What is the coolest thing you have ever seen snorkeling, SCUBA diving, or freediving

[Booboobear259]

The coolest thing I have ever seen is a Caribbean rock mantis smash and eat a small blenny. What was the coolest you have ever seen

[G_Sanab922]

Dang. This is hard lol. One that comes to mind is snorkeling at molasses reef and seeing a school of 5-6ft snook.
Another was a blue marlin going after a school of mahi that we were catching.

I'm sure others will come to mind later lol

My dream is to see and jump in the water with a Mola Mola!!


Btw, i'm very jealous of where you live. It's beautiful there. I'm going to the islands next month on a cruise :) I love it there.

[Booboobear259]

It is pretty nice the second place for me is ( both the mantis thing and this were seen while I was hunting lionfish) I saw a gigantic crab with claws at least 6" long and it just sat there. I have also seen a baby Nassau grouper and a juv. Queen angelfish. I have seen so many sharks over the years but about a month ago I saw a 4' bull shark. 'bout scared the crap out of me

[Ohioreefer7]

I saw a school of Moorish Idols in Hawaii which was really beautiful.

[Cu455]

In Florida I saw manta rays mating.

In Grand Caiman stingray cove was pretty cool. The whole ocean floor in the area was covered in stingrays. I also saw a hammerhead eat a stingray.

The coolest thing I saw was a bunch of NAVY divers in the Erie Canal.

[woodnaquanut]

Many years ago, diving off La Jolla, CA the squid were breeding. Millions of squid!

Below the squid were thousands of bat rays. Below the bat rays were bazillions of squid egg cases that the bat rays were feeding on.

Very cool. Circle of life...

[billsreef]

Once attempted to take the picture of a cardinal fish during a night dive, a moray eel ate the cardinal just as I snapped the picture...got a great picture of the eel :D

Another time, while doing rescue training in the surf (working as a DM), a 4' hammerhead came past...everyone on the beach (Hollywood, FL) stood up screaming shark. It was just like a scene out of Jaws :lol: The instructor and myself, we turned to watch the shark and stayed in the water....laughing about the panic on shore :D

[Fishmommy]

Sea turtles

[G_Sanab922]

Once attempted to take the picture of a cardinal fish during a night dive, a moray eel ate the cardinal just as I snapped the picture...got a great picture of the eel :D
Would love to see a picture of that eel if you don't mind! :D
Another time, while doing rescue training in the surf (working as a DM), a 4' hammerhead came past...everyone on the beach (Hollywood, FL) stood up screaming shark. It was just like a scene out of Jaws :lol: The instructor and myself, we turned to watch the shark and stayed in the water....laughing about the panic on shore :D

Are you sure it wasn't a bonnethead? haha
It's incredible how people panic about that, jaws terrified everyone

[G_Sanab922]

Sea turtles

+1
I've seen them mating lol very cool sight

[snorvich]

Well . . . an isolated dolphin at Little Cayman trying to associate with divers; mating flamboyant cuttlefish (Indonesia, PNG, etc); an orca (Northern Papua New Guinea); a group of 8 silvertip sharks (northern PNG); three different species of Rhinopias (PNG, Indonesia); a manta cleaning station (PNG); the great white wall (fiji); dwarf mimic octopus (Indonesia) and blue ringed octopus (Indonesia); intoxicated (from eating the equivalent of marine crack) sea turtles (PNG); a Bobbit worm take a flying gunard; a shoal of dolphins (various); sea snake; whale shark; weedy and leafy sea dragons (southern oz near Kangaroo Island) and more.

[56cbr600rr]

Nose to nose with a barracuda

Moray eels at Key Largo

6ish foot reef shark at Key Largo

And the damn Lion fish (invasive species) in the Bahamas at several locations. Amazing how many and how widespread they are.

[billsreef]

You're going make me go through my slides and scan that one in, aren't you? :lol:

Are you sure it wasn't a bonnethead? haha
It's incredible how people panic about that, jaws terrified everyone

Definitely a juvenile hammerhead.

[billsreef]

Nose to nose with a barracuda

Most irritated I ever was with a fish, Barracuda hanging under the dive boat at Little Cayman. Had a camera and lens set up that required a minimum of arms length distance to focus. Damned Barracuda wouldn't back up more than a foot back from my face :mad:

[G_Sanab922]

Nose to nose with a barracuda

Moray eels at Key Largo

6ish foot reef shark at Key Largo

And the damn Lion fish (invasive species) in the Bahamas at several locations. Amazing how many and how widespread they are.


Bimini has a few islands near by infested with lionfish :(

[G_Sanab922]

You're going make me go through my slides and scan that one in, aren't you? :lol:



Definitely a juvenile hammerhead.


If you don't mind lol ...

And lol that's good. Harmless either way

[HouseDJSTL]

Eagle Ray in Cozumel.

[cheezybuda]

Easy... A thousand plus breeding ball of snapper in Belize. It was crazy!

[Tornader]

This maybe?!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m3N_BnVdOI

[G_Sanab922]

Easy... A thousand plus breeding ball of snapper in Belize. It was crazy!


Sounds interesting!

I've got another. A HUGE school , i would say hundreds, of Tarpon in 800 ft of water !

