Tag Archives: scuba

Photographs of Underwater Nassau, Bahamas

November 1, 2022 by admin | 1 Comment

Hello friends,

Way, way back in May of 2019, I planned out a trip to the Bahamas with a dive group I belong to: SeaHorses Dive Club. It was set for May of 2020 and we had a very solid group going. But then Covid hit and all travel plans were scrapped-as you are probably aware.

We pushed out another year to 2021 and as luck would have it Covid was still an issue so we pushed out 1 more year. And despite the restrictions that were still in place in terms of travel, we made it in May of this year.

My original group of 25 or so was cut to just 6, excluding myself, but we had a great time anyway. The divers of the group spent time on 6 wrecks, 8 reefs, 10 overall dives, and with too many sharks to count. Those that were snorkeling got time on 2 reefs from a boat, which also included time with sharks on a dedicated shark snorkel. All our trips were with Stuart Cove’s Dive Bahamas, which I highly recommend if you’re basing out of Nassau.

We all had such a good time. I cannot wait to get back. The Bahamas offer some spectacular diving. The best dives for me, even with my limited trips.

Anyway, my pics from the trip are below. I hope that you enjoy.

Blessings,

Chris.

Posted in Landscape and Nature Photography, Travel Photography, Underwater Also tagged , , , , , , , , , |

Pictures of Tulum, Mexico pt. I

June 21, 2022 by admin | Comments Off

Wow! Where has this year gone? We’re already near the end of June and I still haven’t posted any pictures of trip to Playa del Carmen y Tulum, Mexico earlier this year.

I had the opportunity to join a number of local divers who where traveling to the area with our friends at YSS Dive to dive in the Caribbean and in some of the Cenotes. For those of you that don’t know what the Cenotes are a type of pit, sinkhole, cave/cavern created by the collapse of limestone bedrock, exposing groundwater underneath. They are typically, and most commonly, found in Mexico. but there are also known cenotes in Australia, Belize, Canada, Dominican Republic, the USA and Zimbabwe. The cenotes that we were at were, obviously, large enough and deep enough to dive in.

First up were a couple of dives in the Caribbean. The seas were kind of rough (the weather on those days wasn’t great) and we were in small boats but still managed to get a few dives in including one to the wreck of the Mama Vina where we encountered a rather large Bull Shark (it was not a threat at all).

After those, we went inland and dove at Dos Ojos and Dreamgate Cenote. While I have had a number of dives in the open salt waters around the western hemisphere, I have never dove in pitch black, dark, freshwater cenotes before. What a unique experience that was. In some of the pictures you will see some of the rock formations that we came across and perhaps even a couple of the small, freshwater fish that were present.

I definitely plan to return and dive some more of these Cenotes in the near future. The open water around Playa del Carmen I don’t need to dive again (that doesn’t include nearby Cozumel), not sure why but I wasn’t impressed with what I saw (visibility wasn’t great, current was strong, boats were uncomfortable, and there just wasn’t new or unique sea life that can’t be found in better locales).

I hope that you enjoy the photographs. I’ll post a few non-diving pictures after this post.

Blessings,

Chris.

Posted in Landscape and Nature Photography, Travel Photography, Underwater Also tagged , , , , , , , , , |

More Cool Pictures from the Florida Keys – Underwater

July 8, 2021 by admin | Comments Off

Hello again friends,

So as promised, I am now posting the underwater photographs I took while I was in the Florida Keys last month.

While the weather and visibility conditions were not favorable (in fact, 50% of our dives were canceled because of high winds and extremely rough seas), I still managed to get off a few shots and got some cool shots of a variety of fish, coral, sponges, and even a photography of my buddy/cousin Walter who was OW certified on this trip.

I ran across a HUGE nurse shark on one of my first dives there but wasn’t able to get a shot off before the individual I was diving with at the time took off on me and I had to give up on the picture to follow her (she obviously didn’t listen to my brief on the boat deck before we got in the water and didn’t understand what an underwater camera is for). Just a reminder to all to all my diver friends….always stay with your buddy. ALWAYS! But I digress. That shark was one of the most beautiful ones I’ve ever run across and her image will forever remain etched in my mind.

