Snorkeling & Collecting Discussion Group

[MT. Reefer]

The first set of photos were GREAT! I was in Hawaii in 1994 and I'd love to go back. My current wife (this is #3) loves to snorkel as much or more than I do. I only got to snorkel a few times back then, no digital camera and wife #2 didn't like the water!

Hey Ron, the wife and I are headed back to the keys from Oct 8th thru the 11th to pick up some more critters. Was just wondering if anything has changed down there over the past two years. I looked at the regulations and they looked about the same but figured you would know best as far as collecting goes. The only place we were able to collect in Sept 2021 was Horseshoe. We tried looking for a kayak company that had racks but none of them did so we weren’t able to go to little money key like you suggested.

Anyway, hope you guys are doing well

[email protected]

 

[Ron Reefman]

Hey Ron, the wife and I are headed back to the keys from Oct 8th thru the 11th to pick up some more critters. Was just wondering if anything has changed down there over the past two years. I looked at the regulations and they looked about the same but figured you would know best as far as collecting goes. The only place we were able to collect in Sept 2021 was Horseshoe. We tried looking for a kayak company that had racks but none of them did so we weren’t able to go to little money key like you suggested.

Anyway, hope you guys are doing well

[email protected]

Hi Larry,

We have only been to the Keys once (about 4 months ago) since Hurricane Ian tore up our community pretty good. The snorkeling out at Little Money wasn't very good at all. Lots and lots of big thick algae growing over everything. We saw this a couple of time in the past, after a Hurricane Maria and after a serious cold snap that killed thousands of fish. It seemed to take the area 6 to 18 months to get back to normal.

The Horseshoe was as good or better than ever. No algae issues. Please let us know how the snorkeling is for you. We will be in Albuquerque, NM for a Balloon Fiesta, a total eclipse and a tour of The Valley of Dreams on a Navajo Indian Reservation. But we plan to get down to the Keys after we get back and before the water cools off too much.

BTW, we were in MT in April doing a Road Scholar trip that was a photography tour. We had a great time and they really kept us busy. Our guide is a professional wildlife photographer. Here are a few of my photos from the day we spent in the Lamar Valley .

 

[MT. Reefer]

Nice pics Ron! We had a good time at the Horseshoe. Picked up plenty of snails, starfish, and Emerald Crabs. On the east side of the east leg, about halfway out, I found Emeralds under almost every rock. It was crazy. On the west leg there was almost nothing. Opposite of the way it was two years ago. One cool thing we found was multiple Mantis Shrimp which was very exciting. Could have taken one, but I didn't have a separate tank to put one in. They are fast but I had one in my hand net but had to let him go. Fun times.

 

[MT. Reefer]

Not sure how I found time as we were are still burnt out in the sleep division with time changes but vacation was a blast. Our highlight was obviously Hawaii but talk about expensive !! Nevertheless, it was well worth it, weather was awesome opposed to Florida weather which was excessive with heat. As promised , I am posting pics of Hawaii, and location was Kealakekua Bay at Captain Cook monument. We stayed the last two days at Aston Kona by the sea and highly recommended.
The boat tour to the underwater location was through Viator and was $116 per Person. Sunsets were about 7p daily. They had great coffee and we loved the coffee shack which offered a fantastic ocean view and delicious Coconut coffee. Honl's Beach was a nice setting. Breakfast sandwich with coffee was $20. We took a recommended Capt. Cook Kona dinner cruise. Great time and atmosphere but $158.PP and tips.
Enough of the expense part. BTW- We would/will do it again. Next year is a cruise again and Jamaica.
As promised- Pics. We took lots. Being that this camera was new and new to me, we were unsure how they would turn out. I am glad we bought our old one as we quickly used up the memory card thinking it would be plenty. we took personal pics which used up a bit of the memory. As you are about to see, it takes Fantastic and clear pics and these are unedited pics.
What did we see:
Purple tangs
White cheek tangs
spinner dolphin
Regal tangs
grunts
red squirrelfish
Cleaner wrasses
racoon butterflies
ornate butterflies
various parrots
Hundreds of yellow tangs - what shortage?? and they were between 5 and 11 inches round
Threadfin butterflies
Regal angels
Jumbo orange shoulder tangs
Many more . . . . .

