A Very Memorable Dive in Cozumel

Two divers from Germany who had never seen a juvenile drumfish were
diving with us. We went to Las Palmas for the second dive as a location
likely to encounter those juvenile drumfishes.

The irony was that we DID NOT see a juvenile drumfish, but we saw
practically everything else we could hope to see in Cozumel, all on the
ONE dive -- with pix to show -- thus disproving Photog's First Law that
when one FORGETS to bring the camera, everything shows up. <G>


Among the critter we saw on that 60-minute dive:

2 batfish! One red and one greyish brown. I had never seen one in
Cozumel before, or in the Caribbean for that matter.

2 scorpionfish.

1 large seahorse (6 inch) dark brown with white stripes.

1 spotted eagle ray.

2 turtles, one large one tiny.

1 Caribbean King crab and a cluster of lobsters (often seen there).

1 large octopus whose eyeball was tennis ball size -- that's all the
shot showed.

2 spotted moray eels.

1 sharptail eel -- haven't seen one of those in Cozumel for about 8 years.

Yes, there were plenty of reef fishes too. <G>

-- Bob.

Large_Nassau_Grouper@Yahoo.com (Reef Fish) pounded away at his
keyboard resulting in:

:The irony was that we DID NOT see a juvenile drumfish, but we saw
ractically everything else we could hope to see in Cozumel, all on the
:ONE dive -- with pix to show -- thus disproving Photog's First Law that
:when one FORGETS to bring the camera, everything shows up. <G>

Do we get to see these pix?

Dan Bracuk
If at first you don't succeed, you run the risk of failure.
The Best of rec.scuba http://www.pathcom.com/~bracuk/RecScuba/


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"Reef Fish" <Large_Nassau_Grouper@Yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:8fb7380b.0402261407.8b02196@posting.google.co m...
> Two divers from Germany who had never seen a juvenile drumfish were
> diving with us. We went to Las Palmas for the second dive as a location
> likely to encounter those juvenile drumfishes.
>
> The irony was that we DID NOT see a juvenile drumfish, but we saw
> practically everything else we could hope to see in Cozumel, all on the
> ONE dive -- with pix to show -- thus disproving Photog's First Law that
> when one FORGETS to bring the camera, everything shows up. <G>
>
>
> Among the critter we saw on that 60-minute dive:
>
> 2 batfish! One red and one greyish brown. I had never seen one in
> Cozumel before, or in the Caribbean for that matter.
>
> 2 scorpionfish.
>
> 1 large seahorse (6 inch) dark brown with white stripes.
>
> 1 spotted eagle ray.
>
> 2 turtles, one large one tiny.
>
> 1 Caribbean King crab and a cluster of lobsters (often seen there).
>
> 1 large octopus whose eyeball was tennis ball size -- that's all the
> shot showed.
>
> 2 spotted moray eels.
>
> 1 sharptail eel -- haven't seen one of those in Cozumel for about 8 years.
>
> Yes, there were plenty of reef fishes too. <G>
>
> -- Bob.
Who did you dive with?...No extra deep dive?
Jack

Reef Fish wrote:
> Two divers from Germany who had never seen a juvenile drumfish were
> diving with us. We went to Las Palmas for the second dive as a location
> likely to encounter those juvenile drumfishes.
>
> The irony was that we DID NOT see a juvenile drumfish, but we saw
> practically everything else we could hope to see in Cozumel, all on the
> ONE dive -- with pix to show -- thus disproving Photog's First Law that
> when one FORGETS to bring the camera, everything shows up. <G>
>
>
> Among the critter we saw on that 60-minute dive:
>
> 2 batfish! One red and one greyish brown. I had never seen one in
> Cozumel before, or in the Caribbean for that matter.
>
> 2 scorpionfish.
>
> 1 large seahorse (6 inch) dark brown with white stripes.
>
> 1 spotted eagle ray.
>
> 2 turtles, one large one tiny.
>
> 1 Caribbean King crab and a cluster of lobsters (often seen there).
>
> 1 large octopus whose eyeball was tennis ball size -- that's all the
> shot showed.
>
> 2 spotted moray eels.
>
> 1 sharptail eel -- haven't seen one of those in Cozumel for about 8 years.
>
> Yes, there were plenty of reef fishes too. <G>
>
> -- Bob.

Wot, no partridge in a pear tree

[\]Robert Wood
The St. Lawrence River - fresh, warm, visible diving.
mailto:rgwood@magma.ca

Even thought the coral isn't much to look at, I love that dive. We had a very
similar experience there last June. When I read your story I went back and
found this in my log.

