pacific mexico

Greg Mossman wrote:
>>
>>Do you do Pacific diving in general? If not, don't expect tropical.
>
>
> Why wouldn't one expect tropical in Los Cabos or Ixtapa?

Perhaps I should have said, ``Don't expect Caribbean temperatures and
visibility.''

Greg Mossman wrote:
> "Whistler" <whiNstOler@sSan.rPr.cAomM> wrote in message
> news:Bf6Ye.12002$Gh.11101@tornado.socal.rr.com...
>
>
>>>Why wouldn't one expect tropical in Los Cabos or Ixtapa?
>>
>>Perhaps I should have said, ``Don't expect Caribbean temperatures and
>>visibility.''
>
>
> OK, but for the sake of argument, I'll still argue.

I'm shocked.

> Perhaps you should have said "Don't expect Caribbean coral".

Fair enough. All my info on Cabo is hearsay anyway. I've been to Mulege'.

My point is, I got the impression the original poster has not dove the
Pacific. I gather that a lot of people get turned off by the diving at
Los Cabos because ``it's not the Caribbean.'' But that don't mean it
can't be great. One gray whale and it's worth the trip...

> I wouldn't
> have argued with that.

Sure you would have.

> Even at Cabo Pulmo, which is rumored to be a coral
> reef, the coral sucks in comparison to anything but the cruise-ship battered
> reefs off 7 Mile Beach. Still, rocks can be pretty too. Look how many
> people dive in caves where there's nothing but rocks.

In many ways, I prefer them as I generally prefer the Pacific
environment. Diving the Sea of Cortez from Mulege' was cold, though,
even in June, and not your typical clear water setup. Though the dive
operator did say we came the wrong week.

>
> The most memorable thing about diving in Ixtapa was the DM on one dive. She
> had an extraordinarily cute figure and I positioned myself right behind her
> the entire time. I have no idea if we saw any marine life.

Unh hunh.

"Whistler" <whiNstOler@sSan.rPr.cAomM> wrote in message
news:2JfYe.12033$Gh.6330@tornado.socal.rr.com...

> Fair enough. All my info on Cabo is hearsay anyway. I've been to
> Mulege'.

I've been meaning to make a road trip down there someday. Some old hippie
friends of my mom have some land out at Punta Chivato and have invited me
several times. Now that Alaska Airlines has a flight from LAX to Loreto,
I'd probably hop on that instead and save about 24 hours of driving each
way.

> My point is, I got the impression the original poster has not dove the
> Pacific. I gather that a lot of people get turned off by the diving at
> Los Cabos because ``it's not the Caribbean.'' But that don't mean it
> can't be great. One gray whale and it's worth the trip...

I enjoyed it for a couple days. The Caribbean really needs to get itself
some sea lions. I find them more fun than whales, though I confess I've
never dove with a whale before. Unlike further up the Pacific coast, you
have a fair selection of tropicals, though nowhere near the variety that
you'd find further up the Sea side. At Land's End you can definitely feel
the difference between the Pacific and the Sea waters, as dramatic as any
thermocline, simply by swimming around to the other side of one of the big
rocks.

I have few lousy shots up at
http://users.adelphia.net/~gmossman/Cabo/cabo_frame.htm .

> Sure you would have.

No I wouldn't.

> In many ways, I prefer them as I generally prefer the Pacific
> environment. Diving the Sea of Cortez from Mulege' was cold, though, even
> in June, and not your typical clear water setup. Though the dive operator
> did say we came the wrong week.

One nice thing about rocks is that you can touch them. Coral reefs, for the
most part, make a diver keep his hands hands idle. I end up feeling like
I'm playing soccer and I've always hated soccer. That's the main reason I
bought a camera. With rock diving, you can get up close and personal, able
to hold oneself in place for as long as one wants regardless of the current
or surge, without having to fin spastically or cause too much damage. The
DM in Cabo was much more interactive than your average Caribbean DM, though
we finally stopped playing with him after he violently yanked an octopus out
of her lair. Later that day I had tacos de pulpo. I guess it's all
relative.

Greg Mossman wrote:
>
> I have few lousy shots up at
> http://users.adelphia.net/~gmossman/Cabo/cabo_frame.htm .
>


real pretty and the fx on the tech are neat too

mk5000

"if you enjoy studying the New York wildlife, this Parisian- style
brasserie is overflowing character - anc characters. It serves basic
but consistently good fare, and the staff and patrons are really fun,
especially at brunch on a sunny weekend"--Duncan Quinn

"Greg Mossman" <mossman@qnet.com> wrote in message
news:11j35otcp49ih44@corp.supernews.com...

> The Caribbean really needs to get itself some sea lions. I find them more
> fun than whales, though I confess I've never dove with a whale before.

?

Greg Mossman wrote:
> I cracked open the
> first and too a big gulp and there was chunky stuff in it. Nasty. The
> second beer was OK.

The beer was fine, but I carried a roach back in my dive bag. But the
scorpion in the sink was really cute.

>>I was really amazed at the mixture. I kept experiencing a kind of spatial
>>vertigo, looking at a fish that I know from SD, then a fish from the
>>Caribbean...
>
>
> How'd you know it was the same fish you know from SD? They all look alike
> to me and that's a pretty long swim for a mere fish.