[Booboobear259]

The Bahamas lionfish are out of control and now there are what used to be reefs that are now lionfish only it is horrible. In the BVI it is illegal to kill them so soon that is either going to change or the BVI will need to find a new way to get their income

[Booboobear259]

Well . . . an isolated dolphin at Little Cayman trying to associate with divers; mating flamboyant cuttlefish (Indonesia, PNG, etc); an orca (Northern Papua New Guinea); a group of 8 silvertip sharks (northern PNG); three different species of Rhinopias (PNG, Indonesia); a manta cleaning station (PNG); the great white wall (fiji); dwarf mimic octopus (Indonesia) and blue ringed octopus (Indonesia); intoxicated (from eating the equivalent of marine crack) sea turtles (PNG); a Bobbit worm take a flying gunard; a shoal of dolphins (various); sea snake; whale shark; weedy and leafy sea dragons (southern oz near Kangaroo Island) and more.

You are a god in my book now by all the things you have seen

[acidblondie]

Snorkeling with whale sharks and manta rays off Mexico and bouncing off the top of the mouth of a whale shark that came up behind me

[G_Sanab922]

The Bahamas lionfish are out of control and now there are what used to be reefs that are now lionfish only it is horrible. In the BVI it is illegal to kill them so soon that is either going to change or the BVI will need to find a new way to get their income

Yea it's bad. And wow can't believe it's illegal... They should change that. They are good eating anyways haha

[G_Sanab922]

Snorkeling with whale sharks and manta rays off Mexico and bouncing off the top of the mouth of a whale shark that came up behind me

So jealous.. That must've been an amazing experience

[Booboobear259]

Yea it's bad. And wow can't believe it's illegal... They should change that. They are good eating anyways haha

They need to make it legal because snorkeling tourism is their main source of income so if the reefs are wrecked then their whole economy is down the drain. As for the eating of lionfish here we have a deadly fish toxin that fish like parrotfish and barracudas get from eating the algae and the smaller reef fish that eat the algae. Lionfish carry this toxin so you can't eat them.

[G_Sanab922]

They need to make it legal because snorkeling tourism is their main source of income so if the reefs are wrecked then their whole economy is down the drain. As for the eating of lionfish here we have a deadly fish toxin that fish like parrotfish and barracudas get from eating the algae and the smaller reef fish that eat the algae. Lionfish carry this toxin so you can't eat them.

Same in my area but it's legal here. They established lionfish tourneys and much more to get rid of them. They even said that I can spear them in non spearing zones. That was a big surprise to me but goes to show how badly they want them out of here..

What??? I've never heard of that.. That's crazy. Is there a way to notice if it has it?? I can tell when a barracuda is sick but it might be from something else.. and lol I wouldn't eat parrotfish anyways, the meat is super chewy.

[Zoodiver]

That's interesting. I hadn't heard about any toxins that would prevent them from being eaten. I did some digging into it to see why they weren't safe in the Bahamas, but people are eating them in FL. Turns out they can carry ciguatera, which is attributed to dinoflagellates consumed lower in the food chain.

We keep an eye out for lions to kill/collect any time we're in the water. With the new law starting soon in FL that bans importing them into the state, the invasive lions will hopefully be wiped out by the food demand, sport fishing and collection for the aquarium trade.

http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x449/Zoodiver/FishTankKings/Lion1_zpse4fad536.jpg

[G_Sanab922]

That's interesting. I hadn't heard about any toxins that would prevent them from being eaten. I did some digging into it to see why they weren't safe in the Bahamas, but people are eating them in FL. Turns out they can carry ciguatera, which is attributed to dinoflagellates consumed lower in the food chain.



We keep an eye out for lions to kill/collect any time we're in the water. With the new law starting soon in FL that bans importing them into the state, the invasive lions will hopefully be wiped out by the food demand, sport fishing and collection for the aquarium trade.



http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x449/Zoodiver/FishTankKings/Lion1_zpse4fad536.jpg


Ciguatera is what I was thinking of! I find that on barracuda and grouper. It is very easy to identify though. Falling scales, worms, no strength.
I hope the importing helps but there is a lot out there. I think it will last for about 5 more years to be honest. And since there is so many in the Bimini area that could be bad for us as well.

[G_Sanab922]

Btw I've heard about that show.. Wasn't KP aquatics on there? They are here in Tavernier. I don't have that channel :/ saw from an earlier post that you come out on it, am I correct?

[billsreef]

Ciguatera is what I was thinking of! I find that on barracuda and grouper. It is very easy to identify though. Falling scales, worms, no strength.

Nope, you can't identify a fish with Ciguatera by looking at them. The toxin doesn't effect the fish. A fish with Ciguatera toxin looks just like on without it. It really comes down to knowing the reef the fish came off, and if the reef has Ciguatera.

[G_Sanab922]

Nope, you can't identify a fish with Ciguatera by looking at them. The toxin doesn't effect the fish. A fish with Ciguatera toxin looks just like on without it. It really comes down to knowing the reef the fish came off, and if the reef has Ciguatera.

I've always been under the impression that it was ciguatera..
What sickness am I describing then?

[Reeferz412]

I forgot where I was, but snorkeling and seeing a manta ray below me. That day was good and bad... got bit by triggerfish between my thumb and index took a chunk of my skin, ouch!

[snorvich]

You are a god in my book now by all the things you have seen

Well, showing up a lot helps. I have been diving for 30 years and used to go all over. Seeing a lot is sort of an "attendance prize". I was lucky my working life allowed this level of participation.

[G_Sanab922]

I forgot where I was, but snorkeling and seeing a manta ray below me. That day was good and bad... got bit by triggerfish between my thumb and index took a chunk of my skin, ouch!

