Cozumel Scuba Diving

Saturday, Jan. 1st 2005

I took Jeannie, Ted, Howard, Greg and Emily for a tour of Yucab. We saw a couple of splendid toadfish and a couple of lobsters. Next, on to Tormentos, where we saw yet more lobsters and two eels that were special ordered for Howard. There was a big green ell hiding in a hole. You could see its tail sticking out on one side and it's gaping mouth out of the other side. A small goldentail was living in a pile of conch shells.

Sunday, Jan. 2nd

For our first dive Carlos dropped Jeannie, Ted, Chucho, Dawn, John and myself on Palancar Horseshoe. Wow! What a dive!

A pair of spotted eagle rays played and swam in a circle around and around below while we were diving. Later, another individual swam beneath us. We found a group of large lobsters in a couple of holes, facing each other. Chucho, Dawn and John saw turtles too, but Ted, Jeannie and I missed seeing them.

The next stop was on Colombia Shallows. There were schools of snappers and grunts. Ted and Jeannie practiced navigation, while we saw another lobster or two. Monday, Jan. 3rd I dived on Palancar Caves with Dave, Ann, Ted, Jeannie, John and Dawn. We saw a very large southern stingray when we first went down. We passed a large yellow starfish around for picture taking. The towering formations and archways are always so impressive at this site.

We next dived at Dalila where we found a splendid toadfish in a hole. We had mild current and a big snapper showed us his pointy teeth.

Tuesday, Jan. 4th

My first tank was on Palancar Horseshoe with Ted, Jeannie, Troy, Dawn, John, Tara and Jessica. We swam through tons of canyons and tunnels. Troy and I swam out into the deep blue where no matter where we looked; it was blue, blue, and blue.

My second tank was on French Reef with a southern stingray and a big barracuda. When Dawn couldn't see the little turtle, I coaxed it around back to the group so that she wouldn't miss it.

I did my third tank that night with Troy, Jeannie and Ted on Chankanaab. Lobsters were everywhere! I didn't even know that there were so many lobsters in the sea! There were loads of big crabs too. One was really weird. It was hanging off of the reef upside down by its rear four legs. The huge pinchers were hanging downward in mid-water. I could not for the life of me, figure out what it was happening. Troy found a snake eel in the sandy area. This was the third night dive in a month or two that I couldn't find an octopus. I am getting a bit frustrated...

Wednesday, Jan. 5th

Jim, Rhonda, Damon, Perry, Justin and Bob came with me to Yucab. I showed Rhonda the endemic splendid toadfish in a hole. Some of us saw a small hawksbill turtle swimming around on top of the reef. On Paradise a huge four-foot amberjack was feeding on a school of jacks. As a matter of fact, there were schools of fish everywhere. Justin took great pleasure in swimming through them like a predator.

Saturday, Jan. 8th

Back to good old Palancar Gardens with Troy, Alan and Kristi. There were lots of lobsters wiggling their antennas at us.

We found a small turtle up on top of the reef. Alan got a good shot of the turtle and Troy together. After Alan and Kristi went up, we saw another turtle having a breakfast of orange sponge and loads of pretty angelfish surrounded him. Dalila is always a winner. Today, we saw a 6-foot nurse shark that swam away from us. I think Troy "stingray boy" must have pointed out at least 5 or 6 southern stingrays. The prize was at the end of the dive, when Troy showed me the 8-foot wide eagle ray. Its tail was bent and the giant just slowly glided away from us.

Sunday, Jan. 9th

I went to Canterell with Chucho and Troy. All the eagle rays were gone! That is the first time that I went there and didn't even see on eagle ray. Troy and I managed to entertain ourselves. I found about 20 teensy, weensy juvenile jack knife fish all buzzing around together is a dark niche. Troy found a spotted moray. I took a couple of pictures of Troy but he didn't like them. I guess they weren't too flattering. Oh well.

Monday, Jan. 10th

Yesemina and Jorge came on a cruise and joined Kristi, Alan, Dan and Cindy for a dive on Palancar Horseshoe. A hawksbill turtle let Alan take its picture and then swam over to Cindy to say, "look at me!” Then we went over to French Reef. It was late afternoon so all of the crabs and lobsters were out and about strolling around.

Jorge found a big stingray and we saw another small turtle.

Tuesday, Jan. 11th

Dive one was on Palancar Caves with Bobby, Don, Cindy and Dan. We swam through all those famous caves, tunnels and archways. There was one small turtle and Don took a video of it. At Dalila Cindy posed for a video with a starfish. Don or Bobby found the first nurse shark swimming nearby. I spotted the second one. It was really cool when it turned around and swam right at me and passed directly below me. It was all I could do to resist reaching down to pet it. I got a good, close up look at its pebbly skin.

Wednesday, Jan. 12th

My first stop was on Colombia Deep with Don, Cindy, Kristi, Alan, Bobby and Don. Don and Cindy identified vertebrates, invertebrates and plants for the Underwater Naturalist Specialty. One vertebrate (a hawksbill turtle) ascended to the surface to breath and then came back again nearby. One dive that I love is Cedral Wall and I hadn't been there in a while. Don woke up a sleepy turtle. I found that big octopus that Dave and Ann had seen with Jorge the week before.

Friday, Jan. 14th

Our first dive of the morning was on Palancar Horseshoe with Kristi, Alan, Don, Bobby, Don and Cindy. We found a flamingo tongue preying on a sea whip. I picked up a bouquet of flower coral that had broken off of the reef and was resting upside down in the sand. I think some one must have kicked it off of the reef so I "re-planted" it on a hard substrate. I showed everyone a bristle star that was living on the surface of a purple vase sponge in symbiosis. Bobby's favorite was the spiny-headed blennies. I think of them as Stevie Wonder fish, because they sway their little heads back and forth.

We completed Bobby's week of diving on Dalila. She had requested a green moray eel, since she had seen everything else during the week. (Thanks to Alan for pointing it out to us.) He also spotted the nurse shark swimming by. I found Amanda's turtle, the one with the white splotches on its shell. I have a picture of her as wallpaper on my computer. The port was closed for four days in the morning for small boats only, so we were unable to go diving.

Wed. Jan. 19th

It was nice to get back in the water at Colombia Deep with Derek, Debbie, Scott, Jim, Chris, Bryan and Paul. The visibility wasn't so great. We had a significant current, which was surprising. We saw loads of turtles. The first one was really small and the second one was kind of medium- sized. The last couple of turtles we saw were really large. Nearby were a southern stingray and a small lobster.

At French Reef another turtle posed for Scott's new digital camera. Paul went after another stingray. I found a crab with huge claws clinging to the underside of the reef. A barracuda made a good picture for Scott.

Thursday, Jan. 20th

Back to good old Palancar Horseshoe with Jim, Gina, Woody, Rolf, Eric, Debbie and Scott. A turtle was swimming over our heads on the top of the reef. It sat there for a while before it got irritated and took off. There was a big lobster in his normal spot over by the block. Southern stingrays seem to be in season. I have been seeing a ton of them lately.

For something shallow we went to Paso del Cedral. There was a dog snapper with snarly-looking teeth and schools of barracuda that were both big and small. Overall it was a very "toothy" dive.

Friday, Jan. 21st

We had a good group with Chris, Bryan, Jim, Susan, Paul, Scott and Derek on Palancar Caves. I hadn't been there in a while. We encountered quite a bit of current. There were times when we actually had to exercise and swim hard. The visibility wasn't so hot. It wasn't a bad dive, just not an easy one. The formations there are so spectacular that one cannot have a bad dive here.

One of us wanted to see a shark…so Dalila it was. We saw lots of juvenile spotted drums. Susan showed me a baby turtle. The nurse sharks eluded us today. Unfortunately, none were found. We were, however, rewarded with Scott's eagle ray. Everyone was happy. (Now I know where Dive Palancar has been hiding those eagle rays!)

Saturday, Jan. 22nd

Paul requested Yucab and that was good because Joe and Eric didn't want to go to the wall on the first dive of this vacation. On Yucab we had a stronger than usual current. We actually finished all of Yucab reef, plus all of Tormentos as well. The boys don't breath a lot and their tanks last a long time. Joe was pleased to see both turtles. One was taking bites of a leathery sponge. The second cruised just up ahead of us for about 5 minutes. We also saw two big splendid toadfish.

On Tormentos, Paul showed us a spotted eagle ray.

We planned San Francisco Wall for the second tank, but Carlos said that the current looked really strong. We changed plans and went to Santa Rosa Shallow instead. I felt badly taking Joe and Eric right in front of the resort. They had requested to do dives that they hadn't already been to before. But it turned out to be an excellent decision. We passed around a huge sea pearl and saw a scorpion fish, a juvenile spotted drum and a furry sea cucumber. Just when I was ready to surrender to small critter finding, a huge eagle ray swam by. It was the one with no tail. On the underside of his "wings" he has the spotted pattern of his back.(Usually they are all white underneath.)

We drifted up to a nurse shark that had its head in a hole sucking out breakfast. It was a really a fun dive.

I did a beach dive at Paradise with Deb and Jerry. They hadn't been in the water since their certification dives last year in Playa Del Carmen. So they came over here for a refresher. We saw tons of spotted morays and one goldentail eel. All of the lobsters were gone. We swam right over a large scorpion fish. That's two in one day!

Sunday, Jan. 23rd

I slid down the Devil's Throat with Bruce, Paul, Eric and Joe. We had the most amazing swimming pool conditions. The surface was flat as glass. The water was gin clear. After the dive, and from the boat, we could clearly view sea starfish in 60 feet of water. At the main section of caves on Punta Sur, I decided to go back in, because everyone still had air and time. Just as the three of us got into a hole, another group started to come out, just where we were heading. We had to turn around and back out. Everyone behind me looked bewildered until another dive master appeared from inside the cave and waved to say thank you. We did a good job of stirring up that sand :-)

At the very end of the dive a small turtle floated around below us. Bruce's "kids" joined us for the second tank on Colombia Shallows. We saw lots of good stuff. First of all, Joe saw the big spotted eagle ray. It left and came back a few minutes later. I found a tiny ( One and 1/2 foot long ) baby nurse shark asleep under the reef. And, I also discovered an ugly large eye toadfish deep in a borough. Later a lazy turtle napped peacefully, while we all came over to bug it. She was snuggled up under her favorite coral head.

In the afternoon, Chucho and I packed up scuba tanks and rental gear and headed over to Villa Coronado for some resort course divers. We did the class at the house, then walked across the street to dive from shore. Our resort course divers were Shannon, Rhonda, Trudy, Jim and Dick. Paul and Debbie are certified divers, but they came along just for fun and moral support.

We had quite a bit of current and some of our divers got tired and went in early. We had to swim pretty hard during the time we were there. We were, however, rewarded with two fat spotted morays that were clearly visible along with lots of small lobsters. Trudy almost landed on a small yellow stingray. I chased it off. There were plenty of stingray around. I almost put my hand on a scorpion fish. This must be scorpion fish week?

Tuesday, Jan. 25th

I dived on Palancar Horseshoe with Joe, Eric, Bruce, Nate, Jason, Angie and Chad. That big, fat lobster was back in his old spot over by the block…where the statue used to be. I did a bit of digging around the block to clear a little more sand away. One day we will have it uncovered again. Because I always see good stuff on Dalila, we headed there for the next dive. We saw a big eagle ray with a long tail and a 6-foot nurse shark sitting on the white sand…at least until we came along. We frightened him and he took off.

Wednesday, Jan. 26th

The first stop was on Santa Rosa wall with Debbie, Sue, Jason, Jared, Jon and Paul. We had beautiful, calm water. There were a couple of lobsters nearby. We swam through a million caves and floated along the wall.

The second stop was on Tormentos. There were lots of toadfish everywhere. I managed to coax one out of its little hiding hole. We saw a small turtle. It disappeared up to the surface and later came back down and re-joined us. Debbie really liked that little turtle.

Thursday, Jan. 27th

I took Joe, Bruce, Lana and Jeff to Colombia Deep. We saw turtle, after turtle after turtle! Some were down deep below us and another swam right in front of my face, moving slowly. Others were just cruising around. I think we spotted at least five of them. I saw an eagle ray first in the shallow sandy area and I saw him again later on the wall. It then disappeared into the deep blue abyss.

We did a night dive on Colombia Shallows. Once again we saw lots and lots of turtles. I felt sorry for them because it looked like our lights were blinding. The really great thing was that a lot of them were green turtles. Green turtles are much less common for Cozumel. A spotted moray was out hunting in the open. We saw enough lobsters to open a restaurant. Joe found a gold spotted eel that looks just like a snake. When I tried to pick it up, I spied a tiny little octopus peering up at me. He quickly disappeared. The toadfish were croaking constantly and loudly throughout the dive.