Some pics blurry as we again had to try various settings. A couple land pics were in Oahu







Notice the algae all over his shell



Here comes the tang gang to eat that algae:



Florida pics to follow. Need to find my MicroSD adapter.

When you were on the Big Island, were you able to go to Two Steps, south of Captain Cook or Beach 69 up north? Two Steps, I believe, has the best corals on the Island.

 

[Jasonak]

Ha! I've lived here for 24 years and get to a handful of beaches. I probably average a beach visit at least once a week. I've seen a dozen or more areas on various beaches where turtles have buried eggs and have been marked out to keep people away. But I've never seen a turtle digging the hole or the kids hatching out and making for the water. BTW, I believe that usually happens at night.

Hi
Thought id jump over here so wasnt hi-jacking the other thread.
Yes its a nighttime thing , I got to see it when I lived in Australia at a place called Mon Repos just happed upon it at the right time while driving around the country.
It was really cool something you dont forget.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Hi
Thought id jump over here so wasnt hi-jacking the other thread.
Yes its a nighttime thing , I got to see it when I lived in Australia at a place called Mon Repos just happed upon it at the right time while driving around the country.
It was really cool something you dont forget.

Very cool. Were you just visiting in Australia or did you live there? It's on my Bucket List to visit.

If you have any questions about SW Florida or the Keys, just ask and I'll do my best to try and help.

 

[Jasonak]

Very cool. Were you just visiting in Australia or did you live there? It's on my Bucket List to visit.

If you have any questions about SW Florida or the Keys, just ask and I'll do my best to try and help.

I lived there for about two years just outside Sydney in a place called Richmond at the base of the blue mountains. Kind of rural but not to far from anything. Traveled all over the country while I was there its amazing beautiful place. Very nice bunch over there.
So is there any snorkeling in Sanibel island ?

 

[Ron Reefman]

I lived there for about two years just outside Sydney in a place called Richmond at the base of the blue mountains. Kind of rural but not to far from anything. Traveled all over the country while I was there its amazing beautiful place. Very nice bunch over there.
So is there any snorkeling in Sanibel island ?

Not really. The beaches there are known for the shelling. And after a cold front goes through (only a few during the winter months) there are some live critters washed up on the beach. I collect baseball size, soft orange sponges and tear them apart (they are dead anyway after being out of the water). But inside, where it's wet, very young pistol shrimp, small porcelain crabs (filter feeders) and very small serpent stars. The shrimp and crabs do OK but the small serpent stars are very vulnerable to being dried out without being immersed in water rather than just wet.

For any snorkeling that is more than just getting wet and looking at a mostly sandy bottom, you need to go to the Keys. Penekamp State Park on Key Largo is at the north end of the Keys and has some snorkeling off the beach, but also has charter boats that go out to the big reefs offshore. That's well worth it if you haven't ever snorkeled over a reef. Which brings up the question; did you ever do any snorkeling in Australia?

 

[BZOFIQ]

@Ron Reefman

Where do you snorkel off the beach at John Pennekamp?

 

[Jasonak]

Not really. The beaches there are known for the shelling. And after a cold front goes through (only a few during the winter months) there are some live critters washed up on the beach. I collect baseball size, soft orange sponges and tear them apart (they are dead anyway after being out of the water). But inside, where it's wet, very young pistol shrimp, small porcelain crabs (filter feeders) and very small serpent stars. The shrimp and crabs do OK but the small serpent stars are very vulnerable to being dried out without being immersed in water rather than just wet.

For any snorkeling that is more than just getting wet and looking at a mostly sandy bottom, you need to go to the Keys. Penekamp State Park on Key Largo is at the north end of the Keys and has some snorkeling off the beach, but also has charter boats that go out to the big reefs offshore. That's well worth it if you haven't ever snorkeled over a reef. Which brings up the question; did you ever do any snorkeling in Australia?

