William Bebee In The Galapagos, presented by author Jack Grove 7pm FREE. At the History of Diving Museum, just minutes from the Islander Resort, a Guy Harvey Outpost. For more information check out the …
Lady Luck To Take a Dive This Summer
18 May 20167:40 PM
by Sue Cocking, Guy Harvey Outpost Travel Journalist
scocking@guyharveyoutpost.com
The odds look good for sinking the Lady Luck as Broward County’s largest artificial reef in July. But the mock underwater gambling casino aimed at attracting both fish and scuba divers to the waters off Pompano Beach could use a few more high rollers.
The non-profit Shipwreck Park Foundation, made up of city officials and local business owners including the Isle Casino, has put up $625,000 to purchase, transport, clean and finally sink the 324-foot former sludge tanker about 1 1/2 miles southeast of the Pompano Beach Pier. The ship, originally called the Newtown Creek, was towed from its former home in New York City to a shipyard on the Miami River in late April to be stripped of equipment, cleaned of pollutants and drained of fuel and oil.
But some unexpected permits imposed by New York officials before they would release the ship increased the project cost by about $175,000. So now the Foundation is looking for some private donors to chip in and make up the difference.
“It’s going to be a great wreck,” said Captain Jeff Torode of South Florida Diving Headquarters, a Guy Harvey Outpost Outfitter. “Everybody is going to benefit. It’s a win-win.”
The Lady Luck sports multiple decks and is covered with metal piping that creates plenty of nooks and crannies for fish to hide and coral to grow. Its relief and complexity enhances the whimsical casino ambience to be created by prominent Pompano Beach artist Dennis MacDonald: mock poker tables; roulette wheels; oversized dice; and fish costumed as croupiers. Donors to the project can commission unique artwork by MacDonald to be placed throughout the ship. The interior bulkheads will feature a rotating gallery of waterproof paintings and other decorations crafted by local artists. Options for underwater selfies will be limitless.
Lady Luck is to become the centerpiece of Pompano Beach’s Shipwreck Park, which includes other popular artificial reefs such as the Captain Dan and Jay Scutti. Plans call for an underwater trail connecting them.
Resolve Marine Group, based in Fort Lauderdale, has been chosen to sink the ship– performing underwater modeling and other tests to ensure it settles right-side up on the sandy bottom. Broward County’s last artificial reef deployment– a barge holding Easter Island-like Rapa Nui statues–went wrong when it flipped upside down off Deerfield Beach last summer, crushing most of the artwork.
To learn more about how you can help with the deployment of Lady Luck, go HERE.
*******************
Sue Cocking chronicles the Guy Harvey Outpost travel and adventure experience in regular blog posts on GuyHarveyOutpostNews.com/. For 21 years, Cocking covered the full spectrum of outdoors adventure opportunities in South Florida and beyond for the Miami Herald, including fishing, diving, hunting, paddling, camping, sailing and powerboat racing. She is a certified scuba diver and holder of an IGFA women’s world fly fishing record for a 29-pound permit.
**********
Pro team Member
Related Articles
Popular Post
-
Redfish in Florida is “Red Hot” !
26 Feb 2018 11:48 am -
Cuba Un-canned: See It With the Locals
22 Aug 2017 10:51 am -
Surf Fishing in the Nation’s Oldest City
03 Jul 2019 4:37 pm
Pro Team
Connect & Follow
Connect & Follow
General
Bon Appetit
Conservation corner
Dive In
Got Photo
Get Hooked
Outdoor Adventure
Travel Tips
![](mailto:?subject=Lady Luck To Take a Dive This Summer&body=by Sue Cocking, Guy Harvey Outpost Travel Journalist
scocking@guyharveyoutpost.com
The odds look good for sinking the Lady Luck as Broward County's largest artificial reef in July. But the mock underwater gambling casino aimed at attracting both fish and scuba divers to the waters off Pompano Beach could use a few more high rollers.
The non-profit Shipwreck Park Foundation, made up of city officials and local business owners including the Isle Casino, has put up $625,000 to purchase, transport, clean and finally sink the 324-foot former sludge tanker about 1 1/2 miles southeast of the Pompano Beach Pier. The ship, originally called the Newtown Creek, was towed from its former home in New York City to a shipyard on the Miami River in late April to be stripped of equipment, cleaned of pollutants and drained of fuel and oil.
