Best of Mike #84

One of my very favorites.... a Juvenile Spotted Drumfish.

Named so because ... as an adult their markings will have changed to include spots.

And, by beating their abdominal muscles against their swim bladder.... they are able to make a sound very much like a drum.

In their juvenile stage they are small, wispy and graceful.... almost like a feather with eyes and gills.

Best Of Mike #82

One of our favorite sites to dive on Bonaire is Karpata.

One of the big attractions at that site is the double fluke anchors to be found there.

I have written about this site and the anchors before (Best of Mike #40) and probably will again.

After all we have been to Bonaire 9 times.... and have dived this site a total of 11 times.

It is believed that the anchors were placed there intentionally, for use by the sailing ships that would moor at Karpata to off-load supplies take on plantation goods for transport off the island.

There are actually 3 anchors laying on the reef here. Nine or ten years ago this one was easily found and the other two could be located with a little searching.

Not so today, the anchor you see here is well encrusted with coral, although still findable.

But the other two are lost to the ages, under the coral that has grown over the years.

Best of Mike #81

"If you know how to pretend, you can transcend both time and space".

Imagine a hot day, a very hot day but you have the shade of these trees to keep you cool.

Warm sand between your toes.

A breeze to push new air into your shade.

Each passing boat, makes small waves that lap against the shore. i

After lunch, you will swim out into the cool water for your next dive.

Or maybe after lunch you take a short nap, and then take your next dive.

Best of Mike #80

I think every photographer has a style or pattern of shooting that emerges in their work.

Some of this "style" is very much intended while some of it just seems to happen.

There are good trends and trends that might even be bad habits.

One of the things that I have noticed, as I take this walk down the memory lane of my scuba photography, is that I don't shoot many pixtures of people underwater.

As my equipment has evolved I have become more and more of a "macro photographer" and shoot even less of wide angle subjects.... like people.

But when we made this trip of Bonaire I was still using my Nikon "point and shoot" a camera that did a great job of both macro and wide angle.

So, here is Linda peering thru the propeller blades on the wreck of the Hilma Hooker.

Best of Mike #79

My friend and fellow diver, Randy,  tells me this is  Angel Hair Coral ... and that's a great name for it .

It is very hair like in it's texture and consistency. It definitely moves like hair as is sways back and forth in the currents. It even feels like hair.

I suspect it's really the extended polyps of some kind of coral.

But I can tell you for sure that it's both pretty and exotic ... and it makes me smile every time I see it.

Best of Mike #78

I am pretty sure that if you gave me a section of reef, the size of the average room, and told me I would be diving there for a week ... I'd be just fine.

Take your time, have a good look into every crack, under every overhang and into every hole ... you will be amazed what you find.

Like this is.... a Rough Fileclam.

The mantle is always a brilliant red or orange. But he tentacles will change color depending on the depth of the water.

In shallow water they will be red or orange too. But in deeper water they will be white, like you see here.

Best of Mike #77

Octopus are definitely one of those "mysterious creatures of the deep". So finding one of them on a dive is always exciting stuff.

They are not however, the monsters of the deep that movies have portrayed them as. Simply because they are never big enough to carry off an entire submarine.

All of the Octopus that I have seen are about the size of a plastic grocery bag. And seem to have about as much substance as that bag full of water when they ooze about the reef.

As you can see from this picture they are very adept at changing their coloring and their shape to match the area around them.

I am sure that I have swum over them hundreds if not thousands of time without even know they are there.

Octopus are nocturnal hunters, so during the day you will most often find them curled up in their hidey hole, as you see here.

One of the telltale signs for octopus is a littering of shells. They like to carry home the shellfish they find and then sit in the entrance of their den, cracking the shells and eating the goodies inside.

They are pretty territorial. So, if you find a den and don't make too much of a nuisance of yourself, it is possible to go back the same spot day after day.... for another encounter.

Best of Mike #76

Technically, this is not a great picture but I like it anyway.

It has a bit of an artistic feel to it ... and is pretty representative for what a Tarpon looks like when you see them underwater.

I took this picture on a dive to the Hilma Hooker.... a wreck that lays on it's side, up against the reef, in about 100ft of water.

The water was pretty stirred up that day so the visibility was poor. 

Tarpons are big, growing to be 5-8 ft and have very silvery scales. 