Got bit by a trigger? lol definitely cool haha:thumbsup:

[Reeferz412]

Not cool! First time I slapped a fish haha

[ace_92101]

It's hard to narrow it down, but here's a few:

-Seeing a large school of Hammer Head Sharks in Fiji. This wasn't an artificial chum/bait ball with divers in a circle, but a natural drop off outside of a lagoon pass where the sharks often come. The sharks would swim towards the divers before darting off. They did this over and over.

-Seeing large schools of Manta Rays off of Miyako Island, Okinawa, Japan.

-Seeing a large school of Tuna in the central Philippines.

-Seeing a dive guide in Mauritius catch Lionfish for medical research. He used his knife to get the fish to open it's mouth and then stuck his fingers in! When the fish bit his fingers, he had it. Unbelievable!

-Diving with a Mola Mola off of Bali.



-Seeing VW bug size Napoleon Wrasses/Potato Cod in the Coral Sea/Great Barrier Reef

[Booboobear259]

Same in my area but it's legal here. They established lionfish tourneys and much more to get rid of them. They even said that I can spear them in non spearing zones. That was a big surprise to me but goes to show how badly they want them out of here..

What??? I've never heard of that.. That's crazy. Is there a way to notice if it has it?? I can tell when a barracuda is sick but it might be from something else.. and lol I wouldn't eat parrotfish anyways, the meat is super chewy.

I have heard of the lionfish tournaments down there. A local school wanted to do that then do an iron chef event until they found out that the lions has ciguatera.

[G_Sanab922]

It's hard to narrow it down, but here's a few:



-Diving with a Mola Mola off of Bali.




Dude! So hating right now! lol have pics??

[ace_92101]

Dude! So hating right now! lol have pics??

Sorry, I've never gotten into underwater photography. When I started diving in my early teens, 30 years ago, camera's were very expensive.

[G_Sanab922]

Sorry, I've never gotten into underwater photography. When I started diving in my early teens, 30 years ago, camera's were very expensive.


No problem. Thanks for sharing your experience though. Mola mola are very unique creatures.

[ace_92101]

No problem. Thanks for sharing your experience though. Mola mola are very unique creatures.

They are! While a pelagic fish, they're fairly common in Bali. The Coral Triangle has some amazing diving/snorkeling.

[Allmost]

followed a pair of idols ... they looked amazing, picking on the rocks. then the wave picked me up and smashed me against the rock wall full of urchins ...

u can guess the rest. lol

[billsreef]

I've always been under the impression that it was ciguatera..
What sickness am I describing then?

Those symptoms could be from any number of fish disease, as well as very bad water quality.

Not cool! First time I slapped a fish haha

Your lucky it didn't turn around and bite you again. Triggers are the only fish I worry about when diving. Aggressive buggers with a heck of a bite.

followed a pair of idols ... they looked amazing, picking on the rocks. then the wave picked me up and smashed me against the rock wall full of urchins ...

u can guess the rest. lol

Some very cool stuff to see in those rocky urchin filled wave swept shallows. Worth the urchin spines IMO :D

[G_Sanab922]

True. Well I've ate ALOT of fish and still haven't got sick lol. I go by those 3 things at first and then inspect further if anything. Thanks for the info bill

[billsreef]

Having heard of any Ciguatera in the Keys or other FL waters, so you should be safe eating the local fish ;)

[G_Sanab922]

Having heard of any Ciguatera in the Keys or other FL waters, so you should be safe eating the local fish ;)


Awesome! I've heard of Ciguatera in Naples though.

[Booboobear259]

It also helps to know which fish do and don't have ciguatera. Like rock hind don't and yellowtail snapper do

[G_Sanab922]

It also helps to know which fish do and don't have ciguatera. Like rock hind don't and yellowtail snapper do

http://www.floridahealth.gov/healthy-environments/aquatic-toxins/ciguatera-fish-poisoning.html

here's a long list of known cases.

Like it says in the article though, normally it's the large reef dwelling fish. So that's hogfish, barracuda, grouper, snapper, mackerels.

[HiImSean]

Snorkeling off Kauai, I think it was Ke'e Beach, came upon a pair of huma triggers that were super aggressive. They were snapping at my wife and my flippers.

[ace_92101]

Snorkeling off Kauai, I think it was Ke'e Beach, came upon a pair of huma triggers that were super aggressive. They were snapping at my wife and my flippers.

How was the visibility? We've now had several trigger encounters listed! I had a similar experience in Palau Tioman, Malaysia with a large Titan Trigger. Those things can be viscous during certain times of the year.

[snorvich]

Well, the most aggressive fish I ever encountered was a Titan Trigger who chased me for about 100 yards. Not fun but memorable.

[scubadan206]

Starting a night dive at Buddy Dive in Bonaire, about 20 feet of water and a huge shadow comes over me. Dundundun, theme song. It was Martha the resident manta ray less than 5 feet from my head.:eek2:

Same dive, Charlie the tarpon who likes to do fly-bys less than a foot from your mask. A six foot minnow that likes to brush the top of your head at night.:fish2:

[Booboobear259]

How was the visibility? We've now had several trigger encounters listed! I had a similar experience in Palau Tioman, Malaysia with a large Titan Trigger. Those things can be viscous during certain times of the year.

Glad all the triggers I see aren't agressive I had one come up alongside my boat and eat some of the bread crust my kids threw in. I had a big net so I scooped him up then we let him go when we were about to leave. The kids were upset when I said he was too big to keep.

