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-   -   Dive pictures from the Mayan Riviera (http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=82871)

Jakegr 02-07-2012 11:26 PM

Dive pictures from the Mayan Riviera
 
I went on a holiday in early January to Mexico and enjoyed 9 dives. Here are some of my pictures taken with a Nikon P7000 camera. The camera housing (Fantasea) also has a Sea and Sea YS-01 strobe, an Olympus UFL-1 strobe, and a clip on fish eye lens.

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...scenex1of1.jpg

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y.../Reefscene.jpg

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...riggerfish.jpg

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...angelfish3.jpg

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...onfish1of1.jpg

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...s/Porkfish.jpg

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...anershrimp.jpg

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...irrelfish3.jpg

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...irrelfish2.jpg

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...illturtle2.jpg

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...enmorayeel.jpg

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...as/Graysby.jpg

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...angelfish2.jpg

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...Gardeneel4.jpg

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...Gardeneel1.jpg

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...hangelfish.jpg

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y.../Flagtails.jpg

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...urgeonfish.jpg

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y.../Crab31of1.jpg

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...astreeworm.jpg

I went on a bull shark dive too... there was a lot of debris in the water, so I couldn't get a very nice picture:

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...Bullshark2.jpg

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...Bullshark1.jpg

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...inganemone.jpg

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...termediate.jpg

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...urgeonfish.jpg

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...eseaplume3.jpg

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...urgeonfish.jpg

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...wstingray2.jpg

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...nownsponge.jpg

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...knownspong.jpg

Jakegr 02-07-2012 11:27 PM

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...edfilefish.jpg

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...nknowncrab.jpg

Can anyone ID the below fish me?
http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...nknownfish.jpg

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...nknowncrab.jpg

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...rumpetfish.jpg

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...unanemone2.jpg

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...ngray21of1.jpg

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...parrotfish.jpg

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...dgoatfish2.jpg

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...edgoatfish.jpg

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...terflyfish.jpg

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...umtrigger2.jpg

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/y...hoicegrunt.jpg

Coralgurl 02-07-2012 11:42 PM

Wow! Gorgeous! The fourth pic with the 3 fish looks like you were joining a fishy discussion, great photos, thanks for sharing!

fishoholic 02-08-2012 12:08 AM

Wow and Wow and OMG WOW!!!!!!!! Beautiful pictures!

Stones 02-08-2012 12:13 AM

You sir take some amazing photos! I can't believe the clarity on all of the close shots.

spawn 02-08-2012 12:34 AM

Very Nice indeed. What was the wreck, & what was the Bull site? Thx.

Jakegr 02-08-2012 12:55 AM

Thanks everyone!

The wreck is called Mama Vina.

I'm not sure what the bull shark dive site was called. It was literally a 2 minute boat ride directly off shore of Playa del Carmen. Here is a video of it, not sure how to embed a video:

http://s778.photobucket.com/albums/y...t=DSCN0196.mp4

spawn 02-08-2012 01:16 AM

Thats awesome! I guess I know where my next dive is gonna be. Thx for sharing.

sphelps 02-08-2012 01:36 AM

Wow I never saw half that diving in the Mayan, please share as much info as you can on the sites you went to! I'm heading down there this summer to do some diving among other things :mrgreen:

hillegom 02-08-2012 01:43 AM

You are a great photographer. Beautiful pics.
Thanks for sharing

Treebeard 02-08-2012 02:53 AM

Your photos are absolutely awesome! Thanks for sharing.
Can you please provide the details of the dive sites and dive shops you used?
We are doing a dive trip to Akumal and Cozumel in August and that shark dive looks exhilarating. They were bull sharks??

Delphinus 02-08-2012 05:32 AM

Wow, fantastic pictures!

Casey8 02-08-2012 05:35 AM

WOW WOW WOW beautiful pictures ! Love the grey angelfish !

Foxface 02-08-2012 06:25 AM

Wow, those are some great pictures, thanks for sharing!

