New life x2

So ya just never know. One day you could be diving just the same old reef and it turns into something really special. Let me splain!
For most folks that dive here every dive is an amazing dive! The reefs are rich and full and there is always something new to see. That is why people come back year after year to dive here. Most people could dive the same reef on a different day and not really know if it was the same reef or not. That is the magic of Cozumel diving and the reason most of my guests have been diving here for years. Ya just can't get enough?
Or can you? Truth be told it may be possible to get enough. I know what you are thinking! Is Scubatony getting burnt out? Could the dive junkie of all dive junkies really have had enough bottom time? Well I average about 350 dives in Cozumel each year. There are about 30 regularly dove sites here. So I get to see them all fairly regularly. Some are always great! Others are kinda the same old thing. Sad but I guess after 8.5 years of diving here I may have seen it all.
Then a day like today comes along and your perspective changes again.
I had three very nice older ladies diving with me. They picked me because they were looking for an operator who would give them a little extra TLC. That was no problem as they were very appreciative of everything extra Carlos and I did for them. They arrived at the end of a long busy time for me. I have been diving 14 days straight and just need a day off. But each day got better and better with them.
Today was their last dive day. I tried to take the day off but I guess fate had other plans for me. Turns out we had two of the most spectacular dives I have enjoyed in a long long time. Full of life and clear and warm. On the second dive (at Delila again) we saw a huge nurse shark 4 hawksbill turtles and an eagle ray! It's the trifecta! All three animals in the same dive. To top that off the eagle ray was way out of season. The last of the eagle rays is usually gone by March. I guess this guy was a late bloomer or maybe he is just early for next year? It was wonderful!
Then on the way back the cream de la cream! 10 years of diving all around the world and I have never seen one except in aquariums. It was a medium sized Mola mola (sunfish). We were right above paradise reef (the most commonly dove reef here) and a boat captain pointed it out to us. He did not know what it was only that it was big. When I jumped in with mask on I stuck my head up and yelled "it's a sunfish!" I then left my guests in a flash and swam towards this gentle giant. It was about 6 feet from head to tail but because of the strange body shape he was at least 8 ft top to bottom. He was not in a hurry but started to swim away from me. I was not chasing him but I did not want to loose him in the blue. Of course he headed for deeper blue water and after about 5 min I lost him. One of my ladies, Jackie, was able to just see the tail end of him as Carlos got the boat closer. I was winded from swimming so hard but very excited and so were the ladies. They were able to see it from the boat as Carlos was on top of it.
So just when you think you have seen it all in Cozumel you are humbled and reminded that you have never seen it all. It was a great day of diving and it renewed my excitement.
Of course I did not have my camera so I found these shots on the internet.
I'm still going to take the day off tomorrow!

New Life in Cozumel

Well the Swine plague of the century seems to have gone the way of the dodo as well it should. In fact we actually had a cruise ship show up yesterday and no one got plague. Can you believe that? Not one single case in Cozumel. How lucky are we? However, the island has been devastated since it was announced to "avoid all non-essential travel to Mexico". Our economy was hit as hard if not harder then Hurricane Wilma 3 years ago. At least ships came back after 3 weeks from that hit. The imaginary plague and 5 weeks of cruise ship quarantine. Heck my buddy Mike said there were 6 cases in Chicago but no body said "avoid all non-essential travel to Chicago". It's a conspiracy I tell you!

On a happy note I believe we are in a new phase of life on Cozumel reefs. For the past 6 months I have been noticing more life then I can ever remember. Not just more schools of fish and larger amounts but also unusual species that have not been common here in the past. I have seen 2 green sea turtles in the last month. Used to see maybe one per year. I actually had my camera for this little guy. I also saw the biggest Loggerhead I have ever seen 3 weeks ago. It was 6 feet from head to tail.





There are so many hawksbill turtles in the water they are almost not special anymore. However being so common they seem to do the strangest things. 3 days ago Steve and Kelly and I were on Delila reef and saw a small (1.5 ft) turtle feeding. When he saw us he turned towards us and swam up to meet us. Steve had to actually put his hand on his shell to keep the little guy from running into his camera. He looked up as if to say "so what are you guys doing here?" It was so cool. He hung around for a while and then headed up for some air.


I was doing a discover scuba with Edgar the yesterday and I took this picture. Can you count the fish in this school?












So the economy may suck but the the diving is awesome. Water temps are 82 degrees and rising. I put my shorty away for the summer last week. Won't need that for a while.

In a Coma in Cozumel

Okay I know you must all be up to your limits in flu bullshit but I just have to share this. In Cozumel we have been put into a coma and the plague of the century never even got here. Now this report from the big wigs?

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The swine flu virus that has sparked fear and precautions worldwide appears to be no more dangerous than the regular flu virus that makes its rounds each year, U.S. officials said Monday.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said swine flu is no more danerous than the regular flu virus.

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"What the epidemiologists are seeing now with this particular strain of U.N. is that the severity of the disease, the severity of the flu -- how sick you get -- is not stronger than regular seasonal flu," Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Monday as the worldwide number of confirmed cases of swine flu -- technically known as 2009 H1N1 virus -- topped 1,080.

The flu has been blamed for 26 deaths: 25 in Mexico and one in the United States, according to the World Health Organization.

Still, Napolitano noted, the seasonal flu results in "hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations" and roughly 35,000 fatalities each year in the United States. There are still concerns that the virus could return in the fall, in the typical flu season, as a stronger strain.

"We are cautiously optimistic that this particular strain will not be more severe than a normal seasonal flu outbreak," Napolitano said.

So perhaps we can get on to bigger news stories now like the fact that the stock market seems to have turned up or the president is doing a good job so far or maybe Paris Hilton's dog is having hemroid surgery. You know something uplifting like that?