Costa Rica: Scuba Diving
Sorry I've been away from my blog a bit. I'm sure you've all heard about the snow storm that battered the Northeast -- well, I was one of those displaced persons they talked about on the news. We came home this afternoon after being out of power since Thursday evening. It was quite an adventure and I have greater appreciation for the struggles people experience when going through these Mother Nature trials.
At any rate, on our second full day in Costa Rica we went scuba diving. The underwater landscape here was different from any we'd seen elsewhere. Huge rock formations rise up from the ocean floor. The currents here were stronger than any we'd regularly encountered and coral grows flatter to the contours of the rocks. It was fun to see all the fish species specific to the Pacific and some of our favorites that we'd seen before. The currents churned up the ocean matter a bit so visibility wasn't as clear as in other places we've been diving, but by the same token, they made the diving a bit more fun and challenging. Here's a sampling of what we saw. There's not much color in these pictures; we dove deeper, our flash diffuser wasn't working, and the sun didn't penetrate that well here.... at least it seemed that way to my inexperienced eye.
Moorish Idol the size of a dinner plate
Relatively young hawksbill turtle, sated after eating a sponge
White tip reef sharks resting at 63 feet
Threebanded butterflyfish, alone in the expanse
Aside from all the breathtaking underwater scenery and sights, we had a few particularly exciting moments. One: we listened to whale song while we were diving. Very cool! Two: we came round a rock outcropping just as a group of seven white tip reef sharks zipped by hunting (no, they are not dangerous to humans). Usually the sharks are just lounging on the ocean floor, so it was really exciting to see them in action. Three: Though endangered, we saw several hawksbill turtles. Four: After four days of testing, we all passed our open water skills testing and we're now certified scuba divers. Hurray!
At any rate, on our second full day in Costa Rica we went scuba diving. The underwater landscape here was different from any we'd seen elsewhere. Huge rock formations rise up from the ocean floor. The currents here were stronger than any we'd regularly encountered and coral grows flatter to the contours of the rocks. It was fun to see all the fish species specific to the Pacific and some of our favorites that we'd seen before. The currents churned up the ocean matter a bit so visibility wasn't as clear as in other places we've been diving, but by the same token, they made the diving a bit more fun and challenging. Here's a sampling of what we saw. There's not much color in these pictures; we dove deeper, our flash diffuser wasn't working, and the sun didn't penetrate that well here.... at least it seemed that way to my inexperienced eye.
Moorish Idol the size of a dinner plate
Relatively young hawksbill turtle, sated after eating a sponge
White tip reef sharks resting at 63 feet
Threebanded butterflyfish, alone in the expanse
Aside from all the breathtaking underwater scenery and sights, we had a few particularly exciting moments. One: we listened to whale song while we were diving. Very cool! Two: we came round a rock outcropping just as a group of seven white tip reef sharks zipped by hunting (no, they are not dangerous to humans). Usually the sharks are just lounging on the ocean floor, so it was really exciting to see them in action. Three: Though endangered, we saw several hawksbill turtles. Four: After four days of testing, we all passed our open water skills testing and we're now certified scuba divers. Hurray!
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