Daily Dive Log June 10 - 16, 2018

This week was a great week of diving as we welcomed Scott and Janessa into the world scuba diving, and by the end of the trip they were both fully hooked. We completed their Open Water class, their Nitrox class, and their first ever night dive. Great going guys! We also welcomed Ty and Tracy back for their 6th visit with us in 6 months! They clam they came back to see our daughter Coral, but I think the diving played a small part, too. They’ll be with us the next 9 days!

June 10, 2018 AM Boat Trip

Captain: Domingo
Divemaster / Instructor: Ray
Weather: Perfect day for diving!
Water Temperature: 80 degrees

Dive One

Site: Palancar Caves
Max Depth: 60 feet
Dive Time: 45 minutes
Key Animals: Hawksbill Turtle, Spotted Grouper
Visibility: 100+ feet
Notes: Our student divers did an excellent job yesterday, so we go and visit Palancar Caves. It is a bit more challenging of a dive, but I think they are ready. A slow descent is a must as our students need to make sure air spaces are equalized. We share the ‘ok’ signal and then we start swimming between the coral pinnacles. There is a turtle and Janessa has the opportunity to get close and see it eat from the coral. Then Scott points at the grouper that is swimming along the reef, just cool! We ticked the air supply and 1000psi was the minimum we agreed on the dive plan so we can ascend and complete a few underwater skills, good job guys!

Dive Two

Site: Cedral Pass
Max Depth: 55 feet
Dive Time: 50 minutes
Key Animals: Southern Stingray, Nurse Shark
Visibility: 100+ feet
Notes: Janessa said she was afraid of sharks, but as soon as we see one she just followed it and enjoyed the view! Scott and I were laughing underwater, we knew it was just the icebreaker – no more fear! Many fish surround us and one of those was the southern sting ray. Such an awesome creature to watch feed from the sand. Once we surface we were just happy, cool dive!

Dasyatis americana, but more commonly know by the name of Southern Stingray. When we get lucky we can sneak up really close and observe them feeding from the sand.

June 11, 2018 AM Boat Trip

Captain: Domingo
Divemaster / Instructor: Ray
Weather: Mostly sunny, yes!
Water Temperature: 80 degrees

Dive One

Site: Colombia Reef
Max Depth: 70 feet
Dive Time: 45 minutes
Key Animals: Garden eels, Green Turtle
Visibility: 100+ feet
Notes: Scott and Janessa want to keep diving after certification, but now enriched air nitrox knowledge is on the docket. Along with Ty and Tracy, also diving 32%, we analyzed the gas. No need to go deep, just enjoy what is around, and Colombia reef is so spectacular that its great place to do just that. We also had Robert and Janet join us for their last day in Cozumel. Three couples with us today – nice! Many eyes to find stuff, just the way we like it. The field of garden eels that are really shy seemed to get the most attention. At the safety stop Robert and Janet and i had a close encounter with the sea turtle that lives in this reef. She always say hello or good bye, very friendly.

Dive Two

Site: Cedral Wall
Max Depth: 60 feet
Dive Time: 50 minutes
Key Animals: Hawksbill Turtle, Splendid Toadfish
Visibility: 100+ feet
Notes: The current was slow and it let us enjoy this site. Big sponges and many fish! The Cozumel endemic splendid toad fish made his appearance. Ty shines his light to see the beautiful colors it has. Later we drifted and found many fish and of course the typical sea turtle that is normally found around here – they like the sponges and all the meals to find here. As we ascend a few jelly fish were in mid water, Those guys look awesome with the sun light, great dive!

This Green Sea turtle ( Chelonia mydas ) is always hanging out at the south end of the island. It is quite friendly and will come right up to the divers and boats.

June 11, 2018 PM Boat Trip

Captain: Domingo
Divemaster / Instructor: Ray
Weather: Perfect day for diving!
Water Temperature: 80 degrees

Dive One

Site: Santa Rosa Wall
Max Depth: 70 feet
Dive Time: 45 minutes
Key Animals: Hawksbill Turtle, School of Jacks
Visibility: 100+ feet
Notes: Since we have nitrox tanks the plan is to visit Santa Rosa wall, maximum depth of 70ft so we can visit the swim throughs, at the end of the second one we found again the toad fish, two of them,, then drifting the wall a big sea turtle swim against the current right in front of us, long swim through to end up in the shallow are to finish the dive being able to see the bottom, that is a nice way to do a safety stop.

