Have you been to the Reefs?

[MaxTremors]

I’ve been to quite a few:
Hawaii (Kauai)
Marietta Islands (and pretty much every diving/snorkeling spot around Puerto Vallarta).
several places in the southern Caribbean (St Lucia, St Kitts, Dominican Republic, St Thomas)
Columbia (Santa Marta, Barranquilla, Gorgona on the Pacific side)

I hope to go to the South Pacific (several different places), Australia, and the Red Sea before I get too old to enjoy it.

 

[cancun]

Have you been to a Reef before? I recently traveled to the Florida Keys and went to Looe Key Reef. It was the first reef I had ever been to. It was also my first experience scuba diving. In this video, I documented everything we saw. We saw all kinds of fish and corals, many of which I had seen before at stores. It was a great experience and I would recommend it for any reefer.

Please share your experiences!!

Sorry for the shaky footage and the watermark. If you enjoyed this video, if you could show your appreciation, a like and subscribe would be greatly appreciated. Also, check out my other videos on my reef tank here:

https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCEWCIj6yc7Goxg-ez80CbuA/featured

Nice! Beautiful video! Been to reefs in Cozumel, Cancun, and Punta Cana.

 

[JoJosReef]

Been snorkeling in:
Barrier Reef from Cairns, Australia
Koh Tao, Thailand
Hawaii
St. Thomas
Cozumel and/or Dominican Republic and/or Jamaica... Long time ago and memory is fuzzy.

All of this was long before I knew what a tang was or even that there is a special police force for them! I can't imagine what it would be like if I went now...

 

[Hans-Werner]

After being at the Aquarama fair in Singapore in 2009 I took a ferry to Bintan, the Indonesian island next to Singapore, and snorkeled two beaches with corals and Tridacna clams.

Ten years later I was at Cuba and snorkeled two reefs, one in the northwest and one near Havanna. Here are some photographs. Brain corals were quite abundant. Of the two Acropora species A. palmata was the more common one. In the northwestern reef I also saw a rare pillar coral Dendrogyra.

Sorry, do you have access to the thread with the photographs? I am not sure whether access is limited.

 

[Ocean’s Piece]

Awesome video, brings back so many memories. I dove the keys and Miami in the 80s and 90s. I was a dive master with a local dive shop. The only diving I do now is snorkeling. Sad to see how easy it is to spot a lion fish now a day. Back when I was actively diving it was almost impossible to find one. Liked all the pictures you took. Always fun to see the nurse sharks

Thanks!

 

[Ocean’s Piece]

Been snorkeling in:
Barrier Reef from Cairns, Australia
Koh Tao, Thailand
Hawaii
St. Thomas
Cozumel and/or Dominican Republic and/or Jamaica... Long time ago and memory is fuzzy.

All of this was long before I knew what a tang was or even that there is a special police force for them! I can't imagine what it would be like if I went now...

That's one of the things that was so special about this trip. When I saw things, I actually knew what they were from this hobby. That was probably the coolest part to see what everything is like in the wild..

 

[Ocean’s Piece]

Nice! Beautiful video! Been to reefs in Cozumel, Cancun, and Punta Cana.

Thanks!

After being at the Aquarama fair in Singapore in 2009 I took a ferry to Bintan, the Indonesian island next to Singapore, and snorkeled two beaches with corals and Tridacna clams.

Ten years later I was at Cuba and snorkeled two reefs, one in the northwest and one near Havanna. Here are some photographs. Brain corals were quite abundant. Of the two Acropora species A. palmata was the more common one. In the northwestern reef I also saw a rare pillar coral Dendrogyra.

Sorry, do you have access to the thread with the photographs? I am not sure whether access is limited.

I clicked and I wasn't able to view them.

 

[Hans-Werner]

I clicked and I wasn't able to view them.

I am very sorry, it is a German forum and some parts are restricted to members, but I do not have them here at work to upload any images. I hope information on the corals found is also good.

 

[taulgrl]

Have you been to a Reef before? I recently traveled to the Florida Keys and went to Looe Key Reef. It was the first reef I had ever been to. It was also my first experience scuba diving. In this video, I documented everything we saw. We saw all kinds of fish and corals, many of which I had seen before at stores. It was a great experience and I would recommend it for any reefer.

Please share your experiences!!

Sorry for the shaky footage and the watermark. If you enjoyed this video, if you could show your appreciation, a like and subscribe would be greatly appreciated. Also, check out my other videos on my reef tank here:

https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCEWCIj6yc7Goxg-ez80CbuA/featured

Hawaii, Jamaica, FL Keys, Grand Cayman, Lake Champlain, VT (lol), and just got back from 3 dives in Curaçao. The latter was spectacular! So much sea life and no evidence of bleaching. Lots of huge brain corals, sponges, softies and amazing Fish diversity.