[mayjong]

swimming with whale sharks
swimming with a school of spinner dolphins
the tranquility and clarity diving dos ojos cenote
70' + vis at Whalers Cove in Carmel,Ca


in no particular order

[benjc]

Locally; coming around a corner to see a giant sea bass the size of a vending machine. Close second would be schools of hundreds of niger trigger fish in Indo

[G_Sanab922]

Swimming with whale sharks is impressive.

That's some big sea bass! Lol

[billsreef]

I've yet to see a whale shark. For some reason they are around places I go diving the week before, or show up the week after. Just never when I'm there :(

[mayjong]

i'll see if i can find the pics

[Authentic]

Swam with whale sharks in Mexico,
In the keys we saw a green moray swim into a pile of rock and about 20 lobsters came shooting out!

[skinsncanes]

Great whites, tiger sharks, raggies, 7 gill sharks, white tips, black tips, whale sharks, etc sharks.

Manta rays in hawaii was AMAZING

huge groupers in australia

schools of baracoda

diving is definitely one of the best hobbies ive ever started!

[jdhuyvetter]

Trying to take a picture of a Queen Trigger. Everytime I pulled the camera from behind my back, he charged it.

Once while snorkeling in the FL Keys, I found a very large hermit crab without a shell. He was using a glass mayo jar for a shell!

Fishing out in the Gulf with my uncles family. Fish weren't biting and a large single dolphin came up and hung out with the boat. So, put on my mask and swam with him for a while.

[babyduke]

1) mantis ray which was a size of my kitchen that swam right under me in Maui
2) nurse shark in Turks & Caicos
3) green sea turtles in Big Island, HI

[mayjong]

-Great whites-
wish i could see one of these. my "be all, end all"

[Tvarr]

During a night dive in Bonaire I look over and a huge tarpon is hovering over my dive buddy. All the sudden his flashlight lights up a bait fish and the tarpon dives over him and grabs it.

Hearing the whales off Molikini crater in Hawaii and seeing one go cruising by was pretty awesome.

[rssjsb]

I haven't been diving very long, but a few things that stick out are bandit angels (including a mom with a juvie), big pods of dolphins, and 19 huge mantas (night dive) off Kona; and titan triggers (that was mostly a HEARING experience, listening to them crunching rock) and a huge schools of tangs and rabbitfish in Australia.

[G_Sanab922]

I haven't been diving very long, but a few things that stick out are bandit angels (including a mom with a juvie), big pods of dolphins, and 19 huge mantas (night dive) off Kona; and titan triggers (that was mostly a HEARING experience, listening to them crunching rock) and a huge schools of tangs and rabbitfish in Australia.


That sounds awesome! Now that you mentioned dolphins it reminded me..

In Cabo San Lucas , when on a charter boat , hundreds of dolphins popped out of nowhere and were jumping and flipping all over. Super cool experiences

[jamiepm]

As mentioned above the night dive on the big island for manta rays is amazing. They get within a foot of you and some are as big as the boat you rode in on.
I also got attacked by a huma trigger during breeding season. He came from around a boulder and bit my mask. Scared me to death so I turned and swam away. Kicked a coral, still have the scar on my leg, and bumped a big sea turtle...I mean I never touched a sea turtle because that is not allowed.
I got to the shore bleeding a lot, scared and out of breath. I told my wife a shark bit me.

[burnah]

nice stories!

for me too, the mantas and molas around bali.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-ENJEvlpyJQo/ToMouu6kyaI/AAAAAAAAADA/K7jxIZDNyEE/w745-h559-no/DSC01998.JPG
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpPqsc74_AA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3jojz1K4rc
i can only recommend world diving, they have a manta guarantee for snorkelling trips, you pay half if you dont see any :D

[Booboobear259]

So jealous I want to see a mola mola so badly

[G_Sanab922]

So jealous I want to see a mola mola so badly


Same here!!

[Deinonych]

Hawaiian longfin anthias (P. hawaiiensis) at Molokini crater.

[Booboobear259]

I am getting SCUBA certified soon and I am really excited for it

[DivingTheWorld]

Standouts are probably:

Palau - A manta brushing up against me as it swam by at a cleaning station.
Palau - Snorkeling in Jellyfish Lake (done this numerous times now but it never gets old)
Philippines - Snorkeling with Whale Sharks

[FlyfisherDan]

Hearing my wife scream underwater..........we were snorkeling some blue holes on Andros Island in the Bahamas and were side by side floating on the surface. There was a cut in the coral to my side that was a bout 7' wide and acted as an entrance into the hole and saw a huge southern stingray swim into the hole from the opening. As I watched it swim in, I knew that it had to swim right in front of our faces on it's way out and held my ground, apparently my wife knew this also, screamed into her snorkel and did the porpoise "backpedal". Just wish she held on for some better photos!
On a side note regarding the lionfish.......true, we've seen them in several places in the Caribbean, but recently in Aruba, we ate at a place called Reef and Beef which serves lionfish on the menu and often sells out. A bit more expensive than the grouper, but heard it is very good.

[Balletomane]

My favorite dive memory was from my last trip to Cozumel. We did a really cool swim-through that was quite extensive. Not the kind of thing for a claustrophobic. No pix, unfortunately. And my dive buddy's camera flooded. Extant in memory, though.

[Deinonych]

My favorite dive memory was from my last trip to Cozumel. We did a really cool swim-through that was quite extensive. Not the kind of thing for a claustrophobic. No pix, unfortunately. And my dive buddy's camera flooded. Extant in memory, though.