Saturday, Jan. 29th

My first tank of the day was on Palancar Gardens with Jeff, Lana, Michelle and Bob. I found a big crab hanging upside down under the reef, pinching off pieces of hanging vine algae and then dining on it. Lana found the first little shark resting in a hole. Jeff found the second one. They were both about 3 to 4 feet long and neither of them wanted to come out and play. Pete joined us on Santa Rosa Shallow. We had an action packed dive. Aside from a couple more crabs and a few small lobsters, we saw some open water hunting going down. First, I spotted a pair of big black groupers, which were like a big sign that says, “Here comes the shark!” It was a good-sized nurse shark and Jeff burned up a few hundred PSI filming it.

While Jeff was off filming the shark, a huge green moray eel slithered out from under the reef, did a few pirouettes and completely disappeared again. Pete discovered the large southern stingray sucking up some lunch in the sand. Another 5- foot nurse shark was sitting on the sand. He swam away as soon as we got close to him.

Sunday, Jan. 30th

Jeff, Lana, Pete, Vitek and Paula came with me to Palancar Horseshoe. We had perfect conditions for Paula’s first big tropical ocean dive. My boyfriend Nick Fittipaldi swam over and gave me a big underwater smooch. That was the best marine life that I saw on that dive. The second lobster we saw was the size of a dinosaur. Everyone got up close and personal with it as it strolled across the sand. Then we went to Dalila because you can’t go wrong there. We descended on a small spotted eagle ray in the sand scavenging for invertebrates. Jeff also filmed a bunch of little yellow stingrays. After the second eagle ray passed by, a shark and a grouper buzzed us. The third eagle ray was a monster. It must have been at least 8-feet across!

Monday, Jan. 31st

Palancar Gardens was the first choice of the day with Vitek, Paula, Leigh, Donnie, Warren, Carmen and Jeff. Vitek dragged Leigh over to the sandy area to see the turtle. Later, another small turtle was closer and anyone could take it’s picture. After everyone else had gone up, Jeff, Carmen and I saw a small (6-foot) eagle ray cruise by. On Paradise reef, Warren found an eensy weensy juvenile spotted drum fluttering around in front of a splendid toadfish. I could hear him clearly through his regulator when he asked, “What is that?” So I went and found another toadfish and kind of nudged him out of his hole. (Shame on me!) Vitek was extremely pleased, as he had been hoping to see one of these animals up close. We also saw a spotted moray, an octopus in its den and a lobster.

As we were going up to the surface, Jeff pointed out a goldspotted eel.

Tuesday, Feb. 1st

Our first dip was on Bolones de Chankanaab with Tony, Rachelle, Jeff and Carmen. There were lots of big lobsters out walking around. On our safety stop, the submarine floated by in the distance. Our second dip was on Santa Rosa Wall. Vitek, Paula and Pete joined us for that dive. We saw two turtles. The first turtle was overhead and surrounded by jacks. A grouper kept nipping at it. That was really weird. The second one was a little hawksbill that ducked into a crevice and escaped our cameras.

Then we all did a night dive on Dalila. Enormous lobsters were everywhere. Big crabs displayed their pinchers for us. Vitek found the first octopus. It was a Caribbean reef octopus. It is the second one Pete found. This second octopus was a common one. I fondled a goldspotted eel, which always gets everyone interested.

Wednesday, Feb. 2nd

We went back to Santa Rosa again because Vitek likes it so much. Pete, Vitek, Paula, Leigh, Steve, Stan and Sandy were my divers. The turtles were gone but a big lobster was hanging out and a barracuda made a slow pass by us.

Yucab was dive number two. At Yucab there are blankets of finger coral on top of the reef and colorful fish everywhere. The occasional grouper appeared and disappeared. Pete shot some photos of a yellow stingray.

Thursday, Feb. 3rd

I went to Palancar Horseshoe with Hillary, Kyle, Keith, Carmen, Jeff and Pete. While Hillary and Kyle were making a safety stop, I looked down to find Pete pointing madly at one of the biggest turtles that I have ever seen. He said that he got so close to it that he couldn’t take a picture! He had to wait for the turtle to swim away to have the camera in focus.

Then we were off to one of my favorites, Cedral Wall. Pete found us a juvenile spotted drum. I showed Carmen ten queen triggerfish. I need to buy a rubber shark and put it in my pocket for the days when people ask to see a shark and I can’t seem to find one

Friday, Feb. 4th

I dived at Tormentos with Carmen, Jeff, Vitek, Paula, Leigh, Barbara and Jeanne. Vitek found the splendid toadfish. I found evidence of poaching. There were lobster shells without the tails and crab shells scattered all over the bottom. Fortunately Chankanaab was still packed with lobsters. Vitek found a precious little octopus that was a master of disguise. I saw some yellow-headed jaw fish and another splendid toadfish.

Sunday, Feb. 6th

The first tank was on Colombia Deep with Carmen, Jeff, Mike, Molly and Dan. The current was going the wrong direction and since it was mild, I decided to swim against it instead of going with it to the deeper area. Big mistake! Not only did we all use more air than normal, but we ran into group after group of divers. There were great moments on the dive, however. One of those groups chased a big turtle over to us so Jeff and Carmen could take its picture !

The second tank was on French Reef. Several crabs were peering out at us but one of them had huge claws. There were lots of lobsters too. One big lobster was out strutting his stuff.

Tuesday, Feb. 8th

I started my day on Palancar Horseshoe with Tut, Gregg, Jerry, Kym, Chris, Whitney, Dan and Molly. Once again the current was reversed but it was mild. Dan described the dive as nice and relaxing. The only curious critter we saw (besides Tut of course) was a crab. Then we went to Tormentos to check on the lobsters and crabs. We saw a couple of splendid toadfish and Tut got some good shots. One was the biggest that he had ever seen.

To my relief, lobsters were everywhere. Good to see them back. I saw a couple of empty conch shells. It didn’t take me long to find the culprit. A big, fat octopus glared out at us from his den. I spent the dive looking for moray eels for Dan. I only found one little spotted moray and a tiny goldentail eel. There used to be big, fat spotted moray eels all over the place at Tormentos, but now you really have to look for them.

Wednesday, Feb. 9th

Dive number one was on Santa Rosa Wall with Tut, Gregg, Blair and Vitek. Tut finally got his best shot of the toadfish. At one point during the dive I felt like I was just surrounded by fish. Everywhere I looked there were schools of silver fish, yellow fish and it was interspersed with the occasional queen trigger and pairs of angels.

Dive number two was at Las Palmas. We found all of Dan’s eels there. Too bad he missed it! I must have seen four spotted morays. Vitek took pleasure in pointing out all of the fire worms. I found a big octopus in a hole. There were small caves here and there along the wall. A big lobster was hiding in one. When I stuck my hand into the hole to wave all the tiny little fish away I could feel that the water temperature was significantly warmer in the cave. Those little caves are where underground channels of fresh water let out into the sea.

Thursday, Feb. 10th

Today we found all of Tut’s turtles. Sadly, he wasn’t with us. The turtles were on Palancar Caves with Dan, Molly, Vitek and Mike. They went through all of the caves with me. We saw Tut’s turtle up on top of the reef. Vitek swam around behind it and brought it back over so that Molly could see it. Mike got a picture of it too.

On Cedral Wall I showed Vitek a spotted cleaner shrimp. They are beautiful transparent little creatures with white and purple spots. They live between the tentacles of an anemone. They wave their antennas at passing fish to attract food. Vitek liked seeing the little shrimp better than both of the turtles we saw. The first turtle was a tiny little baby and was chomping on algae. The second turtle was a young adult that was sharing a sponge meal with lots of angelfish. Then it had to go to the surface for air.

It was a Kodak moment when Molly back paddled away from the turtle because it came right at her on the way up to the surface.

Saturday, Feb. 12th I took Chucho with me to Palancar Gardens diving with Tut, Vitek, Andy, Jim, Jennifer and Marion. I stayed in 20 feet of water with Jennifer and Andy. Chucho took the rest of my divers down to 60 or 80 feet.

Before we descended a big turtle was swimming around beneath us. Andy saw the second baby turtle and showed it to all of us. We also saw a big barracuda and a couple of lobsters. The deep divers saw a nurse shark, but we missed it.

We did our second dive on Paradise and I completed lots of skills with Jennifer in the shallow water. Chucho took the boys over to the reef.

Sunday, Feb. 13th

I dived Colombia Deep with Vitek, Gregg, Andy, Marion, Jim, Jennifer, Leo and Kathy. We all saw a hawksbill turtle. Everyone got to feel the furry sea cucumber and we saw the eagle ray with no tail. Vitek wore a crown of antennas from a poached lobster.

At Yucab we saw a big green sea turtle with a clean shell and a crab.

Monday, Feb. 14th

My motley crew of Al, Tut, Gregg, Vitek, Andy and Jim accompanied me on Palancar Caves. Coming out of the caves I realized that Al was missing. I sent the boys over to play with a big turtle while I went to find Al. That turtle was great for keeping the group together in my absence. To my great relief Al was sitting on the boat and Carlos wouldn’t let him get back in.

Paso Del Cedral was LOADED with sharks! Vitek chased the first one around, until Tut arrived on the scene. Then Tut burned up 500 PSI getting a shot of it. The second shark was less chased but the third one’s tail was slapping. Vitek swam after it. I was really worried that he would reach out and pull its tail. Vitek is a brave one…

Tuesday, Feb. 15th

I took Tut back to Santa Rosa Wall with Gregg and Al. Tut was too far away to get a shot of the big turtle. But he got really close to the small spotted eagle ray. We floated through a cloud of sardines. There were lots of other dive groups, as usual. They were in front of us, behind us and there was no escape!

Tut had been begging me to show him a seahorse, a black tip and a dolphin. Carlos gave me a little plastic seahorse and I stuck it in some Y-branched algae. Tut’s mask filled up with water when he smiled. He immediately knew it was plastic. Al wasn’t so sure what the heck it was and Gregg thought it was a fishing lure.

Next year I will have a black tip but I don’t know where I am gonna get it yet! On Cedral Wall we saw another big turtle off to a side. Another little guy was sitting on the bottom dining with the angelfish. Tut found a sleeping nurse shark and went back down from his safety stop to get a picture.

Thursday, Feb. 17th

My hangover from Fat Tuesday was gone and we woke up rolling into the water at Palancar Horseshoe. My divers were Tut, Gregg, Marion, Andy and Dave. We saw yet another huge hawksbill turtle down about 80-feet deep. Tut and Dave went down to take its picture. On Dalila I showed Dave a splendid toadfish. I found an octopus in a hole surrounded by his discarded conch shells. I called Gregg over for a looksy…but really all we could see was a tentacle. I also found a pretty little spotted drum.

Gregg pointed out a baby turtle while we were making our safety stop. Marion’s new computer went nuts and it said that he reached his PO2 of 1.4 ATM after only 55 minutes on 32%. Our first dive was on 32% as well and less than an hour bottom time so the computer was crazy! Sometimes the human brain is more accurate than a computer……

Friday, Feb. 18th

For a change, I took Tut, Gregg, Andy, Marion, Fred, Alan and Kathy to Punta Tunich. I usually try to avoid that reef because of the extremely strong current. But the currents had been mild lately so it wound up being a fantastic dive. Tut was floating around in the deep water over the wall when he spotted the eagle ray. I raced over to see it just as it glided away.

Then our watchful Tut saw a hawksbill turtle. I was feeling kind of useless until I pointed out the green turtle, octopus and lobsters. I was, therefore, able to keep my “dive master pride.” Tut was getting sick of the splendid toadfish because when I pointed them out on Yucab he didn’t bother coming over to visit. He already had tons of photos of toadfish.

Our honorary dive master Tut found us another turtle.

That afternoon I did Santa Rosa Wall with Alan, Kathy, Brad and Brennan. Various small lobsters and loads of big black groupers made an appearance. The last tank was at Paradise with Brad and Brennan. There were several spotted morays and a goldspotted eel. Brad got several close shots of the turtle. We saw one juvenile spotted drum and a pair of really tiny ones.

Saturday, Feb. 19th

Once again I had Chucho come with me to help out since I was teaching. I was doing the Deep Diver Specialty for Brad and Brennan and this was to be our 130-foot dive. Chucho took Larry, Claire, Robby, Marion, Andy and Fred on a normal dive at Palancar Bricks. On the deep stop, a good-sized turtle was snuggled into a hole with her head sticking out. When we got close, she swam slowly past us.

Next, there were two smaller turtles.. Brad was wishing that he had brought his camera. The next stop was French Reef. Brennan was the one who showed me the huge eagle ray. It was the one that Tut was talking about the week before. It was close enough to reach out and pet!

Later, even more turtles, both big and small, visited us. We also saw some huge lobsters on that dive.

Sunday, Feb. 20th

Chucho and I went to Colombia Deep with John, Kevin, Rob, Heidi, Tina, Brad, Brennan and Fred. Brad, Brennan and I went to 100 feet and Chucho hung shallow with Rob’s crew. After 10 minutes Brad, Brennan and I came up and joined the gang. We saw lots of turtles. There was one that was swimming off to the wall. Chucho signaled to me to go around the coral and chase it back to the group. When I came around the formation I discovered another turtle perched on its flippers on the bottom. We got 2 for 1 on that deal.

