Cozumel Mexico - December 3, 2010 - El Nortes

Day 5
Breakfast is looking a bit sparse for Cheri as she sits with two meager tostada chips in front of her.  The guacamole has turned brown from oxidation and is no longer edible.  As John is munch in away on his bakery goodies from Chedaruai he says, "OK.  Let's get you some breakfast in town". Cheri says with glee, huevos rancheros!

They find a little cafe right next to the bakery and settle in for one of the best breakfasts they've had on the island.  the coffee has a tinge of cinnamon and on the menu is not only huevos ranchos, but divorced eggs!  That's one green and one red egg with ham on tortillas!  Yummy!

We stop in to see Blanca our dive connection.  She tells us what we already know, the port is still closed.  So we press a bit and say, well if the port opens later can we go night diving.  Much to our surprise she says yes! There is another couple at the Wyndham and they want to night dive too.  So the deal is struck, she'll call around 4.

Breakfast being done, it was time to explore. Since we've got the day ahead we decide to drive north on to a stretch of island we've never been to before.

The iguanas were amazing today!

And the thing to do on a non-dive day?  Drink margaritas at Mezcalitos!

 At 4:10 (that's 4'o clock Mexican time) Blanca rings the room.  She's says it likely to be ten more minutes before she knows for sure about the port.  But the local guys say no way, but they can't confirm until they get a call from Mexico City!  So I ask, are computers better than eye balls?  Why can't they just look outside.  Laughing, she tells me she'll call back in ten minutes, which I am sure will be twenty minutes and ends up being 35 minutes!  No matter - we were just hanging out.

Enjoy!

Cheri & John

Cozumel Mexico - December 2, 2010 - El Nortes

El Nortes....well it's that time of the year and its not uncommon that the wind will shift and you hear the dreaded words....El Nortes!  The wind will now blow from the North and the port will close.

That's OK with us.  We'll strike off for other adventures.

Wow - animals animals animals.  Punta Sur is always a good place to drive though.

We've been coming to Cozumel for years and in all that time we had never seen an owl.  We did today!  Cruising silently along a ditch scaring up prey.  As we watched, it scared a bird into flight then tipped upside down to grab it in mid flight.  Wow!

Enjoy!

Cheri & John

Cozumel Mexico - December 1, 2010 - The Life Unusual

It's probably no secret to any of you that John and Cheri are a different breed.  The photo below just typifies the extent to which that is true.  Most divers get with their buddies and then they swim along together looking at things.  Many of them swim the whole time they are underwater, rarely stopping to truly look at their surroundings.

Not Cheri!!

As you can see the other divers on the left side of the photo...look right and there she is....upside down and enjoying the deep like no other!!!

 Enjoy!

John

Cozumel Mexico - December 1, 2010 - El Cedral -Day 3 -Dive 6

Max depth of 55 Feet for about 70 minutes

This is a great site for seeing sharks and other big things.  Not us, we saw little things;little things that we rarely or had never seen before.  Jackpot!  Just what we came for!

There were gorgeous queen triggers who were curious and came to have their photo taken.

On this dive we got a shot of shrimp that we had never scene before. Anyone know what they are?  Cute for sure, but a name would be great!!

Enjoy!

Cheri & John

Cozumel Mexico - December 1, 2010 - Santa Rosa -Day 3 -Dive 5

Max depth of 77 Feet for about an hour

A scrawled cow fish greeted us as we descended to depth.  These are long fish with electric blue lines and black dots.  Their dorsel fins ripple as they zip along.  The stop light parrot fish of both the green as well as the red variety were abundant and eating the reef in big bites.  If you hold your breath and listen you can hear them crunching.  Mr. and Mrs White file fish were checking us out.  

And again the health and color of the reef raised a joy deep inside of us!  As we were swimming along we heard the calls of splendid toad fish - one of Cheri's favorite fish and certainly a Mexican special!  As far as we know they are mainly found in Cozumel.  With their purple and yellow they fit right in!

Cheri looked down and saw a juvenile spotted drum fish!  This was a rare find indeed and one that Cheri was thrilled with.  She even had the presence of mind to shoot images as well as video the little guy!  

You can see the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYWzGQMfY5g. 

She looked to her left and there was a carpet anemone.  These are usually homes to all kinds of invertebrates.  This one was no exception.  There was a spotted cleaner shrimp!  These little guys have so many 'hands' that for a long time I thought he was 2 shrimp!

Today the dive masters had guaranteed me a sea horse sighting.  So for lunch there was tuna fish in the shape of a sea horse!!

Enjoy!

Cheri & John

Cozumel Mexico - November 30, 2010 - La Francessa - Day 2 - Dive 4

Max depth of 70 Feet for about an hour

There were even more turtles!  Who could believe our luck?!  even though we weren't all that deep, there were gorgeous fans that were clearly very healthy and eating all that passed by them.

