Mark's 500th Dive

 

And ... I was there! 

The underwater stills and videos are all Marks' with the exception of the one still I took of him. Mark used an iPhone 14 Pro in a SeaLife SportDiver case.

Surface photography is by Helen and Mark.

Click on the blue links for additional information.

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We are diving in Parque National Arrecifes de Cozumel.

Our first tank dive of the day was at Columbia Deep to a deepest depth of 94'. 

Reef Description:

Experience level. Intermediate to Advanced. Current is sometimes unpredictable.

This is a beautiful wall dive. The coral formations are extremely healthy. You will see towers of coral built on the skeletons of ancient coral that has built up over millions of years. Giant Barrel Sponges, as well as Deepwater Fans and Black Coral form a nice backdrop for photography. There tend to be more fish and animals here than on Palancar. If you are lucky, you might spot an eagle ray cruising the sand or the depths. You'll see some Scrawled Filefish, Queen Angelfish, and lots of schools of blue Creole Wrasse. You can hardly miss seeing a few turtles here. 

All photography is taken at Columbia Shallow, second tank dive to a deepest depth of 27'; no surface interval required ... ascend, travel a short boat distance, change tanks and re-enter. The dive is under 30' so divers just off-gas for the duration; in our case a little more than 1 hour bottom time. 

Reef Description:

Experience level. Beginner. Mild Currents in a protected bay like area.

These shallow coral heads rise 10-30' above the sandy ocean floor. Situated near Colombia Lagoon this area sometimes gets cool fresh water coming from the lagoon. This may make visibility less than the 150' -200' that you normally expect in Cozumel. For this reason, you will see a lot of fish and turtles that have been relatively undisturbed.

Fastboat Johnny, Captain Lyka, Dive Master Sergio

Fairly calm surface conditions during the boat ride, a rainbow overhead and a small group of divers ... couldn't ask for a better start to this epic day.

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Columbia Deep & Columbia Shallow 

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What we saw ... octopus, turtles, toadfish, scorpionfish, needlefish, nurse shark, lobster

What we saw & photographed ... 

Scorpion Fish ... hard to spot, rare to see

Juvenile (2-3 feet) Nurse Shark

Hawksbill Turtle

Octopus

Mark ... holding up 5 fingers

 

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On Shore 

Helen made arrangements with our friend Pau; owner and baker at The Noisy Cupcake here on the island. A conspiracy was hatched to deliver the cake while we were out diving and then store it away in a refrigerator for later. After our lunch was over and without Marks' knowledge one of the servers snuck the cake to the table ... I believe he was surprised.


Congratulations mi amigo ... as a Master Diver with 500 dives in 17 years, yours is an accomplishment to be proud of.

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We're on a 5-week SCUBA/Snorkel adventure this time.

LOAF couldn't make the trip ... literally. 

  

You can follow all our travels here.

  

For all photos from this trip see our Trip159 gallery.

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