A big green moray eel was sticking its head out of a hole and smiled at us. On Dalila a helmut shell was devouring a sand dollar when I pulled it out of the sand to show it to Fred. We were treated to a pretty green turtle and lots of lobsters.

When I was bringing the girls up to the surface, an enormous eagle ray passed by the group on the west side of them. Only Fred and I saw it. It was followed by another smaller, faster swimming eagle ray that kind of turned and banked a few times before it swam away.

A third dive was on the end of Cedral/ Santa Rosa Shallow. Rob wanted to go through a cave. We saw schools of barracuda. Another small turtle greeted us and a 6-foot green moray eel was trying to hide from us under the reef. It was surrounded by tons of lobsters. I tried to get her to show her face. It worked the first time I that wiggled her tail. But the second time, she just buried herself deeper and hid from my pestering self.

Monday, Feb. 21st

Everyone loves the towering formations at Palancar Horseshoe…so that is where Rob, John, Kevin, Heidi, Tina, Dee Dee, Dave and Fred dived. Coming out of one of the caves a huge hawksbill swam right up to Tina and begged her to take its picture.

Then we went to French Reef where we saw a small turtle. Rob discovered a sleeping nurse shark. Everyone had to swim back against the current to get a look so I helped out and convinced it to come out and say ”hi.” There were a couple of lobsters and a southern stingray.

Tuesday, Feb. 22nd

They wanted walls…so we went to Santa Rosa Wall with Fred, Ron, Rob, John, Kevin, Heidi and Tina. On the descent we saw a huge nurse shark cruising the wall followed by a black grouper. I showed Tina a huge crab with claws that looked like salad tongs. There were loads of big barracudas and a cute pair of balloon fish. Our next wall was San Francisco. Rob pointed out a jumbo-sized lobster out strolling around. We saw more big barracudas and a big black grouper that was just hovering over the sand.

Wednesday, Feb. 23rd

Per special request, we went to the C-53 Shipwreck with Rob, John, Kevin, Heidi, Tina, Ron and Fred. There must have been 10 lobsters all waving their antennas at us from under the wreck. Right next to them were about 5 big crabs. We swam down along a hallway and when we reached the end the exit was overhead. There was a level below us as well and a dive master from the level below blocked our exit overhead in an attempt to try and get me to try and turn around and let him into the hallway! I signaled that there were seven divers behind me and that I couldn’t turn around. He made all sorts of angry gestures, but I couldn’t budge. So I thought about it for a second. I crossed my arms and sat. I had two choices sit or swim over him. He had two choices. Go up and out the hole on top or sit.

So after a Mexican standoff I took the initiative and swam up and over him out the exit. Hope his divers behind him had lots of air! I wasn’t going to sit there like an ass and let my divers suffer waiting to get out of the passageway. When we got back on board the Enigma II John joked, “So it’s OK that I kicked that guy in the head?” That made me smile. Hope he was just kidding……

Tormentos is right next door and the logical place to go. It was our lucky day. A giant green moray eel was out swimming around undulating across the sand. Rob snuggled up to an 80-pound grouper. Fred got a good shot of the big toadfish.

Thursday, Feb. 24th

The first dive was on Palancar Gardens because some one asked for more caves. We went swimming in jellyfish soup with Rob, John, Kevin, Heidi, Tina and Ron. The jellyfish were everywhere and the water was so thick with them that you could cut it with a knife. A feeding frenzy was going on. A turtle was pigging out on the jellyfish. It was fascinating to watch. Schools of creole wrasse and other long, skinny silver fish were eating them as well.

We found a second turtle feeding on a sponge and a third turtle swimming around. Ron shined his light on a crab. There were also a couple of lobsters. The current was kind of clipping along and we had to work at buoyancy control. Cedral Wall was where we got to see two more sharks swimming nearby. There was also another little turtle.

Friday, Feb. 25th

I dived on Yucab with Bill, Terry and Terry. We saw a splendid toadfish and Terry got a picture of it. Bill found an octopus, but Terry and I were too lazy to go back against the current and have a peek. I am really liking Tormentos this month…The lobsters are back and a big snapper with a mouthful of teeth was under the overhang where Rob was flirting with the grouper a few days before. We saw another grouper but not nearly as big as Rob’s girlfriend.

Monday, March 7th

This was my first day back to work after a one-week vacation in California. I took Matt, EJ, Jim, Maureen and Michael to Horseshoe. The Southeast wind caused the surface to be a bit choppy. Thankfully, there wasn’t much current. My lobster “friend” was hanging out near the cement block, as always. EJ illuminated it with her flashlight. Jim says that French Reef is his favorite dive because it is like swimming in an aquarium. There were many schools of blue Creole wrasse. A turtle paddled over and smiled for Jim’s new housing on his digital camera.

While EJ was shining her light on a crab in a hole, Jim and I swam over and had a look at a Southern stingray.

Tuesday, March 8th

I dove next on Santa Rosa Wall with Maureen, Michael, EJ, Jim, Matt, Jim and Matt. As soon as we got down over the wall a 5-foot green moray eel slithered by under EJ. It was hard to tell if she was thrilled or terrified! We had a very good time swimming through the tunnels and swim-through. Then I then dived at Dalila, where we ran into a big Southern stingray hidden in the sand. We had fun with a starfish.

Going up toward the surface, I found a shark swimming beneath us. Maureen had especially ordered it.

Wednesday, March 9th

I did a resort course from shore on Paradise for Craig, Mike, Shannon and Craig. We had some small waves, that made entry and exit a little tough, but underwater it was worth it! Craig received the best show because he was closer to the bottom. He saw all the spotted eels and crabs as I pointed them out. There was a beautiful little spotted drum fluttering around under a coral head.

Thursday, March 10th

I wanted to “wow” Matt, EJ, Jim, Michael and Maureen so I told Carlos to take us to Colombia Deep. EJ was looking in all of the dark crevices with the flashlight when she found a medium-sized nurse shark. We tried to get it to come out of his hiding place, but it wanted no part of us. Then we dived the platform at Cedral. The current was so light that the distance I usually cover in 10 to 12 minutes took up the whole dive. As soon as we got to the bottom, we encountered a 5-foot nurse shark lying in the sand. It sat really still while Jim took a bunch of pictures. I found some sunglasses and put them on. Four lobsters fended Jim off while Michael & Maureen checked out a pair of yellow stingrays for a few minutes on the bottom.

Friday, March 11th

My first stop was on Palancar Caves with Michael, Maureen, Don, Jim, Suzette and Daniel. The current surprised me. At first we had to work hard to get to the reef. It was pushing us toward shore. It was going the opposite direction from its normal pathway. All that swimming was rewarded with a big turtle sitting on the bottom having a snack. She was quite calm and didn’t swim away when we were all around her gawking.

My second stop of the day was on Paso Del Cedral. We had very calm current and lots of pretty fish. There were no big critters hanging out to see us on that particular day.

Sunday, March 13th

Tank number one was on Yucab with Ross, Meg, Tom, Suzette and Daniel. We saw the famous splendid toadfish, lobsters and yellow stingrays. Tank number two was on San Francisco Wall. Suzette pointed found and pointed to a toadfish. Later, I found a yellow-headed jawfish and a yet another splendid toadfish. Since Ross didn’t get to see the first one... fortunately, we were able to find a second one for him.

At the end of the dive, a big, gray Southern stingray was sucking up munchies in the sand. That was interesting to watch!

Monday, March 14th

Tom, Meg, Jill, Rik, Nik, Tom and Terry came with me to Santa Rosa Wall. We saw the world’s biggest lobster crawling around on top of the reef. A tiny spotted drum was swimming in circles and we lingered a bit in the cave. It was logical to go to Santa Rosa Shallow for the second dive. The highlights of this dive were the nurse shark that young Tom found in its hiding hole, along with a turtle turd.

Tom was checking every hiding place on the reef, when he made the signal for big. At first, he didn’t even know what he had discovered. It was the nurse shark’s tail! It was really cool to shine our lights in the hole to observe a big nurse shark taking a nap. In the afternoon I did two dives on Paradise from shore with Mary, Ryan, Hart, Keith, Bob and Sarah. Well…we didn’t walk in the water with our tanks on…I used the boat. It was the same dive site as if we had walked in from shore. I am getting lazy as I am getting older…..

During the first dive we worked hard on completing some skills, so we didn’t get in much touring time. We saw several spotted morays, a beautiful little chain eel, a big crab and some little lobsters. After everyone was up, Bob, Sarah and I swam over to Paradise Reef to find a huge black grouper leaving the reef after having “scarfed” up some grunts.

Later, I did a night dive with Tom and Meg on Paradise Reef. Some of the crabs we saw had immense pinchers. We saw loads of little lobsters and a few free swimming spotted morays eels. A snake eel slithered across the bottom and I found two octopi. Meg found the third octopus. We played like little kids in the bioluminescence.

Tuesday, March 15th

I started my diving day on Palancar Gardens with Jill, Tom, Nik, Rik and Daniel. Due to the strong Southeasterly winds and big waves, the visibility was only 30 or 40 feet. But that’s okay…we still saw two turtles and swam through many tunnels. On Dalila we found the same helmut shell ( I think ) feasting on a sand dollar. To my delight, I also found Jorge dangling a small red fishing lure in front of a splendid toadfish. It snapped up that lure and then spit it out. That toadfish really liked the fishing lure. Jorge gave it to me as a gift.

Then, I saw him pointing out a scorpion fish, but no one seemed to care. They were fascinated by the Southern stingray buried in the sand. A big lobster came out and showed off for us.

That afternoon I did a dive on Tormentos with Sarah, Mary, Hart, Ryan, and Keith. The big black groupers and snappers seemed to be playing with each other. They bumped into one another and rubbed up against each other. They put on quite a show. On Yucab I got to try out my new lure. Sure enough, the splendid toadfish snapped it right up!

There were lots of little lobsters and crabs around since it was late in the day.

Wednesday, March 16th

Since we had such a nice dive on Tormentos, I went back there with Jill, Rik, Nik, Tom, Meg, Tom, Scott and Terry. We put my new toy to work again on a toadfish. I was like a little kid with that toy. Meg discovered a huge snapper under a ledge and I forgot to tell her what it was when we got back to the boat.

Jill and I loved the little eagle ray that passed beneath us while we did our safety stop. Close to home we dived Paradise and I passed my new toy to Meg when she found her very own toadfish. She liked that toy as much as I did. I also discovered that several tangs, surgeonfish and red band parrotfish all liked the fishing lure too! Good thing it didn’t have a hook on it! All those little fish were following me around.

Thursday, March 17th

Both of my dives were on Paradise with Mary, Ryan, Julie, Marilyn, Dan, Andy, Austin and Michael. The first training dive was close to shore. Then we moved over to the big reef for the second dive.

On the first dive we saw several fat spotted morays and Dan found a pair of squid swimming in tandem. At the reef we played with a Donkey Dung Sea Cucumber and we saw the biggest barracuda that I have seen in a long time. The barracuda was quite shy and swam away as we approached.

The kids liked the huge snapper that was almost as big as Andrew. At the end of the dive they chased after a big permit to get a better look.

Friday, March 18th

Palancar Bricks/Caves ( thanks Carlos! ) with Susan, Kevin, Lindsay, Jill, Rik, Nik, Tom and Terry. We got dropped off 40 minutes South of the caves but we did scoot into a couple of caves at the end of the dive. We had a great dive anyway. There were 2 small turtles and I found a big nurse shark lounging in a dark cave. The furry sea cucumber was soft and squishy to touch.

Then we were off to my favorite second dive, Dalila. There were no big critters this day but we did see a lobster and a crab with super big pinchers. We saw plenty of pretty fish and the current was nice and slow.

Saturday, March 19th

Corey and Jason started their Nitrox certification on Palancar Caves. A big spotted eagle ray cruised by in the blue water over the drop off. It barely flicked its wing tips to glide by. Then a small turtle dipped down to the deep water off in the distance. We swam through a couple of caves. The next reef was La Francesa. The first turtle we saw was really big and far away. The second turtle was smaller and closer. Corey got up close and personal with it.

Since it was late in the afternoon, we saw lots of crabs out on top of the reef along with a couple of lobsters.

Sunday, March 20th

Patrick, Colleen, Sue, Jason & Corey came with me to Palancar Horseshoe. About one-half way into the dive, a large turtle went to the surface to breathe and we stared at its silhouette. We saw the resident lobster at his usual post near the cement block. Patrick discovered a Southern stingray.

We had a grand slam on Dalila! (Colleen described it as action-packed.) We saw one of everything! First, an eagle ray cruised slowly past us. Colleen wanted to follow it to the end of the earth. Then Amanda’s little turtle with the white blotch on its back paddled by us.

I hauled butt after a free swimming green moray eel, but stopped when Corey pointed madly at the 6-foot nurse shark parked on the bottom…right under us. When I got close, it swam away from us.

