How time flies by.........and what a fun and busy few weeks it has been here in Mancora!!!
In amongst our diving adventures, of which there have been many, we have also had some exciting events take place above the waterline!
Daniel, a PADI instructor from the UK, joined the team a few weeks ago and has fitted right in to the Spondylus Family! Maurice has found a fellow Nudibranch lover in Daniel who has an amazing ability to find them on almost every dive in the smallest of hiding places (a bit like Maurice and his Octopuses in bottles) and takes great photos of them as well so we all get to admire these beautiful creatures.
A few weekends ago Spondylus was taken over by MakinPro film crew! With a camera at every turn above and below the water it was a super fun but intense few days. There were lots of laughs and I am sure enough footage for a very long blooper video but the end result is ... well take a look and let us know what you think!
Back to below the waterline!
In recent weeks we have been running more frequent dive trips to Punta Sal which provides amazing and diverse diving locations. We have even had the privilege of spotting a Green Turtle or two there and observing from a distance their majesty never fails to amaze me.
Punta Sal is a 30min road trip from Mancora with the boat in tow, a pretty drive along the coast line bringing us to the small town of Punta Sal. Once we have stocked up there at the local shop with a few treats for the boat we head a little further North to the the fishing town of Cancas where we meet our faithful boat crew of Hector and his sons who have great knowledge of the best diving spots! Equipment unloaded, set up and wetsuits on we launch and load the Zodiac before heading round to the pier to descend down the long ladder into Hectors 'passenger' boat. Once all aboard our little flotilla sets off South to dive site number one. Using the two boats means that there is plenty of space when it comes time to kit up and hit the water and once we are all already it is one, two , three and over we go! There are lots of rock formations in this area that play host to all sorts of Marine life.....there is a huge diversity of corals, tropical fish, Moray Eels (some of them really quite large), rays and plenty more.
Back on the surface there is plenty of time to enjoy the stunning location, recharge the energy levels with some snacks and drinks and most importantly changing tanks, before hitting dive site number two. Generally we have been doing three dives here and it always amazes me how moving sometimes only a short distance from one place to the other provides such different dive environments to explore. The day is rounded off with a very welcome and delicious lunch on the way back where everyone gets a chance to exchange their tales of the deep blue sea!
Regardless of how many times we do this trip there always seems to a different highlight moment ....on one of our trips we saw three sleeping Sea Lions totally oblivious to our passing floating on the surface, flippers in the air, really quite a comical and rare sight. Another trip provided us with lunch for 10 people without a fishing line, net or harpoon in sight. Floating on the surface was what appeared to be a plastic bag. As we approached to recover it it turned into a huge fish that had been decompressed and had just surfaced.....it definitly was not going to swim again and our onboard Marine Biologist assured us that it was very fresh......it made excellent ceviche and chicharon!
So it is over and out for now.....more adventures coming soon. Happy Diving Everyone!
Maurices statement of the Month: Red water is really warm! ( Let me explain... we have had over the past few weeks a current come through bring with it lots of Red Plankton... not only does this make the water an eery red colour but it also has the tendency to be several degrees warmer than the surrounding water! So technically he is correct)
In recent weeks we have been running more frequent dive trips to Punta Sal which provides amazing and diverse diving locations. We have even had the privilege of spotting a Green Turtle or two there and observing from a distance their majesty never fails to amaze me.
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| Pre Diving at Punta Sal! |
Back on the surface there is plenty of time to enjoy the stunning location, recharge the energy levels with some snacks and drinks and most importantly changing tanks, before hitting dive site number two. Generally we have been doing three dives here and it always amazes me how moving sometimes only a short distance from one place to the other provides such different dive environments to explore. The day is rounded off with a very welcome and delicious lunch on the way back where everyone gets a chance to exchange their tales of the deep blue sea!
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| All SMILES on the boat trip out! |
Regardless of how many times we do this trip there always seems to a different highlight moment ....on one of our trips we saw three sleeping Sea Lions totally oblivious to our passing floating on the surface, flippers in the air, really quite a comical and rare sight. Another trip provided us with lunch for 10 people without a fishing line, net or harpoon in sight. Floating on the surface was what appeared to be a plastic bag. As we approached to recover it it turned into a huge fish that had been decompressed and had just surfaced.....it definitly was not going to swim again and our onboard Marine Biologist assured us that it was very fresh......it made excellent ceviche and chicharon!
So it is over and out for now.....more adventures coming soon. Happy Diving Everyone!
Maurices statement of the Month: Red water is really warm! ( Let me explain... we have had over the past few weeks a current come through bring with it lots of Red Plankton... not only does this make the water an eery red colour but it also has the tendency to be several degrees warmer than the surrounding water! So technically he is correct)