But they are a little stand-offish.... so they tend to be out their in the gloom, just like you see here.

They are predators and are comfortable in pretty much any kind of water ... fresh, salt, clear or brackish. Because of a unique swim bladder that they use for both a buoyancy and as a respiratory organ.

They are prized as a saltwater gamefish, not because of taste.... but because of their size and the fight they put up, including their great leaping ability.

Best of Mike #75

Today's pixture is a Red-Banded Coral Shrimp.

As you can see they are very colorful in a candy cane kind of way.

While plentiful on most of the reefs we dive, they are very fond of "under, behind and between".

So knowing they are there and making a good picture aren't always the same thing.

They are part of the family of "cleaners" that inhabit any reef.

Their job is to remove parasites, food particles and even dead tissue from the fish who visit their cleaning stations.

Like many things small on the reef, they will retreat into a crack, a crevice or under an overhang.... if you come charging into their world.

The waving of their long white antennae is the sign that their cleaning station is "open for business".

So, if you are slow and gentle with your approach and maybe leave your hand or finger sitting quietly on the bottom.... they will soon come out to see if it needs to be cleaned. 

Often, climbing right onto your finger or into your hand.

Best of Mike #74

This is most probably a Spotted Cleaner Shrimp.

I say "most probably" because there are a number of species so close in appearance that only examination under a microscope let's you know for sure.

The body is transparent, there are three or four white and tan saddle markings across the back, the legs and claws are banded with white, purple, red or lavender and there are two pairs of long white, hair like antennae with dark bands. Occasionally, you will even see them with a row of pinkish eggs attached to their belly.

They live in association with various anemones. Perched on the tentacles of the anemone, they sway their bodies and wave their antennae to attract the fish that they will clean.

Best of Mike #73

In my last post I had promised you Cayman Brac as our next stop ... but I was wrong.

That destination is upcoming but we have another stop to make in Bonaire before we get there.

We've been to Bonaire a lot, and for good reason.

The diving there is great.... especially if you are an underwater photographer, looking for lots of critters in current free settings.

This is one of my very favorite pixtures.

It's almost like it was posed specifically for the photograph, which of course it wasn't.

There is an Arrowcrab doing what they do inside a white Vase Sponge. Nicely framed by some black Corkscrew Anemone.

And if you look closely, the other orange shape behind the barrel of the vase sponge is a Brittle Star.

Best of Mike #72

I think I may have mentioned in previous posts, that on the last day of every trip we don't dive.

Always a good idea to get the excess nitrogen out of your body at a nice natural pace.

Processing the nitrogen out of your body too rapidly is what they call the "bends".

And going to altitude in an airplane, before you are completely "off-gassed" would be one way to get those very painful bends.

In Cozumel, part of our "day off" tradition has always been a trip to the windward side of the island.

I think there are dive providers who will take you to that side of the island. But once you are out from behind the island, you get the waves and the rolling, bouncing action that is so common to the ocean.

I am quite prone to motion sickness.... and barfing in your regulator, while doable, is just never fun.

So, we make that trip by car or moped.

We make our first stop at the corner where the road turns....  and enjoy a beer in the thatched roof bar.

And then, maybe even make a second stop for lunch farther along the coast.

That's it for Cozumel, for this trip. Next stop ... Cayman Brac.

Best of Mike #71

This pixture is a great, if subtle, example of what makes Cozumel diving so world class.

It's close and it's easy.

Almost all of the diving takes place in the lee of the island, so very seldom is the surface of the water anything other than flat calm.

And yet underneath.... that famous current is moving along with purpose.

It's that constant movement of water that keeps the reef healthy.... and attracts a wide variety of wild life.

It's the local practice of having the boat follow the divers.... that let's us enjoy a great ride along the current, with almost never a need to swim against or across it.

It's kind of like going to the movies.... except it's us, not the pictures, that are moving.

Best of Mike #70

This little guy is a Splendid Toadfish.... found only in the waters surrounding the island of Cozumel.

They are bottom dwellers which often makes for an easy photo subject.... but these guys like to burrow into the sand under the coral and are pretty shy about coming out where we can see them.

As you may know, Cozumel is famous for it's drift diving.

So a good pixture can be even more of a challenge.... as the current is always looking to move you along to the next adventure.

Being bottom dwellers, their eyes are on the top of their head and built for looking up, with almost no horizontal vision.