From the shore I dived Paradise with Tammie, Scott, Joel and Zane. I think everyone was surprised at how much there was to see on the beach dive. There were plenty of fat spotted moray eels, a goldentail eel and a soft little goldspot eel. We saw three different big crabs. A splendid toadfish came completely out of its den and I think that was everyone’s favorite sighting of the dive. Tammie saw more spotted drums than I did. Good eyes, Tammie !

Monday, March 21st

My first dip of the day was on Santa Rosa wall with Kimberly, Gordon, Karl, Sue, Jason and Corey. All of the sponges looked like they were smoking as we dove nearby. The sperm and gametes clouded up the water and cut down the visibility. There was a sponge orgy going on! We saw a female hawksbill turtle. We swam through the cave and at the end of the dive, we came upon a school of silversides or sardines. I played like a child swimming into the school and disappearing behind the shiny silver cloud. Everywhere I looked there were tiny flashes of silver and blue. There was no up nor down, front or back. There was no sense of direction.-Everywhere there was a blanket of shiny little fish. It can be very disconcerting if one is not expecting it.

On Paso Del Cedral Rob joined us for another action-packed dive. I think it was Kimberly who pointed out the baby turtle that couldn’t have been more than 8-inches in diameter. Rob showed me a cobia swimming off in the distance. A cobia looks a lot like a shark and tarpon combined. It has a “nurse shark” looking head, the body of a shark and the tail of a tarpon. As I darted off after it, I ran smack dab into one of the biggest eagle rays that I have ever seen. It paid no mind to us as it munched on bottom dwelling creatures. After we came out of the cave a 6-foot nurse shark swam by.

There was also no shortage of barracuda.

Tuesday, March 22nd

I dived at San Francisco Wall with Yvette, Todd, Liz, Sue, Jason and Rob. It was a pretty uneventful dive. ( I guess that is a good thing! ) Rob found a family of seven lobsters in a crevice. The biggest critters appeared on Cedral Wall after almost everyone was on the boat. First of all, we saw a big crab up on top of the reef, followed by a couple of little turtles.

Wednesday, March 23rd

I went back to Santa Rosa Wall with Karl, Denise, Lester, Steve and Dean. We saw some lobsters and crabs. The school of sardines was still there and I couldn’t resist swimming into them again. Denise asked to go to Paradise reef, because she thought I had a turtle there. But she was confused…the turtle was on Colombia Shallow.

However, instead of a turtle we saw lots of lobsters and eels. Steve found a baby nurse shark hiding in a hole. While Denise and I made a safety stop, a huge spotted eagle ray cavorted in front of us. It had four or five remoras and one of them was very large. It looked like the remora was bothering the eagle ray and the giant was trying to shake it off. I noticed that the eagle ray had a crescent shaped bite out of the left rear part of its body. It was a small bite, maybe 6-inches across…but it would be easy to ID that same ray again.

I took the afternoon trip out to Santa Rosa because they wanted to see the wall and we still had strong South Easterly wind. It was a logical place to go that day to avoid seasick divers. Upon the descent Shelly spotted a male loggerhead turtle. It was swimming away quickly, so we didn’t get much more than a glimpse.

There was also a huge black grouper that sat still for Kevin while he took its picture. Tammy, Shelly and Paige floated around waiting while Kevin got a good shot. Shelly asked to see eels and lobsters and I knew I could produce on Paradise!

The little nurse shark was gone in the afternoon, but the big, fat spotted moray was still in the same place which made my job easy! The gorgeous eagle had disappeared as well.

Thursday, March 24th

I went to Palancar Gardens with Kimberly, Gordon, Karl and Rob. Karl spotted the first turtle. It was right behind me. I never would have seen it if Karl hadn’t pointed it out. It passed right behind me slowly and closely. The second turtle was way off in the distance. While Rob was showing off a big crab he found, Kimberly was showing Gordon a spotted drum.

At Dalila I found a queen triggerfish for Kimberly. We saw lots of lobsters again. I wonder if they are in season?

Friday, March 25th

We had a spectacular dive at Palancar Caves. Kimberly, Gordon, Nora, Keith, Rob, Bob and Austin oohed and ahhed during the whole surface interval. We saw five different turtles. Some were big and some were medium-sized. The really big ones were male. Some of them were silhouetted at the surface while they breathed and then they dived down to re-join us on the reef.

Coming out of one cave Rob spotted a turtle pigging out on a sponge. Another divemaster showed me a white nosed pipefish. Now that was really cool!

On French Reef we saw another turtle and a couple of lobsters. I did two afternoon training dives on Paradise with Ramona, Chuck, Rick and Dan. We saw several spotted morays and some lobsters on the first dive. That same splendid toadfish came all the way out of its hole for us again and showed off its pretty yellow fins. On the second dive it was just Ramona, Chuck and I. While we were working on the navigation skill a spotted eagle ray swam right up to us. So I made them drop everything and we followed the ray as it foraged for supper. After the ray left, we finished up the skills and started the tour. On the tour we saw a big lobster, three different kinds of eels: a goldentail, a goldspot and spotted morays.

Saturday, March 26th

Even though it was choppy we went to Palancar Gardens with Ramona, Chuck, Nora, Keith, Bob and Austin. A big lobster scooted backwards away from some unseen danger and landed right in front of us in the sand. Bob said that he could see a row sack on the underside of the lobster.

Then we saw a couple more lobsters huddled together in a niche. Another large lobster was out walking about. On Dalila a pair of dinner-sized lobsters pranced around on the coral. How weird to see so many big lobsters out in the open during the day. Something must be going on.

When I saw the 6-foot nurse shark swimming by us, I grabbed Moni’s hand and dragged her over for a look. After the shark was gone, Amanda’s little turtle with the white spot on its back paid us a short visit.

Tuesday, March 29th

I dived the wreck C-53 with Bill, Michael, Gordon, Leah, Carol, Kimberly and Deanna. Chucho came along to give me a hand and an extra pair of eyes. We saw a couple of lobsters and crabs hiding at the bottom under the shipwreck. The propeller is now covered with colorful sponges and hydroids. It makes a beautiful photo. I went into the wheelhouse and waved out the window to everyone.

For our next dive we went to the last part of Paso Del Cedral and the beginning of Santa Rosa Shallow. We dropped down just in time to go through the cave and practice Peak Performance Buoyancy Control. On that site we saw a big barracuda and a turtle. We also practiced the fin pivot and hovering.

I did first afternoon dive on the very tippy part of Palancar Horseshoe, where the water is 10 to 15 feet deep, with Rick, Dan, Lauri, Tom, Rob, Ryan and Sarah. The first turtle that we saw was a medium-sized green turtle. Then we saw two more turtles swimming together…a little hawksbill and a medium-sized hawksbill. Since Dan and Rob were floating a lot and had buoyancy control problems, we never went deeper than 15 feet, but had a nice dive.

On the second afternoon dive, we went back to Horseshoe and this time they all got down OK. We went over the wall for just a little bit. A huge hawksbill turtle swam right in front of Ryan.

I did a night dive with Carol, Kim, Deanna, Doreen, Phil, Doc and Wayne. We saw tons of big crabs, some small lobsters and a snake eel. One of the girls found a big, fat spotted moray eel and Phil found the octopus for us.

Wednesday, March 30th

The first dip of the day was on San Francisco Wall with the Ford family. Carol, Kim and Deanna came along to work on their Advanced Certification. Ryan was a bit panicky at the surface. Underwater he was pulling hard on his mask strap to tighten it. I was afraid that he would break it so I put him back on the boat. Thank goodness I had paid Chucho to come along and help me out.

We took them to Dalila for the second dive. As Carol, Kim and Deanna were doing navigational skills, a big eagle ray glided by so we dropped the compasses and enjoyed the show. Then a turtle swooped down and I didn’t know which to look at…the turtle or the eagle ray! We rejoined the Ford family for the rest of the dive. Ryan shot up to the surface and Rob just floated up. Chucho put them on the boat. Lauri still had 1200 psi and didn’t want to go up so I stayed down with her, Tom and Sarah. When Tom was low on air we kind of made a safety stop. Sarah looked down and saw a nurse shark swimming in the distance.

Thursday, March 31st

My first dive of the day was on Palancar Gardens with Phil, Doreen, Bob, Doc, Wayne, Gordon, Michael and Leah. Due to the strong South wind there were big waves and really poor visibility. However we did have a nice dive. There were two very big turtles and huge lobster out walking around.

Our second dive was on Las Palmas because we wanted to go north and get out of the wind and waves. A very friendly hawksbill turtle swam right through our little group. We saw lots of good critters on this dive. There were two spotted morays, a goldentail moray, a couple of splendid toadfish, some spotted drums, a yellow stingray and a coronet fish. Those coronet fish are very uncommon. They look like big, long trumpet fish but with iridescent blue spots and a long whip like tail.

Our night dive was on Chankanaab. There was an abundance of big crabs, assorted lobsters and one lone octopus. I saw a school of 30 to 40 baby squid. I don’t think anyone else saw them, however. Friday, April 1st Deanna, Kim, Carol, Leah, Michael and Gordon accompanied me to Santa Rosa wall. We ran into Doreen, Phil, Wayne, Bob and Doc down below. We did the deep dive for the Advanced Certification and no one felt narcosis. At Paradise there were splendid toadfish that are endemic to Cozumel, lots of lobsters, a peacock flounder and a huge snapper.

Sunday, April 3rd.

Back to Santa Rosa Wall with Sue, Bob and Dallas. Every one practiced Peak Performance Buoyancy Control. We practiced swimming through archways and tunnels without touching the bottom or the walls. At the end of the dive I looked down over the wall to find a large spotted eagle ray gliding by below us. Dallas saw a lobster but I missed it.

Santa Rosa Shallow was our second stop. We were busy naming vertebrates, invertebrates and plants when I turned my head and a 6-foot nurse shark was right next to us! I tapped Sue on her leg to get her attention but she kept writing on her slate. So I pounded her leg. That got her attention! She turned around in time to see the shark too.

That afternoon I did a beach dive with Karl, Brittany and Jim. The conditions were kinda “iffy” with the big waves that the North wind had brought. My trained splendid toadfish came right out and performed its show for us. Every one was quite impressed. I don’t have any idea just how many spotted morays we saw but I am sure that it was more than five. We also saw a viper moray, a yellow stingray and a lobster. Everyone liked the lizardfish, peacock flounder and spotted drum. Brittany wasn’t afraid of anything!

Monday, April 4th

I dived Palancar Gardens with Karl, Brittany, Bob, Sue, Shawna, Dave and Dallas. We swam through lots of pretty archways and tunnels. We saw some big black groupers playing all around us by the first cave. I showed Sue another big anemone that went back into its hole.

Then I dived Yucab where Bob & Sue completed their navigational skills for Advanced Open Water. The current was light and at least it was going the right direction this day.

I started the Open Water Referral for the Bollman family while Grace and Richard came along and completed a Discover Scuba Diving class. We stay pretty shallow and got some skills completed.

Then Grace and Richard went home and I did one more dive with the kids. The did great and we saw lots of fish and eels and a lobster.

Tuesday, April 5th

For the deep dive we went to Palancar Horseshoe with Bob, Sue, Karl, Brittany, Jim, Mari, Mike and Grace. Chucho came along so that we could split the group between deep divers and shallow beginners. The shallow divers saw a turtle on the way to the reef. Bob, Sue and I missed it. Karl spotted another turtle swimming by. A third turtle was sleeping on the bottom. We also saw a big lobster and a 4-foot barracuda swam over Bob’s head and snapped !

At Paso Del Cedral we saw more barracudas. There was a shy splendid toadfish and a huge spotted eagle ray.

In the afternoon I took Katie, Chelsea, Martha, Aaron, Karen, John and John to Chankanaab. We saw tons of lobsters and everyone wanted to know if they tasted good!

Then we were off to Yucab where there were more lobster and that got everyone thinking about garlic butter………John said that it was like swimming in an aquarium.

Wednesday, April 6th

I dedicated this day to Mike and Amy’s shore dives. Amy brought me an Open Water Referral and we did both of the training dives from shore at Paradise. On the first dive we saw lots of spotted moray eels and a chain eel. The chain eels are my favorite. My trained toadfish wasn’t there that day. We also saw a big crab. All three of us had to work hard because the current was pretty strong for the first half of the dive.

Fortunately for the second dive the current had slowed down to its normal gentle push. There were even more eels and a small lobster. I found a second chain eel in the coral head right next to the first so I think that they are “mates”. A juvenile spotted drum fluttered its ribbon like fins at us. A scorpion fish glared at us as we studied him. There was a yellow stingray too.

Thursday, April 7th

To finish Amy’s dives Mike & Amy were accompanied by Bob & Sue on Colombia. The first turtle was silhouetted against the blue surface as it paddled up for a gulp of air. The second turtle was a small hawksbill a lot closer for us to see swimming over the coral reef. I was surprised that we only saw two turtles.

