Horseshoe with Joe, Al, Nathalie, Heide, Jim and Tony. We had a bit of current but nothing to write home to Mom about. We saw a big stingray in the sand. As Tony headed down while watching a turtle I yanked on his fin to tell him that I was changing direction and heading shallower. I think I really startled him. Oops! At the end of the dive a big lobster crawled around on the side of the reef.

Trying to avoid current I took them to French Reef. We got current anyway. Everyone was much more comfortable and we had an easy dive anyway.

Thursday, April 26th

The surface of the ocean was flat and the current was very mild on Colombia Deep. I took Glenn, Joe, Al, Nathalie, Heide, Jim and Tony through a couple of swim throughs. We saw a southern stingray with the bar jack following it around. The divers wanted to know what that fish was doing. I think it is scooping up table scraps after the ray eats. We saw a big nurse shark off in the distance. Al said that he saw it first and tried to get my attention. I was pretty focused on getting the group down though.

Since the current was so gentle I chose Cedral Wall for the next dive. A hoard of divers stopped to take pictures of a turtle on the bottom. We just drifted past them to get away. I found a big green moray eel in one of her usual spots and we used our flashlights to get a good look. At the end of the dive Heide pointed to a big spotted eagle ray off in the distance and we watched as it disappeared into the blue.

Saturday, April 28th

Joe, Carl, Al, Nathalie, Heide, Jim, Corine and Sylvain came with me to Palancar Gardens. We had perfect dive conditions with no current. It was lovely. We came out of the first swim through and Corine pointed out a big nurse shark swimming below us. At the end of the dive a six foot green moray eel swam right up to us and parked. She sat still for all of the cameras. Jim pointed out a southern stingray passing by.

Since the current was cooperative we went to San Francisco Wall for the second dive. There we saw some small lobsters and big groupers. The last big grouper was sitting right in front of a five foot green eel on the reef. They made an adorable dive buddy team.

Sunday, April 29th

Horacio took video of our dive on Punta Sur with Rich, Joe, Carl, Al, Nathalie, Heide, Jim, Corine and Sylvain. We had very good conditions for that dive and we swam through a bunch of big caves. I think Heide saw a turtle off in the distance but that was the only big critter spotted on that dive.

To make up for the short bottom time on the first deep dive we went to Colombia Shallow for our second stop of the day. Upon reaching the bottom we were greeted by a bunch of big barracudas. Some were in pairs. There was a group of four and there were several big solo barracudas too. They kept coming over and swimming through our group. I think that they are very territorial and that they have eaten most of the schooling grunts at the beginning of the reef. Horacio found a friendly hawksbill turtle that swam right up to me. Just as the little guy took off a green turtle showed up. We saw another hawksbill later in the dive. I frightened a big nurse shark out from it´s hiding place and it swam off. I found the empty shell of a lobster that had molted. There were plenty of critters at Colombia Shallow for my birthday dive.

Monday, April 30th

I took Brad, Price, Sylvain, Corine, Rich, Joe and John to Palancar Caves. Once again we had ideal conditions. The current was really nonexistent. We only saw one tiny turtle at the surface but John was extremely impressed with the reef structure and was absolutely amazed when he got back on the boat. Brad loved all of the swim throughs.

Joe and I agreed that the next dive should be on Dalila. The current was light and we had an easy dive. We saw loads of nurse sharks. The first shark swam past us in the distance. Then I saw a grouper displaying hunting behavior which led me to the pair of nurse sharks together up ahead. By the time that we reached them one had swam off but the other swam ahead of us just far enough ahead that Sylvain could not get a photo. Later in the dive I believe that the big nurse shark finally gave up and let Sylvain get close for a photo. As we were doing safety stops another smaller nurse shark swam by. It was such a sharky dive.

Tuesday, May 1st

Dive one was on Colombia Deep with Tim, Kurt, Kyle, Peter, Phil and Claudia. We had gorgeous diving conditions and we saw tons of stuff. We saw several turtles and I found the first sleeping nurse shark up under a ledge. One of the boys found the second shark sleeping under the reef near the anchor.

The second dive was on my ¨Secret Spot¨ which is really not so secret after all. We saw 2 more sharks, both were out swimming around. We had a pair of great dives full of big critters.

Wednesday, May 2nd

First I took Brad, Price, Sylvain, Corine, Rich, John, Ginny and Dave to Colombia Deep. We had perfect diving conditions and we went through the swim throughs. I was surprised that we didn´t see any big critters but it was a scenic dive.

For critters I took them to Cedral Wall. There were more turtles than I could count. Sometimes we were watching one turtle and another appeared. We saw big turtles, small turtles, turtles swimming up to the surface to breath, turtles sharing meals with hungry angelfish and turtles just being turtles J

Thursday, May 3rd

It had been a while since Phillis had been diving. Peter said that he was a little unsure of his ears. So I asked Dave, Ginny, Corine, Sylvain and Ed if it would be OK to go to Palancar Gardens to make life easy for Phillis and Peter. Everyone agreed. We had a lovely dive. We saw a huge lobster out prancing about and Corine wanted to put it in her pocket and take it home to eat. We also saw a big crab and a spotted moray. When someone pointed out the little turtle Phillis took off after it. She was extremely enthusiastic about that turtle!