But some unexpected permits imposed by New York officials before they would release the ship increased the project cost by about $175,000. So now the Foundation is looking for some private donors to chip in and make up the difference.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wreck.jpg"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-4075 size-full" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wreck.jpg" alt="wreck" width="720" height="361" /></a>
"It's going to be a great wreck," said Captain Jeff Torode of South Florida Diving Headquarters, a Guy Harvey Outpost Outfitter. "Everybody is going to benefit. It's a win-win."
The Lady Luck sports multiple decks and is covered with metal piping that creates plenty of nooks and crannies for fish to hide and coral to grow. Its relief and complexity enhances the whimsical casino ambience to be created by prominent Pompano Beach artist Dennis MacDonald: mock poker tables; roulette wheels; oversized dice; and fish costumed as croupiers. Donors to the project can commission unique artwork by MacDonald to be placed throughout the ship. The interior bulkheads will feature a rotating gallery of waterproof paintings and other decorations crafted by local artists. Options for underwater selfies will be limitless.
Lady Luck is to become the centerpiece of Pompano Beach's Shipwreck Park, which includes other popular artificial reefs such as the Captain Dan and Jay Scutti. Plans call for an underwater trail connecting them.
Resolve Marine Group, based in Fort Lauderdale, has been chosen to sink the ship-- performing underwater modeling and other tests to ensure it settles right-side up on the sandy bottom. Broward County's last artificial reef deployment-- a barge holding Easter Island-like Rapa Nui statues--went wrong when it flipped upside down off Deerfield Beach last summer, crushing most of the artwork.
To learn more about how you can help with the deployment of Lady Luck, go <a href="http://www.shipwreckparkpompano.org" target="_blank">HERE</a>.
*******************
Sue Cocking chronicles the Guy Harvey Outpost travel and adventure experience in regular blog posts on GuyHarveyOutpostNews.com/. For 21 years, Cocking covered the full spectrum of outdoors adventure opportunities in South Florida and beyond for the Miami Herald, including fishing, diving, hunting, paddling, camping, sailing and powerboat racing. She is a certified scuba diver and holder of an IGFA women's world fly fishing record for a 29-pound permit.
********** https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/lady-luck-to-take-a-dive-this-summer/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Goliath Grouper Diving Season Peaks in South Florida&body=<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/goliath2.jpg"><img class="wp-image-2934 size-medium" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/goliath2.jpg?w=300" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a>Credit: Alan Egan
By Sue Cocking, Guy Harvey Outpost Staff Writer
scocking@guyharveyoutpost.com.
[Jupiter, FL--] If you have ever wanted to get up close and personal with schools of fish the size of Smart Cars as they check out the action in their underwater singles bars, now is your best opportunity.
Scores of Goliath grouper weighing hundreds of pounds are gathered at their annual spawning sites on reefs and wrecks in southeast and southwest Florida. They started showing up in August and will likely remain through early to mid-October.
By far the best viewing is on artificial reefs 60 feet and deeper from Boynton Beach to Jupiter in Palm Beach County. On a Sept. 12th dive on the 60-foot-deep MG 111 off Jupiter, Ryan Kobylski-- divemaster with Jupiter Dive Center-- counted 80 individuals hovering inside and around the wreck.
"This is the hot time," Kobylski said. "This is when they're all fired up."
The large, gentle, mottled-brown fish mostly ignore divers or move away when approached. But if you sit still on the bottom or hover stationary in the middle of the water column, they may swim up to you. When upset or frightened, they emit a sonic boom from deep in their throats. With lots of divers around, the MG 111 often sounds like an underwater bass drum concert.
Scientific tagging data shows Goliaths come from hundreds of miles away to reproduce on southeast Florida wrecks in late summer. Most are gone by mid-October, but a few stick around.
The giant groupers have been protected from all harvest since 1990 after their populations crashed due to overfishing by both hook-and-line and spear guns. Now, after 25 years of closure, stocks have bounced back-- prompting some commercial and recreational anglers and spearfishers to call for a resumption of harvest. That won't happen anytime soon, however, because state and federal fisheries managers don't expect to complete a new Goliath stock assessment until the middle of 2016. If the numbers show that the fishery has reached a sustainable level, then a limited harvest could be considered.
Over the past decade, some dive operators-- especially in Palm Beach County-- have come to rely on bountiful numbers of Goliaths for a substantial portion of their summertime income, as tourists travel from all over the world to interact with the huge creatures. Those business owners staunchly oppose lifting the harvest ban.