As you can see they have a pretty distinct striped pattern.

They also have a total of 8 fins.... 7 of which are outlined with the bright yellow that makes them a bit of a photographic prize.

Best of Mike #69

We made this trip to Cozumel, early in 2002. It was a family trip, including Korri.

Korri is now "10 teen" (that's how I'm supposed to say it) ... but at the time she was less than 2 yrs old.

So when the group went to swim with the dolphins, Gramps stayed ashore with Korri and his camera.... win/win.

Part of the adventure was kisses from the dolphins.

Here's our son Jason getting his.

He tells me that look on his face is the surprise of having two dolphins show up for kisses when there was only supposed to be one.

But I think maybe he just doesn't really appreciate dolphin kisses.... apparently they are pretty fishy.

Best of Mike #68

This is the trip that we made to Cozumel to complete Kelli's (our daughter-in-law) scuba certification.

I was still an active Instructor then, so I did her training and certification.

Which of course means that on most dives, I didn't have my camera with me. So, once again, underwater pixtures from Cozumel are in short supply.

One of the things that we did do on this trip was swim with dolphins at their sanctuary at Chankanaab National Park.

So, we will let this guy, be your greeter for this trip.

He is chattering a greeting, right now ...  and if you would step just a little closer to the edge of his pool, he would be happy to flip some water in your direction, so you know for sure that he sees you.

Best of Mike #67

This is the last pixture from our Los Roques trip.

In the foreground is the skiff that took us to and from dive sites.

While in the distance you are seeing our liveaboard.... the Antares Dancer.

By dive liveaboard standards it is pretty small, sleeping only 10 guests.

But that is by necessity, as all of Los Roques (a group of islands off the coast of Venezuela) is a marine preserve.

The number and size of all vessels in those waters is restricted and regulated.

We made this trip in October of 2001, in the very earliest and perhaps most fearful "post 9/11 days".

So, we didn't really notice the smallness of our boat.... as one of the consequences of that timing was there were only 5 guests on the boat for the whole trip.

Next stop ..... Cozumel.

Best of Mike #66

We are still on the island of Dos Mosquises.

The tour of the turtle farm is done, and we have finished wandering the shoreline.

That small boat you see thru the trees is the skiff that we came ashore in. And it's our ride back to the big boat.

We're just going to hang out under this tree until it's time to go.

I guess that would make this a bus stop ..... Caribbean style.

I think, if the all bus stops looked like this.... I would be tempted to sell my car.

Best of Mike #65

One afternoon our liveaboard dropped anchor near a small island ..... Dos Mosquises Sur.

Where there is a turtle breeding station.

Much in the same way that fish can be raised first in captivity and then released into the wild.

This farm is raising turtles, to bolster diminishing populations in the wild.

After touring the breeding station we wandered around the island taking in the other sites on a beautiful afternoon.

This meeting was happening on the pilings of the old pier, at water's edge.

I am not sure who called this meeting, what they were discussing or who the featured speaker was.

But it was a meeting that is well attended and a meeting that went on, even after we had returned to our boat.

Best of Mike #64

I have really zoomed in on this little guy, so let me first give you some perspective ..... he is about the size of a small green pea.

He hovers like a helicopter but is quite nervous, so the movement is much more darting ..... like a firefly.

We are pretty sure that he is some juvenile stage of one of the Trunkfish.

But in all honesty, we are not 100% sure because the coloring is wrong. Normally, the body is black with yellow spots but as you can see that is not the case here.

I even went so far as to send a pixture to the guys who write the fish identification book that I like to use but I didn't get an answer.

So barring evidence to the contrary, I am calling him a Juvenille Spotted Trunkfish.

Best of Mike #63

Creole Wrasse are always fun to watch as they work their way along the reef.

To begin with they are kind of noticeable with their purple bodies and the bright splash of yellow, green and blue along their sides.

They  swim in schools that arrange themselves in a long thin line. So, each time I see them.... I have "conga tunes" playing in my head.

Like many reef fish they are grazers,  swimming just above the surface of the coral.... snooping into crevices in search of snails, worms, shrimp, crab and eggs.

From time to time we will see them feeding, as they are here, by extending that "white dealy" (yes that's a scientific term) from their mouths and filtering something right out of the water.

Best of Mike #62

Trumpetfish swim slowly, sneaking up on unsuspecting prey.  