 

The anemones were abundant with little bubble shrimp playing hide and seek within the tentacles.  The yellowline arrowcrabs were hanging in sponges.

The angel fish were posing.

The schooling yellow fish were hiding in the coral troughs. 

 Even lobsters and crabs were out in the day time with the sun shining so bright; very unusual! 

 
Towards the end of the dive we saw a giant grouper laying on the bottom fast asleep.  Just as we were rising up to decompress at 15 ft, there were two puffer fish.

 Enjoy!

Cheri & John

Cozumel Mexico - November 30, 2010 - Palancar Caves - Day 2 - Dive 3

Max depth of 84 Feet for about an hour

It had been a long time since we had dove the swim throughs at Palancar Caves.   Even though the word caves is in the title, it's a misnomer.  This area is filled with coral pinnacles that have big gaps in them.  Advanced divers, who are good with their bouyency, can swim in and out of the gaps and often see a world rarely seen.  The insides of the tunnels are filled with a kaleidoscope of colorful corals; pinks, reds, greens, browns, oranges, and vivid yellows.  Big fish like to hide in them.  

Sometimes you can surprise a shark of a ray.

Eagle Ray!  Until you've seen one it is hard to describe the magic you feel when you do.  These are magnificent, shy creatures with 8 to 10 foot wing spans.  Their bellies are white, but their backs are black with hundreds of iridescent circles.  Their faces literally look like an eagle, hence their name.  As we came around one pinnacle there it was! When she saw us, she pulled up short and turned to retreat to the deep.  In those few seconds we all felt blessed.
 

Enjoy!

Cheri & John

Cozumel Mexico - November 29, 2010 - Day 1 Dive 2 - Dalila

Max depth of 60 Feet for about an hour

The sun was again high in the sky and the turtles were eating away.  For years we wanted to see turtles.  Invariably we'd get onto the boat only to hear that the other divers had seen them.  Well the turtle curse has now been broken for quite some time, but we had never seen turtles like these turtles!  Nearly everyone we saw was sitting on the seabed munching away with a flotilla of angel fish snacking on scraps.  They were nonplussed as we shot their image and then video taped them.

Enjoy!
Cheri & John

Cozumel Mexico - November 29, 2010 - Day 1 Dive 1 - Palancar Bricks

Max depth of 77 Feet for about an hour

The light was wonderful with sun streaming down the whole dive.  Not once was it interrupted by clouds above.   We were overwhelmed by the health of the reef.  We'd been living in London for the past two years and found it too difficult to get to Mexico.  So now were were back in the US and back to Cozumel!  In the time we'd been away, the reefs had begun to flourish. 4 years ago a massive hurricane sat and spun on the island for 36 hours.  Now it is as if the hurricane had been a master gardener, pruning away the dead reef and allowing it to become way more beautiful than it had been since the early 90s.

Enjoy!

John & Cheri

Cozumel Mexico - November 29, 2010

We always start our trips with a dinner at Coconuts!

It's been six months since we sunk into the blue and as it always is when it's been a while, there is a bit of trepidation and wonder at that first leap into the deep.  Checking all the gear, getting your head in gear, thanking God for the chance to dive and to be one with nature and that Nitrox was invented!

Then Roger is saying,"ready Cheri, ready John?". And we am.  So baby steps to the edge and splash.  I'm in! 

Feeling my ears crackle and pop.  Stopping every foot to clear them.  Wishing they would clear faster so I could be down near the coral more quickly and then a few minutes have passed and i am exploring, hunting, and finding critters I've never seen before!  Yah!  This is what I am here to do.

John and I gave up diving in groups a few years ago.  When you dive in a group, it's always a kick fest where the divers think that the more reef you cover, the better!  We on the other hand think that sitting and watching is a whole lot more fun.  Nature quickly goes back to doing what it was doing before you dropped in blowing bubbles everywhere!  So for a mere $50 a day more, we can have our own dive mast and go at our own pace.  Heaven!

This trip John is diving with 2 cameras of his own; a far cry from camera caddy!  In the early days he used to carry a spare camera for me.  That was in the days of film where you had one lens on a camera per dive. Today we have moved to small, unbelievable Canon SD 780s that fit in tiny housings. 

We both carry a 'big camera'.  Those include the camera a Canon SD 780, housing a Canon WP DC31, an Inon S2000 strobe, and a video light.  John has decided yo experiment with lighting and has outfitted a second camera that is just housed with a red filter fit into the inside.  Using the cameras custom white balance feature he is trying to create the natural look in his images.  By the end of the trip he's getting some excellent shots.