Dive Two

Site: C-53
Max Depth: 70 feet
Dive Time: 50 minutes
Key Animals: Silversides, Glassy sweepers
Visibility: 100+ feet
Notes: The perfect spot to do movie like pictures is the shipwreck C-53 Felipe Xicotencatl. It is safe to go in a few rooms as we can see the exit and the light entering the cut-outs is just spectacular. There are many fish like the school of barracudas, spotted eel, silversides and many more. Janessa did the ‘titanic’ position on the bow along with Scott while Ty was doing pictures and having fun. Safety stop on the mooring line. It’s so easy and relaxed when there is no current at all!

June 12, 2018 AM Boat Trip

Captain: Domingo
Divemaster / Instructor: Ray
Weather: Cloudy skies. Not looking good.
Water Temperature: 80 degrees

Dive One

Site: Palancar Gardens
Max Depth: 40 feet
Dive Time: 50 minutes
Key Animals: Yellowspotted Ray, Southern Stongray, Hawksbill turtles
Visibility: 100+ feet
Notes: Ethan and Ashley are young people so we need to plan the dive at 40 ft. We started in 20 ft of water at Palancar gardens with the parents Adriana and Jason, who has a camera ready. For Janessa and Scott it is their last day and they wanted to visit this world famous diving spot. It is surprising how good the kids are underwater, just fearless and at the same time attentive to directions and it pays off by having a turtle in front of us. Then those schools of fish typical of the gardens, blue chromis, creole wrasse, and so many more. At the end the southern sting rays, about three of them, just a good way to start!

Dive Two

Site: La Francesa
Max Depth: 40 feet
Dive Time: 50 minutes
Key Animals: Baracuda, many turtles
Visibility: 100+ feet
Notes: Following the same shallow dive profile we visit La Francesa. As we descend a school of barracudas showed up in different sizes – so cool! I wish we got to see that more often. The reef here is quite colorful, full of snappers and many other fish. Also the turtles appear to show their beauty. Awesome dive – even at 40ft!

The Yellowspot stingray ( Urobatis jamaicensis ) is often found foraging in the shallow sand flats.

June 12, 2018 PM Boat Trip

Captain: Domingo
Divemaster / Instructor: Ray
Weather: Raining 🙁
Water Temperature: 80 degrees

Dive One

Dive Two

June 13, 2018 AM Boat Trip

Captain: Domingo
Divemaster / Instructor: Ray
Weather: Raining 🙁
Water Temperature: 80 degrees

Dive One

Site: Santa Maria
Max Depth: 40 feet
Dive Time: 48 minutes
Key Animals: Yellowspotted Ray, Southern Stongray, juvenile Yellowtail Damsel
Visibility: 80 feet
Notes: Shallow dives in Cozumel are spectacular. Since we have the kids we are planning to stay at only 40 ft, Santa Maria is a medium profile coral reef and it is full of fish, eels and small fish are found here. The high light of the dive were the neon dotted yellow damselfish in different sizes – love those guys! Also many rays since the reef is in the middle of a flat sandy bottom. Definitely a cool dive

Dive Two

Site: Paso del Cedral
Max Depth: 40 feet
Dive Time: 50 minutes
Key Animals: Splendid Toadfish, Black Durgon
Visibility: 80 feet
Notes: The kids wanted to see a shark so we went looking at the Cedral Pass. No luck this time 🙁 Instead we found so many splendid toad fish, also schools of black durgons. The kids were attracted by the fins of this fish. They look pretty. Also the lobsters were a very important part of this dive. We discovered several spots with many of them.

