Snorkel South Sound & Wreck of the Pallace

We explored the Sound and the wreck. Water a bit green but over all clear enough. Abundant life especially by the wreck's remains. We were not disappointed with our findings. Tracy found a big Doris (Flat Worm) white with black dots that was the high light of the day. However we also saw several Pygmy file fish, Porcupine fish, box crab, small eel ands a nice school of Needle fish. The grunts as always, were under the wreck in big numbers. Very entertaining afternoon with many photo opportunities.

The Beauties and the Beasts

Saturday 8:30 am we started gearing up for our dive. About 9 am we were in the water heading north towards Devil's Grotto. We noticed a weird current was bringing some thimble jellies, turtle grass and debris. Vis was on the low side over the shallows but nice and blue over at the Grotto. We were greeted by the school of Jacks. Over a hundred of them (I attempted to count them)! We stayed over the sand patch and let them swim by us over and over again. The Snapper was out again also, braver and more curious than before. He kept on bumping my strobes and hanging so close to the lens that any attempt to get a good picture of him was not successful. The caves had a lot of Tarpons in them. After one hour and fifteen minutes we returned to shore with some more pictures, good memories of the new interaction with the creatures and ready for our early lunch.

Great weather is back!

After seven cold fronts that brought rough seas on the west side finally, the East- North- East winds are back, strong but from the right direction! We have done several dives in the almost 30 days since the last post. In each dive we saw something new, a different behavior from known fish or introduced someone new in the world of scuba diving.
Arika took up on diving for the first time. She is a natural and we managed to get some photos and saw turtles, squid and a nurse shark. Unfortunately we saw how discarded plastic debris can badly affect the environment and the creatures that live in it. One Squirrel Fish had swam into the plastic loop from a bottle and this loop got stuck half way into its body length. As he is growing the plastic is digging into his body (dorsal fin and belly sides).
With Dario we did a few photo expeditions including a day with strong NE winds that brought swarms of Warty Jellies. With a purple bumpy bell on the top and long tentacles, these jelly fish are mildly toxic however when they show up in such quantities divers have to be very careful.
Dario and I had great sightings of Tarpons, Turtles, Squid and a big school of Jack.
We can not wait to go back and take more pictures. The reefs are very busy right now with all the food carried with the winds are currents. Until next one!

Another Dive and New Snorkel Site

Kathy and I were looking forward to do a shore dive. The plan was to dive Casuarina Point however, the South west winds had other plans for us. Checking the shore was getting rougher we decided to head over to our friends at Cobalt Coast. Conditions there were much better than the west side. A little surge coming from the Northwest Point area but in general terms pretty flat. Slight current going west once away from shore. Visibility pretty good.We encountered a friendly turtle that allowed us to observe her behavior for several minutes. Nice school of barracudas and an aggregation of Squid. The shallow hard pan is impressive with many Sea Fans and soft corals. Several Queen Triggers were feeding on the shallows as well as the Parrot Fish.
Kathy is a new diver but she is a fast learner and she seemed getting more and more comfortable as we spent time underwater. We need to work on some buoyancy issues that will also help with air consumption. After 45 minute of diving at about 40 feet we return to shore just in time as the current seemed to be getting a bit stronger.
After dropping Kathy back at her hotel, Tracy and I met Jesi and Tom for lunch and then we initiated our mangroves snorkeling adventure. We found a location with a sort of mangrove island protected from the strong South wind. Easy entry without having to disturb the bottom creatures too much. What a pleasant surprise! The area had many gigantic Feather Dusters (crynods), many bivalve shellfish, silver sides, baby barracudas and an incredible array of Orange, Silver and Black Sponges. Also many kinds of tunicates. Now our mission, was to find Sea Horses. Tracy found one brown Sea horse free swimming and Tom was able to take several pictures although lighting was not ideal. Tracy also found a beautiful nudibranch.We spent one hour and half snorkeling the canal! The place is full of life and brings us back to the great importance of protecting the different sound we have around the islands and the mangroves. I wish the builders have a chance to see how many creatures abound in the area and how important the mangroves are for us all.
Til next one!

Pablo & Family visit to Cayman

I had the pleasure an honor to meet Pablo and his family during their visit to Grand Cayman.Pablo is an Argentine diver who was referred to me through an acquaintance. He booked a package with Don Foster's Dive Cayman for six days of diving. Pablo's excitement about diving and snorkeling was infectious. He enjoyed several dives in the North, West and South Walls adapting to the weather changes with no problems. The family took a few suggestions about snorkeling and they had a blast together at Morritt's Dock,South Sound, Anchor Point,Casuarina Reef and Devil's Grotto.
I was lucky enough to share some "argentine mate" and good conversation as we planned together places to visit. I also had the opportunity to dive with Pablo in "Cross Roads", "Ned's Tunnels", "Don Foster's Reef" and "Eden Rock".
Pablo's dive skills were excellent and we really enjoyed our dives allowing us to see many creatures, go through many tunnels and even take a few pictures.
On the last day we BBQ at home, enjoyed some wine and a good chat. The family usually do not repeat vacation places as they prefer to explore new sites. However during dinner they talked about the possibility of coming back and continue exploring what the Caymans have to offer. We are waiting with our arms open to go diving again together. Pablo remember there is a lot more to see and Little Cayman and the Brac to visit still! Pia, get certified to dive with your Dad; You are a fish! Until next dive!

International Diving Hall of Fame - Grand Cayman

Last week end we attended the "International Under Water Film Festival" and the "International Diving Hall of Fame Awards Dinner"
For some of us that have been involved in the Diving Industry or just plain diving for fun for a long time, once again this event brought us close to some of the icons of diving that we have seen in TV documentaries or heard of from many many years.
In this year's event and thanks to Cathy Church, we had the opportunity to meet and chat for a little while with Valerie Taylor "The Shark Lady". Ron and Valerie hail from Australia and since the sixties they have been diving all over the world doing documentaries including many National Geographic episodes.
Listening to Valerie how she went from been a Champion Spear fisher to a Champion Conservationist is inspiring. Her passion for all creatures and specially marine creatures and her will to share that passion is a moment that we will not forget.
Although the event was well attended I can not help it but feel sorry for those dive fans that do not know what an opportunity they are missing every time this event comes around.
Since its inception, the International Diving Hall of Fame allowed me to meet personally with the most iconic figures involved in diving including the ones that were already famous when I was a kid. I did not get to meet Lloyd Bridges but I met his family, Jean Michelle Cousteau, Paul Tzimoulis, Stan Waterman, Al Giddings, Gery Murphy and others. They will not remember me but I will certainly remember them,the attention given and the few words we spoke. For ever they will be my heroes!
Until next dive.

We have been involved in improving our skills and testing our photo gear. During our dives we encountered large schools of Squid (30 and up), several turtles, large green moray eels and several friendly Snappers. In the caves near Devil's Grotto the Tarpons were circling around in and out of the caves before taking their daily late afternoon trip south toward Grand Old House Reef. Also the anemones were in full blossom out. Their tips showing off their green, blue and white neon colors.
During our adventure on Saturday we explored the reef south of Don Foster's Dive. We noticed a lot of very healthy soft corals growing tall, many rope sponges of the red and blue variety and many gorgonian seafans. We saw several groupers, a big size Zero who decided to ran around circles around us, a big green moray and even a Lion Fish.
Visibility was down a bit but marine life was very active.