 

[Luvspinball]

I have been scuba diving for over 35 years. And yes, many of the reefs are in sad shape due to a variety of reasons. Very sad.

 

[sfmacguy]

Been diving for the last 15 years, have seen:

Great Barrier
Koh Tao
Vietnam
Taiwan
Playa Del Carmen
Baja Side
FL keys
Hawaii
Off Croatia
and my favorite: Mamanuca Islands, Fiji which I try to do on an annual basis.

Bucket list is Vanuatu and Raja Anput. Hopefully in the next couple of years.

 

[SoggyNW]

Snorkeled a small reef in Jamaica about 12 years ago. Huge brain corals and tons of life. I did t know what I was looking at at the time.

I've also been to Hawaii 4 times in the last decade and snorkeled dozens of reefs. One in particular on Maui stands out because trip one it seemed healthy, trip 2 it was 50% bleached, trip 3 it was mostly recovered.

 

[Ocean’s Piece]

Been diving for the last 15 years, have seen:

Great Barrier
Koh Tao
Vietnam
Taiwan
Playa Del Carmen
Baja Side
FL keys
Hawaii
Off Croatia
and my favorite: Mamanuca Islands, Fiji which I try to do on an annual basis.

Bucket list is Vanuatu and Raja Anput. Hopefully in the next couple of years.

would love to go to Raja Anput as well.

 

[Kent67]

Here's a video of the healthiest coral reef I've been to so far. Kane'ohe Bay on O'ahu.
[Youtube]

 

[MillennialReefer]

Been diving/snorkeling in multiple locations in the Maldives, Seychelles, red sea, Florida keys and Cambodia.
They're all very different however, I would say the Maldives has been my favorite reef to go back to again. Coral and fish are everywhere, growing on the dock's, the bungalows and any submerged surface and they're packed with fish.

 

[Koty]

Yes scuba diving between 1976 to 1980 in the red sea : RasMuhamad, Ras um Sid, Gardens Tiran island to name a few

 

[Ocean’s Piece]

Here's a video of the healthiest coral reef I've been to so far. Kane'ohe Bay on O'ahu.
[Youtube]

Wow that's incredible

 

[Roatan Reef]

Did you see any stony corals in that video? Not really. This is exactly what I saw diving there a couple of weeks ago. The previous times I dove in the Keys were over 40 years ago. There was color and stony corals everywhere back then! What a shame.

I dove in Roatan a couple of years ago. The reef formation was amazing, ascending from the ocean floor 100' deep almost to the surface in some places, but everything was brown!

We need to do something about global warming!!

Not getting political here about Global Warming/Climate Change
..We need to do something about Cruise Ships dumping garbage into the reef. #1 Reasons of Roatans decline.

Bonaire don't play that game!

Having said that...in almost 2 years with no Cruise Ships to Roatan and very few guests, I'm certain the reefs there are better than ever!

Also, the #1 trasher of reefs and beaches there are the Hondurans from the mainland....most visitors take care of the reef and clean up after themselves. Hondurans, not so much.

Bonaire takes extra special care of their reefs...no games played. It's amazing, but so is Roatan too. Can't wait to go back to both next year!

 

[Ocean’s Piece]

Not getting political here about Global Warming/Climate Change
..We need to do something about Cruise Ships dumping garbage into the reef. #1 Reasons of Roatans decline.

Bonaire don't play that game!

Having said that...in almost 2 years with no Cruise Ships to Roatan and very few guests, I'm certain the reefs there are better than ever!

Also, the #1 trasher of reefs and beaches there are the Hondurans from the mainland....most visitors take care of the reef and clean up after themselves. Hondurans, not so much.

Bonaire takes extra special care of their reefs...no games played. It's amazing, but so is Roatan too. Can't wait to go back to both next year!

I think over time people will start to realize that these matters aren't political issues anymore, but instead, they are endangering both marine and human life.

 

[Blindzy]

A group of us dive Looe Key just about every year for the last 6 years. I love the easy to navigate layout and the large amount of wildlife. However, the die off of the corals is very heart breaking... There is a brain coral there that is dang near the size of a VW bug. First year we saw it it was probably 70% alive. fast forward 3 years later and maybe only 20% was still alive, but looked stressed for sure. We stared diving off of Key Largo last year and really enjoyed it. So now our trips consist of a few days in Key Largo, a few days at Looe Key and finish off the trip with a drunken day/night at Key West before we stumble onto the plane for the flight home.