And, just recently, another potential impediment to a future harvest has come to light: high levels of the heavy metal mercury found in many of the largest Goliaths.
Dr. Chris Koenig, a Florida State University fisheries scientist who's been studying the species since the 1990s, says mercury levels are so high in fish over four feet long as to weaken and maybe even kill them. And that means people who eat them risk mercury poisoning. The U.S. Food & Drug Administration says no one should consume fish with levels higher than one part per million; Koenig and colleagues have detected up to four parts per million of mercury in many Goliaths they've examined.
"Commercial fishing is out of the question and recreational fishing is foolish," Koenig said. "Why would you want to kill something you couldn't eat?"
The problem with opening a fishery for smaller Goliaths in the two-to-three-foot range found mostly in shallowEverglades estuaries is removing fish before they've had a chance to spawn. Coupled with the massive cold-kill of juvenile Goliaths in early 2010, recovery of the species could suffer serious setbacks.
So for now, the best way to handle Goliaths is to enjoy their company underwater while they're around and release them quickly and unharmed if you catch them on hook and line.
******
Sue Cocking chronicles the Guy Harvey Outpost travel and adventure experience in regular blog posts on GuyHarveyOutpostNews.com/. For 21 years, Cocking covered the full spectrum of outdoors adventure opportunities in South Florida and beyond for the Miami Herald, including fishing, diving, hunting, paddling, camping, sailing and powerboat racing. She is a certified scuba diver and holder of an IGFA women's world fly fishing record for a 29-pound permit. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/goliath-grouper-diving-season-peaks-in-south-florida/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Diving South Florida’s Best New Underwater Attraction: Lady Luck&body=By Sue Cocking, Guy Harvey Outpost Travel Journalist
scocking@guyharveyoutpost.com
Pulling myself hand over hand down a descent line to the shipwreck Lady Luck against a stiff current took a couple minutes. But when I finally reached the main deck of the 324-foot-long former sludge tanker, I was glad to see it sits perfectly upright in the sand. Sunk on July 23 about 130 feet deep off Pompano Beach, Florida, the region's newest shipwreck is attracting hundreds of eager divers-- and also some fish.
Exploring the Lady Luck is an exciting and challenging experience; there's really nothing like it underwater anywhere. Longer than a football field with its main deck sitting about 100 feet beneath the ocean's surface, the former Newtown Creek that for decades performed the mundane task of transporting New York City's sewage sludge is now decked out as a mock casino. And divers are taking full advantage of the opportunities for underwater selfies.
Our group -- consisting mostly of members of the South Florida Divers Scuba Club -- arrived at the stern of the ship and worked our way slowly forward, using its giant stacks and bulkheads to shield us from the current. No marine growth coats the wreck, but that's understandable given how recently it went down. We swam into the wheelhouse to find some navigation equipment still intact, then discovered some unexpected decorations outside on top: sculptures of shells and starfish created by Pompano Beach artist Dennis MacDonald.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Julie-dealing-to-Jeanne-Kossey.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-4169" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Julie-dealing-to-Jeanne-Kossey-1024x576.jpg" alt="Julie dealing to Jeanne Kossey" width="1024" height="576" /></a>
Continuing forward, we found giant dice; a poker table surrounded by sculptures of card sharks and a mermaid cocktail waitress; an octopus shooting craps; and a couple slot machines. Ironically, a school of real Atlantic spadefish hovered around the poker table!
Because of Lady Luck's length and depth, it's tough to cover in a single dive. Divers will want to return again and again to visit parts of the ship that they didn't have time to see the first time around. And it won't be too long before sponges and soft corals begin to attach to its decks and bulkheads and extensive network of piping, creating habitat for fish both large and small.
The Lady Luck is expected to be the centerpiece of Shipwreck Park, surrounded by 16 other sunken vessels. Its deployment was the work of a non-profit formed by the city of Pompano Beach, the Isle Casino and several local businesses that raised more than $300,000 to purchase, clean and sink it. Captain Jeff Torode, operator of South Florida Diving Headquarters, a Guy Harvey Outpost Outfitter in Pompano Beach, was a key player in the project.
To book a dive trip to the Lady Luck, call 800-771-DIVE (3483) or visit the <a href="http://www.southfloridadiving.com" target="_blank">SFDH web site</a>.