Thank you for all the info. Beach combing will prob work for this trip :)
I did snorkel the reef in Queensland when I lived In Australia. It was cool,,,very long boat ride to get out to it though and I never checked about snorkeling around Sydney or any places local to where I lived I was mostly fishing on my free time....best fishing ive ever done was in Australia! On one day trip out of broome Australia I caught mackerel, giant trevally, tuna, 8 foot bronze whaler shark and a 7 foot sail fish. One of the best days of my life lol

 

[Ron Reefman]

@Ron Reefman

Where do you snorkel off the beach at John Pennekamp?

They have a protected area of beach for snorkeling. Or at least they used to. Hurricanes may have changed that. Their website should have so info.

 

[snorklr]

hey Ron just caught a random facebook post stating the Bailey shell museum just re-opened...had no idea that Ian screwed it up but i should have expected it....pretty drastic way to get rid of the xenia in the display tank...

 

[Ron Reefman]

I'm a bit surprised that the lower level, where the aquariums are, is open. But the upper level which is the museum and shell displays won't open for a few more months. But admission is only $10.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I'm headed to Sanibel Island in a couple weeks... Any tips or advice? Anyone want to join me on the beach ? :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes:

 

[littlefoxx]

I'm headed to Sanibel Island in a couple weeks... Any tips or advice? Anyone want to join me on the beach ? :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes:

I so would if I wasnt in a walking boot lol

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I so would if I wasnt in a walking boot lol

Are you in Florida?

 

[littlefoxx]

Are you in Florida?

Nope, Colorado. Which is totally why I would be down to go to a beach!!! Been too long since I got to chill on one!

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Nope, Colorado. Which is totally why I would be down to go to a beach!!! Been too long since I got to chill on one!

Ah, got it.

 

[Ron Reefman]

I'm headed to Sanibel Island in a couple weeks... Any tips or advice? Anyone want to join me on the beach ? :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes:

I live in Cape Coral (just east of Sanibel, separated by the Inter-coastal waterway) and have done a fair amount of beach walks on Sanibel. In the dry season (i.e. winter) we get an occasional cool front and that brings more 'stuff' up on the beaches. I haven't spent much time out there since Hurricane Ian.

The Sanibel Lighthouse Beach is good at low tide. Gulfside Park (we know it as Algiers Beach is also good. Bowman's Beach can be good as well. No snorkeling worth doing in SW Florida. The Bailey Mathews National Shell Museum is worth a visit. I'm not sure just how open they are yet. They were pretty well wiped out by Ian. And a lot of the condos along the Gulf coast have been empty for 18 months since Ian. It's the same at Ft Myers Beach.

I can probably find some time to meet up if you are interested in an old retired man's perspective. Just let me know.

BTW, I'm a pretty good photographer. Here is the Sanibel Lighthouse as seen from Ft Myers Beach (3.5 miles away) at sunset.



And here is the north end of Ft Myers Beach as seen from the Sanibel end of the Causeway (4 miles away) at moonrise.



And the Sanibel Causeway Bridge as seen from Bunch Beach (3 miles away) at sunset on a hazy evening.

 

[littlefishy]

Extended family wanted to paddle the mangrove tunnels before the tourists/guides flooded the area. It was nauseous the further we went back towards the lagoon and we gave up. I suppose it was 50 y.o. muck stirred up by the hurricane, but it seems like 3 mo. of tides would have cleaned it out. We did see a vivid orange mangrove snake, a 1st for me.
My son wasn't ready to leave so we paddled to a flat and dipped up weed clumps with an aquarium net. Shaking them out produced dozens of micro inverts. I was hoping for some seahorses but we did get some pipefish. You can see how tiny they were by the urchin (not the one my son has), which is 1/2 a pencil eraser. Rfa all curled up within a minute of releasing everything in the tank, and my clown showed hunting behavior for the 1st time.