Or they lie motionless like a floating stick, swaying back and forth with the wave action of the water. 


I have also photographed them floating in the water, next to sea rods. When doing this, they will adopt the angles and positions in the water.... that make them look most like one of the branches on that coral.


Camoflage is a big part of their hunting technique. So, they often swim in alignment with other larger fish.... just above or below that fish. 


I think that was the case here, as this guy was more than happy to let me swim along above him, snapping all the pixtures that I wanted.


They feed almost exclusively on small fish, such as wrasses.... by sucking them suddenly into their small mouths.


They vary in color ..... anything from dark brown to green tones but it seems to me that orange and blue are the colors that I see most often.

Best of Mike #61

If you are taking pixtures underwater and come across a Red Lip Blenny, you are going to have some fun.

They provide the perfect recipe for a challenging but doable shot.

On one hand.... they are very small (2-4 in), very quick, darting in their movements and generally freaked out, that something as big and noisy as a diver has invaded their space.

But on the other hand.... they are darn cute (it's those big red lips), very territorial and brave well beyond their size.

So, it is really an exercise in spending the time necessary for them to become comfortable with your presence.

If you use some of that time to watch the pattern of their movements.... you will soon see where you can get a pixture of them perched and surveying their domain.

Best of Mike #60

Los Roques was the trip of the aggressive Spiny Lobster.

We saw them on just about every dive and they were lobster with attitude.

Standing outside of their hidey holes.... they would stare right into your eyes, waving their antennae.

On more than one occasion they ran towards us.

I imagined them yelling in their little lobster voices - "get off my lawn ya punks and stay out of my yard".

Best of Mike #59

It's a fan of coral.

Some eye candy for you to look at, while I tell you the story of our journey to Los Roques.

This and our trip to Palau are the contenders for "most exotic destination" in our travels so far.

When we went to Palau we were part of a group, always comforting.... and, we traveled thru a long serious of English speaking countries to get there.

Not so this trip ..... just Linda and I with my really limited and really bad Spanish.

Los Roques is a group of islands that are the oldest marine park in the Caribbean.

They are part of Venezuela, so we flew first to Caracas and connected to a small prop plane that took us to the island of Grand Roque and our liveaboard ..... the boat we would live on for a week of diving.

We made this trip in October of 2001. Now think about that for just a moment. What happened in September of 2001 ..... yup the 9/11 terrorist attack in America.

The upside to traveling then, from a purely selfish point of view, was that there weren't very many people who were doing it.

The downside included the very, very, extra, special attention to security and a very noticeable attitude of nervousness, that was shared by everyone.

Now, we have traveled many times to Mexico and were at least comfortable with, if not a little cocky about our very little Spanish.

But what you don't realize, until it's not there, is that on your way to Mexico there is always an English bailout.

If you can't quite read the sign in Spanish, there is probably and English version near by.

If you can't quite get your point across in Spanish, switch to English because the person you are talking to, or someone nearby, speaks it ..... at the very least, much better than I speak Spanish.

Not so in Venezuela ..... at least not in the airport in Caracas.

In the course of our 4 hour layover there, we didn't encounter a single person, including the airline staff, who spoke English ..... or understood my really bad Spanish.

Somewhere in the sign language that we used to ask for directions, we got the gate we were supposed to be at to board our plane.

But never in all the time we waited (about 4 hours) did the monitor in that waiting room EVER say the name or number of our flight.

We had a nice long layover, so we wandered the airport from end to end, more than just a few times, looking for some monitor, or some other clue that if we got onto the plane that parked at that gate, at 4pm, we would be going where we wanted to go ..... Grand Roque.

In the end, a plane did arrive at the gate. We gave the airline employee our tickets at the gate. They did not say "where the hell do you think you're going" or anything that carried a tone that would imply that was what they were saying ..... so we got on the plane.

Imagine our great relief, a hour and half after we took off, when the pilot came on the intercom and gave what I suspected was the standard "prepare for landing speech" ..... and it included the words Grand Roque.

Once on the ground we were met by the crew from our live-aboard ..... the Antares Dancer.

They spoke a lot of languages, maybe 6 or 8 ..... including English. And did a lot, over the course of the next week, to help me with my newfound resolve to improve my Spanish.

Best of Mike #58

Over the years I have collected alot of pixtures of Arrowcrabs. They are plentiful, interesting to watch and pretty cute in a gangly sort of way.