****************
Sue Cocking chronicles the Guy Harvey Outpost travel and adventure experience in regular blog posts on GuyHarveyOutpostNews.com/. For 21 years, Cocking covered the full spectrum of outdoors adventure opportunities in South Florida and beyond for the Miami Herald, including fishing, diving, hunting, paddling, camping, sailing and powerboat racing. She is a certified scuba diver and holder of an IGFA women's world fly fishing record for a 29-pound permit.
**********
Share your photos, videos and experiences with Guy Harvey Outpost by hash tagging #OutpostAttitude to all of your social media posts. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/diving-south-floridas-best-new-underwater-attraction-lady-luck/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Explore Man’s Relationship with the Sea at the History of Diving Museum, Islamorada, April 15th&body=Immerse Yourself, Man’s Relationship with the Sea at the <a href="http://www.divingmuseum.org/">History of Diving Museum</a>, April 15th 7pm. Alyssa Engiles presents the story of Man, Homo Delphinus to the Aquatic Ape Hypothesis.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/alyssa-engiles-history-of-diving-museum-friend.jpg"><img class="wp-image-2681 size-large" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/alyssa-engiles-history-of-diving-museum-friend.jpg?w=550" alt="Alyssa Engiles, History of Diving Museum & Friend" width="550" height="550" /></a>Alyssa Engiles, History of Diving Museum and Friend.
Come early to meet David Charash and learn about the underwater adventure of <a title="Cousteau Dives the Keys!" href="http://guyharveyoutpostnews.com/2014/06/11/cousteau-dives-the-keys/">Mission 31 </a>when Fabian Cousteau broke his grandfather’s endurance record.
The History of Diving Museum is located at: 82990 Overseas Hwy about one mile north of the <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/destinations/florida/islamorada-fl/islamorada-fl-overview.html">Islander Resort, a Guy Harvey Outpost</a>.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/dive-helmet.png"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2678" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/dive-helmet.png" alt="Dive Helmet" width="199" height="275" /></a>
For more information on the <a href="http://www.divingmuseum.org/">History of Diving Museum</a>
For Fishing with Guy Harvey Outpost: <a href="http://www.ghofish.com/">www.ghofish.com</a>
For Guy Harvey Outpost & their great resorts: <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/" target="_parent">http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/</a>
For the Guy Harvey Outpost Blog <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpostnews.com/" target="_parent">www.guyharveyoutpostnews.com</a>
For Guy Harvey Outpost on Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/GuyHarveyOutpost" target="_parent">https://www.facebook.com/GuyHarveyOutpost</a>
For Guy Harvey Outpost on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/GHOutpost" target="_parent">https://twitter.com/GHOutpost</a>
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/00-gho-logo.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-2458" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/00-gho-logo.jpg?w=550" alt="00 GHO-Logo" width="550" height="550" /></a> https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/explore-mans-relationship-with-the-sea-at-the-history-of-diving-museum-islamorada-april-15th/){kind=link}
 in Orange Beach, Alabama){kind=link}
 in Orange Beach, Alabama&body=[Orange Beach, Ala.--]Scuba diving 90 feet deep on the sunken coastal freighter "The LuLu", I was completely surrounded by a curtain of fish: shimmering minnows; fairly large amberjacks chasing them; gray, red and vermillion snapper; and convict-striped spadefish. The shifting schools covered much of the surface of the 271-foot ship. A few lurid-colored exotic lionfish lurked around various ambush points, but unfortunately none of us aboard the Down Under dive charterboat had brought a spear gun.
Too bad, because we could have carried our catch over to the popular restaurant SALT at SanRoc Cay Marina in Orange Beach where the dive boat docks. Chef Chris Sherrill and Chef Landon Benton would have prepared the lionfish in multiple creative dishes like they do with just about any other kind of fish their customers bring in. (More on that later.) Meanwhile, we simply enjoyed the swirl of colorful marine life populating the wreck.
"The LuLu" is the largest shipwreck in Alabama's vast array of artificial reefs, which include (but are not limited to): Army tanks, culvert pipes, bridge rubble, oil and gas platforms, big ships, small boats, and planes. Despite claiming only about 53 miles of coastline, Alabama boasts more than 14,000 manmade structures deployed in the Gulf from right off the beach to about 60 miles offshore, covering about 1,200 square nautical miles. In and around Mobile Bay lie another 30 smaller structures. The state plans to deploy another 600 reefs from the shore out to 70 feet deep, and it's almost ready to sink another big ship perhaps as early as this winter-- a 250-foot retired oceanographic survey vessel called the Fairfield New Venture--in about 125 feet of water.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/LilaHarris2.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-4946" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/LilaHarris2.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1367" /></a>
"We consider ourselves to have the largest and most productive artificial reef program in the country," said Craig Newton, a biologist who serves as Alabama's artificial reef chief.
