When the dive guide told me we were headed to “Casa Blanca” to dive today, I said, Huh? Look in any dive guide book and you will see that no such dive site exists. In front of the reef El Paso de Cedral (Cedar Pass) is a large white house named Casa Gordon, and that is the only “Casa Blanca” I could think of. Apparently, “Casa Blanca” is a new term used to describe diving the end of La Francesa (one of my very favorite dives) and the reef area between Cedar Pass and Cedral Wall. It’s a new one on me, and I’ve been diving Cozumel for almost 30 years!

Nurse Shark fly by

Like Cedar Pass, “Casa Blanca” has a swift current, so taking photos is not the easiest thing to do. I had decided to experiment today…instead of using strobes, I manually set my white balance during the dives. The first thing I saw today was a shark…the photo is sort of watercolor-ish. I think they turned out rather nicely, see what you think! The colors are amazing on some of the photos, so obviously, I plan to keep experimenting!

Cuddle time for Nurse shark and Green Moray.
Barracuda on “Casa Blanca”
Black Grouper
Christmas Tree Worms on gorgeous Brain Coral.

Our second dive was Yucab, known for its amazing cacophony of life. Lobsters were everywhere today, waving their “feelers” around as if conducting a symphony. One poor lobster was actually the meal today for a shoal of Ocean Triggerfish. Snappers and others were in on the action too, but mostly the Ocean Triggers were winning the biggest parts of the meal.

Caribbean Spiny Lobsters “conducting”.

 

Ocean Triggerfish can be aggressive, so I was cautious.
Snappers are aggressive when feeding as well…this one was shaking that lobster like a dog shakes a toy!

I came upon a very large Black Grouper on “Casa Blanca”, and a peek-a-boo Tiger Grouper on Yucab. Another great find was a sleeping shark and its buddy, a Green Moray. There were 5 nurse sharks on “Casa Blanca”, and 3 Hawksbill Turtles. In Cozumel one tends to forget how endangered the Hawksbill Turtle is…they are many here since their laying ground is across the channel near Playa del Carmen. However, thanks to BP, Playa del Carmen is the epicenter for North American Hawksbill breeding…the oil spill killed huge numbers of them and ruined their nesting beaches on the Gulf Coast.

Incredible color on this Rainbow Parrotfish!
They are so difficult to photograph with a flash…so glad I know how to get photos of them now!
Hello…..says the Tiger Grouper.
You look okay to me…
so I will come all the way out for a greeting! Gorgeous Tiger Grouper today!

 

So there was a great start to the diving this trip, and the snorkeling has also been superb as we saw an Eagle Ray right off the beach entry.

I will be keeping you up to date!

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Tam Warner

Award Winning Travel Journalist and Blogger, writing about Eclectic Travels in the Empty Nest! From scuba to luxury cruises to kayaking to expeditions, Tam is ready to go! Contact me at travelswithtam@gmail.com

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Tam Warner

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