Jakegr 02-08-2012 08:15 PM

Thank you again everyone.

The dive shop was "Dive Mike". They were pretty good and I would recommend them.

Unfortunately I didn't write down the dive site names. All of them were within a 20 minute boat ride of Playa del Carmen. I do remember the wreck "Mama vina" and my favorite site, which was a shallow ~30 ft dive, Jardines.

The bull shark dive is seasonal (I went in January), so I'm not sure if it will be available in August. It was really expensive for a single tank dive ($120!), but still worth it. The dive master feeds the sharks with a chain mail vest on.

Treebeard - Cozumel is a fantastic dive destination. It is far better than where I took these pictures. Have fun!

kien 02-08-2012 08:33 PM

wow great photos! So jealous of all you diver type people and your fancy pants diving photos.

Coleus 02-08-2012 08:52 PM

So nice. one day i will have to move to some place warm and near ocean

kien 02-08-2012 08:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coleus (Post 680133)
So nice. one day i will have to move to some place warm and near ocean

but didn't you move AWAY from some place warm and near the ocean? LOL

Coleus 02-08-2012 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kien (Post 680136)
but didn't you move AWAY from some place warm and near the ocean? LOL

i would not call it warm :-), it was HOT. And i did not have choice back then, but yeah i will go back there eventually.

scubadawg 02-08-2012 09:00 PM

Nice Photos, keep up the great work, I love the drive by shooting in Cozumel.

For all that have nevered scubadive Cozumel "Drift Diving" drop down 60 ft or so underwater, take pictures as the current takes you about 1 km away and the boat follows your bubbles.

Blue World Aquariums 02-08-2012 10:12 PM

Just incredible...very jealous. Thanks for sharing!

High tide 02-09-2012 02:54 AM

Very beautiful! Thank you for posting. The fish you asked about is a Redband Parrotfish (Sparisoma aurofrenatum).

Jakegr 02-09-2012 03:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by High tide (Post 680314)
Very beautiful! Thank you for posting. The fish you asked about is a Redband Parrotfish (Sparisoma aurofrenatum).

Thank you! That ID was driving me crazy.

Treebeard 02-09-2012 03:47 AM

Hey Jake, I would pass on the bull shark dive but not because of the price. My dive instructor aka my wife tells me that bull sharks have a rather aggressive nature, and being from South Africa I trust her advice. :biggrin:

Next August will actually be our third trip to Cozumel. Last August we had some great dives...Columbia, Tormentos, Palencar, Cedral...can't wait to get back!
We have a Nikon S8100 with an Ikelite housing, but I can tell from looking at your pictures that I need to get a strobe.

patd 02-09-2012 04:14 AM

Fantastic pics!
I think I love the shots of the schooling grunts and porkfish the best.
Thanks for posting

High tide 02-09-2012 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jakegr (Post 680335)
Thank you! That ID was driving me crazy.

No problem, I figured it was the least I could do for the pleasure of viewing those photos, seriously, got any more? That, and the fact I have a nice collection of books and jump on any opportunity to use them.:biggrin:

Reef_Geek 10-06-2013 01:10 AM

good 'ol search function on CanReef... found this old post. Dusting it off...

I'm heading to Playa del Carmen in December, looking forward to diving there. I have more vacation days than my wife, so I'm going down alone. My sister and her family are going to be there at the resort, but they don't dive. I'll get to sneak off and do lots of diving.

Anyone else with experiences / dive operations for Playa del Carmen?

Also, thinking of getting a GoPro Hero3+ for this trip. Anyone do any diving with GoPros? Advice on mounts / where to get red filters in Calgary?

paddyob 10-06-2013 01:43 AM

Cage diving with Bulls or just free swimming?

Bull sharks are the number one shark for attacks on humans. Aggressive sharks!

How was it?!

