Akumal 2013

[Treebeard]

Do you recall the name of the dive master you dove with from Akumal Dive Center? One of their DMs was involved in a bad car accident on the 307 a few days ago and passed away yesterday. We dove with him many times when he was working at Akumal Dive Adventures on Half Moon Bay. He was a great guy and an excellent DM and leaves behind a wife and three daughters.

[Reef_Geek]

Originally Posted by Scuba Diver Gal

You will notice a HUGE difference with a strobe. But try renting one maybe first, cause they are SO expensive...We always rent from Cathy Church in Grand Cayman, where the vis is always 100 feet

Great photos by the way, we just got back from Cayman but they make me want to go again

Thanks. For sure a strobe would be nice. I'm kinda liking how portable and not-cumbersome the GoPro and pole is right now though... good heads up. Thanks.

Originally Posted by globaldesigns

Akumal, what a great place... I didn't dive, but snorkeled there with my family. Beautiful area, and lots of turtles, so close that you can grab them... But you can't of course. Rules you now.

Great pic's!!!

ah yes, of course, rules... I can say that I am a marine biologist and I know what I am doing (this is factual, have resume and degree to show, just not what I am doing for a living any more) https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v...04410772056192

Originally Posted by Treebeard

My first trip to Mexico was in 2007 and we stayed at ABR. It was a nice no frills AI with some wonderful staff that made it very enjoyable. That was the trip that got me hooked on the caribean side of Mexico. I wasn't a diver at the time and it was actually the first time I ever snorkelled but I was hooked after seeing the turtles, coral and the fish.
I haven't been back to ABR since but have been to Akumal many times. I got my certification in 2009 and did 3 of my qualification dives in Akumal. My dive buddy/wife and I prefer the condo life on Half Moon Bay, and honestly Akumal Bay is overcrowded and the turtles and reef are paying the price. But we still enjoyed the occasional happy hour at Lo Ha and a pitcher of margs at La Cuevo Pescadors.
Sad to say, not sure when we will go back to Akumal now that we have discovered Bonaire. . We are booked for three weeks next March.

Yeah, I've been researching Bonaire. My wife doesn't dive, so I'm trying to find more snorkel-exciting places. I'm currently researching Cabo. Looks like a few tours out of La Paz will do snorkeling with whale sharks and sea lions.

[Reef_Geek]

Originally Posted by Treebeard

Do you recall the name of the dive master you dove with from Akumal Dive Center? One of their DMs was involved in a bad car accident on the 307 a few days ago and passed away yesterday. We dove with him many times when he was working at Akumal Dive Adventures on Half Moon Bay. He was a great guy and an excellent DM and leaves behind a wife and three daughters.

That's sad. The DM with me on my cave dive was Jose. He's probably in his 50s and does not speak much english (made the day a bit awkward as it was just me and him)

[Reef_Geek]

Here's a video of me following an eagle ray for a while over the reef flats. You can see that the reefs aren't great but aren't bad either. It is, of course, a reef flat and not the fore reef.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v...43351477030077

[Reef_Geek]

I finally went through all my videos and put together this consolidated video. Hope you enjoy!

Some neat tang action in there...

http://youtu.be/K2ZC6IkSdXk

[hillegom]

Thanks. I enjoyed that.
I snorkeld there as well. Many turtles there for sure.
Did you go to the reef, where the breakers were? I saw a basking shark there.

[Reef_Geek]

glad you liked.

No, I didn't make it out that far... looked about 1 km out, but maybe that's just what I convinced myself. Basking shark would have been worth the swim though!

[hillegom]

Well, one yard at a time.
Seriously, though, it wash't that bad, the real challenge was to get across the "channel" that the boats use. Eyes above and ears below.
Also say a bunch of those eels that stick their bodies above the sand and then retract into their holes when you swim close.