There were two more turtles on Dalila. The first one was sleeping under the reef and looked groggy and surprised to see us there - staring at it. The second turtle was a tiny little baby. Sue yanked on Bob’s fin to get his attention and point it out. We saw a pair of spotted drums together and later there was a trio of the little beauties. There were several schools of smooth trunkfish and I remembered how Muffin likes those. I will take her there on the 24th to see them.

Friday, April 8th

We were off to Palancar Gardens with Bob, Sue, Katie, Chelsea, Karen, John & John for the first real dive after certification. Before we entered the water, Katie told her dad that he had to pay her $1. USD if she showed him a turtle. I found the first and second turtles so I was thinking down there that John owed me $2. USD! But John found the third one that was an uncommon green turtle. I found the fourth turtle and some big cubera snappers. We had two different southern stingrays and a yellow stingray too.

There was a lot of happy chatter on the boat afterwards. Katy still tried to collect from her dad even though I was the one who spotted those turtles!

Then we were off to Paradise reef. There were lots of moray eels there. We saw some pretty seashells and some lobsters.

Saturday, April 10th

My first dive trip was to Palancar Caves with Bob, Sue, Tony, Mike, Amy, Tim and Kathy. We had a good turtle day. There was a turtle sitting still eating a sponge. The other two were pretty close. I was really frustrated when I saw a big eagle ray out in the blue water and I turned around to show Tony but he was still in the cave. By the time Tony came out of the cave the ray was gone.

We got dropped off on French Reef but we dived Palancar Gardens because the current was going the opposite direction of normal. Carlos warned me but I didn’t listen to him so it was my fault. I still don’t know why I didn’t pay attention to him. I usually do… It was a great dive anyway. There were enough lobsters to feed a family of eight. One of the lobsters was as big as the boat! (well, maybe not that big….. ) We also saw a southern stingray.

Monday, April 11th

I went to Yucab with Tony, Mike, Amy, Warren the birthday boy, Tony, Jim and Shirley. There were loads of splendid toadfish and I even coaxed one completely out of its hiding hole. We saw the usual lobsters and on Shirley’s safety stop I saw a big nurse shark swimming off to the East. Warren took off after it but I don’t think he saw it.

Then we went to Tormentos where Amy found a little spotted drum. We searched the grassy area for a seahorse to no avail. We only found a yellow stingray. On the reef we saw a pair of big groupers.

Wednesday, April 13th

The first tank was on Colombia Deep with Tony, Jim, Shirley, Tim, Holly, Kent, Tim and Kathy. Coming around a towering coral formation two hawksbill turtles were sitting together on the bottom. Tim got a few great shots of the darling little guys. After everyone else was up, Tony and I encountered one more, lazy little turtle resting on the coral. It didn’t want to have any part of us and promptly hid under a coral ledge.

The second tank was on French Reef. I could hear Holly’s voice through her regulator when I took her by the hand and brought her face to face with the big crab hiding in a dark recess on the reef. The current really picked up for the second part of the dive and we flew by a few big groupers.

Thursday, April 14th

Jeeze! What a day! We had just enough North wind to screw up my beach dives but not enough to close the port.

First I did a shore dive with Trish, Tom, Alex & Jake. Getting in was rough, at best, due to the waves. There were thimble jellyfish everywhere and the boys hated them. Once we got down 30 feet, there were no more jellyfish and the boys liked the diving a whole lot better. The enjoyed seeing the little spotted morays, colorful fish and lobsters.

We got back in the water for a second dive but decided to get right back out. We were working too hard in those conditions and decided to go to lunch instead.

We went back in the afternoon. Steve and Joanne joined us. There were still breakers on the beach, still thimble jellyfish and lots of current. So we got in, did skills and got the heck out.

My fourth time in we did more tour because Joanne hadn’t seen the lobsters and eels yet, so I took her over for a peek. All in all it was a tough day but everyone still had fun. What a bunch of troupers! Steve and I were surprised at the end of the day when Joanne exclaimed, “That was fun!”

Friday, April 15th,

We picked Palancar Caves with Joanne, Steve, Tony, Jim and Shirley. The current was pushing us around and all over the place but fortunately it wasn’t strong. We swam through many caves and we ran into lots of other groups of divers trying to get out of the current.

Joanne got off of the boat and we continued on at Paso Del Cedral and Santa Rosa Shallow. The dive was like a Disneyland ride and I was glad that Joanne had opted out! The current had us flying! We finished Paso Del Cedral in 18 minutes flat and continued floating over Santa Rosa Shallow. It was an action packed dive. We flew past a small nurse shark with a grouper swimming over it. Two of the three turtles that we saw were swimming. One was just sitting on the bottom.

As I brought Jim and Shirley up for the safety stop we flew over a huge nurse shark feeding on something on the reef. It wiggled around in the sand. That afternoon I took Trish, Tom, Alex, Jake, Joanne and Steve to Colombia Shallows. I wasn’t taking any chances on this one. I thanked god for the normal conditions there. On the descent we discovered a turtle. The boys really liked that.

We did a second dive on Colombia Shallows. Now everyone was certified! I entertained the boys with various sea cucumbers. Jake found out what happens when you laugh underwater. He is really good at mask clearing. We saw a southern stingray and Trish found a stonefish. I have no idea which part of Palancar reef that Chucho dropped us. Tony, Mac, Carol, Peter, Bill, Miki and Travis were my divers. There was only about 20 to 30 feet of visibility due to a mass spawning of barrel sponges. Some sponges looked like they were smoking and others were spewing this mushy stuff that looked like wet bread. The water was very cloudy and I could hardly see the last diver in the back of the group. We did manage to spot several turtles in the murk and we all enjoyed the dive.

The current was very light at Paso Del Cedral so we only dived the “platform” part of the reef. We got really lucky on that dive. A 5-foot nurse shark with a remora on its head laid very still in the sand while we all came over and checked her out. We saw a tiny little juvenile spotted drum no bigger than a teensy wisp and a lobster. About 45 minutes into the dive we saw a small spotted eagle ray with maybe a 5-foot wingspan that passed by slowly looking for something to eat on the bottom.

In the afternoon on Colombia Deep with Ken, Anita, Darlene, Kevin, Cole, Ed and Cindi a medium-sized nurse shark greeted us coming out of the first cave. It swam by and then disappeared again in the deep water. Kevin spotted the baby turtle in the shallow water. A southern stingray was being followed around by a pesky bar jack.

On Colombia Shallows there were a couple of different little turtles and some interesting hermit crabs. The light was a bit low for pictures in the afternoon.

Tuesday, April 19th

I took Carol, Peter, Mac, Tony, Bill, Miki, Travis and Darby to French Reef. A small southern stingray was over the sand with its trademark bar jack following it around. I saw the bar jack swoop down and eat something in the sand. That is the first time I had seen a bar jack do that. There was a big turtle off in the distance. We swam out a bit but didn’t get a good look at it.

Then we went to Dalila where we saw loads of pretty fish. Overall it was a very relaxing dive.

I did an afternoon dive on Dalila again because Ed, Cindi, Darlene and Kevin wanted to see a lot of marine life. We saw three different turtles. First Darlene discovered Amanda’s turtle, the one with the white spot on its back. Then I spotted a big one at the same time as Kevin. Darlene also found the last turtle, so she got the turtle spotter award for the dive.

Since we got the requested turtles on Dalila, we went to Paso Del Cedral in search of a shark. I have had good luck there lately finding sharks. Ed showed us a big green moray eel hiding deep in a crevice. Three groupers alerted me to the presence of a 6-foot nurse shark swimming by so I filled that order too!

Wednesday, April 20th

Ken, Anita, Tony, Ed, Cindi, Carol, Peter and Mac came with me to Colombia Deep. The visibility was poor again. I suspect that a fierce current that had ripped through there just prior to our arrival stirred all the sand. We saw a hawksbill turtle eating contentedly on the reef and posing for Anita’s camera. I hope all that stirred-up sand didn’t cause any backscatter.

Per special request we returned to Paso Del Cedral to find the shark and eel again. No luck, they were both gone. The current was reversed and it was fun for me to dive it “backwards”. We finished the dive with the cave. Anita found a pair of juvenile spotted drums and I showed her a goldentail moray in some lettuce coral so that was a good dive for macro.

Inside the cave I saw a pair of good-sized lobsters in a dark recess but didn’t have my flashlight with me.

Thursday, April 21st

This time we got dropped off at the first point after the Horseshoe with Bill, Miki, Travis, Darby, Darlene, Kevin and Tony. The current was a bit strange, but manageable. That is one of Tony’s favorite dives. He loves the towering coral heads, gorgonians and the effect of the light on the reef.

Once again I went back to Paso Del Cedral. Boy, that is popular right now! Probably because of all the good critters we spot there. It seems to be the hot spot for nurse sharks. We found one just sitting very still in the sand. Everyone huddled around it and it wasn’t a bit disturbed. We also saw three lobsters that seemed either friendly or aggressive. It’s hard to tell the difference when they come crawling out at you wiggling those antennas.

Friday, April 22nd

Everyone asked to go to Tormentos. ( Everyone, being Darlene, Bill, Miki and Travis ) Tony likes to go anywhere. I saw tons of juvenile peacock flounders in the sand and various pairs of them chasing one another. I showed Bill a splendid toadfish and Miki a tiny spotted drum. In the manatee grass we searched again for a seahorse, but all we found were two or three goldspot eels, a stonefish and a yellow stingray. Everyone loved crawling around in the grass and it was hard to get everyone to come back to the reef for the safety stops! There were plenty of big groupers over on the reef as usual.

Our second dive was on Yucab where we saw lots of little lobsters and plenty of colorful fish. The top of Yucab is covered in fields of finger coral, which makes a great home for little critters.

Sunday, April 24th

Darold, Derrick, Muffin, David, Lisa, Kaweah and Natasha dived Palancar Horseshoe with me. We got lucky and there was very little, almost no current for the first 30 minutes. Derek made fun of me for scooping up sand out from around the cement block. That is a tradition for me. Some day we will dig it out. It may take 10 years but we will get it free….

The current was ripping on Dalila. We saw 2 turtles. One was swimming and the other was hiding from the current behind a sponge. I saw a nurse shark off in the distance and Tasha saw it too. It was hard to keep the group together in that swift current but Derek gave me a hand. Everyone learned the tricks of how to stop in current. Sometimes we hid behind the reef to rest. Once I grabbed David’s hand and showed him where to hang on. I felt like a flag on a flagpole in a monsoon!

Monday, April 25th

Things calmed WAY down for the Goldbergs and Murphys at Palancar Gardens. Some family members snorkeled and some of us dived. Us divers swam through coral canyons and along the drop off. We saw a lobster and a crab on that dive.

Colombia Shallow is always a good choice for a mixed group of snorkelers and divers. We saw two turtles but the snorkelers saw three. Peter also saw a huge lobster which he showed to Kyle. Jenna, Chip and I were too lazy to swim back against the current to have a look so we missed the southern stingray that went by too. I found an octopus hiding behind a mound of empty conch shells. The octopus sucks the snail out of the shell and leaves the empties there to build his fortress.

Tuesday, April 26th

My first dive of the day was on Santa Rosa Wall with Derek, Tasha, Kaweah, Bettie, Larry, Paul & Jeanine. The current was nice and slow thankfully. We saw a big grouper and a little goldentail moray.

My second dive was on Paso Del Cedral. There were big waves and the visibility was only about 50 feet. We actually had surge from the waves passing overhead. As usual the marine life was abundant there. Tasha’s computer told her to go up so I went to get Kaweah and brought the girls up. The current separated us from the group who were sitting still being entertained by a big lobster. I didn’t worry though. Derek rounded everyone u

Wednesday, April 27th

I dived Tormentos with Marty, Mike, Joe, Chip, Jenna, Peter and Kyle. We saw so many lobsters that everyone decided on a lobster dinner that night. We also saw a big, fat spotted moray. I coaxed a splendid toadfish out of its hiding hole for the group to see its beautiful yellow fins. I saw something on that dive that I have never seen before. The splendid toadfish had a little tiny baby toadfish that stuck to it like a remora. The baby couldn’t have been more than a centimeter long. I didn’t know that the baby toadfish stay with their parent throughout infancy. Such a small thing really amazed me. The only grouper that we saw was kind of small.