Snappy 10-06-2013 02:13 AM

How did I miss this thread the first go 'round?
Awesome pictures.
I am heading to Playa in mid Nov - can't wait to try out my new fins & Hawaiian sling. :mrgreen:

Treebeard 10-06-2013 02:33 AM

Hawaiian sling? I had to Google that because I was certain it was the preferred beachwear for the Italians dudes you see down there. :biggrin:
The countdown is on for us to two weeks in Bonaire over New Years. Unfortunately I was hit with a hernia last week and now the panic is on to get it fixed in time for 6 weeks of recuperating before the first dive.


Quote:

Originally Posted by Snappy (Post 849814)
How did I miss this thread the first go 'round?
Awesome pictures.
I am heading to Playa in mid Nov - can't wait to try out my new fins & Hawaiian sling. :mrgreen:


Jakegr 10-06-2013 03:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reef_Geek (Post 849792)
good 'ol search function on CanReef... found this old post. Dusting it off...

I'm heading to Playa del Carmen in December, looking forward to diving there. I have more vacation days than my wife, so I'm going down alone. My sister and her family are going to be there at the resort, but they don't dive. I'll get to sneak off and do lots of diving.

Anyone else with experiences / dive operations for Playa del Carmen?

Also, thinking of getting a GoPro Hero3+ for this trip. Anyone do any diving with GoPros? Advice on mounts / where to get red filters in Calgary?

Good thing Canreef sends me an email every time someone posts in my threads haha.

I'm heading back to Playa del Carmen in January! I have never dived with GoPros, but have seen fantastic video from them. They seem to be great value too as you could easily spend $2000 on a underwater housing/light for a video camera.

Unfortunately I don't remember the operation I dove from. Looking at the map, I think it was Dive Mike. I thought they were pretty good. Honestly liked them more than any dive shop I went with while living in Hawaii.

The bull shark dive was really cool. They charge you a lot, but it is worth it. I saw 20-30 sharks on that dive, many of which where within an arms reach. It is seasonal, but you are going at the peak time I believe. It is a cageless dive.

The diving overall can be good. Generally the further south you go, the better the diving. Cozumel was really nice, but it wasn't worth a whole day of my vacation on the bus/ferry just for two dives.

The cenote dives are very cool too, but again they take up most of your day in travel time.

Anyways, have a great time! I love the Mayan Riviera.

Reef_Geek 10-06-2013 04:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jakegr (Post 849823)
Good thing Canreef sends me an email every time someone posts in my threads haha.

I'm heading back to Playa del Carmen in January! I have never dived with GoPros, but have seen fantastic video from them. They seem to be great value too as you could easily spend $2000 on a underwater housing/light for a video camera.

Unfortunately I don't remember the operation I dove from. Looking at the map, I think it was Dive Mike. I thought they were pretty good. Honestly liked them more than any dive shop I went with while living in Hawaii.

The bull shark dive was really cool. They charge you a lot, but it is worth it. I saw 20-30 sharks on that dive, many of which where within an arms reach. It is seasonal, but you are going at the peak time I believe. It is a cageless dive.

The diving overall can be good. Generally the further south you go, the better the diving. Cozumel was really nice, but it wasn't worth a whole day of my vacation on the bus/ferry just for two dives.

The cenote dives are very cool too, but again they take up most of your day in travel time.

Anyways, have a great time! I love the Mayan Riviera.

Thanks for the tips!

Yeah, GoPro just released a new cam... Hero3+ that's supposed to have better battery life, wider field of view, and auto frames/second for low lighting. I also like the high frames/second rate to allow for some really cool slow motion. The time lapse shots are pretty neat too. I think I've talked myself into getting one.

I think I'm up for the Bull Sharks. I've dove with seasonal aggregations of Lemon Sharks off Jupiter Florida, that's a blast. I am a bit sad my timing misses the whale shark aggregation there, maybe another trip.

That's a good tip on Dive Mike. I'll do some TripAdvisor research on them. It looks like the top TripAdvisor operator is Reef Quest Divers but I emailed them a small question and they have not responded (2 days now)... maybe it's a sign...

