Share your diving/snorkeling experiences!

[ninjamyst]

Your snorkeling adventures sound amazing! Have you noticed any specific differences in marine life diversity or environmental conservation efforts across these locations?

Main difference is with amount of tourism. Koh Kood diving is pristine since it a very isolated island that requires 8 hours bus ride and 2 hours boat ride from Bangkok. There's no easy access from any major airport. Mexico snorkeling is horrible since most of the reef been trampled by tourists.

 

[Slocke]

I just got back from Maui and it was incredible! I was there for work and barely got any time off (considering I was there for 3 weeks) but got in 4 scubas and several snorkel/free dives.

I made a list of fish I saw with special notes on special fish and behaviors

Fish I saw in Maui

docs.google.com

 

[Xanthurum]

I haven’t gone diving since I moved to AZ but when I lived in NC I went all the time. I’ve done some pretty incredible dives in my time and I miss it. I’m going to Hawaii next year so I’m planning on doing a refresher course so I can get in a few dives when I go. Coolest dives:
sunken German U- boat off the coast of NC. Saw an absolute giant green sea turtle on this dive.

Bonaire - tons of incredible dives there, way too many to list. On one a barracuda decided to follow us around for about 30 minutes until a green moray actually came out into open water and chased it away. This was pretty scary since the barracuda was no more than about 6 feet away from my wife’s fins the whole time until this happened. Night dives spotlighting small fish for the Tarpon to swoop in and eat was awesome.

Georgia Aquarium - not sure if they still allow divers but we were the first group in after the acquired a manta ray. There were 4 whale sharks at the time. I had a wobbegong shark nip at my fin while standing on the bottom. The employee divers were not too happy about that but I was lol.

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

Rented gear in Belize. Never dove before. Got “certified” in ankle deep water. Had to fly to the PNW for work from there. On the plane developed a 103 fever. 2 days later in the hospital with bacterial infection from said rental gear. 6 weeks of recovery, there were days I could walk 3 steps and need to sit down.

How could Little Johnny have prevented this? Should have noticed how “sanitary” the instructor was with his rental gear management processes, or the lack there of, lol.

 

[MECOMI]

Who did you dive with on Little Cayman?
I was a divemaster there for 9 years, from 2007 to 2016.
I worked for Sam McCoy, then Gladys Howard at Pirates Point.

Wow...I just missed you as we went in 2003. Its just a guess at this point but the only location that looks familiar from the photos is Pirates Point, small world.

Little Cayman was my first dive experience after earning my certification, 14-16 dives. The wall dives there were equal parts amazing and intimidating. Abyss below you and open ocean is humbling.

What kept you in Little Cayman so long? That's quite a stretch. What is the biggest/most interesting thing you experienced down there?

Later days,

B-Kind

 

[cobray]

Wow...I just missed you as we went in 2003. Its just a guess at this point but the only location that looks familiar from the photos is Pirates Point, small world.

Little Cayman was my first dive experience after earning my certification, 14-16 dives. The wall dives there were equal parts amazing and intimidating. Abyss below you and open ocean is humbling.

What kept you in Little Cayman so long? That's quite a stretch. What is the biggest/most interesting thing you experienced down there?

Later days,

B-Kind

I loved working at Pirates Point. I decided to move on after Gladys died. She was like family. Also, my chiropractor said if I kept lifting tanks, I would cause permanent damage.
I saw so many cool things and did a ton of amazing dives.
2 Whale sharks
Grouper Moon spawning
Full moon night dives with no flashlight
Pelagic night dive 2 miles off shore to 100 feet over the Cayman trench
211 foot dive off Bloody Bay wall
These come to mind, but I did about 2000 dives on Little Cayman. Lots of cool adventures and met tons of interesting people from all walks of life from around the world. I feel very fortunate to have had that opportunity.