His name's Fred. He commutes with the whales.

"Whistler" <whiNstOler@sSan.rPr.cAomM> wrote in message
news:9fsYe.37$y43.18@tornado.socal.rr.com...

> The beer was fine, but I carried a roach back in my dive bag. But the
> scorpion in the sink was really cute.

That's living on the edge. Haven't you seen Midnight Express?

The only scorpion I've ever seen in Mexico was in a jar in Cuernavaca, where
I was temporarily living with a divorcee, her two kids, and the 15-year-old
maid. The lady took in students from the language school, like me. Another
of the students was a hispanic English prof from Cal Poly Pomona, who, just
like some profs here, insisted he knew everything. He didn't know much
Spanish, regardless of his hispanic origins, which is why he was in school
with me. He also didn't have very good people skills, just like some profs
here, which is why the maid was showing me and my Oregon roomie the scorpion
she had caught and was planning on placing inside one of the prof's shoes.
We talked her out of it.

> His name's Fred. He commutes with the whales.

A Californian fish that actually carpools? Probably one of those northern
Californian radicals.

"W.E. O'Neil" <we_o@anesthesiaop.net> wrote in message
news:i9IYe.92$DD3.8114@news.uswest.net...

> Ah, note my comment again please--- **might** be the worst---. You can't
> claim the glory yet my friend. Plus, since you didn't "Shop the shit out
> of it" (or whatever photo editor you may use) it just wouldn't qualify. A
> truly horrible photo must be so bad after editing that one submits to
> fearful consideration at what the unedited image may have looked like.

I don't think I shopped the sea lion too much. It was there and I snapped
it and if you know sea lions, they rarely wait around for a good pose. Plus
I was sick with some sort of cold or flu and barely made it down on the dive
and barely noticed the sea lion until the last second because he was
following behind me most of the dive. I have a few pics from other divers
of the sea lion right on my ass. If only I had a camera up my ass . . .

> Truth is, I kind of like your manta. I myself have much worse shots from
> Kona when a couple of 'em loop de looped in front of the lights, and I
> managed to get all kinds of plankton, worms, fish and other ocean minutia
> to join in the image.

Then please post your worse shots so that mine don't have to be the worst.
That Kona shooting was real tough, trying to keep the camera steady when the
belligerent monsters come right at your head full speed. A few of my shots
were better, but you wanted the worst.

> What a bunch of monkeys we are to take shots, when no shot exists.

I shoot digital and never hit capacity, so I don't worry about bad shots.
Any shot is better than no shot at all, especially if you can make out
what's being shot. Mainly I like to shoot so I can ID the fish that
otherwise fail my brain by the time I get to the fish ID book. If you want
arty, here's a pretty, albeit dark, ling cod from Farnsworth Reef:

http://users.adelphia.net/~gmossman/...pg_Lingcod.htm

And here's a kelp bass which shows interesting composition. The kelp vines
behind it almost make it look like it's walking on legs:

http://users.adelphia.net/~gmossman/...elp_Bass_3.htm

"Greg Mossman" <mossman@qnet.com> wrote in message
news:11j6puq8mk39jfe@corp.supernews.com...
> "W.E. O'Neil" <we_o@anesthesiaop.net> wrote in message

>> What a bunch of monkeys we are to take shots, when no shot exists.
>
> I shoot digital and never hit capacity, so I don't worry about bad shots.

I shoot digital for most things, but since I shoot RAW, depending on the
card and my downloading laziness between dives I can, and sometimes do, hit
capacilty. But that isn't why I dislike taking what I know will be a bad
shot.

> Any shot is better than no shot at all, especially if you can make out
> what's being shot.

I would disagree with you, but I am not the disagreeable type.

> Mainly I like to shoot so I can ID the fish that otherwise fail my brain
> by the time I get to the fish ID book.

Absolutely. For those who enjoy fish ID it's a useful tool. My perspective,
right or wrong, is I only care about ID'ing the animals I have imaged well.

"Greg Mossman" <mossman@qnet.com> wrote in message
news:11j8e3dd19c2jc8@corp.supernews.com...
> "W.E. O'Neil" <we_o@anesthesiaop.net> wrote in message
> news:I%TYe.3507$c54.974@news.uswest.net...

> My camera is pre-RAW

No it's not. I just doesn't record to RAW-------not to be disagreeable or
anything.

>> I would disagree with you, but I am not the disagreeable type.
>
> That's too bad, for I am very disagreeable and will disagree with
> everything you say just to spite you.

It is very difficult to annoy or offend me. But I admit that your
carpet-bombing technique does seem to score a number of hits with other
posters/readers.

>> Absolutely. For those who enjoy fish ID it's a useful tool. My
>> perspective, right or wrong, is I only care about ID'ing the animals I
>> have imaged well.
>
> I disagree.

I know.

> All the animals I want to ID have been imaged very well upon
> my retinae.

....and considering the quality of your photographs, this is a good thing.
Because on that evidence only, one might identify a Balaenoptera musculus
as a Gammaracanthuskytodermogammarus loricatobaicalensis.

By the way, that's a fine use of inflected form. Most people would have
simply written "retinas". I can see you are a high achiever.