Did you find that the dive sites were much different between the Playa del Carmen reefs and Cozumel? I do have quite a bit of free time, but if the diving is pretty similar... that's a waste of time to ferry over.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snappy (Post 849814)
How did I miss this thread the first go 'round?
Awesome pictures.
I am heading to Playa in mid Nov - can't wait to try out my new fins & Hawaiian sling. :mrgreen:

Greg, which operator are you planning on diving with? Have you used any in the past that you really liked?

paddyob 10-06-2013 04:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Treebeard (Post 849819)
Hawaiian sling? I had to Google that because I was certain it was the preferred beachwear for the Italians dudes you see down there. :biggrin:
.


Ha ha ha ha!!

Snappy 10-06-2013 06:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reef_Geek (Post 849834)
Greg, which operator are you planning on diving with? Have you used any in the past that you really liked?

I had one place recommended to me but they haven't got back to me so I doubt I'll use them. Previous dives in the area were through a company in Cancun. Long story short - I am not sure who I will use yet. If anyone has suggestions I am open to them. I was thinking of using Phantom Divers - anyone had experience with them?

Jakegr 10-06-2013 08:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reef_Geek (Post 849834)
Thanks for the tips!

Yeah, GoPro just released a new cam... Hero3+ that's supposed to have better battery life, wider field of view, and auto frames/second for low lighting. I also like the high frames/second rate to allow for some really cool slow motion. The time lapse shots are pretty neat too. I think I've talked myself into getting one.

I think I'm up for the Bull Sharks. I've dove with seasonal aggregations of Lemon Sharks off Jupiter Florida, that's a blast. I am a bit sad my timing misses the whale shark aggregation there, maybe another trip.

That's a good tip on Dive Mike. I'll do some TripAdvisor research on them. It looks like the top TripAdvisor operator is Reef Quest Divers but I emailed them a small question and they have not responded (2 days now)... maybe it's a sign...

Did you find that the dive sites were much different between the Playa del Carmen reefs and Cozumel? I do have quite a bit of free time, but if the diving is pretty similar... that's a waste of time to ferry over.



Greg, which operator are you planning on diving with? Have you used any in the past that you really liked?

Cozumel has far better diving. The water is extremely clear. My only complaint was the travel time. Playa/Cozumel have similar reef life, but the dive sites are in better condition in Cozumel and you are more likely to see some of the more "charismatic" life, like turtles, sting rays, etc.

I'm pretty skeptical about Cancun dive shops... I used one of the main ones to get to Cozumel, and again the travel was just crazy. They put me on a bus to a ferry to get to Cozumel, then bused us to a dock where a boat was waiting, then that boat took us to our dive boat. I was fortunate that my dive buddy was fluent in spanish as the shop left us out to dry on the way home (nobody picked us up from the ferry). Then again, it is Mexico, so organization and efficiency are rarely a top priority. If you go to Cozumel and have your own gear, put it in a rollable suitcase as these is a lot of walking and hauling gear on the way.

Myka 10-06-2013 02:21 PM

I went to Cozumel last April/May. I don't have dive certification, but I went on several snorkeling tours. We just rented the boat to ourselves for a few hours and went out to Palencar and Colombia reefs. Palencar was a bit deep for snorkeling at about 50 feet, but it had a lot of current that just floated us along. I saw many, many HUGE Barracuda, but the reef was too deep to really explore. Colombia was awesome! It was about 30 feet deep and had big rock formations all over that came within 15 feet of the surface. Lots of Acropora corals and brain corals and BIG Angelfish. I can dive down about 30 feet with my snorkel so I was able to check it out well. We also went to another one I can't remember the name of. It was shallow - only 15 feet or so, but was all sand with the occasional rock here and there. We saw tons of starfish, but not much else. Clarity was terrible so I was freaked out about sharks.

