A different type of trip report.

Here is a link on Shutterfly of my resent St Maarten trip under the surface. Lots of beautiful things out there. Took 26 morning dives with Dive Adventures out of Simpson Bay Marina during our four week stay.
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8EctmjRyybMU8

Nice pictures.....

Great pics, except the lionfish of course.
What was that flounder looking blue chameleon type fish?

So relaxing to look at those pics. Thanks for posting. The last shark picture looks like a fake to me.

It's a peacock flounder. When excited they have a fin in the top behind the eyes that sticks straight up.

It's real. We had sharks on just about every dive. as many as four at times.

Wonderful photos ...a different look at Sxm , 4 sure ..... Nice job ...

When you are down by the sea and an eel bites your knee - that's a Moray. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Wink.gif" alt="" />

Great pictures - a whole different world I don't get to see. Thanks for posting.

Great Pictures with a different and unseen perspective <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />

Very interesting pictures. Thanks for posting.

Beautiful pics, thanks for posting. I loved the look on that fish's face in #2112 - looks like he just saw the Moray and is saying "Whoa, I'm in deep doodoo now!"

Thanks for posting those absolutely AWESOME pics. Most of us will never get the opportunity to explore the sea like that..so really appreciate you posting them.

Beautiful photos! Did you see many lionfish? Were they speared?

Wonderful pics. Amazing that you saw some of those creatures, that seemed so small.

<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />

And to the OP, beautiful pictures. Thanks for sharing them. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

Beautiful pictures. Thanks for posting.

Visibility looked really good. How does it compare with Cozumel?

We saw Lionfish on just about every dive. Non were speared on our dives but the dive master speared one the day before I got there and a shark came over and took the fish and spear with it. At that point they decided not to spear any more. Some were a lot larger than last year and more numerous. One of my pictures was of a juvenile hugging the sand.

Awesome pictures. Thanks for sharing them with us.

As a fellow scuba diver, clarity all depends on weather conditions. Did it rain recently? Was there a lot of wind or swell? Cozumel is unique as it often is a drift dive, water moves very fast.

I fully understand, having been a Certified Diver since 1969. I currently hold an Advanced Open Water Cert with PADI, and several years ago went on four cruises in one year, diving at each port. Four of the Dives were in Cozumel with Sand Dollar Sports, all two tank drift dives.
Others include Jamaica (so-so water conditions), Grand Cayman (Wall dive), St. John, St. Croix, St. Thomas, Puerto Rico, etc. Unfortunately, the ONLY dive I missed was in SXM. It was scheduled for 1:00 pm, and when I showed up on shore, I was the only one there to meet the tour operator. Seven others signed up and paid (on board), but they were no shows. The tour operator cancelled the Dive, and SXM is the only place I haven't had a chance to dive. SO, I was wondering how the visiblity compared to Cozumel.

Thanks Pat. I am glad at least one person got the joke even though it wasn't all that punny! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" />

I got it right away. Now I can't shake that song out of my mind. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

My sister-in-law sent it to us and we are old enough to remember the song. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Wink.gif" alt="" />

Loved your view!!

I even had to Google the song to see the lyrics. Will take a few days to get it out of my mind.

Scubaman ..... What type of camera do you use. My guess is it's more than a DSLR in some type of enclosure. And, do you use flash on all of them? Love the photos, especially when I fill the screen on my computer with them!

I use a digital Canon G10 in a compact underwater case built for that camera. I mostly just set it on auto flash but sometimes I override it to have the flash on. Depends on the subject and if I'm using Macro shooting up close.

Fantastic results!

Thanks for the smiles before heading into work, those photos gave me a mini vacation!

BTW those pictures are awesome! I have taken pictures while snorkeling and the ones you took are waaaay better! I can't believe the variety that you took pictures of. After seeing those pics my wife is a little worried about going in the water. We have seen barracudas that have scared her a bit before.

Great report. You captured the essence of under the sea.:) Glad to hear lionfish are plentiful. Have you ever done a shark dive?

Sorry, "glad to hear lionfish are plentiful"?? Really??

Glad Lionfish are plentiful. Wrong! They are not native to the Caribbean and and invasive species harmful to the eco system..

Yea, what's with that remark. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/duh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/duh.gif" alt="" />