Cozumel trip

http://www.flickr.com/photos/76042652@N00/...57600072764921/

Nice stay at the Caribe Blu. Very handy for shore diving with tanks available 24 hours a day.

My Digital Rebel started dying again at the end of the trip, so I'm treating myself to the new 400D, which means I also have to get the new housing. Is there much of a market for a used Ikelite housing for the 300D?

mntlblok@bellsouth.net

Hi Kevin,

I enjoyed your gallery. I particularly liked the Barracuda in the tunnel and the eel shots. BTW...I was unfamiliar with the shots of what appeared to be a type of sea crate. Nice find there. If you don't mind sharing your hotel experience. Most of Cozumel has some current...were you affected by that on your shore dives? Anyway thanks for sharing,

Gary

Hi Kevin,

I enjoyed your gallery. I particularly liked the Barracuda in the tunnel and the eel shots. BTW...I was unfamiliar with the shots of what appeared to be a type of sea crate. Nice find there. If you don't mind sharing your hotel experience. Most of Cozumel has some current...were you affected by that on your shore dives? Anyway thanks for sharing,

 

Gary

Yeah, I thought the bite mark on the barracuda was cool.

I think the sea crate is a sharptail eel. He was busy on a hunting trip, nosing into every cranny. Whenever he really started digging at something, the other fishies in the neighborhood, especially the puddingwife, would come running, apparently looking for scraps. He was very busy and wasn't bothered by my presence at all. I kept trying to swim backwards with my fins to stay in his hunting path, but the rascal was so fast that it turned into quite a challenge. I was able to spend a long time with him, as I was typically doing that shore dive at the hotel on my own.

I made reservations for the Caribe Blu well ahead of time, having learned of it via a "shorediving" web site. It turned out that I was only able to get put on a waiting list, and was fortunate to have a room come open. It seems that most of the folks whom I met there were regulars, and a very high percentage of them were from Minnesota. I'm about to conclude that Minnesota (and Wisconsin) is populated only by very nice folks.

I had stayed a couple of times in the (distant) past at the La Ceiba a bit down the road, but I think I read that their shore dive was no longer available due to construction. I think the nearby cruise ship piers took a beating with a recent hurricane. The dive at the Caribe Blu is only about 20 feet deep, much of it only half that. The current runs left to right, but typically isn't too bad. The surge in the shallower areas sometimes made photography even more challenging than usual. :-)

The wireless internet connection for the hotel only worked in the lobby (my office :-)) and maybe the first room next to the lobby. The dive shop folks and divemasters were just dandy. I very much enjoyed the experience and would go back if I got the urge to dive without a Nekton liveaboard over me. That may not happen, as I'm gettin too old for carting the photo gear around, and keeping it from bouncing around too much on the little dive boats.

I did get a nice tip from an anesthesiologist from Minnesota (wish I could remember his name or web site), who, I believe, says he does some teaching of underwater photography and said that he has met Eric on one of those jaunts. He told me about using a soft-sided cooler for carting the housing and strobes around. I'll have one soon. Does his description ring a bell for anyone? He also wore a really cool pirate-themed Scuba-doo-rag (just learned of those on this trip). :-)

I did get a nice tip from an anesthesiologist from Minnesota (wish I could remember his name or web site), who, I believe, says he does some teaching of underwater photography and said that he has met Eric on one of those jaunts. He told me about using a soft-sided cooler for carting the housing and strobes around. I'll have one soon. Does his description ring a bell for anyone? He also wore a really cool pirate-themed Scuba-doo-rag (just learned of those on this trip). :-)

Oh, and I think I now remember that his first name was Paul. I'd love to see his web site if someone can tell me who he is from that description. TIA

Kevin

Savannah