May 7, 2003: Cozumel, Mexico

A Coz 2003 dive

"Punta Sur" - "Chankanaab Pinnacles" - "C-53" - "Las Palmas"

Diving in the Caribbean Sea:

• Directions from Tampa: This is one of those trip things. Getting there from Tampa usually involves a plane ... though it could be a boat ... but you won't be driving there. Cozumel is "in" the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico.
• Conditions on the day of my visit: Sunny
  
  
• Personal Notes: Roberto (and his boat captain) know quite well exactly where to drop people on Punta Sur so that you can hit the Devil's Throat and Cathedral formations early on in the dive, so that you still have plenty of air to do the rest of the dive.
  
  Chankanaab Pinnacles goes by many other names, and is probably the same as Balones de Chankanaab (one of the sites from my previous Coz trip). Mounds of coral formations with not so much current, so it's easy to make your way to each of the formations and look for sea life.
  
  C-53 has a very long name that I couldn't spell right, even with it in front of me. It's a wreck (one of the few in Cozumel). The way Roberto took us around the wreck, you get a good idea at just how good the visibility was that day. There are also a large number of silver fish living around the wreck. The wreck sits upright and has many spots to swim through without worry of getting trapped.
  
  Las Palmas is a great shallow reef to end a day of diving on.

Chankanaab Pinnacles
A Gray Angelfish. Usually easy to get a shot of.
Rock Beauties seem to be a bit more skittish.
Spotted Moray.
Arrow Crab.
Lizard Fish.
Conch. Wierd looking creatures - it's easier not to think of what they look like when eating conch.
Scorpionfish.
A neon goby. Don't know if they clean - I'm guessing they do, particularly considering where this one is.
This school of fish looked wierd hiding where they were.
It seems I've been spotted.
C-53
Here's the front of the wreck.
These silversides looked cool and it was wierd the way they'd congregate at the windows.
Here's a better view of the group of them.
Razorfish were kind of funny because if you got too close they'd dive into the sand.
From inside the wreck, here's what it looks like looking out a group of silversides.
I was probably swimming through them when I took this.
And of course, any time I see one, I have to take a picture of Juvenile Drum.
According to the Reef Creatures book, this is a West Indian Sea Egg.
Las Palmas
It's rare to see Splendid Toadfish out and about like this. He's not too far away from his hole but he was looking for food, I guess ...
Here's another shot of him ...
And here he is munching on a filefish.
Such is life in the sea ...
Some very large Rainbo Parrotfish.
To show you how big they were, here's Roberto next to one.
Here's an arrow crab seemingly posing for a picture.
Cowfish are hard to get close to, in my experience.
Not sure what kind of (out of focus) eel this is. It's also upside down I think!
A closeup of the eyes of a Yellow Ray.
And the head of a Spotted Eel.
I think this is a Queen Triggerfish. I didn't have my ID book handy when I named the photo.
Another arrow crab.
Trying to get some detail of the eyes of this Balloon Fish. They have algae flecks in them that look amazing.