There's a site on the west side of Grand Cayman called Trinity Caves that is similar. It has multiple swimthroughs at varying depths. Very cool dive.

[phillrodrigo]

We snorkeled St kitts. Very nice place I wanted to go across and go to Nevis but didn't have the time since we were on a cruise. I went on a clear bottom boat ride to go see turtles and a ship wreck I believe it was in Barbados. This guy that we went along was scared of the water can't swim but they gave him a life jacket. A turtle was coming close to him and he freaked out and punched the turtle in its face. That one cruise I snorkeled Barbados St kitts St Thomas and St Lucia. Also went to St marten San Juan but didn't snorkel them. Snorkeling is kinda dangerous for me I'm a big guy when you go out you take your time float around which takes awhile. The way back it's just a very far swim back it was kinda hard but I made it. I didn't have flippers on that time

[Booboobear259]

Hearing my wife scream underwater..........we were snorkeling some blue holes on Andros Island in the Bahamas and were side by side floating on the surface. There was a cut in the coral to my side that was a bout 7' wide and acted as an entrance into the hole and saw a huge southern stingray swim into the hole from the opening. As I watched it swim in, I knew that it had to swim right in front of our faces on it's way out and held my ground, apparently my wife knew this also, screamed into her snorkel and did the porpoise "backpedal". Just wish she held on for some better photos!
On a side note regarding the lionfish.......true, we've seen them in several places in the Caribbean, but recently in Aruba, we ate at a place called Reef and Beef which serves lionfish on the menu and often sells out. A bit more expensive than the grouper, but heard it is very good.

They dont have ciguatera down there

[enchelycore808]

Diving in 30ft of water when I see a shadow getting bigger and bigger in the wall of blue water off shore. Turned out to be a pair of mantas swimming by! Tried to get closer for a better shot with the gopro but they were to fast. I dont know what was more memorable, the mantas or seeing my friends face when I pointed them out to him! He had the look of terror before he saw what they were!

[Booboobear259]

I just got certified for SCUBA diving yesterday everybody

[billsreef]

:beer:

But only after the dive ;)

[ace_92101]

I just got certified for SCUBA diving yesterday everybody

Congratulations!!!!!

[Paul B]

I think I got certified in the early 70s. My certification card is probably wood. Anyway, Years ago I was diving someplace off Mexico. I forget where but I was with 5 or 6 people I didn't know and I came across this very large green moray eel. The thing had it's head sticking out of one side of this Volkswagon sized rock and his tail sticking out the other end. I pointed out the fish to the Jiboni behind me in case he wanted to take a picture or something. But the guy was not as bright as I surmised and proceded to swim up to this 10' fish and tickle him under the chin. Jacques Cousteau used to do this but maybe Mr. Cousteau smelled better or maybe this eel never met Mr Cousteau. So the eel grabs this moron right up to his elbow and starts shaking him back and forth. Blood at that depth appears black and it was swirling all around him. As I watched, waiting for the fish to finish him off so I could get on with my dive, other people saw it and looked horrified. To this day I am still mad at the fish for not just eating him whole then when I got back to the boat, I would have said "Where is Harold, Jim, Bozo" or whatever his name was.
Then of course I had to look worried and drag this Idiot back to the surface hoping all the way up that a Great White Shark would swoop in and use this guy for lunch, so I could finish my dive of course. We get to the boat where he is bleeding all over my equipment. Then we spent the remainder of a very expensive day in a Mexican Hospital.
The next day everyone was listening to this story of "bravery" from this banana.
I am still mad at that eel. :angryfire:

[Booboobear259]

I hate people who do that kind of stuff.

[mayjong]

bumping this up, because i found my pictures. (looking for something else, of course!) anyway, here are a couple
snorkling with whalesharks... that's me in the pics. those things are huge!

[mayjong]

this guy was cool, too

[tkeracer619]

Two very large moray eels tearing huge chunks of flesh from each other. We were in shallow water ~10ft and between the 6 of us I am pretty sure we surfaced with less than 500psi total. I was on my guides backup reg because I was below 100 :lol:

Too bad my gopro was dead...

Tied for first was a humpback with a calf who swam closer to me than she was long. Amazing.

[Paul B]

I get thirsty diving

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/Olddivingpictures_zpse7de36e0.jpg (http://s258.photobucket.com/user/urchsearch/media/Olddivingpictures_zpse7de36e0.jpg.html)

[Liba]

Was snorkeling in key west with my uncle. We were just in the canal off his dock. He found an old abandoned lobster trap and pulled it up. Inside was this purple
And neon green octopus about the size of A fist. Really cool.

[Booboobear259]

Went scuba diving two weekends ago and I saw a bunch of fish eating a sea urchin from the underside

[indyjaco]

Came across a pair of Clown Tangs in Fiji last week who weren't happy to see us.

[jcs11236]

Here's a clip from honeymoon. Best snorkel
http://youtu.be/UEYUfMRV1H8

[ackee]

Watching a pair of very large Hippocampus reidi engaging in an extended mating dance while snorkeling over a field of submerged boulders in about 15 feet of water below a cliff in Dominica.

These were the most beautiful seahorses I've ever seen, as well as the largest. Their coloring was subdued but somehow still vivid, with discrete yellow and orange-red streaks on and around the head and dorsal fin. They seemed to almost glow from the energy they radiated.