During mating (not that I have ever actually seen that happen) the male places a sperm capsule on the female, that she then uses to fertilize her eggs.

She carries these eggs, on her swimming legs, until they are ready to hatch.

Once hatched the larvae swim to the surface to feed on plankton.

They go through a series of moults, eventually, emerging in the adult form, you see here.

Last post from our visit to Curacao ..... next stop Los Roques, a group of islands off the coast of Venezuela.

Best of Mike #57

Some days you just have to hang out.

If today's that day and now's that time, there is a beach, in the Caribbean that's ready for you.

The sun on your face, making the inside of your head glow red thru your closed eyelids.

The powdery soft sand between your toes.

The soothing sound of the waves breaking against the shore.

Ahhhh ..... priceless

Best of Mike #56

Curacao is part of the Dutch Antilles (along with Aruba and Bonaire) a group of islands that lie just a few miles off the coast of Venezuela.

On this particular trip, we were on our way to Venezuela. But we had decided to stop over on Curacao,  for a couple of days of diving on our way.

Like many places in the dive world, the diving on Curacao is a morning, 2 tank boat dive, activity.

So we had lots of time for sightseeing.

One of the islands attractions, is a small but well stocked marine park and aquarium.

This is a pixture from our afternoon there.

Best of Mike #55

I'm not sure you could take a bad pixture of a sunset, even if you wanted to.

Here's my formula for getting good ones.

A nice warm day with clouds.

A comfortable chair.

A good pair of sunglasses.

At least one, but maybe as many as 3, cold beer.

Any camera set to one of the automatic modes (Aperture is my favorite).

This is one of the few times that you actually want your camera to be fooled. There are always rich colors in a sunset that aren't seen by the naked eye. And you want anything that isn't lit by the setting sun to be a black shadow (so no flash).

Find a scene that appeals to you, point your chair directly into the sun, lower your sunglasses, open one of your cold beers and snap away at regular intervals, checking your view screen to see what you get.

Things will happen fast, especially as the sun nears the horizon.... so don't get to mellow, at least until it's dark.

I use this formula on every trip. And ..... have always gotten good sunset pixtures and occasionally some great ones.

Best of Mike #54

I have never seen my brain.  But I can believe that it looks a lot like this very close up pixutre of Brain Coral.

Brain Corals are found in warm shallow water.

Each head of coral is formed by a colony of genetically identical polyps, which secrete a hard skeleton of calcium carbonate. This makes them an important reef builder.

Sadly, we seldom see brain corals that are this healthy anymore. As they are easily bleached by the warmer oceans that we are currently experiencing around the world.

Best of Mike #53

This is a pixture of Branching Anemone, taken very close up.

One of those many things, underwater, that looks like a plant but is really an animal.

Most often they are found tucked into cracks and crevices along the reef in shallow water.

It has tentacles that end in clusters that look a lot like fingers. And, like all anemones, you will often find small shrimp or crabs in amongst those tentacles.

But what I really think about each time I look at this pixture is.... "to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before ..."

These are the voyages of the Starship Mike, a lifelong mission .....

Best of Mike #52

I agree with this Balloonfish, every day underwater is a great one ..... and well worth smiling about.

These fellows are found in grassy areas or on the reef swimming slowly near the bottom.

Occasionally, they can be found in small schools but more often they swim alone.

They are pretty shy and will generally retreat into a protective recess if approached. But will hover near the entrance giving you chance to observe them closely, if you move slowly.

If molested, they will inflate as that is their defensive mechanism. I have heard that inflating is kind of tough on them, so I have never teased one to see that happen.

Best of Mike #51

I know it's coral, I know I took this pixture really close up and I know it's pretty.

But what I don't know far outweighs what I do know.

I don't know what kind of coral it is ..... or what caused the turquoise coloring.

Something that I haven't seen before or since.

Best of Mike #50

We've moved on, again, in our scuba travels ..... to Curacao.

2001 was a big dive year for us, a total of four trips that year.

There were also a couple of other big events that year. In August, we sold our McDonald's Restaurants. And in September, on the 11th to be exact, terrorists attacked America.

Sometime between those to big events we had booked a two part dive trip (Curacao and then Los Roques) celebrate the selling of the restaurants.