June 13, 2018 NT Boat Trip

Captain: Domingo
Divemaster / Instructor: Ray
Weather: Raining 🙁
Water Temperature: 80 degrees

Dive One

Site: Villa Blanca
Max Depth: 50 feet
Dive Time: 48 minutes
Key Animals: Octopus, Spanish lobster
Visibility: Torches
Notes: Despite the rain, we headed for the night dive. We were wet anyway, right? Ryan, Lance and Kai from Las Vegas did not hesitate to enter the water. Shortly we found the octopus, so well blended in the sponge that Joanna couldn’t even see it until she approached the sponge. Amazing creature! Mark was swimming next to me when we found the second octopus. Then a few puffer fish and many more fish. Then we turned the lights off to see the plankton glowing. Such a firework type of show, cool!

Sponge colors at night.

June 14, 2018 AM Boat Trip

Captain: Domingo
Divemaster / Instructor: Ray
Weather: Raining 🙁
Water Temperature: 78 degrees – dropped from the rain!

Dive One

Site: Dahlilah
Max Depth: 50 feet
Dive Time: 48 minutes
Key Animals: Channel Crab, Green Moray
Visibility: 80 feet
Notes: The shallow part of Dalilah is full of surprises. Since it is overcast the crabs and lobsters were very active out of their coves. Adriana and Ty were busy with their cameras and the rest of us, too, since we swim trying to catch up and see what was under the coral. Also the eels were out. Two free swimming! We finished the dive with big smiles.

Dive Two

Site: Casa Blanca
Max Depth: 50 feet
Dive Time: 45 minutes
Key Animals: Hawksbill Turtle, Splendid Toadfish
Visibility: 80 feet
Notes: The current was slow and it gave us the chance to see under the reef most of the dive. A turtle was eating sponge and we took advantage for the pictures. Then many of the splendid toad fish show up plus mid water swimmers like barracudas and permits. It is very different when is raining this much. You can feel the fresh water streams once in a while. Chili but cool – it is unique!

June 15, 2018 AM Boat Trip

Captain: Domingo
Divemaster / Instructor: Ray
Weather: Raining 🙁
Water Temperature: 78 degrees

Dive One

Site: San Francisco Wall
Max Depth: 50 feet
Dive Time: 45 minutes
Key Animals: Scrawled Filefish, Cowfish
Visibility: 80 feet
Notes: It is time to show the kids a wall dive. San Francisco is a good option since the reef is at only 35 ft. Adriana liked it very much. The filefish were eating the hydroids and we found several couples of them. Also Ashley was attracted by the cow fish. We saw several of them changing colors as they get close to the sand. When we surfaced it was raining, but we all were really happy.

Dive Two

Site: Cedral Rosa
Max Depth: 50 feet
Dive Time: 45 minutes
Key Animals: Turtle, Shark, turtle, Shark!
Visibility: 80 feet
Notes: We decided to jump in the water quick. The rain was quite strong but underwater it was better. Warm and current moving fast. We covered a long distance and we saw a couple of sharks and turtles. We did not know where to look! Schools of grunts and barracudas, then the rainbow parrot fish. Kids were sharing hand signals constantly and Jason was buddy with them while Adriana try to take pictures. For Tracy and Ty the dive was good too with the camera at hand.

Cephalopholis fulva, a colorful grouper-like little guy called a Coney.

June 16, 2018 AM Boat Trip

Captain: Domingo
Divemaster / Instructor: Ray
Weather: Raining 🙁
Water Temperature: 77 degrees – dropped further – noooo!

Dive One

Site: Santa Rosa Wall
Max Depth: 60 feet
Dive Time: 45 minutes
Key Animals: Rainbow Parrotfish, Channel Crab
Visibility: 80 feet
Notes: Today we want to finish the family trip just right. Santa Rosa Wall is beautiful spot. There is no need to go deep to find the parrot fish. Ashley showed me the hand signal – cool! There are many other fish but once we cross the swim-through there is a big crab feeding from algae. Today the water temperature feels a bit cold due to past days rain, but the dive still wonderful!

Dive Two

Site: Santa Rosa Shallows
Max Depth: 50 feet
Dive Time: 50 minutes
Key Animals: Horse eye Jacks, Nurse Shark
Visibility: 80 feet
Notes: Ashley wanted to see a shark as a birthday wish so we try to find it. …And there it is, under the ledge. Shallow reefs keep a lot of fish around. We found a school of horse eye jacks at the end. We surfaced very happy, wonderful week of diving despite the rain.