Poseidon's Scuba Diving Photo Gallery
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Galapagos Islands
Otherwise known as the Enchanted Isles, this place is a must in your travels.
12 photos
Flower Gardens
These pictures from the Spree show just some of the fun times to be had off the coast of Texas.
3 photos
Guadalupe Island
Sara and I went to Coronado for the SEAL reunion in August of 2008. We had a great time talking to old friends and meeting new one�s. Sara left on Sunday and checked one full and one empty bag, that I had emptied into duffel for my stay on the liveaboard, on her flight that cost $25 extra. Airlines and flights just aren�t fun anymore. She got home late, due to her flight being held up in Chicago.
I stayed out there to go Great White Shark diving in Guadalupe Island on the MV Horizon. Dale Hawkins flew out to meet me and we spent Sunday night in San Diego, looking for a place to eat, that was close to the harbor.
We got up the next morning and after breakfast, checked out, then loaded our bags on the shuttle to the dock. We met one couple from New York the night before and another young woman rode with us to the dock for the trip. She was a nurse from Indiana and seemed very nice, although she smoked like a chimney. We loaded the bags on roller carts and walked out to the end of the dock, where we started meeting other passengers. When we were allowed on the boat, we went into the galley to be introduced to the remainder of the crew, that we had not met. We were issued room assignments and found out there were only two bathroom stools for the passengers as well as two enclosed showers. Hmmmm, things are getting basic, for the price we paid.
At least we had a room with bunk beds and a small nightstand. Dale took the lower bunk and after we stowed our bags under the bed, we went back upstairs (topside). The trip out to the Island took 24 hours and was relatively uneventful, with the exception of a Tiger Shark under the bow and dolphins jumping all around us for a while.
We arrived on station on Tuesday morning and the crew promptly lowered the shark cages. They started chumming and we got to take turns for one hour in and one out of the cages. The first day got better as more and more sharks started swimming around the two cages. At one point there were five sharks around the boat. These were nothing like I�d seen before. Some were 15 to 17 feet long with a girth of 4 to 5 feet around. The first day was by far the best of the trip, with the inevitable exception that always occurs.
On Wednesday, things slowed down a bit and there was one or two sharks showing up to view the monkeys in the cages. That afternoon, the Mexican Navy showed up and placed two guards with M-16�s on the stern of the boat while our Captain and the Mexican Commander went up to the Wheelhouse to talk. The Commander wanted to kick us out of their waters and used the excuse that not everyone had passports. The Captain called his lawyer in Mexico City and got that situation cleared up, since we were not going on land, passports were not required. When our Captain checked later, he found out that all of the passengers were told to bring passports. A couple of his crew were minus theirs though.
However, another point of contention was chumming. The Commander told the Captain that there would be no more chumming for the sharks. They had already locked the bait tanks on the Socorro, which was anchored about 200 yards off our port side. The Mexican boat anchored some distance away for most of the afternoon and the shark activity became rather mundane. After the Navy left, the crew started chumming again and the activity picked up almost immediately.
On Thursday, the action continued with one shark breaching the surface for bait and almost running into one of the cages. The sharks were coming right up to the cages and it was almost like they were posing for us. We stayed around all day, and then started back for San Diego. On the way back, the Captain put all our names in a hat and mine was picked to be given a buoy that a shark had bitten while aiming for chum. It has the names of all the passengers and crew on the boat and you can see the shark bites. It is now displayed in the store.
One of the crew showed us pictures of his alligator handling class. He was near Pueblo, Colorado and took a day out of his schedule to go to an alligator farm and learn how to catch them. The one�s he had in his pictures were good-sized gators, not little pets. If you�ve ever seen an alligator move, you know they are very quick. This was muck they were splashing around in, with no visibility at all.
We got into San Diego on Friday evening and after offloading the boat, we checked into the hotel and got showers. Dale and I went back to the harbor to have dinner and ran into two people from the boat, waiting for the traffic to clear before they headed back to LA. Then we went back to the hotel.
On Saturday morning, after breakfast we took the shuttle to the Airport. When we checked in, I was told my plane was delayed leaving Chicago. The agent rebooked me to Dallas. Dale tried to get that flight, which was earlier than his scheduled flight, but was waitlisted. After I got to Dallas and boarded the flight for Tulsa, we were held up by an electrical storm. The storm also had Dale�s plane diverted, along with over 40 other planes. When the storm passed, the crew had to call maintenance for a window problem. Then the gate release broke and we finally took off about 2 hours late. So much for fun in the air.
The crew on the boat was very professional and knowledgeable. The sharks were what I went for, but the price was too high for the basicality of the boat. The food was filling and tasted just fine, but as a liveaboard, it left a lot to be desired.
22 photos