We left in mid October, so, post 9/11 travel restrictions had been lifted ..... but there was still not a lot of people moving around the world.

One of the sites we dove in Curacao was Bottle Bay.... named that because there are lots and lots of bottles both new and old, in a pile on the bottom.

Some are very old.... dating to the 1700s.

Why the bottles had been dumped there, I don't remember.... or maybe we weren't told because no one remembers.

But there were definitely lots of bottles down there.... all sizes, shapes and colors.

Best of Mike #49

My camera and lighting equipment has evolved over the years.

Generally, because, I found that there were pixtures I wanted.... but just couldn't get with the equipment I had.

Oddly enough, moving up can mean that you actually sacrifice something.

The "point and shoot" cameras that I started with had a a minimum focus distance of 0.9".

Meaning, if the critter would let me, I could get really close.

The camera and lens, I use today, gives me many more options for managing light and exposure.... but doesn't let me focus much closer than 12".

I like close, almost to a fault. I think it makes for a more dramatic pixture in almost every situation.

And, close is always good underwater.... because water is so much poorer than air at transmitting light.

This is an Arrowcrab.... usually called that because of the shape of it's head and body. But sometimes because of the it's long legs it is also known as a Spider Crab.

Best of Mike #48

When there are so many great options, it's really hard to pick a favorite.

But French Angelfish would have to be contender for mine.

We see them with some regularity and they seem more than ready to interact with divers.

About the size and shape of a dinner plate, they are a striking fish with their black bodies and yellow trimmed scales.

Back in the days when I didn't really have the equipment to "stop the action" or deal with challenging lighting conditions, this guy was kind enough to let me get in close and make a good pixture with what I had.

Best of Mike #47

Dive boats come in all shapes and sizes.

Live-a-boards are often built expressly for diving. They are in the neighborhood of 100+ feet and are capable of accommodating a crew of 5 or 6, plus 20-24 guests. All of whom live onboard that vessel for a week or more.

At the other end of the spectrum, boats are adapted to (vs built for) diving.

The smallest, particularly popular in Cozumel, would be open boats that hold just 6 divers. They are very fast and are always the 1st to arrive at the dive site.

The one pictured here is a day boat. It probably holds 12-16 divers and a crew of 3.

In Cozumel the boats tend to be in the small and medium categories, because it is drift diving.

That means that once the divers are in the water, they ride the current (which in Cozumel is always significant) for their dive. While the boat follows the bubbles of their group of divers.

At dive's end, we just surface and climb back on the boat, without having to ever swim against those stiff currents.

Most of our trips to Cozumel have been with groups from the dive shop. I kind of like boats of this size for those trips as we can all be together on the rides to and from the dive sites. That can be almost as much fun as the dives themselves.

One of my favorite Cozumel sites is Palancar Caves. It is a nice enough dive but what makes it the most fun for me is what we do on the boat before we get there.

Some time ago I made up a whole story, that I like to tell on the ride out, about Mayan ghosts who haunt that site.

Lots of fun to see a boat full of divers, kids and adults, with face paints, making their dive buddy safe against the evil spirits.

In fact, every time we have done it, there have been people on the boat who were not part of our group. We have invited them to get in on the fun ..... no one has ever said no, including the local dive masters.

Unfortunately, I don't have any pixtures of the "painted faces". But I know there are people reading this blog who have been there and who do.

Perhaps one of them will post a comment and pixture from one of those trips.

Best of Mike #46

I am always captivated by water.

When you think about it, the water in this pixture really doesn't have much to do with the what makes the composition good. But without it, I don't think this pixture would really work.

This particular water is the kind of water that I like to to dive and play in. But the truth be told pretty much any water - river, lake, ocean, stream or puddle, gets my attention.

Well I guess not any water. I really don't care for the kind that falls from the sky, at least while it's falling.

Best of Mike #45

Well that's it for Bonaire, at least for 2001 and we are off to Cozumel. This was a group trip that I led for Giant Stride.

My dive log tells me we were certifying new divers on this trip and my photo log doesn't have many pixtures in it. Especially, underwater pixtures.

When I was teaching it wasn't my habit to have my camera and students in the water at the same time. Too many people to watch and too many things that could require me to have both hands available.

When we are in Cozumel, we often rent scooters and take a tour around the island.

Just as the road turns onto the windward side of the island, there is a great little beach bar.

