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

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.
 
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!
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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...
 
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.
 
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.
 
Here's a few of mine

Basket Star on a night dive off San Salvador, Bahamas


An Octopus from the same dive


A stonefish in the Sea of Cortez


Daylight at the end of my first cave dive


A wreck at about 100' in Tobermory Canada
 
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.
 
Back
Top