During the surface interval we almost sank the boat! I am not kidding. I was mortified to say the least. We wanted to drop Marty, Joe and Mike off at Playa Mia but only boats with special permission can dock there so we just pulled up in the sand like we always do at Playa Palancar. Well, when one of the boys was half way down the ladder a huge wave came and washed over the stern of our little boat. The stern filled with water and I knew at that moment that we were in serious trouble. The poor kid was almost sucked under the boat but did pop right back up to the surface safe and sound. Before we could make a move, a second wave came over the stern and then both the batteries were underwater and the water level in the boat was dangerously high. Carlos shouted for me to get everyone in the water when the third wave hit. The Enigma II was now completely beached and full of water! Carlos told us all to push. I just kept shouting for everyone to push! PUSH! I pushed with all my heart and soul and strength. By the grace of god we got the bow pointed out to sea and one motor started. That was all Carlos needed. That one motor was enough. I kept pushing until the propellers were off of the rocky bottom and Carlos took off! Once out to sea and away from the dangerous waves he bailed like mad with our bucket. He drove really fast to lift the bow and lots of the water washed out of the back. When the boat was out of danger he came to get us on that pier we were not supposed to dock on. By then I really didn’t care. That was truly scary……

We did our second dive on Yucab. We found a small nurse shark feeding on an ocean triggerfish while a black grouper hovered nearby hoping for table scraps. At one point I turned my head and a huge 5 foot barracuda was inches from my face between Peter and I. Funny that big predators are relaxing for me and a beached, sinking boat invokes a panic attack for me………. Anyway, when we got back on board after the second dive Carlos had the boat ship shape, clean as a whistle and spick and span. I was grateful to say the least. Carlos is my favorite captain that I have ever worked with and I have worked with so many different captains that I couldn’t even count them all.

Thursday, April 28th

The first tank was on French Reef with Paul, Jeanine, Tasha and Kaweah. The current was dead still when we rolled in but during the dive it picked up to a fast clip. We saw tons of lobsters in little groups of 3 or 4. A pair of turtles stuck together as we all flew past them. A solitary turtle appeared at the end of the dive right before we went up. The second tank was on Dalila where the current was so fast it stirred up the sand. The girls saw a shark and even got a picture of it but I missed it all together. We also saw a southern stingray when we first jumped in.

Friday, April 29th

This day I turned the big 40…….I took Kaweah, Natasha, Bettie and Larry to Santa Rosa Wall. Carolina joined us to take a video. Thankfully the current was manageable. Carolina found a spotted drum and we saw a turtle.

On Yucab there were loads of yellow headed jawfish everywhere. Lots of them were juveniles and we found another spotted drum.

Monday, May 2nd

I did both tanks on Paradise with Ken and Judy. Since it was just the 3 of us I brought my camera for fun. We piddled around on Paradise taking pictures of fish. There were TONS of huge crabs, tons of little lobsters and an assortment of moray eels. Ken found us a huge eagle ray. He got a shot of it, but I didn’t.

That afternoon I did a shore dive with Sara and Sam. We stayed very shallow and saw parrotfish, French angels, a spotted drum, sergeant majors and blue tangs.

Tuesday, May 3rd

I dived Yucab with Paul, Ron, Kathy, Ken & Judy. I was so pissed off when the nurse shark practically swam right under Paul and my wide angle lens was shoved down the front of my wetsuit! I missed the turtle too. Everyone was pointed it out to me as it swam away. Paul laughed at me and said he has never seen me act like a tourist before.

Then we went to one of Paul’s favorites, Chankanaab. I practiced close up shots. Ken found a bunch of feather dusters and I took a few shots. I found a pair of spotted drums in a dark recess. Unbelievably lots of yellow headed jawfish posed for my camera.

Wednesday, May 4th

Once again it was just Ken, Judy and I for some fun dives. We went back to Chankanaab and I took a bunch more pictures of the yellow headed jawfish but they didn’t come out as good as my first one. I got the rock beauties and I spent quite a bit of time on those same little spotted drums. A pudding wife was quite hungry and when I disturbed the sand with my hand it came over to see if I stirred up something to eat allowing me to get very close to its face for a close up shot. The only close up I got had a big line through it in the developing. That was a huge disappointment for me.

Then we went back to Paradise where I got a good shot of a spotted moray and a goldentail eel.

Thursday, May 5th

We saw tons of turtles on Palancar Caves. My divers were Chris, Al, Ken, Judy, Ron & Kathy. There were 2 small turtles and one really, really big boy turtle. Ron must have burned up 500 psi going after the big one. Judy spotted the pretty one taking a nap under a coral ledge. That one woke up and was all groggy. It followed us around for a while.

I think that our second dive was on Dalila or Paso Del Cedral but I forgot to write down the details! Uh oh.

Friday, May 6th

I did an afternoon dive on Santa Rosa Wall with Janet, Chuck, Pam, Steve, Terry and Jake. Mother Nature was kind and gave us a nice, calm current. We swam through the tunnels and found sea cucumbers and beautiful sand dollars.

Paso Del Cedral is always such a great dive in the late afternoon. I saw the flick of a tail and I didn’t know if it was a green moray eel or a nurse shark that slipped behind the coral head. I charged after it but it disappeared. I never saw anymore of it, but everyone else did! It was a big green moray and it swam at the group behind me. Pam even got a picture of it. The next big tail I spotted belonged to a nurse shark napping on the bottom. We woke it up and it swam away. At the very end of the dive we also saw a hawksbill turtle and Janet got it on video. Throughout the dive we saw crabs and lobsters because it was late afternoon.

Saturday, May 7th

I took Ken, Judy, Matt, Liz and Chris to French Reef. Wow! The first 15 minutes of the dive we were accosted by turtles J It is still undecided as to exactly how many turtles we did see. One followed us, or we followed it for about 5 minutes. Chris found a little nurse shark hiding in a hole that absolutely refused to come out and be seen.

Then we went to Paso Del Cedral. Chris said that was the best dive yet! There were lobsters, a huge spotted drum, a stingray and a big nurse shark swam by at the end. Everyone loves that dive site and the nurse sharks that live there.

Sunday, May 8th

Stacy and Jody needed a refresher and wanted to check out the new scuba gear that they had bought so we did a shore dive at Paradise. We saw spotted morays, goldentail morays, a goldspotted eel, and my very favorite, a chain eel. We saw both juvenile and adult spotted drums, crabs, lobsters and a trumpet fish. The girls were impressed at how close you could get to all of the fish.

Monday, May 9th

My first dive of the day was at Palancar Horseshoe with Ron, Stacy, Jody, Mike, Stan, John and Marisa. We swam between towering coral formations. A damsel fish bravely defended its territory. Stan pointed out a small green moray eel. It slithered into a hole with a lobster and we took pictures of it.

My photographers wanted to see a toadfish so we went back to Paso Del Cedral. I know where they live there. I found 3 in all but they were shy and wouldn’t come out to be photographed properly. We also saw a humungous lobster, a fat barracuda and a big grouper.

Tuesday, May 10th

On Palancar Caves Gary, Janet, Marisa, John, Matt, Liz, Stan and Mike saw 3 different turtles. One was at the surface snacking on the millions of thimble jellyfish. Gary pointed out a swimming southern stingray.

On Dalila I swam back against the current to have a peek at a big green moray eel hiding in a hole. All I could see was its tail. Then this crazy barracuda came by. It swam right up to each of us and snapped. It actually snapped right at Matt’s face and then banged him in the side of the head just over his left ear with its snout. It honestly scared the !#$%^&+_)(* out of me. ( not to mention Liz and Marisa too ) Gary reached out to grab its tail and it swam away. I have never seen a barracuda do that before. I hope I never do again either! Mike and Stan found a small nurse shark.

Thursday, May 11th

Kathy loves Palancar Caves so that is where I dived again with Ron, Kathy, John, John & Matt. Kathy has good taste. I saw 7 different turtles. Ron and Kathy saw another pair of turtles together that I didn’t see. Those thimble jellyfish are really bringing in the turtles this year. It is also mating season.

On French Reef we saw 6 or 7 more turtles! Cozumel is having a turtle party this week. At the end of the dive when Ron was out of film a tame eagle ray was feeding on something in the sand. It was accompanied by a pair of scavenging permits. Ron and Kathy hung out with her for a while.

Friday, May 13th

Gary & Janet requested Las Palmas. Jody and Stacy were not disappointed. We saw quite a few splendid toadfish. Gary and Janet found a couple of turtles. There were both spotted and goldentail eels on that dive. Gary forgot to put the spotted drum in his logbook too.

Janet loves Paradise so that is where we did our second dive. There were a couple more toadfish and a goldentail moray out swimming around. Janet really loves the transparent little gobies on the bottom and I can’t find them in the Paul Humann books. So I don’t know what they are called.

Monday, May 16th

Gary, Janet, John, Tracy, Misty & Anthony came with me to Palancar Bricks. We went in search of five turtles for Gary. We found four of them!. The 2nd & 3rd turtles were beautiful little green turtles that are very uncommon here in Cozumel. It is my opinion, that they have the prettier shell.

We were hoping to find the 5th turtle on French Reef, but we were out of luck. Janet found a bunch of lobsters and showed them to Gary. I don't know if he got a picture of them or not.

Wednesday, May 18th

Exploring more of Palancar, we went to the Gardens with Gary, Janet, Zach, Charisse, Andy and John. We saw several lobsters while John and Andy's girlfriends snorkeled above us.

Colombia Shallow is always good for combining divers and snorkelers, so that was our second dive site. There we found Gary and Janet's 25th turtle of the trip. That is a lot of turtles! We also hung out with some rainbow parrotfish and Janet's new favorite, the lizardfish.

Thursday, May 19th

I took my very first scuba instructor Dennis and his wife Lisa diving on Palancar Caves. It was sooooo strange leading a dive for my Open Water Instructor but it was also very nice to be back in the water with him. They were impressed that we saw four turtles. Palancar Caves is a good place for seeing turtles. The last one was really well hidden in a dark recess taking a nap. I brought the camera along but my pictures came out kind of blue because I think I was on the wrong F-stop. Oh well.

We saw another turtle on Dalila and a spotted drum too. A docile nurse shark rested in a protected area from the current that was a bit on the strong side that day.

Friday, May 20th

Santa Rosa Wall is a "don't miss" sort of dive so that is where I took Dennis and Lisa. For the first 20 minutes we had the wall all to ourselves. Dennis swam around looking at all the tasty seafood. We sat in the cave and shined the flashlight on the brightly colored sponges growing on the roof and walls of the cave.

When we crossed over to Santa Rosa Shallow we saw a spotted eagle ray. Lisa and I saw a scorpion fish swimming away from a damsel fish. Another scorpion fish just blended in with the reef. Two big barracuda hovered over a cleaning station getting their teeth cleaned.

Dennis and Lisa like the wall so I took them over to San Francisco Wall. We saw a splendid toadfish and more seafood supper. Dennis seems to think about garlic butter as he swims around.

Saturday, May 21st

Some one said that they wanted to see a turtle. I can't remember if it was Sandy, Curtis, Nicola or Tony, but Palancar Caves was the logical place. Everyone comes up from that dive saying, "WOW!" We found two turtles which is not a lot, but it certainly made the divers happy. Jorge came over and gave me a big smooch underwater.

Seven lobsters huddled together and waved hello at us with their antennas on French Reef. A mated pair of yellow-headed jaw fish bobbed up and down from their holes. The male had a clutch full of eggs in his mouth that he was caring for. A big black grouper swam right past Sandy. Sandy pointed out sea cucumbers.

Tuesday, May 24th

My first tank of the day was on Yucab with Debra, Robert, Max and Margie. We saw a splendid toadfish and a spotted drum. There was an enormous lobster out strutting his stuff in the open.

There were schools of snappers, more lobsters and a barracuda on San Francisco Wall.

Wednesday, May 25th

I dived on Palancar Horseshoe with Debra, Robert, Margie and Max. We swam through the towering reef formations. A small turtle swam by overhead. I dug out my traditional handfuls of sand from around the cement block. Maybe in a hundred years or so we will have that thing uncovered again.

We found two more turtles for Debra on Dalila. Another barracuda made an appearance for us.

Friday, May 27th

This day I got to grant everyone's wish. Margie and Max requested some more "cavy things". Chauna and Wendell wanted a turtle, so guess where we went…to…Palancar Caves! We got both, of course. One turtle came right up and almost bumped into Max's mask. I chased another little one around the top of the reef for a while.

There was way too much marine life on Santa Rosa Shallows later that day. Wendell found a splendid toadfish. I found five different juvenile spotted drums. There were enough lobsters to feed Carlos' family and he has ten brothers and sisters. A big turtle surfaced for a gulp of air. A six-foot nurse shark swam across a sandy bottom. During the safety stop, the grand daddy of all southern stingrays was being followed around by four more normal sized rays. I think that might have been the largest southern stingray that I have ever seen. He looked as large as a spotted eagle ray.

Saturday, May 28th

Margie, Max, Nicole, Brad, Amy, Chaun and Wendell came with me to French Reef. We saw one little turtle while a larger turtle went to the surface to breath. We also saw a small lobster.

At Paso del Cedral we practiced hovering and swimming through the wider part of the cave without touching anything or kicking up sand. That is really tough to do. I showed Amy two splendid toadfish with my flashlight.

Sunday, May 29th

I spent the first 20 minutes on Cedral Wall with Chaun, Wendell, Amy and Brad. Then we all swam over to the cave at Cedral again. Right before we reached the cave, a turtle posed on top of the coral for Wendell's camera. This time we went through the whole cave, not just the more wide easy part. As I came out of the cave, I was greeted by three large black groupers that were shadow hunting with a hungry nurse shark. At first, only Amy and Brad saw it as they were the first divers out of the cave. But within seconds she appeared again, swam away and reappeared! When she came back she was not alone. She had another shark on the hunt with her! The pair split up and a third shark appeared out of the blue. It was really quite thrilling. Amy described the dive as totally extreme!