The pair would twist their tails together while near the bottom and slowly rise toward the surface. As they ascended they would squirm until they faced each other, when the female would deposit her eggs in the males pouch while moving steadily upward. A few orange eggs would miss and trail behind. When they were almost at the surface they would detach themselves from each other, turn and and descend separately all the way to the bottom. They swam amazing fast and powerfully for seahorses as they returned to the sea floor. Once there, they immediately found each other and swam together in a kind of stiff almost formal dance for 4 or 5 minutes, eventually locking tails again and repeating the performance.

During the half hour I stayed with them they did four ascents. I followed them each time. The whole thing was magical, a natural wild purity words cannot explain. I've been a scuba diver and snorkeler for 50 years and have seen many sharks, turtles, huge groupers, even a whale and her calf once. The experience with the seahorses is the one that affected me most.

[Paul B]

You mean like this?

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/scan0003-1.jpg (http://s258.photobucket.com/user/urchsearch/media/scan0003-1.jpg.html)

[ackee]

I've had erectus mate in my tanks many times, a couple of times in a 5 gallon bucket on the way home from the Jersey Shore. They have a strong mating urge, at least when wild caught. I've never seen them mate in the wild, though I watched hundreds over the years while snorkeling and scuba diving.

I usually don't collect seahorses any more. I have only one now, in a large tank with two large fish, a Spotted Drum and a Bigeye. The 220 has been set up for years, and has a lot of small life on which the seahorse grazes with no competition other than a few hermit crabs.

I picked her up 15 months ago in Manasquan Inlet when she was very small. I was impressed by her relentless hunting, constantly searching for food, constantly finding small things: a powerful puff and a small stream of debris from her gills. She still hunts that way. Relentless.

If she starts to swell up with eggs next summer I'll release her.

[Paul B]

The visibility here in the western Long Island Sound where the majority of my dives were measures about a foot. I dive with a line between me and my dive partner or you would never see each other while we search for lobsters. The bottom is fine mud. As we were swimming, or pulling ourselves across the rocks we encountered a wall. We tried to go over it but we also found a ceiling. We tried to go around, but there was also sides. If you stop swimming in the Sound, the thick mud overtakes you and you lost that 12 inches of visibility you had and you may as well shut your eyes. We eventually backed out and found that we swam into the boiler of a ship that sank in 1902. The boiler was about 10' long and 5' wide.
The fun of diving in almost zero visibility is that everything that was ever lost there, is still there as the only way you find things is accidently. There are 200shipwrecks around Long Island (I think I hit my head on 50 of them)
That was about a mile from Execution Lighthouse that I am sure Bill knows well. It is one of my favorite dive sites.
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/ExecutionLighthouse002.jpg (http://s258.photobucket.com/user/urchsearch/media/ExecutionLighthouse002.jpg.html)

This was taken on the rocks there.

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/PaulSCUBA.jpg (http://s258.photobucket.com/user/urchsearch/media/PaulSCUBA.jpg.html)

[Booboobear259]

I get thirsty diving

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/Olddivingpictures_zpse7de36e0.jpg (http://s258.photobucket.com/user/urchsearch/media/Olddivingpictures_zpse7de36e0.jpg.html)

Drink up as they say 🍻

[Gmac356]

The coolest thing I have ever seen is a Caribbean rock mantis smash and eat a small blenny. What was the coolest you have ever seen

I feel swimming with a sea turtle for a few minutes off key west is at the top of the list!

[ExpertMarine]

Nice!

[Deinonych]

Saw a pair of Day Octopuses (O. cyanea) spawning on my most recent trip to Maui (Molokini Mid-reef dive site). Once in a lifetime experience. Unfortunately couldn't get close enough to capture it on video, as I didn't want to spook them.

[zachfishman]

Done hundreds of dives for pleasure and for work, but this stands out above everything. As I was completing the northern section of a survey block of nearshore reef off Ft. Lauderdale, I was just about to turn back south when I saw something coming from ahead of me. I kneeled at the edge of the reef (we were where the sand from the beaches first turns to hard bottom) and watched an 8ft hammerhead swim by. It was moving south and passed within 10ft of me! My heart was pounding in my ears (I love hammers and never saw one in person before) but I remained still, and watched as the shark did not veer off its course, and clearly looked at me as it passed.

My buddy had already turned back to pick up the survey tape. It was just me and the shark!

[Booboobear259]

I went to waterlemon this weekend and saw a trio of angelfish, two gray and one French. Tons of barracuda and two octopuses.

[Kenmx10]

Four huge tiger sharks eating on a large sea turtle floating upside down at the surface. Around 12 to 14 footers. Off West Palm Beach.

[Paul B]

I dove with this French girl in the Caymans but I can't talk about that. :worried:

[billsreef]

I dove with this French girl in the Caymans but I can't talk about that. :worried:

Hmm, I dove with a French girl in the Caymans as well :lol:

[Paul B]

Maybe it was the same one, but mine was in about 1975. She is most likely a Great Grand Mother now, not that there is anything wrong with that.

[billsreef]

Might have been her daughter :D

[Shard]

A few off the top of my head, the first 3 were all in the caribbean.

1.) We were moving across a fairly flat area exploring some new deep dive sites, and a great hammerhead appeared out of nowhere, about a 9-10 footer. He spooked quickly and ran immediately after my dive buddy pointed at him.

2.) My friend snapped a picture of me coming up over the side of a massive wreck just as an eagle ray was passing overhead. I actually use that picture on my website.

3.) Some shark diving we did on some Atlantic side wrecks mainly drawing in reef and nurse sharks, but still really cool with several of them circling the wrecks.

