Dive pictures from the Mayan Riviera

[Reef_Geek]

Originally Posted by Jakegr

Cozumel has far better diving. The water is extremely clear. My only complaint was the travel time. Playa/Cozumel have similar reef life, but the dive sites are in better condition in Cozumel and you are more likely to see some of the more "charismatic" life, like turtles, sting rays, etc.

That settles it. I'll simply have to plan another trip to do Cozumel. It's the only logical solution. SOLD! I'm stuck in Playa del Carmen because that's where my sister's family wanted to go. I don't want to stray too far by myself travelling & lugging gear to Cozumel. I'm without a dive buddy (it's ok, I'm an OWSI) this trip and just tagging along with dive groups, whoever shows up for the day.

Originally Posted by Myka

As a side note, there is a submarine tour on Cozumel that was really great too. It was US$100 per person I think, but it went down to 110 feet and we saw lots of really cool reef life including Nurse Sharks, Sting rays, Angelfish, Barracuda, Lionfish, Octopus, etc. It took us to the edge of the Palencar wall so we could look down into the black abyss. I have no idea how people have the balls to dive down there!

Sounds neat! My nephews might like that. They're too young to dive.

Originally Posted by Scuba Diver Gal

We dive with a GO Pro Hero 3 black. It's a great camera. We use a SeaLife AquaPod pole mount which gives us single handed use and an extendable pole. Use a carabiner to attach it to your BCD so you won't lose it or drop it. It doesn't have a light/strobe attachment but where we mostly dive (Cayman Islands) you don't really need it. We use a red filter that we purchased at Cathy Church in Cayman Islands. Maybe you can find them at AquaSport Scuba or Dive Shop (I seem to recall Dive Shop on Macleod sold the Go Pro accessories). Don't buy the "dome" red filter as it left a slight round reflection on our vids taken in higher light (shallower). Use a flat red filter. I also think that Caribbean Dreams dive shop on 16 avenue was going to get in a line of go pro accessories, check with them, they have awesome customer service.

The videos are mostly done by my 14 year old son. They are great quality vids. My son used to dive with an Olympus Pen in a dive housing with double strobes on a tray. I hated him not having his hands free, so I love the AquaPod. He keeps asking for a tray and strobes for the Go Pro

Also, we travel with our macbook. When we load the vids they are too high quality for the iphoto app to play without stalling. We drag them onto our desktop and play with VLC Media player...no troubles at all

Happy diving! Here fishy fishy

Awesome tips! Thanks! I'll call the dive shops around for a red filter. I saw some on Amazon.ca also but would prefer to buy local.

I don't currently have a GoPro. Why do you prefer this 'VLC Media Player' over the free GoPro downloadable software?

[Scuba Diver Gal]

I've never tried to GoPro software to be honest. We were in Caymans and my son wanted to show his vids and the iPhoto app wouldn't play. I just tried to play with VLC and it worked. Don't know if the GoPro software would be better...Maybe try it out before you leave Canada. Our internet in Caymans is slow so I don't usually try new things out there, plus the night dive was calling me

In the past I have also called down to Cathy Church Photo shop on Grand Cayman. They are super helpful for advice on what to buy.

Just tracked down my son's GoPro bin...the red filter we are using now is a Backscatter Flip 3. I like it much better. Our first one was the Snake River Prototyping Dome...didn't like it as much. Plus the Backscatter just flips on and off without having to put it into your BCD pocket, making it easier to take off the red filter for your shallow safety stop

We love our GoPro Hero3. Had the 2 and it didn't work that well, kept freezing up. So we returned it on warranty and upgraded to the 3 halfway through our last dive trip in Cayman...My son uses his Hero3 for fishing, we use it for wake surfing (attach it to the back of our boat and put on a floaty back), etc. It's awesome! The GoPro has even made it into our tank (despite the fact that it's just rock right now as we are new to the hobby). I swear if my son could fit, he would put on his dive gear and be in that tank!

I am jelly of your dive trip, we have to wait a little longer

[Reef_Geek]

Originally Posted by Scuba Diver Gal

I've never tried to GoPro software to be honest. We were in Caymans and my son wanted to show his vids and the iPhoto app wouldn't play. I just tried to play with VLC and it worked. Don't know if the GoPro software would be better...Maybe try it out before you leave Canada. Our internet in Caymans is slow so I don't usually try new things out there, plus the night dive was calling me

In the past I have also called down to Cathy Church Photo shop on Grand Cayman. They are super helpful for advice on what to buy.

Just tracked down my son's GoPro bin...the red filter we are using now is a Backscatter Flip 3. I like it much better. Our first one was the Snake River Prototyping Dome...didn't like it as much. Plus the Backscatter just flips on and off without having to put it into your BCD pocket, making it easier to take off the red filter for your shallow safety stop

We love our GoPro Hero3. Had the 2 and it didn't work that well, kept freezing up. So we returned it on warranty and upgraded to the 3 halfway through our last dive trip in Cayman...My son uses his Hero3 for fishing, we use it for wake surfing (attach it to the back of our boat and put on a floaty back), etc. It's awesome! The GoPro has even made it into our tank (despite the fact that it's just rock right now as we are new to the hobby). I swear if my son could fit, he would put on his dive gear and be in that tank!

I am jelly of your dive trip, we have to wait a little longer

I just looked up this filter. This thing is amazing! Thanks!

PS, their video has convinced me to get the GoPro for my trip. I'll just double check that this works with the new smaller Hero3+

http://vimeo.com/61244379

[Scuba Diver Gal]

[quote=Reef_Geek;849982]That settles it. I'll simply have to plan another trip to do Cozumel. It's the only logical solution. SOLD! I'm stuck in Playa del Carmen because that's where my sister's family wanted to go. I don't want to stray too far by myself travelling & lugging gear to Cozumel. I'm without a dive buddy (it's ok, I'm an OWSI) this trip and just tagging along with dive groups, whoever shows up for the day.

Check out Gardens of the Queen (Jardines de la Reina) for a future dream dive trip...Booked through Avalon. There's a 12 minute video online of when 60 Minutes, Anderson Cooper, went there. You may never want to see Cozumel or Cancun again after that...