For Newton, the artificial reef program is all about creating a diverse set of habitats for a wide range of marine animals-- as well as diving and fishing destinations for the state's residents and visitors.
"The more diverse you can make the artificial reef program, it's better able to withstand fishing pressure and produce large numbers of snappers each year," he said.
For example, Newton said, species like amberjack and snapper prefer larger, taller structures like ships and oil rigs while other species tend to favor smaller, shallower havens. And he plans to create "stepping stone" reefs to establish connectivity between near-shore and offshore regions. Some species such as gray snapper spend their early lives in inshore estuaries, then head to deep water to reproduce.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/LilaHarris4.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-4947" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/LilaHarris4.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1399" /></a>
A big reason Alabama has so many man-made diving and fishing reefs off its shores is that in addition to its own deployments, it permits private individuals to sink their own -- just as long as they are properly inspected to ensure they don't pollute the waters or pose a safety hazard. While these serve as private honey holes whose locations are not published on Alabama's artificial reef website <a href="http://www.outdooralabama.com/artificial-reefs/">www.outdooralabama.com/artificial-reefs/</a>, anyone who stumbles across them may fish or dive them.
On my second dive of the day with Down Under, we visited the Captain Shirley Brown, a 128-foot ferro-cement ship that once served as a waterborne club before being sent to the bottom about 85 feet deep two years ago. On that dive, I saw more amberjack and snapper and even larger lionfish than on the LuLu, and my dive buddy Chandra Wright spent her safety stop 20 feet deep fending off a pesky remora that tried to stick to her wetsuit, then gave her a kiss on the cheek before swimming off.
That evening at SALT, Sherrill prepared a delicious feast for Wright and me and our party including a charcuterie of meats and cheeses, quail gumbo, and crabmeat-stuffed grouper with fresh vegetable succotash. He told us to bring him lionfish the next time we dive, and said he could have created something from the remora if Wright had let it stick to her! He wasn't joking; he has whipped up culinary treasures from supposed 'trash' fish at other Alabama eateries. And I bet it would have tasted great.
(Photos courtesy of Lila Harris)
**********
If you plan a visit to the Orange Beach, Alabama area, a great place to stay is the Hilton Garden Inn, located on the beach. Visit <a href="http://HiltonGardenInnOrangeBeach.com">HiltonGardenInnOrangeBeach.com</a>. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/dive-dive-dive-and-fish-in-orange-beach-alabama/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Billfish Invitational Day 1 – Scuba Diving?&body=During this week’s Billfish Invitational tournament, Fred Garth, Editor-In-Chief of <a title="GHM web site" href="http://www.guyharveymagazine.com" target="_blank">Guy Harvey Magazine</a>, will be filing a series of dispatches from tournament headquarters at the Bimini Big Game Club.
The day began with sunny skies and nice reggae music playing at the open air <a title="About the Big Game Bar & Grill" href="http://www.biggameclubbimini.com/bimini-bar-grill.htm" target="_blank">Big Game Bar and Grill</a>. I munched on eggs and bacon and slurped down mucho coffee after a big night of festivities at the <a title="Billfish Invitational web site" href="http://www.billfishinvitational.com/" target="_blank">Billfish Invitational</a> opening celebration. (Note to self: avoid Appleton’s Reserve Rum in the future – stick to virgin Coca Cola).