We were diving at Los Palmas with Ventura and a couple newby's who had come
over on the ferry from Playa. Ventura's briefing suggested that there was lots
of fish life and if the current was slack, which it was, that we take our time
and linger over the small coral outcroppings.


As soon as we dropped in the water, Ventura found a rockfish and then almost
immediately a lizardfish. I've made A LOT of dives in Cozumel and this was only
the 2nd lizardfish I've ever seen there. Then we came across a huge green
parrotfish and nearby was a small coral head where I counted at least 10
lobsters and one very large crab. Shortly after that, Ventura banged his tank
pointed out over the sandy bottom and took off like a shot. My son signed that
it was a spotted eagle ray but I hadn't seen it. We all swam at an easy pace in
the direction Ventura had disappeared to and soon enough, the eagle ray came
swimming back towards us, guided by Ventura.

Then things really got interesting.

Ventura came to an open area without any coral, began making a strange circling
motion and pointing and I couldn't for the life of me figure out what he was so
excited about. I looked all around the bottom and couldn't see anything. Then I
realized, the circling motion meant I was in the middle of a school of at least
12 squid swimming in formation. As soon as they passed my son spotted a sharp
tail eel foraging in the sand for food. He had thought it was a sea snake,
which anyone who has seen a sharp tail will understand is easy to think. We
were getting near the end of our dive when Ventura stopped us once again. He
had found a sea horse that was fat and measured at least 6 inches in height.
Then just as we began our ascent, we found our selves in a field of giant star
fish. We surfaced right out in front of the El Presidente Hotel for our short
ride back to the marina. My computer showed 58 feet for 59 minutes and a water
temperature of 81 degrees.


I kidded Ventura about showing off for the newbies and asked how come we didn't
see any whale sharks. I also asked him why he thought we had been so lucky. He
agreed it was an exceptional day and suggested that part of our good fortune
was because it was an afternoon dive and rather late in the afternoon and there
weren't any other boats in the area and possibly hadn't been any that day. All
in all, it was good enough to get me back in the water again today.

So how was the parade last night?

Joel
http://www.mxtravel.com/cozumel/cozumel_diving.html



>ubject: A Very Memorable Dive in Cozumel
>From: Large_Nassau_Grouper@Yahoo.com (Reef Fish)
>Date: 2/26/04 5:07 PM Eastern Standard Time
>Message-id: <8fb7380b.0402261407.8b02196@posting.google.com>
>
>Two divers from Germany who had never seen a juvenile drumfish were
>diving with us. We went to Las Palmas for the second dive as a location
>likely to encounter those juvenile drumfishes.
>
>The irony was that we DID NOT see a juvenile drumfish, but we saw
>practically everything else we could hope to see in Cozumel, all on the
>ONE dive -- with pix to show -- thus disproving Photog's First Law that
>when one FORGETS to bring the camera, everything shows up. <G>
>
>
>Among the critter we saw on that 60-minute dive:
>
>2 batfish! One red and one greyish brown. I had never seen one in
> Cozumel before, or in the Caribbean for that matter.
>
>2 scorpionfish.
>
>1 large seahorse (6 inch) dark brown with white stripes.
>
>1 spotted eagle ray.
>
>2 turtles, one large one tiny.
>
>1 Caribbean King crab and a cluster of lobsters (often seen there).
>
>1 large octopus whose eyeball was tennis ball size -- that's all the
> shot showed.
>
>2 spotted moray eels.
>
>1 sharptail eel -- haven't seen one of those in Cozumel for about 8 years.
>
>Yes, there were plenty of reef fishes too. <G>
>
>-- Bob.
>
>
>
>
>
>

Robert Wood <rgwood@see_below.com> wrote in message news:<403EA558.80804@see_below.com>...
> >
> > Among the critter we saw on that 60-minute dive:
> >
> > 2 batfish! One red and one greyish brown. I had never seen one in
> > Cozumel before, or in the Caribbean for that matter.

> > 1 large seahorse (6 inch) dark brown with white stripes.

> > 1 spotted eagle ray.

> > 2 turtles, one large one tiny.

> > 1 large octopus whose eyeball was tennis ball size -- that's all the
> > shot showed.

> > 1 sharptail eel -- haven't seen one of those in Cozumel for about 8 years.
>
> Wot, no partridge in a pear tree


Actually there was a gold chain on a black coral tree at 218 fsw off
Columbia Deep. I looked for it on the first dive, as I had
unsuccessfully looked for it on several occasions since I planted it
there around year 2000.