4.) Diving on a WWII Helldiver just off Jupiter FL. I thought it was really cool to be diving on an airplane like that, but the dive in general was quite challenging in itself. Strong current, some of the divers didn't make the site, long drift decompression, etc.

[JuanSchezuan]

Spending full 50 minute dives with a pair of cuttlefish mating and carefully place the eggs into the reef. My fav creatures to dive with for sure, love just being chill and hanging out with them.

Most divers will miss them or spend a minute or two with them and move on, but when we spot them we always stay and let them get used to us and then we have wonderful colour displays, mating, etc. They're fantastic.

[josh0302]

The coolest thing I saw was a massive 7 foot scalloped hammerhead that swam right past me. Also, when I was 12 and at the beach, A barracuda got 4 feet away from me when I saw it and ran to the shore. It got really close to the shore.

[organism]

400+lb Black Sea Bass coming right up next to me to take a look. It looked like someone had submerged a VW Bug and put a tail on it...

[machonachos]

400+lb Black Sea Bass coming right up next to me to take a look. It looked like someone had submerged a VW Bug and put a tail on it...

+1 on the giant BSB. First time I saw one in the kelps I almost dropped my reg!

[Booboobear259]

While we were hunting lionfish a while back a big ole mutton snapper was following us eating the ones we killed

[kenny01]

Lots of sea turtles and juvenile gray angels.

[Booboobear259]

My brother has gotten into the buisness of swimming down and petting nurse sharks whenever he sees one. The smallest he has touched was about 4.5 feet. I saw a 4 foot bull shark a little less than a year ago while I was catching fish for my tank. Scared the absolute crap out of me. Had i been S spearfishing I would have felt safer but all I had was a hand net.

[zachfishman]

My brother has gotten into the buisness of swimming down and petting nurse sharks whenever he sees one.

Dangerous. Doubly so if he is just free-diving. Nurses have a high reported incidence rate because of diver petting/grabbing/etc. They also tend to clamp down and not let go... a 6ft nurse could easily keep a snorkeler from surfacing.

As an adult he's free to make his own decisions, but I implore you to pass this message along.

[billdogg]

Here's a few of mine

Basket Star on a night dive off San Salvador, Bahamas
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll227/billdogg_photos/KL2000-basketstar1-1.jpg (http://s289.photobucket.com/user/billdogg_photos/media/KL2000-basketstar1-1.jpg.html)

An Octopus from the same dive
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll227/billdogg_photos/octopus1-8x10-1.jpg (http://s289.photobucket.com/user/billdogg_photos/media/octopus1-8x10-1.jpg.html)

A stonefish in the Sea of Cortez
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll227/billdogg_photos/stonefish-redampgrn1a-11x14-300dpi.jpg (http://s289.photobucket.com/user/billdogg_photos/media/stonefish-redampgrn1a-11x14-300dpi.jpg.html)

Daylight at the end of my first cave dive
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll227/billdogg_photos/caveexit1-1.jpg (http://s289.photobucket.com/user/billdogg_photos/media/caveexit1-1.jpg.html)

A wreck at about 100' in Tobermory Canada
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll227/billdogg_photos/toberymoryBWshipwreckframe10.jpg (http://s289.photobucket.com/user/billdogg_photos/media/toberymoryBWshipwreckframe10.jpg.html)

[scoupland]

Two things:
First, I saw a sawfish swam right in front of me off of West Palm Beach.
Second, while hunting lion fish a large snapper swam with us and lead us to lion fish. Once the lion fish were shot, the snapper ate them.

[Kengar]

I'm the guy on the left here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AH0zMFQtb4E

[NySharkBait]

Tiger Shark attacking a grouper the size of a Volkswagon Bug in Guam.

[VegasMike]

Big Manta came from behind me and swam about 6' under me while snorkeling off The Grand Wailea in Maui. There were three of them that I saw and after returning to the beach, you could still see their shadows crossing back and forth.


The Bandit Angels off Kauai were also kind of neat as was diving the lava tunnels.

[Lemontree]

I saw a cuttlefish get tired of all of us divers hovering around taking pictures and he went disco on us. This fish was flashing maroon and silver. It was really cool.

[Kengar]

Solo dolphin approached us and played with us for about 15 minutes under water in Cayman

[3FordFamily]

I've only gone once but seeing a school of french Angels and several queen Angels interacting in Cozumel was very cool

[Bluetangclan]

Snorkling at Jupiter beach near the Blowing rocks in about 10 foot of water I swam over a ledge and noticed an object that looked too geometric and large to be rock formation and as I swam deeper it moved revealing that I just woke up a 10-12ft hammerhead shark and that I just did a low pass over its head. It was working its way from under the ledge as myself and another snorkeler backed into shallower water keeping our eyes in its general direction. They had called a shark alert earlier in the day and the shark disappeared. Found it! :)

[HeavyWater247]

For me, when I was living on Guam, we were out early catching octopus and about 50 yards away I saw a huge manta ray...had to have been about twelve feet long, head to tail...was kinda hovering over the ground throwing up sand as it flapped it's wings...was pretty epic.

[teemee]

Seeing my first (and to date only, but I pray not last) whale shark - until we realized it had a rope tied around it's tail. It was a juvenile and we tried to cut it free, but it bolted. On another occasion, being in the middle of an underwater action movie with millions of big pelagics at Koh Ta Chai.
And in Lembeh, Indonesia, where I was very lucky to be able to spend a couple of months - crossing almost everything off my bucket list (it's a long list) of fish to see.
I've been blessed to have seen so, so many wonderful things. I can't wait until the next trip.