We set out after a hearty breakfast for a few scuba dives with <a title="Guy Harvey Inc. web site" href="http://www.guyharvey.com" target="_blank">Guy Harvey</a>, his son Alex, Steve Stock (GH Inc, President), Frank Johnson of <a title="Mold Craft web site" href="http://www.moldcraft.com" target="_blank">Mold Craft</a> and sculptor <a title="Kent Ullberg's web site" href="http://www.kentullberg.net" target="_blank">Kent Ullberg</a>. Fishing boats headed out into a glassy sea and negligible winds – 12 boats in all – to try their luck with the wily billfish. A full report on that will come later tonight or tomorrow.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/stevekentguyalex11.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-737" title="Scuba Diving at the Billfish Invitational!" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/stevekentguyalex11.jpg" alt="" width="550" height="366" /></a>Left to right: Steve Stock, Kent Ullberg, Guy Harvey and Alex Harvey
The weather is absolutely and positively PERFECT with zero wind or waves. The scuba trip was also stellar. Saw lots of cool critters – turtles, rays, grouper, permit, and the rest of their slimy brethren. But no sharks. However, Guy Harvey is not the kind of dude to be disappointed. He gathered four mahi-mahi carcasses yesterday for a chum fest this afternoon on the shark dive.
That report as well as fishing results will be coming later, that is, unless the song of the Appleton’s Reserve fills the air with its sweet music before I can jump into the blogosphere. We will see what wins – rum or blog. Place your bets!!
Garth Out! https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/billfish-invitational-day-1-scuba-diving/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Diving Thrills with Huge Fish at Guy Harvey Outpost in Mexico&body=<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/makodredge1-2.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-2914 alignleft" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/makodredge1-2.jpg?w=300" alt="makodredge1 (2)" width="300" height="177" /></a>
It looks just like a giant, wide-open front-end loader plowing the surface of the Caribbean Sea, except it's ALIVE. A 15-foot long whale shark -- one of hundreds that gather annually from June through mid-September in the waters around Isla Mujeres, Mexico--is sucking up its dinner of plankton as a horde of enthralled snorkelers hovers nearby to watch. The calm, placid giant-- broad and brown with white dots-- pays them no mind and cruises slowly along, feeding on the spawn of bonitos with its huge dorsal fin sticking up out of the water. A few feet away, a six-foot- wide manta ray joins the buffet line, and the snorkelers' heads swivel wildly back and forth.
The waters around this small island just off Mexico's northern Yucatan peninsula are one of very few places in the world where just about anyone can get close-up and personal with the largest fish in the ocean in its natural environment. And captain Anthony Mendillo of Keen M Blue Water Charters is your best choice for tour guide.
One of the region's pioneering whale shark tour operators, Mendillo zealously protects these charismatic creatures and delights in introducing them to visitors.
"The whale shark dive is so cool because the whole family can enjoy it," he said. "Children can go. You don't have to be a professional diver or a professional naturalist to appreciate the magnitude of the experience."
Indeed, the Mexican government prohibits scuba diving with the whale shark aggregation; only mask, snorkel and fins are allowed. Visitors are not permitted to touch the animals or use flash photography.
Although the 2015 whale shark season has wound down, Isla Mujeres and Keen M offer other unique topwater and underwater opportunities: snorkeling with sailfish and cage-diving with mako sharks.
From January through early March, Keen M boats escort their customers to the catch-and release of up to 50 sailfish per day on rod-and-reel by homing in on seabirds diving on schools of sardines that form tight bait balls. After everyone's arms are worn out from reeling in sails and letting them go, it's time to jump in and check out the spindlebeaks' living room.
"I have people who catch a double and now they're down there in their underwear ready to jump in," Mendillo said. "It's a very happy medium when a guest can say, 'I saw a sailfish eat a sardine; now I know how to hook them.'"
The occasional wahoo has been known to join the sails in crashing the bait balls, adding to the excitement.
For the extremely adventurous, Keen M offers cage-diving with mako sharks that cruise the region in March and April. If you go, you just may spot a mako sporting hardware on its dorsal fin. That's because Guy Harvey and colleagues from Nova Southeastern University Oceanographic Center have implanted several with tags to track their movements.
Your headquarters for diving and fishing in Isla Mujeres is the Hotel Playa Media Luna, a Guy Harvey Outpost Expedition Lodge. There are plenty of openings for 2016.
*****
Sue Cocking chronicles the Guy Harvey Outpost travel and adventure experience in regular blog posts on GuyHarveyOutpostNews.com/. For 21 years, Cocking covered the full spectrum of outdoors adventure opportunities in South Florida and beyond for the Miami Herald, including fishing, diving, hunting, paddling, camping, sailing and powerboat racing. She is a certified scuba diver and holder of an IGFA women's world fly fishing record for a 29-pound permit. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/diving-thrills-with-huge-fish-at-guy-harvey-outpost-in-mexico/){kind=link}
TRAVEL DESK : 800.513.5257
Connect & Follow