To answer Jack sloan's question about dive shop and diving deep,

The shop was Caballito del Caribe (http://www.seahorsecozumel.com/)
Dan Bracuk dived with us on it last year Coz Mardi Gras time. We
liked especially its late start (10 am) -- by the time we get to dive
sites, almost everyone else is gone. Perhaps that's why we see so
many critters.

The Las Palmas dive was a shallow dive -- did not dive deeper than
70 fsw, and most of the finds were between 45 fsw and 60 fsw.

-- Bob.

mediakzar@aol.com (Mediakzar) wrote in message news:<20040226220822.09343.00000427@mb-m12.aol.com>...

> Even thought the coral isn't much to look at, I love that dive.

The corals there are definitely low-profile. Parts of it have no corals
at all, but sandy and rock bottom. But that site always had something
interesting to offer.


> We had a very similar experience there last June. When I read your
> story I went back and found this in my log.

> that we take our time
> and linger over the small coral outcroppings.

That's characteristic of the Las Palmas dive. Those small croppings are
exactly where you find a dozen lobsters, or a big turtle whose head could
hardly stick into the small coral head, etc.


The reason that Las Palmas is not often dived is because its current is
unpredictable -- it could go north, then south, then whirl around ... all
during the same dive -- which makes operators of cattleboats shy away
because it's harder to keep track of the divers.

Thanks for reviving your story.

I should mention it was Las Palmas where we saw LARGE seahorses of
different colors (red, yellow, dark brown), all 5-6 inches in length.
They tend to hang around the same spots -- but are devilish hard to
SEE even if you knew where they are.

I think we might have inadvertently started a run of divers asking to
dive Las Palmas. <BG>

A word of warning -- the DM has to know where things are. If not, if
you're left to your own resources, other than the obvious like a turtle
or eagle ray, you may find the dive disappointing becaaue you didn't
know where to look.

-- Bob.



> As soon as we dropped in the water, Ventura found a rockfish and then almost
> immediately a lizardfish. I've made A LOT of dives in Cozumel and this was only
> the 2nd lizardfish I've ever seen there. Then we came across a huge green
> parrotfish and nearby was a small coral head where I counted at least 10
> lobsters and one very large crab. Shortly after that, Ventura banged his tank
> pointed out over the sandy bottom and took off like a shot. My son signed that
> it was a spotted eagle ray but I hadn't seen it. We all swam at an easy pace in
> the direction Ventura had disappeared to and soon enough, the eagle ray came
> swimming back towards us, guided by Ventura.
>
> Then things really got interesting.
>
> Ventura came to an open area without any coral, began making a strange circling
> motion and pointing and I couldn't for the life of me figure out what he was so
> excited about. I looked all around the bottom and couldn't see anything. Then I
> realized, the circling motion meant I was in the middle of a school of at least
> 12 squid swimming in formation. As soon as they passed my son spotted a sharp
> tail eel foraging in the sand for food. He had thought it was a sea snake,
> which anyone who has seen a sharp tail will understand is easy to think. We
> were getting near the end of our dive when Ventura stopped us once again. He
> had found a sea horse that was fat and measured at least 6 inches in height.
> Then just as we began our ascent, we found our selves in a field of giant star
> fish. We surfaced right out in front of the El Presidente Hotel for our short
> ride back to the marina. My computer showed 58 feet for 59 minutes and a water
> temperature of 81 degrees.
>
>
> I kidded Ventura about showing off for the newbies and asked how come we didn't
> see any whale sharks. I also asked him why he thought we had been so lucky. He
> agreed it was an exceptional day and suggested that part of our good fortune
> was because it was an afternoon dive and rather late in the afternoon and there
> weren't any other boats in the area and possibly hadn't been any that day. All
> in all, it was good enough to get me back in the water again today.
>
> So how was the parade last night?
>
> Joel
> http://www.mxtravel.com/cozumel/cozumel_diving.html
>
>
>
> >ubject: A Very Memorable Dive in Cozumel
> >From: Large_Nassau_Grouper@Yahoo.com (Reef Fish)
> >Date: 2/26/04 5:07 PM Eastern Standard Time
> >Message-id: <8fb7380b.0402261407.8b02196@posting.google.com>
> >
> >Two divers from Germany who had never seen a juvenile drumfish were
> >diving with us. We went to Las Palmas for the second dive as a location
> >likely to encounter those juvenile drumfishes.
> >
> >The irony was that we DID NOT see a juvenile drumfish, but we saw
> >practically everything else we could hope to see in Cozumel, all on the
> >ONE dive -- with pix to show -- thus disproving Photog's First Law that
> >when one FORGETS to bring the camera, everything shows up. <G>
> >
> >
> >Among the critter we saw on that 60-minute dive:
> >
> >2 batfish! One red and one greyish brown. I had never seen one in
> > Cozumel before, or in the Caribbean for that matter.
> >
> >2 scorpionfish.
> >
> >1 large seahorse (6 inch) dark brown with white stripes.
> >
> >1 spotted eagle ray.
> >
> >2 turtles, one large one tiny.
> >
> >1 Caribbean King crab and a cluster of lobsters (often seen there).
> >
> >1 large octopus whose eyeball was tennis ball size -- that's all the
> > shot showed.
> >
> >2 spotted moray eels.
> >
> >1 sharptail eel -- haven't seen one of those in Cozumel for about 8 years.
> >
> >Yes, there were plenty of reef fishes too. <G>
> >
> >-- Bob.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >

