Snorkelling in the US and British Virgin Islands!

[Diana]

Here are some pics from our US and British Virgin Islands trip, we went for 10 days and were in the water almost every day! Enjoy!

Oh, and before you ask, the camera is a waterproof Olympus 720 SW digi. Its good to about 10 feet, and shockproof too!

Raf and an elkhorn coral:

Longspine urchins

Atlantic Blue Tangs and Grunts

Sponge growth

Brain Coral

Gorgonian

Macro shot of a coral

Snorkelling in the mangroves, it was quite an experience!

Hawksbill turtle

Fry hiding in a Longspine Urchin

School of tangs

Large (LARGE!) Grey Angel

Grunts and gorgonian

Macro shot of Christmas Tree worm and Maze coral

Parrotfish

Holy Sergeant Majors!

Shallow reef: Brain corals

Me!

Boxfish and gorgonians

Cheers!
-Diana and Raf

 

[Anonymous]

Very nice!

Thanks for sharing.

Louey

 

[ChrisRD]

Nice pics!

 

[Anonymous]

Nice pix? GREAT pix! We've been here in Guam for almost two weeks and we haven't been able to get shots that nice. The visibility is fantastic, and it looks like you've got a great little camera there. The colors are GORGEOUS. We saw a sea turtle today, but it was further out and dang it, the visibility just hasn't been that great. GREAT pix, I'm envious.

 

[Anonymous]

Very, very cool photos. 8)

 

[Anonymous]

Diana, does that camera have an external strobe? My husband and I are having a bit of a debate about it. :| :lol: He insists you're using an external strobe, and I'm incredulous.

 

[Diana]

Muwahaha, nope no external strobe. Just pure and simple little camera. We were in some pretty shallow spots, and all the pics with amazing color were taken pretty shallow (approx 5 feet). But the little flash on the cam is great for up close stuff. Trying to take pics of things in the distance is hard with flash, cus it just lights up all the junk in the water. But practice makes perfect! We've taken this camera to Cozumel and the USVI so we've been able to practice a bit with it. Its definately a great little camera, and when (if) it goes we will definately be getting another.


-Diana

 

[Anonymous]

May I use your thread for a big lament? We decided not to dive today (our dive "guides" flaked out and wouldn't get up, at noon we finally said, "Eff this, let's at least go to the beach and snorkel or something." We could have dived, but decided to pass up. Today was THE best visibility the entire time we've been here! Tomorrow is our last day to dive (flying home early Tuesday a.m.) AND WE DIDN'T BRING THE CAMERA. Ok.. I keep saying I'm finished whining, but probably not. We found more Arothron stellatus, got seriously scoped out by some cuttlefishes who were flashing colors at me, and visibility was 60' EASY, to the bottom. :roll:

MORE PIX MORE PIX MORE PIX MORE PIX! I've gotta check out that camera you mentioned you're using, my husband will not believe me. 8) (I love it when I'm right, I told him you were taking photos in somewhat shallow waters and sans external strobe :lol: ) You have really gotten very, very good at using that camera, you should consider self-publishing a vacation book. Ask Thales about Apple's publishing service (I think you have to have a Mac).

 

[Diana]

Isnt that always typical, the one time you decide not to go out to the water or not to bring your cam its gonna be the best ever? Weve learnt our lesson several times so we now ALWAYS bring the cam. Its so little that we can just put it in our velcro pocket when we arent using it swimming. We always snorkel, being that we both have sinus and ear problems and cant dive anymore. So the cam suits us just fine. If your diving with it then youll need a case, but I would still reccommend it for underwater pics. We also have a Nikon D70 that if we were to dive we would probebly get a case for that and use it (expensive though - yikes!).

One of my most memorable finds in both Cozumel and the USVIs were little squids that chill in the leaves and debris floating along the surface of the water. Youd never think to look up, but almost everytime I scoped out a bit of junk at the surface of the water near the shore I found a little school of squid. If you poke at them they ink at you and then jet away. SO COOL!

We do have 1 mac and 1 PC in the house (of course bwaaa... got to cover our bases). We also run an aquarium services buisness, part of the reason why we travel so much (for inspiration!), but we would love to put together a snorkelling - travel guide. Would be tres fun!

Cheers
-Diana

 

[Ben1]

Silly me just saw this thread. Looks nice, where abouts in BVI were you?