John and Sara of Florida came down to visit and we decided to try something different. I had told them about the unusual amount of fish around our local shipwreck the “Mama Vina”, which is an old ferry that was sank 10 years ago for diving purposes. I figured if it had alot of fish by day, then the twilight dive there must be phenomenal… and it was! We went in the late afternoon when most dive shops had already closed and we had the wreck to ourselves…well except for the hundreds of fish around it and US! Check out this video and tell me it’s not an awesome dive! They will be down in late November for Sara’s birthday so look for another video of them soon!

It’s whale Shark season again and this year I am doing a day trip there that is much shorter than before. In the early years we were going to Isla Holbox where you can go out into the Gulf of Mexico to see them. But now I have found a new spot to see them in the clear Caribbean waters..and that place is 40 miles outside Punta Sam. Our schedule is hotel pick up at 6 am then off to the boat. We get back to Playa around 3pm, so its only a 9 hour day versus the 4am pick for the Holbox trip and not getting back till 5pm. I just took a group up there and this is what we saw. Enjoy!

I have been diving Playa and Cozumel’s reefs and walls since I was a kid. Now for the last 6 years have been diving them every week, and almost everyday…and without a doubt, Coz’s walls are spectacular and their viz is generally better! But we do have some dives that rival those in Cozumel. On the mainland side here from Playa, we have a dive called Los Arcos that is to the north farther than most ops will go. Its the farthest site that we do and is often hard to find due to waves, depth of site, no landmarks, and few have been there. But boy is it worth it!!! In this video I have a couple friends with me, Diane of Calgary and Marty from Arkansas. They have been diving with me for quite awhile and were totally ready for this deep dive. The top of the wall is in 75-80ft and bottoms out in sand around 115ft. Los Arcos is Spanish for “the Arches”. It actually gets its name from a long swim through and a huge halo formation in the wall that we pass through. Check it out! And don’t hesitate to recommend this site if diving with me and you feel up to the challenge…I love it!

Well if you are then you can expect calm seas, cloudless days and blistering heat! WooHoo! But to escape the heat some choose to do it on or IN the water! We here at Fantasea have fun year around, but regardleess what time of year, there’s always an adventure just under the surface of the turquoise Caribbean waters! Here’s just a few of our hobbies…uh I mean “services”…Ya’ll come see now ya hear!!!

I get to teach an array of PADI diving courses, but probably one of the funnest to teach is the PADI Advanced Open Water course. This course takes a diver with just entry level training and exposes them to 5 different areas of diving. In this course, Cam and Ricky do the two dives that are mandatory, Deep and Navigation, and the other three were Wreck, Drift and Peak Performance Buoyancy. I actually videoed them making the Deep, Nav, and Wreck dives of the course. Here in Playa del Carmen, we have alot more to teach like cavern, wall, Nitrox, Search and Recovery, U/W video and U/W photography, which are all alot of fun too! See what it looks like while doing the AOW course with us here at Fantasea Dive. Enjoy!

I was diving one day over in Cozumel when outta the blue swam up a huge Spotted Eagle ray! He had just swooped down and taken a full size conch shell in it’s mouth. I could see hime chompin down on it crushing it up as I switcheed on my video camera. I got down low to the ground and scaffed across the bottom trying not to make many bubbles. He swam right towards me with half of the snail hangin out of his mouth. I also saw that he was seriously hunting breakfast and I was of no bother to this large pelagic fish. Here is what I saw:

Living in Playa del Carmen, us men of the Sea are privy to a few special encounters while on the water. And having a 20ft whale shark swim by is one of those occurences! Me and Rob Brennan from Massachussettes, who is also part of the National Marine Life Center there, ran across one heading to Tortugas Reef. Rob organizes a trip here each March for him and some diving friends. This year was extra special with the whale shark passing by. I saw the animal and told the captain to stop the boat. We donned our snorkel and fins and took off after the majestic creature. I guess I had the speed that morning cause me and the shark lost them after seconds. Here’s what I saw…

Each year snow falls on 99% of all my guests from up North. Some of these guests escape the cold every year for a couple weeks or longer and come here to dive with me while the snow falls up north. Jesse Perron from Winnipeg, Canada, is just one of those people. This year when Jesse was visiting we had some adverse conditions that sent us diving over in Cozumel. We both agree, diving in Playa is good but its hard to beat Cozumel for some stuff. Join us as we search high and low for all the “critters” we can find. Enjoy! And Jesse…see ya next year!

This is the time of the year where I look forward to taking a couple divers at a time down to see the Bull Sharks. And this year I had two guests from Serbia come over just to see them. I had a neighbor once who was an U/W videographer from Serbia and his brother and he went out diving with me and loved it. When they got home to Serbia, they talked a couple friends into coming over and checking out the diving. Boy were they in for a treat. Lots of Bull Sharks on this dive! Also I would like to say that we did NOT bait, lure, or harass the sharks. Enjoy!

Season’s greetings and Happy Holidays from all of us here at Fantasea Dive! And the Bull Sharks! So far this winter we have had great sightings of Bull Sharks. I honestly believe there are more than last year. These lil guys grow up to 10 ft long and weigh 500-800 lbs. I have included a video of what a few girls saw just yesterday. Must have been at least 8 or more! Hopefully all of you can come down one Christmas and check ‘em out with me!

We wish everyone a safe and Merry Christmas and New Year’s and ALOT of prosperity in 2009!!!