The world must be ending. Bob Ling mafe a post without resorting to
name-calling or other childish tactics like he did in a LU post.

Ron Lee



Large_Nassau_Grouper@Yahoo.com (Reef Fish) wrote:

>Two divers from Germany who had never seen a juvenile drumfish were
>diving with us. We went to Las Palmas for the second dive as a location
>likely to encounter those juvenile drumfishes.
>
>The irony was that we DID NOT see a juvenile drumfish, but we saw
>practically everything else we could hope to see in Cozumel, all on the
>ONE dive -- with pix to show -- thus disproving Photog's First Law that
>when one FORGETS to bring the camera, everything shows up. <G>
>
>
>Among the critter we saw on that 60-minute dive:
>
>2 batfish! One red and one greyish brown. I had never seen one in
> Cozumel before, or in the Caribbean for that matter.
>
>2 scorpionfish.
>
>1 large seahorse (6 inch) dark brown with white stripes.
>
>1 spotted eagle ray.
>
>2 turtles, one large one tiny.
>
>1 Caribbean King crab and a cluster of lobsters (often seen there).
>
>1 large octopus whose eyeball was tennis ball size -- that's all the
> shot showed.
>
>2 spotted moray eels.
>
>1 sharptail eel -- haven't seen one of those in Cozumel for about 8 years.
>
>Yes, there were plenty of reef fishes too. <G>
>
>-- Bob.

Large_Nassau_Grouper@Yahoo.com (Reef Fish) pounded away at his
keyboard resulting in:
:Also, since the pix were taken by the same POS (ReefMaster 200 digital)
:as you have, the quality of the pix leave much to be desired -- would
:more or less only serve as mug shots as evidence.

I thought the ones from Poynesia were rather nice.

Did you go to Coz during carnival again this year?

Dan Bracuk
If at first you don't succeed, you run the risk of failure.
The Best of rec.scuba http://www.pathcom.com/~bracuk/RecScuba/


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Why do you try to bait him, Ron?

Ed in Spokane - just back from Coz trip # 20

"Ron Lee" <ronleenospam@pcisys.net> wrote in message
news:403fc4f8.910560@news.pcisys.net...
> The world must be ending. Bob Ling mafe a post without resorting to
> name-calling or other childish tactics like he did in a LU post.
>
> Ron Lee
>
>
>
> Large_Nassau_Grouper@Yahoo.com (Reef Fish) wrote:
>
> >Two divers from Germany who had never seen a juvenile drumfish were
> >diving with us. We went to Las Palmas for the second dive as a location
> >likely to encounter those juvenile drumfishes.
> >
> >The irony was that we DID NOT see a juvenile drumfish, but we saw
> >practically everything else we could hope to see in Cozumel, all on the
> >ONE dive -- with pix to show -- thus disproving Photog's First Law that
> >when one FORGETS to bring the camera, everything shows up. <G>
> >
> >
> >Among the critter we saw on that 60-minute dive:
> >
> >2 batfish! One red and one greyish brown. I had never seen one in
> > Cozumel before, or in the Caribbean for that matter.
> >
> >2 scorpionfish.
> >
> >1 large seahorse (6 inch) dark brown with white stripes.
> >
> >1 spotted eagle ray.
> >
> >2 turtles, one large one tiny.
> >
> >1 Caribbean King crab and a cluster of lobsters (often seen there).
> >
> >1 large octopus whose eyeball was tennis ball size -- that's all the
> > shot showed.
> >
> >2 spotted moray eels.
> >
> >1 sharptail eel -- haven't seen one of those in Cozumel for about 8
years.
> >
> >Yes, there were plenty of reef fishes too. <G>
> >
> >-- Bob.
>