We found another big turtle on French Reef. We also saw another lobster and a big nurse shark out for a swim. We followed the shark for a little while at the end of the dive.

Friday, May 4th

Fiona was starting her Advanced Open Water Certification so I took John, Dave, Ginny, Colm and Fiona to Palancar Caves so she could practice Peak Performance Buoyancy Control. We saw a little turtle and a big lobster on that dive.

The second dive was to be a Drift Dive so I took them to Dalila. The first shark was pretty big and out swimming around. The second one was just a baby and sleeping under the reef. The third shark was about 5 feet long and also swimming around. The fourth shark was a big one. Ginny discovered a nice sized lobster in a hole and we all swam back for a look. Fiona practiced 3 ways of stopping in current. When we came up Dave re-named that dive site ¨Shark Alley¨.

Saturday, May 5th

Megan, Lynda, John, Desiree, Dave, Ginny, Colm and Fiona came with me to Palancar Horseshoe. We had beautiful weather and perfect diving conditions. We swam amongst the towering coral formations and saw a turtle. Desiree showed us a juvenile spotted drum on top of the reef. A big lobster came out and walked around below us for entertainment. The dive was easy and relaxing.

We went to my ¨Secret Spot¨ for the second dive. There was a really big turtle there and more lobsters. We also saw a big crab at the end of the dive. Desiree found another spotted drum.

Sunday, May 6th

Megan and Lynda had hired Miguel to come along and take photos of them while they dived. Colm and Fiona had a deep dive to do for Fiona´s Advanced certification. Ginny and Dave just did their own thing and I took them all to Palancar Bricks for that. It was fun watching Miguel set the girls up for poses. We saw a small turtle go to the surface, breathe and then come back down again.

I thought that Colombia Shallow would be a good choice for the second dive because there is plenty of natural light for photography. We saw several barracudas and a few turtles. The girls swam slowly through the schools of fish and Miguel shot lots of photos.

Monday, May 7th

I dived Palancar Horseshoe with Michelle, Chris, Jacque, Steve, Kim and Jerry. It was a gorgeous, perfect day. We saw lots of big lobsters out prancing around and they found a sea cucumber too. Kim´s prescription lens mask works well because she found and showed us a juvenile spotted drum. Jacque pointed out 2 spotted moray eels.

The current was mild so I took them to Cedral Wall. We saw 4 turtles. The first turtle was huge and it was sitting still sharing a meal with a pair of gray angels. The second turtle was off in the distance and it was the uncommon green turtle. Shortly after that we saw 2 more hawksbills. At the end of the dive while making our safety stop a big nurse shark swam by.

Tuesday, May 9th

Dive one was on Palancar Gardens with Judi, Brian, Jodi, Ginny and Dave. We swam through lots of caves. I found a golden tail moray and we saw the usual lobsters and a couple of turtles.

Dive two was on Paso Del Cedral. Before we got in Jodi looked it up in her logbook and she said, ¨Oh, we always see sharks there!¨ Once we arrived at the reef we saw a big green moray in her usual spot. We saw several huge groupers and schools of barracudas. About 45 minutes into the dive I turned to Jodi and made signals for ¨Where´s your shark?¨. She shrugged her shoulders and we drifted on. About 10 minutes later a good sized nurse shark swam by followed by five big black groupers. Jodi was right! She found the shark J

Wednesday, May 10th

We had SoutEast wind so I took Steve, Jacque, Dave, Ginny, Jodi, Kim and Jerry to San Francisco Wall. Jacque found a sleeping nurse shark hidden in the reef. Dave saw a big lionfish but when he approached it zipped into a safe spot and disappeared.

Staying north of the wave action we did our second dive on Yucab. Jodi really liked all the big parrotfish. We saw rainbow, midnight and blue parrots. We watched as a southern stingray dug around in the sand for a meal. I showed Jodi a tiny peacock flounder and when she put her finger out it scooted away and buried itself in the sand.

Thursday, May 11th

Steve, Jacque, Dave, Ginny, Jodi, Kim and Jerry came with me to the Horseshoe. We saw tons of huge lobsters and a small green moray eel. Raul´s group was diving right behind us the whole time. Raul came over to me and made the signal for BIG shark and that they took pictures. He pointed behind us. I figured that the shark was long gone. It turned out to be a 10 foot hammerhead and we missed it! It was down about a 100 feet deep and swam over to the shallow sandy area. Raul showed everyone photos after the dive at the pier during our surface interval.

Everyone wanted to go back to Cedral Wall to see the turtles. The current was unusually light and we saw 6 turtles. One was just a little baby but the most impressive was the big loggerhead turtle that swam below us as we made our safety stop.