With your toes in the sand and a cold cerveza, you can watch the waves break against the rocks.

Best of Mike #44

Like most places Bonaire has more than one claim to fame. Even more than one sporting claim to fame.

On the windward side of the island there is a a shallow, sheltered bay ..... Lac Bay. It's here that the windsurfers hangout and do their thing.

On the last day of each trip, we don't dive ..... for a number of reasons. It helps with the off-gassing of the nitrogen that has built up in our bodies, it gives us time to wash and dry our scuba gear, before packing and it gives us some time to sightsee above the water line.

Lac Bay has a little beach bar and it's always fun to hang out there for a beer or two and watch the windsurfers doing there thing in the bay. It is pure coincidence that right next door there is a nudist colony.

I have never seen the fully unclothed on the beach here. But topless is something that many of the European women who visit Bonaire are comfortable with, especially on the beach at Lac Bay ..... even someone's Grandma is likely to be seen topless here.

Come to think of it, we haven't been back to that bar since. Probably wasn't the trauma of seeing a topless grandma.

It's probably just that "kite boarders" have come to Bonaire. They use a different beach and are more exciting to watch ..... than windsurfers.

Best of Mike #43

By 1837 Bonaire was a thriving center of salt production.

The government, who by then controlled the industry, built four obelisks, each painted a different color, red, white blue and orange (the colors of the Dutch Flag and the Royal House of Orange).

They were erected strategically near areas of the salt lake. The idea was to signal ships where to pick up their cargoes of salt.

A flag of the corresponding color was raised atop a flagpole to signal the ship's captain where to drop anchor.

At each of the obelisks there were huts, where the slaves who loaded the ships lived.

Some of those huts have been preserved at the sites of the Red and White obelisks. These are the huts at Red Slave.

Sitting on the beach very near the water's edge. They are perhaps as wide as two people if they were to lay side by side, almost long enough to accommodate an adult and only about 3 ft from floor to ceiling at it's highest point. The floors are cement and the walls look very much like plaster. \There are openings for window and door.... but nothing to close them to the weather.

Something much less than rudimentary living conditions.

Best of Mike #42

I have heard a "professional photographer" described as someone who gets a good pixture every time they try.... because they have the knowledge to use their tools well under all conditions.

By the same token an "amateur photographer" will get good pixtures.... often but not every time.

When it comes to sunsets, I definitely shoot like an amateur.

Not because I don't know how to set the camera. But because I like the color surprises I get if I just put the camera in one of it's auto modes (I prefer Aperture) compose and shoot.

The colors that the camera sees are not the same as what your eye sees. 

So, check the screen after each shot. If you like it, keep it. If not, delete and shoot again.

Sunsets are always action packed.... the quality of the light and the colors that go with it are changing literally every few seconds.

Best of Mike #41

Here's the other reason we like Bonaire so much, it's the tropics.

Located just 11 degrees (69 miles) north of the equator, the weather there is very consistent and not anywhere near as hot as you might think.

Year round average temperature is 85 degrees.

With the almost constant presence of the Tradewinds, a very pleasant 85 at that.

Bonaire gets only about 11 inches of rain a year, most of which comes in the fall. And if it doesn't, it's really nothing to sit on the tailgate of your truck, in your wetsuit, and wait for the shower to pass.

Bonaire is a desert.... but with just a little irrigation plant life can grow very quickly to be very lush.

There are plenty of cacti too.

When we first started traveling there, it was common to see fences made of cactus. The local people would cut the arms off the cactus creating stalks 4 or 5 feet long and then weave them between strands of barbed wire. Creating something that looked a little like a picket fence ..... but with a lot more "keep out value".

I am certain that in a previous life I was an island boy ..... and hopefully in a future life too.

Best of Mike #40

You hear so much about the decline of the coral reefs and I'm sure there is truth to it.
I had heard, when I first started diving, that no matter when you began you would look back in 10 years and lament what was no more.

But there are exceptions.

In Bonaire, at a dive site called Karpata, there is an anchor from the days of sailing ships. From the buoy, swim South at a depth of 35 ft and you are bound to find it.

10 years ago, this is what you would see when you arrived at the anchor.

Today, if you look carefully, you will see but one end of one fluke extended from the coral that has grown up around and over it.

Bonaire is a marine park and well guarded against the things that are harming so many reefs. It is nice to know that there are some success stories still happening under the sea.

