Caribbean underwater pics
 

A few pics from our recent vacation. The reef at our resort was disappointing. Although there were lots of fishes, the reef is very shallow and most of the corals, gorgonians, sea fans, etc were trampled.
I can't believe how many Lionfish there were. I understand why all the concern for this invasion; they were literally under every other rock ledge.
We also went to Xelha, Xcaret and Akumal. Akumal was easily the best of them. Xelha and Xcaret had lots of fish but the water is very murky from the fresh and saltwater mixing together. Anyhow, enjoy the pics.

http://i371.photobucket.com/albums/o...1/IMG_0595.jpg

http://i371.photobucket.com/albums/o...1/IMG_0598.jpg

http://i371.photobucket.com/albums/o...1/IMG_0602.jpg

http://i371.photobucket.com/albums/o...1/IMG_0596.jpg

http://i371.photobucket.com/albums/o...1/IMG_0754.jpg

Sargeant Majors were a real PITA. They would school around you and swim right in your face. Looking for handouts I guess.

http://i371.photobucket.com/albums/o...1/IMG_0546.jpg

http://i371.photobucket.com/albums/o...1/IMG_0485.jpg

And a few for you Tony:

http://i371.photobucket.com/albums/o...1/IMG_0600.jpg

http://i371.photobucket.com/albums/o...1/IMG_0608.jpg

http://i371.photobucket.com/albums/o...1/IMG_0594.jpg

cool pics

Wow look at all those awesome gorgonians!!

Very nice. No fair teasing us cash strapped common folk. :(

I knew you'd like them Tony. They're getting hard to find though; the reefs really aren't looking very good. I must have swam several square miles to get these shots for you. My wife kept saying: "Who in heck is Tony? And why does he like these things? They look like weeds!" Silly girl!

Yeah right, Mr. Bahamas :mrgreen:

That's hilarious about your wife (all women seem to clue in eventually about me, what's up with that?!) but yeah gee that's kinda sad about the lionfish and state of the reefs. Only been to Mexico once, 11 years ago now in year 2000 (how did the year 2000 become 11 years ago? What the ... ?) and I remember gorgs being everywhere. I was into reef tanks already back then but I had no idea how hard it was to get gorgs seeing them everywhere like that. Loved watching them whip back and forth in the waves.

Very nice photos.
from the last photo it sure is shallow.

The state of the reefs down there is quite sad. We saw very few corals aside from some nice large Brains. I was chatting with a fellow from England who's been coming to the Caribbean for 20 years. He said back then the Elkhorn colonies seemed to go on forever in some spots; and the Sea Fans and Gorgs were like trees. Sponges of all colours were seen everywhere. According to him the hurricanes in the last decade have caused considerable damage as have the absence of urchins which were nearly wiped out due to some disease. Urchins help keep the algae in check and without them the corals were being overgrown. The good news is we saw lots of urchins: apparently they're making a come back. There are still lots of fishes though. We saw all kinds of Atlantic Blue Tangs, Parrotfishes and many Wrasses. Damsels, Angels,
and Triggers, as well as lots of Rays and Turtles. And of course one damn big Barracuda that followed me right to the beach!

Yeah, that area was really rocky and kept the swimmers away. Hence, no damage.

Exacly! I am still paying for the last trip and you just made me want to go back :(

man....the reef fish and gorgs are cool, but all I can think about is the small pack of bonefish in that first pic.......wheres my flyrod?.....sweet pics Lance.

Thanks for sharing Lance. :biggrin:

What dive shop did you go with and which sites did you dive? We spent a week in Akumal on Half Moon Bay in early January and went with Akumal Dive Adventures. We also did some dives from Isla Mujerus but the reefs were not nearly as nice as Akumal, however the fish variety was spectacular. We also saw some huge spotted eagle rays on a wreck dive. Hopefully next time I will have an underwater housing for my camera.

Unfortunately, we didn't do any diving at Akumal. (I developed an inner ear problem a week into our stay and wasn't supposed to dive) We only snorkeled at the south beach, didn't get to Half Moon Bay, but from what I've heard about it I'll definitely be back. I heard quite a bit about the Yal-Ku Lagoon as well. Did you happen to go there?

Cool shots man!

It's funny...it was seeing sergeant majors in mexico that finally pushed me to get a tank! Then of course I discovered that nobody really keeps them in reefs except mother nature :biggrin:

seems like alot of people go to xelha alot. Its cool and the fish are huge

did you make it over to cozumel?

No, but I will one day.

Thanks Lance. Nice pics.

Thanks for posting the pics, we did Playa Del Carmen in 04 and it was still pretty good then.
Although if you want to do an awsome dive trip you simply have to dive Roatan.
Not only is it one of the best spots to dive.....will run you almost half ($)what Mexico will.

I have been as far as the entrance of Yal-Ku but never inside. I couldn't bring myself to pay for snorkeling when it is free in Half Moon Bay and Akumal Bay. The only plus to Yal-Ku is it is not as affected by wind and high surf as the open water.