We dove with two operations while we were there. One was based in Marathon and the other in Islamorada. While both were exceptional, the one operating out of Marathon was severely overpriced and I will not dive with them again when I return. Not only were they severely overpriced, but they had the gall to automatically include a 20% gratuity when they charged me. Now I am an exceptional tipper, but I want a tip to be my choice and an expression of the exceptional service I may have received. If it’s automatic, it kind of defeats the purpose of a tip-right? So, 1) what motivation do those that are working have to do a good job if the risk of being stiffed is removed and 2) how do I even know that the tip is going to those that its supposed to? Ok, now I’ve digressed again. Sorry.

So the operation that I highly recommend is Islamorada Dive Center out of Islamorada, Florida (link embedded in the name). They were awesome and did everything to make our experience memorable and wanting to go back. I am sorry that we didn’t get more of a chance to dive with them.

I hope that you enjoy these photographs as much as I do taking them and sharing. As always, please feel free to provide a comment or two and share the blog with your friends. And if you want to see some of my other pictures from this trip, click the link below.

https://chrismckennaphotography.com/2021/06/my-cool-pics-of-the-florida-keys-2021/

Blessings,

Chris

Chris.

Posted in Landscape and Nature Photography, Travel Photography, Underwater Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , |

Hawaii 2020 part 2

November 13, 2020 by admin | Comments Off

Hello again friends.

As promised in my last post, I am sharing some photographs I took underwater and dive related on our last trip to Hawaii.

This particular trip we had family with us so I didn’t get to spend a whole lot of time underwater, but of those moments I did I tried to make the most of it. Beside me being in a couple, the buddy I had with me was my son, Joseph.

So without further adieu, I present the underwater photographs.

Blessings,

Chris.

Posted in Travel Photography, Underwater Also tagged , , , , , , |

Bahamas – May 2018

July 10, 2018 by admin | Comments Off

Hello again Friends.

Here we are now half-way through the year. Wow-where has time gone?

In May, I joined a group of local divers for the trip of a lifetime in the Bahamas. We headed out on a chartered Blackbeards 65′ Sea Explorer sailboat for a week of sailing, playing pirates, and of course scuba diving. And what would a scuba trip be without me taking along my camera to see what I could get–photo wise that is.

We headed out of Nassau and sailed south into the Exuma Cays Land & Sea Park and hit 16 dives in 5 days. It was a lot of diving, but certainly a lot of fun. While there were a ton of fish and coral life to gaze upon in awe and photograph, diving with the sharks was probably the highlight for me. Nothing that I can think of topped that experience.

Kudos and many happy thank you’s to my dive buddies for making this a wonderful trip and especially to those that spent time with me underwater: Michelle, Glenn, & Kyle.

I hope you enjoy these photographs.

Blessings.

Posted in Landscape and Nature Photography, Sports Photography, Travel Photography, Underwater Also tagged , , , , , , , , , |

Diving the Puget Sound – Thanksgiving 2017

November 27, 2017 by admin | Comments Off

Hi Friends,

So over the summer I did something that I always wanted to do–learn to scuba dive. Work and raising a family have always been obstacles, but after discovering Hawaii last year and enjoying our time in the water Lynette gave me the awesome gift of lessons for my birthday this year. And after some classroom time, time in the pool, and certification dives in the Sound, my dream of being underwater was finally realized.

Now as a photographer, I am not satisfied just doing something for the sake of just doing it. I always need my camera and to photograph something relevant. It doesn’t matter whether that is hiking, or watching an airshow, I need my camera. And why would diving be any different? So, with new skills in hand and a camera capable of diving with me, off I go.

The following photographs are pictures that I took while diving this last weekend with my daughter. I still have a long way to go to master this new genre, but I think they are interesting enough to share.

For now, blessings and enjoy!

Chris.

Posted in Landscape and Nature Photography Also tagged , , , , , , , , , |