Sunday, June 21, 2009
It's All About The Fish
Parrotfish
Cushion Sea Star
Smooth Trunkfish
Gray Angelfish
Whitespotted Filefish
Yellowline Arrow Crab
Bermuda Chub 
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Splendid Toadfish!
Pingo, Our Divemaster
We learned that Pingo is Mayan for "little devil." That so fits our awesome Divemaster, Pingo! His given name is Rodrigo Verde Cabrera.
How does that happen?
I don't get it. I guess it's a mystery. How does that happen?
Case #1
Looks like paw prints in the sand, doesn't it? But how can that be? This is at 75 feet. So, unless the Loch Ness monster vacations in Cozumel, how does this happen?
Case #2
Bits and pieces of coral and broken shells, seemingly raked into a tidy pile at 65 feet. How does that happen?
Case #3
A beautiful shell, abandoned on the edge of a reef, approximately 10 feet from the sandy floor. So who made a snack of the creature inside the shell and discarded the shell precariously on the edge of the reef? How does that happen 70 feet below the surface?
Dear Heather,
Check out all the Yellow Tail Snappers! It was so easy to capture these pictures!
So here's this year's collection of yummy-to-eat snappers!
Love, Leenie
So here's this year's collection of yummy-to-eat snappers!Love, Leenie
Friday, June 19, 2009
Our Balcony
More Seacapes
Got Attitude!
The lizards here have attitude! This one has begged and mooched food from Lynnie and Bruce.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Indulgence
Chocolate cake. It's just like we remember it from last year. Gotta have a piece! Well...maybe more than one this week!The Dancing Worms: Followup
According to Paul Humann and Ned Deloach who compiled the book "Reef Fish Identification," the Dancing Worms have a scientific and common name.
Scientific: Heteroconger longissimus
Common: Brown Garden Eel
Their heads and bodies extend from the sand and they live in colonies. They continuously move in graceful, wave-like motions to catch plankton. (That's why they seem to dance!) They are eight to 15 inches long, with a maximum length of 20 inches.
We're heading back to the wreck this morning so Lynnie and Bruce can see the Dancing Worms and enjoy the scenic wreck!
Scientific: Heteroconger longissimus
Common: Brown Garden Eel
Their heads and bodies extend from the sand and they live in colonies. They continuously move in graceful, wave-like motions to catch plankton. (That's why they seem to dance!) They are eight to 15 inches long, with a maximum length of 20 inches.
We're heading back to the wreck this morning so Lynnie and Bruce can see the Dancing Worms and enjoy the scenic wreck!
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
The Wreck: Part I
A giant stride got us into the water, and we headed to the white, white sandy bottom. We could feel the current pushing us, impeding our forward progress. Not too much but just enough to make us kick stronger than usual.
In all the years we've been diving in Cozumel, Greg and I have never been to the wreck. It's listed in our Cozumel Dive Guide & Log Book. We've talked about diving the wreck almost every time we've been here but we never have.
As I waited for Greg to white balance the video camera against the white sandy bottom, I took stock of our surroundings. 
I didn't see the wreck, which was a little puzzling. It was more likely the particles in the water rather than not being dropped in the right place.
I didn't see the wreck, which was a little puzzling. It was more likely the particles in the water rather than not being dropped in the right place.Lynnie and Bruce weren't on this trip, and Greg and I decided the wreck would be our first dive of the day. If everything went well and we liked what we saw, we figured we could dive it again with them.
We continued to follow Pingo, heading south to the wreck. As if a sheer veil lifted in front of us, a small, roundish reef, teeming with fish, appeared before us. It was an oasis in the white sandy desert. It's rather interesting that this reef seems to be the only thing here as I still haven't seen the wreck.
After just a few minutes perusing the small reef and the active fish, we follow Pingo to the right of the reef. Then, a dark shape looming just in front of us catches my eye. The closer we get, the more distinct it is--we've found the wreck.
Just Seascapes
The Dancing Worms
I call them the Dancing Worms! I know there's an official name for them and I'll be sure to search for it. But, for right now, I'm happy just to call them the Dancing Worms!
Greg, Pingo, and I were headed to see the wreck. Pingo had warned us that there wasn't much to see as far as reef and fish--just the wreck. We didn't mind--it was new to us.
At one point all we could see was white, white sand. Then, what I thought I saw was blades of grass, slowing swaying with the current. I took a picture because I thought it was pretty cool.
As we continued to the wreck, I noticed another patch of "grass" swaying in the current. As I got closer, I noticed those weren't blades of grass at all--they were Dancing Worms.Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Coming soon!
Our tale of diving the wreck and meeting the dancing worms!
Sunday, June 14, 2009
All Words, No Pictures
It's all about the words for this post--no pictures of our first three dives on Saturday. No, it's NOT because we forgot the cameras or housings at home or in the hotel room. The first three dives were all about relaxing and getting into the grove of diving.
Palancar Gardens, Paso del Cedral, and La Francesca were our dive sites of the day. A few notable items during the dives:
Palancar Gardens, Paso del Cedral, and La Francesca were our dive sites of the day. A few notable items during the dives:
- We all had to get reacquainted with how much weight we needed. Greg and I have lost some weight so we had to figure out how that affected the amount of weight we needed. Turns out, for me, no problem. For Greg, it took a little more working the numbers but he's got it now. For Lynnie and Bruce, it was figuring out where they were last year and starting from there.
- Two of the three dives for Greg and I lasted over one hour. 69 minutes for the first dive and 71 minutes for the third.
- La Francesca wasn't too familiar to Lynnie until we pointed out that it was the Eel Cave!
It was so nice to be back in Cozumel once again!
We're Here!
Our trip to Cozumel didn't start out quite smooth...
Lynnie and Bruce were scheduled to arrive in Dallas on Thursday at 1:08 p.m. We had hoped to be relaxing on the balcony by 4:00 p.m. and then make it an early evening.
Dallas was rocked by an awful morning of thunderstorms, which led to their flight being canceled from BWI to DFW. As it turned out, they ended up on Continental out of IAD, with a change of planes in IAH. They didn't arrive into DAL until 8:30 p.m. Lynnie called and switched the car reservation from DFW to DAL earlier that day; however, the "biggest" car they had was a Mustang. Just try squeezing two HUGE dive bags and two suitcases into the little trunk--not happening!
We weren't planning on eating dinner at 10:00 p.m. but there we were, having a home-cooked meal from Eatzi's. Lynnie and Bruce were able to catch a few z's but Greg and I didn't get any sleep until Friday night!
We did celebrate our arrival into Cozumel with some Pina Coladas and Strawberry Daquiries at the Beach Club bar! Sweet!
Happiness is...
taking an empty glass,
and making it full again!
Yummy Pina Coladas!
Welcome to Cozumel!
