I Shot a Permit Fish In Cayman Islands

June 18, 2015 by cudamanadventures

I shot a Permit fish in Cayman Island and did so with my under water camera. It was an awesome experience to swim right next to a school of permit out in the ocean and then add the hundreds of Blue Tang fish that let me join their feast on the corals. Let me just say the Cayman Islands are one of those places where I have been and where I always want to go back to. It is such a small place but has so much to offer. I just wish I had the money some people in this world have in the banks of this tiny beautiful island. The Cayman Islands was the last stop in our voyage, and as always we left happy and accomplished. We had decided to sleep in late as the excursion we chose was basically at noon. We saw the excursion information and fell for it at just $70:

All Inclusive food and drink. Check!
Beach umbrellas and snorkel equipment are available for rent. We had our own, Check!
Return air-conditioned transportation to the wonderful Tiki Beach Club located on Seven Mile Beach. Check!
Beach has natural reef areas close to shore and therefore may be rocky; extra caution should be taken. Check!

We boarded the tender boat, we cruised right by the Holland America cruise ship, landed soon enough and on to our air conditioned ride to 7 Mile Beach.

The beach as always was a nice white sand and soft to the touch. Some areas had rocks and plenty shells but there was plenty space to choose from.

One thing for sure was that if you venture pass the through and encountered rocks there would be plenty chances to step on a sea urchin. So when you go, just be very careful as there might be plenty sea urchins out there.

If you snorkel, make sure to peak under the rocks and you might find some snappers or schools of grunts lurking in.

Bermuda Chubs are regulars through out the Caribbean and they sure were here in large numbers.

The beach offered plenty rocks and scattered corals to be appreciated.

If you look well enough you will be able to see Sting Rays and some other animal life that are good at camouflaging themselves.

Brain Coral was scattered around and some had nice tones, some were just almost a plain beige, but still awesome to look at.

A lonely Blue Tang was just posing for a picture but did not allow me to get any closer.

A shy Squirrel fish also posed for me and vanished as soon as I took the picture.

This I guess is a Butterfly Fish that ran way from me but not before I had a chance to snap a picture of it.

A school of grunts was hiding perfectly under the rocks.

Then came my big surprise as I just passed the first set of rocks I looked under as hundreds of blue tangs and other fish schooled together to feed on the corals. It was amazing as they only took a couple of bites from one and went to the next as if they were schools of bees jumping from flower to flower. I followed them and as I spent more time with them they let me get closer.

As the Tangs guided me through the reef yet another surprise came about. A small school of 4 to 5 permit were feeding on the crustaceans in the sand and rocks. I followed them and I got closer and closer without making sudden movements and it was within minutes that they were swimming around me.

I found it curious that they would come from under me over and over, I hadn’t noticed that I flipped a Sea Urchin from under me while I tried to turn around and see what they were doing. I am always careful as to not touch the corals or even the live rocks as I do not want to crush any potential reef growth. The sea urchin must have been trying to move as it was swept by the current of my fins. The permits took advantage and had eaten it in seconds. I tried switching to video and captured a bit part of it then switched right back to picture mode.The fish were beautiful and had their fun with me, they swam faster and left under the fins of unsuspected snorkelers that were near by. My guess is they are now familiar with people flipping Sea Urchins for them to eat.

Once again, a Needle Fish said good by to me as I was leaving the water. It was time to get some Rum Punch and some food, yum yum.

Our all inclusive included Rum Punch and a BBQ lunch which we enjoyed to the fullest extent. They had good choices of meats, but we picked the usual BBQ chicken we would normally eat.

The Rum Punch was good enough to get you to smile for a while.Once again our vacation almost felt as if it was over, we boarded the Tender Boats and on to the ship we went.It was yet another amazing vacation. Can’t wait to see what our 30th anniversary will take us in 2016.

Thanks for reading and or looking at the pictures. Until next time!

2015 Xcaret, Mexico excursion.

June 15, 2015 by cudamanadventures

This one is an oldie from earlier this year. Once again my wife and I went on our yearly anniversary cruise vacation. This time we decided to redo a trip that was previously canceled. A few years back we were to visit Cozumel, Belize, and Cayman Islands but we could not make Belize as it was canceled and destination was changed to Costa Maya. This year we did our research and made sure that Belize was still on the itinerary and there were no problems there. Last time visit to Cozumel we went to visit the Mayan ruins of Tolum. This time around we decided this trip would be about Zenotes and Caves so we decided to visit Xcaret. It was an awesome experience and we recommend you experience at least once.

Our trip was cut short, some times the docking takes much longer than anticipated and that can make your excursion a bit shorter. So as always be ready for any last minute changes.

We took the Ferry from Cozumel to Playas Del Carmen. The boat ride is only about 30 minutes, but some people not used to boats do and did get sick in this short ride. I recomend that you take your seasickness medicine the night before and a couple of hours before getting in these kind of boats. Luckily for me I do not suffer from this problem but I know many others do.

We arrived at Xcaret, our driver gave us a few tips on how to make our experience better since we had such a short time to enjoy the water attractions. We chose the underground river that was natural and partly man made, there are other two that are man made as we were explained.

Right when we entered the park there was a nice little shopping center were you can get some arts and crafts to take home or simply enjoy a drink of your choice.

Pass the shopping area we went straight to get our gear and passed by the first entrance of the underwater cave.

While inside we were surprised by a beautiful pool and waterfall.

On we went to the river and started to appreciate our surroundings right away.

There were several small Cenotes, some man made and most were natural.

Some areas are just awesome to stop and appreciate.

In the ins and out of the rivers there are areas a bit dark but with enough light for you not to get disoriented, then you can see some ropes on the sides where you can hold as it gets a bit deep for you to walk.

Past the darkest and deepest areas you will see the mangrove trees, a nice sign that the trip has ended and clear sign that the ocean is on the other side.

The water are a bit chilli and crystal clear, it’s just an awesome place. I wish we were able to experience the other two rivers, this one left a great impression, we will be back.

Below are fish therapy tanks, right after turning in our gear you can see these on your right hand side.

Click on the image below to see a full map of the park.

Past the Aroma and fish therapy area is the entrance to the beach. It looks awesome.

In case you get lost you’ll know hot to get back to Alaska or anywhere else.

I must say, we ate like kings and tasted the best fish and seafood I have had in many, many years.

Past the restaurants there are many other things to see or experience.

Below is a panoramic picture of the dolphin area.

On the other side of the dolphin area they have a nice beach and lots of tikis to get away from the sun.

We then found our way to the Coral Reef Aquarium. This place was great, most fish were swimming in what seemed well taken care of system of pools.

Below are pics of baby turtles that will be released into the oceans. A sign asking you to not touch them so they will not get used to humans is set on rocks by the pools.