We picked up Ted, Elizabeth and Will for the second dive on Colombia Shallow. I finally found Wendell's eel there. But it was just a tiny little goldentail. We also saw lobsters, a yellow stingray, a lizardfish that made me think of Janet and schools of grunts. The best part of the dive was a graceful eagle ray eating conches in the sand.

Tuesday, May 31st

My first dive of the day was on Palancar Gardens with Ted, Elizabeth, Will, Margie, Max, Louis and Nichole. We swam through Margie's "cavy things" and saw two different turtles. As I was shining my little flashlight on a pair of lobsters under a ledge, I discovered a big crab.

There were tons and tons of lobsters on Santa Rosa Shallow. There was some evidence of poaching. Broken antennas lay strewn about. Some interesting critters that we saw were a trumpet fish and a scorpion fish. On the safety stop we saw another big eagle ray that was determined to suck its lunch out of the sand.

Wednesday, June 1st

I was off to Santa Rosa Wall with Ted, Elizabeth, Will, Margie, Max, Louis and Nichole. We swam through lots of caves and Elizabeth spotted a turtle that I missed.

At San Francisco Wall one big shark was hiding behind a coral mound to get out of the current. One little shark was sleeping in a similar hole. The current was pretty fast but all divers managed it well. A school of 10 barracuda swam against the current. The sandy area at the end of the dive was littered with starfish and sand dollars.

Sunday, June 5th

Jamie, John, Jeff, Dave, Todd, Zach, Dan and Matt came with me to San Francisco Wall. That same big shark was sitting in the exact same spot four days later! There were a couple of barracudas hanging around too.

We saw four turtles on Cedral Wall. One of which was a tiny little baby. Dave got some good shots of the tortugas. Then we swam over to Paso Del Cedral but everyone was low on air so we never made it to the cave. Oh well……

Monday, June 6th

I dived with the same gang again. The kids love caves, so I took them to Palancar Caves. They said that was the best dive they ever did in their lives. They are 14 years old, so how many dives can they have? But they sure were happy! We swam through plenty of caves and saw three different turtles. Jeff found a lobster for us.

At Dalila we had a nice current so we didn't have to swim much. Todd grabbed my tank from behind and shook it to get my attention. He pointed out a little nurse shark hiding behind a sponge. There were lots of splendid toadfish out that day because it was rainy and overcast.

Tuesday, June 7th

My first dive of the day was on Palancar Horseshoe with Alvin, Jeff, Todd, Dave, Jamie, John and Zach. As I was going through a really big archway I looked up to find a turtle in under the roof with us. I think we kind of freaked it out a bit and she quickly swam away.

The pet lobster was in its usual spot, just past the cement block. I was sure to scoop out just a few more handfuls of sand. I tortured a poor damsel fish as it tried desperately to make me get away from its algae patch.

Our second dive was on Tormentos. Upon decent Jeff pointed wildly to the bottom where a spotted eagle ray feasted on what Dave says was most likely a clam. That ray was quite determined and dug a deep hole with its head in the sand. It stayed just east of us for the first 15 minutes of the dive. Dark skies made for lots of splendid toadfish and Dave and Todd got some good shots of them. We found gold spot eels in the sea grass beds. Todd and I could not find that little red seahorse from last year.

Wednesday, June 8th

My divers were Todd, Jeff, Dan, Dave and Jamie on Santa Rosa Wall per special request by Jamie. Dave filmed cero mackerel. We saw lots of small black groupers. On the safety stop a small nurse shark swam below us and Todd filmed it. There were also some big barracuda. They were probably the same ones from the other day.

On Paso del Cedral we swam through that long cave. Two lobsters were hiding in the dark. I wouldn't have been able to see them if I didn't have my flashlight. We saw loads of other lobsters and a huge snapper. When we came up, Dan asked me what that big fish was and I told him, "dinner!"

Monday, June 13th

After taking an intro to dry suit diving class at Monterey Bay Dive Center in California, Bob, Sylvie and I tried out the new suits at the Breakwater. Getting in and out of the suit was a lot of work and I could hardly bend over to put on my fins! It was awkward and I felt like a "newbie" diver. I struggled a bit with buoyancy control in the big suit. My lips hurt from the cold water. My hands and feet went completely numb. We had a beautiful dive despite all the discomfort. We saw millions of red, orange and purple bat stars. There were anemones of all colors and we found a couple of jumbo-sized nudibranch. Two were completely white and one was lemon yellow. They were huge as far as nudibranchs go…about the size of my thumb or bigger.

Our second freezing cold dive was "on the pipe" just a few hundred yards over from the breakwater. Entry, exit and navigation were all trickier in that particular area. Sylvie pointed out the biggest maroon colored sea hare that I have seen in my life. The light beaming down through the kelp forest was surreal. On our return trip to the beach Bob saw the sea lion that buzzed Sylvie. When we returned to shore, the tide had come in and we had a hard time finding the landmark cement block that we were supposed to use as a guide between the rocks. Getting out was hard with the waves and hidden rocks. I was EXTREMELY cold and uncomfortable and did not want to dive again the next day. I couldn't return the rental gear fast enough that afternoon.

However, at dinner that night over "appletinis" I decided that I do love diving Monterey Bay just as much as Cozumel and I want to give it another try. (I think that next time I will try it in my very own wetsuit with a 5mm hooded vest underneath.) If I am going to freeze I might as well do it in my own suit and be able to bend over. Hopefully I won't need 30 something pounds of weight either!

Sunday, June 19th

My first day back to work was with Craig, Lisa, Richard, Karin and John. We went to Palancar Horseshoe and during the first 15 minutes all I could think of was how easy it is to dive in Cozumel! I felt like I was just walking down the street. Of course it helped that I had 5 advanced divers and I didn't really have to work. I just had to swim around and find stuff. We encountered 2 turtles and after 56 minutes we were on Palancar Gardens and I showed John the big brain coral that he had asked about on the boat.

During our surface interval a pod of 15 to 20 dolphins came by. Everyone donned mask, snorkel and fins. Lisa and Karin were armed with cameras! There were 2 or 3 babies swimming beside their mothers. Our second tank was on French Reef where a small eagle ray hung out with us for a while. Karin found another turtle.

Monday, June 20th

I took Lauren, Craig, Lisa and Richard to Santa Rosa Shallow for Lauren's first open water dive. There were a couple of southern stingrays buried in the sand. As we approached them, they took off swimming. Craig grabbed Lauren's hand and brought her over for a look at a puffer fish. I think she likes the squirrelfish the best. Rae Ann and Megan got on for the second dive on Colombia Shallow. There were loads of little lobsters everywhere. Since it was rainy and overcast the night creatures thought it was dusk, so they were more visible.

Tuesday, June 21st

It was rush hour on Palancar Caves with Lisa, Craig, Karin, John, Richard, Steve and Kyle. Sometimes I didn't know if I should go right, left, through the tunnel, up, down or where ever, because we were surrounded by tons of other divers. My group did a fantastic job of staying together and following me.

Lisa got a shot of her requested turtle. Little did we know that we were going to see tons more turtles over the next 10 days. The orange sponges were reproducing which made for less than normal visibility. The barrel sponges had this cream colored goopy stuff dripping off of them. I have no idea what it was, but it looked kind of like chewing gum. I am sure of only one thing. It has something to do with reproduction.

Carey got on for the second dive and we went to Cedral Wall. We found one more turtle for Lisa. John saw one turtle early on, but I missed it completely.

Wednesday, June 22nd

I went back to Palancar Caves with Gary, Nic, Ben, Jim, Adam, Kyle and Mike. We saw the first turtle as we were going down. The second was inside of a cave eating a sponge. They always get so nervous when a diver is in the cave with them, poor things. I can't blame them.

Then we were off to French Reef. Steve was honorary divemaster on this dive. He found everything! First he showed us a green moray eel hiding under a small coral head. Then he found us 4 more turtles! The last turtle was Amanda's turtle…, which is a little hawksbill with a white spot on her back.

Thursday, June 23rd

I asked Karin to show me where she saw the seahorses on Tormentos. I told her if she could find one her dive was free! So Lisa, Craig, Richard, Karin, John, Lauren and Carey swam around looking for seahorses. Karin & John searched for a pair of big ones to no avail. I swear it is like finding a needle in a haystack. While Lauren and I were at the surface doing skills I looked down and a small nurse shark swam by underneath us.

Carey got off so that Megan and Rae Ann could get on and we went to Dalila. We had an amazing birthday dive. The first nurse shark was huge and had its own remora. The second shark was smaller and swimming faster. I found a green moray eel hiding in a dark crevice. Lisa was the first to spot the big eagle ray. Then when we re-grouped, we floated into a trio of rainbow parrotfish. It was one of those action packed dives. Just one critter after another!

Friday, June 24th

My first tank of the day was on Palancar Caves with Peggy, Ken, Eric, Craig, Karin and John. We saw 4 different turtles. The first 20 minutes of the dive we had the reef all to ourselves and it was just the turtles and our group of divers. Then the flotilla arrived and we were once again surrounded on all sides by other groups of divers. It is best to go early before other divers show up. Lisa joined us for a dive on San Francisco Wall. I promised Camel Boy a case of beer if he could produce a seahorse and he came through for me. Now I have to pay up.

It was a big, blackish brown one. Peggy asked for a toadfish and I found one on the wall. A small turtle with barnacles all over its back was eating sponge from the bottom of a chunk of broken finger coral. It was surrounded by at least 10 colorful angelfish. It surfaced for air and Karin said that it came right back down again and resumed munching the same tasty tidbit.

Saturday, June 25th

I dived Santa Rosa Wall with Ken, Eric and Peggy. A hawksbill turtle glided 10 feet below us looking for breakfast. We saw several small lobsters. Since we arrived early this time, we avoided the crowds. A bit of current picked up for the first time this week. We saw a goldentail moray poking its head out of the reef at us.

Our second dive was on Tormentos. There were tons and tons of black groupers. There were also lots more little lobsters and more current. We practiced hiding from the current behind the coral heads.

Sunday, June 26th

Karin, John, Lisa, Craig and Richard came with me to Santa Rosa Wall. Yellow-headed jaw fish popped up from their holes in the sand to catch plankton floating in the water. A lizardfish that was buried in the sand was startled as I approached it. We saw a big southern stingray at the very end of the dive when we were ascending. Carey and Lauren got on for a dive at the end of French Reef and most of Dalila. I coaxed a splendid toadfish out of its hiding hole. Karin didn't know that they are such beautiful fish since she had never seen one completely out before. They have stunning yellow fins.

We saw a big turtle ascend to the surface to breath and come on back down again. Lauren was certified on this dive!

Monday, June 27th

Tim, Deborah, Mark and Greg requested the famous Palancar. Roman came along and took a DVD of the dive. First he filmed a yellow stingray. Then we petted a furry sea cucumber. The sea cucumbers are all soft and squishy. While we were on the top of the reef, a southern stingray swam by. Schools of big snappers were everywhere on Yucab. I don't think that I have ever seen so many be snappers on just one dive before. Since it was overcast and rainy again, the lobsters were easy to find. There were lots of them too. I think Roman might have got a good shot of the stonefish.

Tuesday, June 28th

I did a resort course for Emma and Alison. Joan and Harley came along for moral support. We did the resort course near shore at Paradise where we saw lots of big spotted moray eels. Joan liked the brittle stars that cling to the purple vase sponges. Then we moved over to the reef where we saw a splendid toadfish. Harley pretended to do battle with a donkey dung sea cucumber. I wish I had a picture of that.

A small eagle ray swam by in the distance and we all got to see it.

Wednesday, June 29th

Per special request I went to Jorge's reef with Craig, Lisa, Richard and Carey. We saw a couple of turtles and a big graceful eagle ray off in the distance. A huge black grouper captured everyone's attention on the corner of the wall all covered with sea fans. There were loads of barracuda and a big black one made a slow pass at Ricardo but he never saw it.

Craig spotted the giant lobster out prowling the top of the reef. Karin would have been drooling. It looked like dinner a few nights before. Lisa said that it might be chewy though.

Megan, Rae Ann and Lauren joined us for the second tank on top of Palancar Caves. Our goal was to find a turtle for the ladies. We found 4 of them. Poor Megan struggled with equalization the whole time. She was quite frustrated, not to mention uncomfortable. Her right ear just would not clear.

Thursday, June 30th

Richard, Craig, Lisa and Carey wanted to do a couple of dives close to the hotel so we went to Santa Rosa Wall. Ricardo loves that place. I thought of Lauren when we found another furry sea cucumber because she really likes them. A big puffer fish was hanging out right by the sea cucumber. At the end of the dive a big barracuda chased Craig around a little bit.

