Canreef Aquatics Bulletin Board - A few dive pix from last week

Quote:

Originally Posted by Delphinus (Post 616296)

Those are some great shots. I always hear that the Pacific side is not as nice as the Caribbean/Atlantic side but clearly there are some nice gems there too, so not sure what's up with that reputation? Seems possibly not deserved if these pictures tell us anything.

Are those fan gorgonians photosynthetic? Are the polyps brown if you look close enough? The close up of the rod gorgs show brown polyps so that's kinda neat?

Thanks for sharing, looks great :)

The gorgonians are actually quite spectacular and the polyps that show as brown are really more pinkish looking in person, lots of sea fans and other gorgs in many colors including deep purple and even yellow. In my opinion their is a greater diversity of sea life in the PV area than the Caribbean side. I think the poor rep comes from people wanting to snorkel and not seeing as much as they hoped. The snorkeling isn't great in the area but the diving is good however visibility can be 80 feet one day & 20 feet the next but that is nature and you need to know where to go. The best diving is actually in the summer months so most people don't think to go then but the water is generally about 86 degrees and 60-80 ft vis in Aug.
My favorite sites are Chimo & El Moro. Both are advanced dives and very nice.