As a side note, there is a submarine tour on Cozumel that was really great too. It was US$100 per person I think, but it went down to 110 feet and we saw lots of really cool reef life including Nurse Sharks, Sting rays, Angelfish, Barracuda, Lionfish, Octopus, etc. It took us to the edge of the Palencar wall so we could look down into the black abyss. I have no idea how people have the balls to dive down there! :eek:

Snappy 10-06-2013 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jakegr (Post 849864)
Cozumel has far better diving. The water is extremely clear. My only complaint was the travel time. Playa/Cozumel have similar reef life, but the dive sites are in better condition in Cozumel and you are more likely to see some of the more "charismatic" life, like turtles, sting rays, etc.

I'm pretty skeptical about Cancun dive shops... I used one of the main ones to get to Cozumel, and again the travel was just crazy. They put me on a bus to a ferry to get to Cozumel, then bused us to a dock where a boat was waiting, then that boat took us to our dive boat. I was fortunate that my dive buddy was fluent in spanish as the shop left us out to dry on the way home (nobody picked us up from the ferry). Then again, it is Mexico, so organization and efficiency are rarely a top priority. If you go to Cozumel and have your own gear, put it in a rollable suitcase as these is a lot of walking and hauling gear on the way.

My experience with the shop I used in Cancun was great, including the dives to Cozumel. I'll have to check my dive log but I think their name is "Manta Ray Divers". If memory serves we went in their own boat across and never took a ferry ride. Fantastic dives in Cozumel and in the Cancun reefs as well. :biggrin:

Jakegr 10-06-2013 06:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snappy (Post 849913)
My experience with the shop I used in Cancun was great, including the dives to Cozumel. I'll have to check my dive log but I think their name is "Manta Ray Divers". If memory serves we went in their own boat across and never took a ferry ride. Fantastic dives in Cozumel and in the Cancun reefs as well. :biggrin:

Goes to show you can't judge them all by a single one! It would have been great if the only travel was aboard the dive boat.

Treebeard 10-06-2013 07:59 PM

Although I love Akumal, the diving in Cozumel is better hands down. Cozumel is more expensive but it is worth it and I would never consider just a day trip. Cozumel has it all, from deep wall dives, fast drift dives, huge coral pinnacles, turtles, huge groupers, nurse sharks, you name it. It's a 45 minute ferry ride from PDC to San Miguel and sometimes the sea can be very rough. If Cancun dive ops do go to Coz not sure if it would be a pleasant trip on a rough day.
For diving on the mainland, consider staying at or near Akumal. There is some nice diving there and the attitude is much more laid back than the cattle boat operations Cozumel is known for. When we go to Cozumel we tend to go with the smaller shops. When we dive in Akumal we always dive with Akumal Dive Adventures. We get to pretty much decide where we want to dive and we are treated like family.

Treebeard 10-06-2013 08:06 PM

Maybe you're one of the snorkelers in this photo from our dive at Columbia last year!

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...snorkelers.jpg

Quote:

Originally Posted by Myka (Post 849885)
I went to Cozumel last April/May. I don't have dive certification, but I went on several snorkeling tours. We just rented the boat to ourselves for a few hours and went out to Palencar and Colombia reefs. Palencar was a bit deep for snorkeling at about 50 feet, but it had a lot of current that just floated us along. I saw many, many HUGE Barracuda, but the reef was too deep to really explore. Colombia was awesome! It was about 30 feet deep and had big rock formations all over that came within 15 feet of the surface. Lots of Acropora corals and brain corals and BIG Angelfish. I can dive down about 30 feet with my snorkel so I was able to check it out well. We also went to another one I can't remember the name of. It was shallow - only 15 feet or so, but was all sand with the occasional rock here and there. We saw tons of starfish, but not much else. Clarity was terrible so I was freaked out about sharks.

As a side note, there is a submarine tour on Cozumel that was really great too. It was US$100 per person I think, but it went down to 110 feet and we saw lots of really cool reef life including Nurse Sharks, Sting rays, Angelfish, Barracuda, Lionfish, Octopus, etc. It took us to the edge of the Palencar wall so we could look down into the black abyss. I have no idea how people have the balls to dive down there! :eek:



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