Best of Mike #39

One of my favorite pixtures, of one of my favorite places (1000 Steps) on my favorite island Bonaire.

These steps take you down from the road and parking lot to a broken coral beach that is the entry point for this dive site.

There aren't really a thousand steps, the exact count is 63 or 64. But when you are climbing up with all your scuba gear (about 40 or 50 lbs worth) still on your back, the name seems really right.

As you can see from the sky it was a cloudy day when I took this pixture. That happens alot on Bonaire but seldom for a full day.

Blue sky might have made this pixture prettier. But the almost white light seems to me to be representative of heaven and more than once on this climb I have been sure I would see God.

Best of Mike #38

I'm pretty sure I've told this story before. But this is a way better pixture to illustrate it.

So, I'm going to tell it again, the abridged version.

When they first started diving Bonaire, the Staghorn coral was so thick, that Capt Don Stewart and those other early dive pioneers would carry a length of lead pipe.

They needed it to it break a path, through this kind of coral, from the shoreline to the point where the water was deep enough to swim above it.

Best of Mike #37

The Regal Slipper Lobster normally hides out in protective crevices during the day and forage in the open at night.

So, I was pretty excited when I found this guy in the open near the end of our dive one morning.

They are really much more colorful, than you see here. A tan body with red and blue coloring. Although, I remember this guy being pretty well covered in sand.

When startled they will flee, using thrust of their powerful tail to swim backwards.

This is the only time that I have ever seen one.... and wouldn't you know it, my flash didn't fire.

The moral of that story being, charge the strobes every night even if you don't think they need it.

You could have a hot dive with the best of the action, coming at the very end of your dive.... and find yourself with a depleted battery.

Best of Mike #36

We were diving under the Salt Pier, on Bonaire, when I took this pixture.

Having made our way down the length of the pier we had arrived at the point where the reef drops away. The deep water side where the ships tie up to take on their cargo of salt.

At some point in the past, this length of rope had been dropped had fallen off one of those ships.

One end had become entangled in some of the debris that litters the bottom.

But the coiled end was trying to make it's way back to the surface.... and return to work.

The color, the shape and the texture, all caught my eye.

Best of Mike #35

Underwater, I have always shot with a digital camera.

Which is the same as saying I have always shot with a very smart camera.

It records information that I sometimes don't even know what to do with.

That's how I know that when I took this shot that the strobe did not fire.

As you go deeper in depth, colors disappear from the light spectrum, reds being the first to go and then I believe yellows.

The strobe (flash) provides light comparable to daylight, so when that doesn't happen you often end up with a decidedly blue/green color cast.

Most times that makes for a bad pixture.... that gets deleted.

But every once in awhile, you end up with one that is obviously wrong but still pretty enough to be a keep.

Best of Mike #34

Salt us a big deal on Bonaire.

For over three centuries salt was at the heart of it's culture and driven it's prosperity.

European nations were sailing the 7 Seas far from home and needed salt to preserve the meat they carried onboard their ships.

Bonaire, supplied that, along with salt for export.... as it was and is one of the world's most valuable spices.

In these times, much of the salt produced on Bonaire is used to keep the roads clear in winter, in America.

But the salt works here is owned by Cargill.... a big name in the worldwide business of salt. So I'm thinking that some of it must end up on a table somewhere.

The salt produced in Bonaire is the bi-product of a natural process, using sea water, wind and sunshine, all of which are available in abundance on this Caribbean island.

This pixture is the Salt Pier. It's really just the end of a conveyor belt that moves the mountains of salt (no I mean that literally) to the hold of a ship.

When there is no ship present this is a great dive spot.

There are some cement slabs on the shoreline just out of the frame at the bottom left corner of this pixture.

On this particular day, I decided to use that as my entry point and do what amounted to a back-flop into the water.

As luck would have it, I landed right in the middle of a huge, huge school of Silver Sides (small minnow like fish).... that were on the run from a pair of Jacks that were hunting for a meal.

There were thousands of them all around me in every direction. Spinning, turning and flashing in the sunlight of the very shallow water.

Just a great way to start a dive.... but not something that I was ready to take a pixture of.

This is the last pixture from our September 2000 trip to Bonaire.

But as you know it is pretty much our favorite place to dive ..... so by March 2001, we were right back there again.

Those are the pixtures and stories that will be coming your way next.