|
Akumal 2013
We were in Akumal for 7 days and dove two dives a day for 6 of the 7 days. The weather was great! We only had rain for 10 minutes of the 7 days we were there. If you are a diver, you got to go to Half Moon Bay and dive with Akumal Dive Adventures. For some of the dives my wife and I were the only two divers on the boat and we dove wherever we wanted. The most divers we had on the boat was 5.
Anyways, thought I would share some pics and movies. Having trouble with the Dropbox links...will sort it out. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...3/DSCN4380.JPG |
This turtle swam right up to my wife an posed for a picture
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...13/Tortuga.jpg |
|
|
Grouper
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...13/Grouper.jpg Peek-a-boo! https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...2013/gobie.jpg If you can spot this fish you have a good eye. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...13/Name_me.jpg https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...202013/Ray.jpg |
I see a flounder in that pic :D
Nice shots btw. Need more!! |
That would be the only reason I can think of why I would leave Canada...to dive in the morning and have a new fish in my tank by noon.
I developed a connection with a juvi Queen Angel last year in a Mayan Riviera resort beach. Every morning I snorkeled I would find it in the same rock cavern....it was the brightest thing in the sight. Your beautiful photos brings back good memories. Thanks for sharing Treebeard. And man, don't blue damsels sparkle something awesome. |
Pair of Lions
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...2013/Lions.jpg Boxy! https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...02013/Boxy.jpg My wife and our best buddy, dive master Shaleh! :biggrin: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/.../DiveChics.jpg |
Bingo!
Quote:
|
Grey Angel
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/.../GreyAngel.jpg Grunts https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...013/Grunts.jpg I got real close to this Barracuda https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...02013/Cuda.jpg Hmmmm, perhaps a little too close! :biggrin: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...2013/Cuda1.jpg |
The damsels are definitely beautiful. It is so cool to see schools of fry swimming around the lettuce coral heads. Heaven under the seas!
Quote:
|
Resting tortuga
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...ingTortuga.jpg Lizard fish https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...Lizardfish.jpg Such a thrill to see this guys! Shaleh spotted them and we approached very slowly to get the pics. They are very shy and hard to get close enough to photograph. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...GardenEels.jpg Picture of me my wife shot, very cool picture with my bubbles and the sun shining down from the surface! https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...3/Floating.jpg |
Beautiful shots, more please!
|
Goes great with hot melted butter! :lol:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...13/Lobster.jpg Boxy blowing sand https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...2013/Boxy1.jpg Right brain, Left brain? https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...2013/Brain.jpg |
Flipping the bird! :biggrin:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...013/Finger.jpg Juvenile Spotlight Parrot https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...013/Parrot.jpg Some balding guy going through a swim-through :redface: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...2013/Baldy.jpg |
Trumpet fish
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...13/Trumpet.jpg My dive buddy honey! :wink: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...2013/Honey.jpg Sunrise over Half Moon Bay <Sigh> https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...13/Sunrise.jpg |
|
Crazy Pics!
What camera did you use? Gopro? |
Looks like you had some great viz. Greats shots, thanks for sharing.
|
pretty awesome!
|
The camera is a Nikon S8100 with an Ikelite underwater housing. Hopefully we will get an external strobe for it before the next trip.
Quote:
|
Thanks!
The viz was only so-so on a couple of dives. The currents were pushing hard from the north and the viz was only about 40 feet. When the current switched from the south it was around 70 feet. Quote:
|
There is something wrong with the movies. I will try uploading them to YouTube tonight.
|
Just came back from staying at Akumal Beach Resort.
Great snorkeling right off the beach there. Reefs start 30 feet from front of the resort, sea grass bed just a few hundred yards to the north where sea turtles and sting rays graze. I'm guessing that from the beach to about a km out is the reef flat and the fore reef is just beyond the breakers (best reached by boat). With such great snorkeling that I could do with the wife, I only snuck off for one dive with Akumal Dive Center (about a 4 minute walk down the beach to shop) for a cave dive in the "Taj Mahal Cenote" Here's a video with my GoPro http://youtu.be/_HeqGUIgs_c There's bats at 3:16 in the video. Be sure to click on the wheel at the bottom right of the player to set resolution to 1080p for HD. http://www.aluxdiver.com/cenotes-riv...8/TAJMA_HA.jpg |
You will notice a HUGE difference with a strobe. But try renting one maybe first, cause they are SO expensive...We always rent from Cathy Church in Grand Cayman, where the vis is always 100 feet :)
Great photos by the way, we just got back from Cayman but they make me want to go again :) |
Akumal, what a great place... I didn't dive, but snorkeled there with my family. Beautiful area, and lots of turtles, so close that you can grab them... But you can't of course. Rules you now.
Great pic's!!! |
My first trip to Mexico was in 2007 and we stayed at ABR. It was a nice no frills AI with some wonderful staff that made it very enjoyable. That was the trip that got me hooked on the caribean side of Mexico. I wasn't a diver at the time and it was actually the first time I ever snorkelled but I was hooked after seeing the turtles, coral and the fish.
I haven't been back to ABR since but have been to Akumal many times. I got my certification in 2009 and did 3 of my qualification dives in Akumal. My dive buddy/wife and I prefer the condo life on Half Moon Bay, and honestly Akumal Bay is overcrowded and the turtles and reef are paying the price. But we still enjoyed the occasional happy hour at Lo Ha and a pitcher of margs at La Cuevo Pescadors. Sad to say, not sure when we will go back to Akumal now that we have discovered Bonaire. :(. We are booked for three weeks next March. :) |
Do you recall the name of the dive master you dove with from Akumal Dive Center? One of their DMs was involved in a bad car accident on the 307 a few days ago and passed away yesterday. We dove with him many times when he was working at Akumal Dive Adventures on Half Moon Bay. He was a great guy and an excellent DM and leaves behind a wife and three daughters. :sad:
|
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Here's a video of me following an eagle ray for a while over the reef flats. You can see that the reefs aren't great but aren't bad either. It is, of course, a reef flat and not the fore reef.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v...43351477030077 |
I finally went through all my videos and put together this consolidated video. Hope you enjoy!
Some neat tang action in there... http://youtu.be/K2ZC6IkSdXk |
Thanks. I enjoyed that.
I snorkeld there as well. Many turtles there for sure. Did you go to the reef, where the breakers were? I saw a basking shark there. |
glad you liked.
No, I didn't make it out that far... looked about 1 km out, but maybe that's just what I convinced myself. Basking shark would have been worth the swim though! |
Well, one yard at a time.
Seriously, though, it wash't that bad, the real challenge was to get across the "channel" that the boats use. Eyes above and ears below. Also say a bunch of those eels that stick their bodies above the sand and then retract into their holes when you swim close. |
Really cool footage!
|
| All times are GMT. The time now is 05:59 AM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.3
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.