[jacksoncm]

First open water dive I ever did was 30 miles off the coast of Sarasota, FL. 100ft. Goliath Grouper on this barge the size of large hogs. Ironically they were completely unaffraid and were like oversized lapdogs. I was hooked from that moment on.

[JakeK]

I did my first dive post certification at Julian Rocks in NSW Australia. Visibility was 30+ meters. 25+ leopard sharks, 4 manta rays, and 2 sea turtles. Saw a couple wobbegong sharks too. This is on top of the loads of fish. Everything from clownfish, nudibranchs, moorish idols to huge schools of 1000's of fish.

[G_Sanab922]

Very nice experiences everyone is sharing!
Have another to share. Not exactly diving or snorkeling but something cool that happened while heading to a fishing spot. Can't wait for the summer to upload some more vids.
Enjoy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DewjUE5w1VE

[billsreef]

Neat. I see Spinner Sharks jumping up in here in the north end of Biscayne Bay on occasion, never got a picture though.

[Seaweed Brain]

I saw two cuttlefish mating while diving in Phuket Thailand two years ago. It was an amazing site!. And last year I came up on a banded sea krait while diving near manta bowl in the Philippines. Even though their very docile and their jaws are tiny, it was sill a little startling.

[Komfortable]

In Hawaii, my girlfriend watched two dolphins (within 10ft) tossing a sea cucumber back and forth. Later discovered it was a mother and child, and the mother was teaching her baby some hunting skills! Sadly, this was before she started diving with a GoPro. Having footage of this would be amazing!

We saw a zillion lionfish diving around Grand Cayman. Ate a couple, too. Must be an acquired taste.

[ScuderiaTech]

Last October I was in Bonaire and came into contact with a Giant green moray eel that was around 8 ft long, a head larger than a humans and completely out in the open on a sand bed on the the bottom of the reef. I was the only diver that had the courage to go up to it and take pictures of it. It was like a little puppy dog. Totally breaks the misconception that just because it looks aggressive that it must be.

[AZRippster]

Diving in San Carlos, Mexico at San Pedro Island, I had a female sea lion startle me. There are several that live on the island and can be seen on a regular basis. I was on a regular exploration type dive when the sea lion jetted right in front of me and stopped. We both just hovered there looking at each other in an almost standing position. Realizing I was holding my breath, something you're never supposed to do, I released a full lung full of bubbles. Promptly the sea lion followed suit as if almost mimicking what I had done. We continued just looking at each other (she was just out of reach) a few more seconds when she took off. I continued my dive with her staying fairly close for the remainder of my bottom time. Never had this happen again, but very memorable.

[Spslvr]

2 octopus mating in the maldives, was really interesting to watch as the male was very shy and if he caught a glimpse of me he would stop and move away until i was out of view then very slowly sneak back for more lol..

[Mark]

I've had my share of cool diving experiences, but seeing a wild Gemmatum Tang was really cool for me:

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3141/3047480588_8f547f8521_z.jpg?zz=1

[Kengar]

2 octopus mating in the maldives, was really interesting to watch as the male was very shy and if he caught a glimpse of me he would stop and move away until i was out of view then very slowly sneak back for more lol..

That's the way I do it. . . .. .shhhhhh, don't tell my wife! :)

[billsreef]

That's the way I do it. . . .. .shhhhhh, don't tell my wife! :)

:lol:

[Kengar]

I've had my share of cool diving experiences, but seeing a wild Gemmatum Tang was really cool for me:

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3141/3047480588_8f547f8521_z.jpg?zz=1

Sorry to break it to you, but that wasn't a gem tang; just a purple tang with really bad ich. . .. .

[fijisrfr]

A 20.00 dollar bill!

[bimini_bread]

Mine is probably 2001 in Baja Mexico and randomly coming across three whale sharks. We just hung in the water and watched them feed for about an hour.

[scubadan206]

This January in Bonaire. I was taking pictures of an anemone when a very large green moray snuck up on me from behind. It came within a few inches of my backside before one of my group alerted me that it was there. I have it on video. Will post it later.
Daniel. :celeb1:

[Seths Dad]

A blue ribbon eel I saw last week at Namena Island Fiji last week. It was a great dive trip!

[Kengar]

coolest thing i've DONE:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AH0zMFQtb4E

(I'm the one on the left. . . .. )

[Booboobear259]

Just saw a spotted eagle ray sifting through the sand trying to find something to eat on a recent freedive sesh.

[Scubaken]

When my father in law passed his OWD cert in Egypt, I took him on our 1st official dive together, we came upon a bait ball and finned through the centre of it, to be greeted by a very large whale shark at the other side with its mouth wide open. I seem to remember shouting "oh sh17" through my regulator and changing direction pretty quickly. Hard to say who was the most startled LoL. My father in law still tell people about the day we came face to face with a whale shark LoL

[signal_4]

saw one of those as well back in Feb in Fiji !

[Diverjohn]

Not sure I can pick just one. In 2013 due to sinus issues I had to snorkel instead of diving and had 2 Eagle Rays come up and swim around me for a while in Roatan. The diving crew came back and were down cause they hadnt seen anything cool. I later told me wife what I saw as she was diving. Swam with the Bull sharks off Playa this year. Remember a friend screaming the first time she went diving when a peacock flounder came out of the sand right in front of her. Several others as well.