Megan, Rae Ann and Lauren got on for the second dive and we went over to Santa Rosa Shallow. We saw lots of lobsters and more puffer fish. I swam Lauren over to the wall to see the furry sea cucumber and by then everyone was ready to go up.

Friday, July 1st

I did a shallow dive on Palancar Gardens with Jeremy, Jared, Jerry, Gordon and Courtney. Jerry saw a big barracuda down at 70 feet and decided that he should get a better look. I went down to scoop him up and bring him back to where he was supposed to be. He swears he only went 50 feet. OK. I could hear Gary's voice in my head. Diving with Alison is like diving with your mother! Guess he is right…

On Paradise Jerry got all the barracudas that he could handle. They also got pictures. A big southern stingray was pigging out on something buried in the sand. A pudding wife hung around and snapped up little invertebrates that the stingray disturbed during the feeding process. It was quite a show.

Thursday, July 23rd

I finally returned to the water after 6 days on land due to the hurricane. The first dive was at Paso del Cedral with Eric, René, Eric, Mike, Laura, Tammie and Scott. I was pleased to find decent visibility and minimal damage to the reef. There are big piles of broken sponges off to a side. It looks like some one raked them all up and put them there. They will grow back quickly.

We swam through the cave and I was worried that it might be all plugged up with stuff, but it was clear as usual. When we came out of the cave a big nurse shark swam by followed by a large black grouper. René found her turtle on Yucab. There were several overhangs with big families of lobsters hiding out. There were plenty of individual lobsters too. We saw a pair of large splendid toadfish. One was shy and the other was not so bashful.

Tuesday, July 26th

I took Mike, Laura, Eric, Tammie and Scott to Palancar Caves. We spent the first 31 minutes swimming in and out of tunnels. The next 20 minutes were spent on top of the reef at the 1st point after the Horseshoe. Then we drifted in shallow water until we reached the cement block at Horseshoe. When I saw it, I was amazed. It was cathartic to see that after the hurricane. Not only was it completely unburied, but so was the entire coral ledge that it sits upon as well. I have never seen it in that state before. After years of swimming by and scooping up little handfuls of sand trying to uncover it, but knowing all the while that it was futile, the base was finally free. Not that I am so emotionally attached to a big chunk of cement, it is what it represents to me. Mother Nature giveth and Mother Nature taketh away! That block is a landmark and represents to me all of the changes for good and for bad that Cozumel has incurred in the last 13 years that I have been here.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention the four turtles that we saw……… Dalila took a hard hit from hurricane Emily. However, the damage there is nothing that won't recover in a year or so. Dalila was always so strikingly colorful, but the sponges are what add color to the reef and they are the most damaged. So for today, Dalila looks a little naked. Fortunately, the fish and all of the big sharks are still there. We saw two huge nurse sharks and I saw a big loggerhead turtle. Dalila still has plenty of beautiful animals everywhere.

Wednesday, July 27th

I dived at Santa Rosa Wall with Tammie, Scott, Mike, Laura, Eric and Roger. As we were arriving on the bottom, I turned my head to see Laura pointing out a turtle making its way to the surface. I bet we woke it up with our splashing. As soon as we were on top of the reef, another turtle appeared. Mike got a shot of it with his camera.

A huge lobster greeted us as we came out of the cave. In the shallows a 7-foot nurse shark rested in the sand. Roger accused me of "planting" it there. On Cedral Wall a full-grown hawksbill sat on the bottom as if it were waiting for us. Then it lifted off, went to the surface to breath and came right back down again. A free- swimming green moray eel passed right under Tammie and Scott. Scott was wondering if it would bite!

Thursday, July 28th

All the turtles were in the shallow part at Colombia Pinnacles. Tammie, Scott, Mike, Eric, and Laura saw plenty of them towards the end of the dive. I think there were at least four of them, but it is hard to remember… There were loads of lobsters on French Reef. We also encountered several southern stingrays. One was buried in the sand until we got close and spooked it.

We also saw another turtle.

That afternoon I went to Dalila with Troy, Roger, Robin and Al. We saw a Cozumel splendid toadfish, more lobsters and another turtle. The fourth dive of the day for me was on Paso del Cedral. I felt bad when a beautiful eagle ray glided by right in front of Roger. Mike had been asking to see one and this eagle ray appeared two dives too late for Mike. We swam with another turtle and Troy found the big nurse shark lying around on the bottom. Roger went right over and snapped a picture.

Friday, July 29th

I wanted something easy with no current, so Roger, Troy, Kathy, Jim, Nick, Graham (my favorite diver), Molly and Mary came with me to Chankanaab. A pair of humungous barracudas were getting their teeth cleaned at a cleaning station. We spotted a couple of lobsters and a turtle appeared at the end of the dive.

Our second easy dive was on Paradise. We saw a scorpion fish and a splendid toadfish. There is relatively little damage to Paradise.

I did a third dive on Santa Rosa Wall with Roger, Troy, Robin, Al and Brent. We saw the little hawksbill with barnacles growing on its back. I was glad to see she made it through the hurricane. We also saw a big lobster and a southern stingray.

Last but not least, we went to San Francisco Wall. My little black sea horse that I paid a case of beer for was nowhere to be seen. I guess the hurricane must have swept the little bugger over the wall. My little nurse shark was still hanging around and I was very pleased to see it. But the shark was not nearly as flirtatious as before. I think I am going to name it "Notchka" after a character in Paul's books. The little shark has a small notch in its dorsal fin.

We saw a giant lobster win a territorial battle with another big lobster and an eagle ray glided by just as Al and Brent were heading up.

Saturday, July 30th

I wanted to go back and see the block on Palancar Horseshoe with Roger, Troy, Kathy, Jim, Nick, Graham, Molly and Mary. We saw a medium sized turtle that first appeared in the deep water and later went into a cave in front of us. Next, we saw a little baby turtle. It swam right under Nick and Graham. There were just too many lobsters at Yucab. It was impossible to count them all. I think it would have taken everyone three days to eat them all if they had been on a plate.

Sunday, July 31st

The boys wanted to go to the shipwreck. Roger, Graham and Nick talked Mary, Kathy and Jim into going there. Everyone thought that it was really cool. The usual lobsters and crabs were hanging around under the ship and a few groupers were skulking in dark corners. The schools of silversides and glassy sweepers were smaller than usual but still present. I guess those groupers ate them all.

Jim loved Las Palmas. He said that it was his favorite dive yet. He described it astwo dive sites in one. Kathy felt like we were on a treasure hunt. We saw tons of splendid toadfish and a goldentail moray. Graham won the shark prize for the week. He shined Roger's flashlight under a small coral head and discovered a baby nurse shark taking a nap. There were also huge king crabs and arrow crabs nearby.

Monday, August 1st

Per special request I dived Dalila with Kathy, Jim, Nick, Graham, Molly and Mary. Molly floated around about 10 feet above us all giving her the best vantage point. She spotted first one eagle ray feeding in the sand, and then discovered that the big ray was not alone.

There was a second eagle ray just behind it. Both of them were dining on something buried in the sand. I ducked into a cave. My favorite diver, Graham, followed me into the cave and we saw a giant lobster strutting his stuff.

The boys got bored on San Francisco Wall. The current was pretty swift and Graham took off his fins and went for a weightless space walk in the sand.

Tuesday, August 2nd

With Jim, Kathy, Nick, Graham, Mary and Molly on Paso del Cedral I checked a little cave where the green moray eel used to live many years ago. There is always something good hiding in there now that the eel is gone. This time we discovered a big crab hanging upside down from the roof of the cave. Later, we found a dead crab in a hole. I tried to imagine what had happened to it and I figured that it probably died in the hurricane.

We searched for a big shark for Kathy but we had no luck. Then we went on another treasure hunt at Las Palmas. We found a couple more splendid toadfish, several spotted moray eels, tons of lobsters, some big crabs and a starfish.

Wednesday, August 3rd

Carlos got to pick the reef we dove that morning. He chose French reef. My divers were Kevin, Jeff, James, Scott, Troy, John, Robin and Al. We saw tons of lobsters. Kevin showed us a splendid toadfish. He also spotted a turtle… but I was making a safety stop with someone at the time and couldn't go have a peek.

Troy discovered the spotted eagle ray in the sand. It was feeding and a permit followed it around to see what it could get. The second dive was on Paso del Cedral. This time we found a baby nurse shark in the little cave. I saw a small (100 pound) goliath grouper off to one side of the reef. There were more lobsters than we could count.

Thursday, August 4th

Scott loves Colombia Deep so I took him, Robin, Sean and Krista there. I can't believe we didn't see even one turtle! We did see a group of lobsters though. But really, there were no big critters on this dive. Descending on Tormentos, we saw a turtle gliding over the top of the reef. Scott stumbled upon a huge barracuda and another barracuda that was not quite as big made a slow pass. We saw loads more antenna-wiggling lobsters and a big black grouper hovered under a ledge.

Saturday, August 5th

Our first stop was on Palancar Gardens with Lawrence, Debi, Becky, Bill, Scott, James and Sean. Scott and James found a green moray eel in the shallow area just after they got down. We saw large barracuda and a huge grouper who hung out in a canyon cut out of the coral. It sat really still while we observed it.

Toward the end of the dive, we collided with another group of divers who scared a little turtle over our way. This same little shark was in the same hole on Paso del Cedral. We had a strong current and everyone hung in there really well. I tried to imagine how they felt diving in current like that for the first time. It must have been quite an experience for them.

Monday, Aug. 8th

I took Mike, Julia, Sean, Patrick, Sean, Krista, Becky and Will to Santa Rosa Wall. We had really calm conditions for which I was very much grateful. The only big animal that we saw on this dive was a large turtle Mike pointed out that was off in the blue swimming up for a gulp of air.

On Las Palmas we saw several splendid toadfish, lots of lobsters and a couple of spotted drums. There were two different kinds of moray eels, goldentail and spotted.

After lunch I took Cilla, Bruce and Terrell to Palancar Horseshoe. We were so lucky! We saw a good sized turtle under a rock. It woke up and swam slowly away. Then a big spotted eagle ray glided by. A jumbo jet sized lobster pranced around first through a cave and later clung to the wall.

We did another dive on Horseshoe but on an area a bit south of our first dive. There was one more little turtle and we spent lots of time on the cement block.

Tuesday, Aug. 9th

I tried to go to Palancar Caves with Mike, Sean, Patrick, Julia, Becky & Will. As we were suiting up, Carlos pointed out that two of the boats that flew past us going further south turned around and were coming back. He called the current to my attention. The sand was all churned up and the ocean looked angry. There was no visibility so we turned around.

After thinking for a few minutes and driving around a bit, I decided to dive French Reef because it has a hard bottom at 60 to 65 feet. We flew along in murky water but overall it was a fun experience. Julia even saw a turtle, but no one could stop to look.

After talking to other divemasters that afternoon and the next day I was quite happy that I had made that choice.

Our second dive was at Yucab. We had little current there and good visibility. A huge green moray eel swam right up to Julia. Everyone had a great time and the difficulty of the first dive was soon forgotten. In the afternoon I dived Tormentos with Becky, Will, Cilla, Bruce, Terrell, Sean & Krista.

The current was going the wrong way. It was impossible to stop and look for the little orange seahorse. We did see some barracudas and a grouper. Will was happy to take pictures of the gorgonians.

We had such a great dive on Yucab in the morning that I took every one back there in the afternoon. Two splendid toadfish showed us their bright yellow dorsal fins. Terrell found us a turtle.

At the very end of the dive a small nurse shark put up with us staring at it for about 5 minutes.

Then we headed up. From mid-water I looked down to discover a second nurse shark size XXXL swimming towards the wall. We had some very happy divers on the boat that day!

Wednesday, Aug. 10th

My first dip of the day was on Palancar Caves with Mike, Julia, Patrick, Becky and Will. The current was pretty damn strong and that caused the sand and silt to be all stirred up. We went through some caves but we didn’t see any turtles. I don’t know if that is because the visibility was so bad or if they were just hiding in the storm.

Becky liked Tormentos so much she requested a return trip. She was also highly interested in seeing a seahorse. You can see Will’s pictures on http://www.scubastruck.com/pictures/cozumel/

I was worried that since I haven’t seen its mate since the hurricane that it had become a widower. I hope his mate has not been swept away………

I turned my head to find Becky pointing madly at a pair of nurse sharks swimming by. I wonder if they aren’t the same pair that were on Yucab the day before.

Thursday, Aug. 11th

Per special request we dived Colombia Deep with Mike, Julia, Sean, Patrick, Becky and Will. Upon reaching the bottom a big turtle was sitting still in front of the cave. When we came out of the cave on the wall the current was really swift . After 10 minutes, I cut over to the shallow area where there was more protection from the current.

Becky got my attention when she found a baby turtle. It had barnacles on its back already and it couldn’t have been more than a year old.

Frank and Joseph got on for a dive at Paradise and we saw one of the biggest barracudas that I have ever seen.

We also peeked at a few spotted moray eels. There wer