...... Of Fish

....You know sometimes when I dive in Menorca I'm lucky; I even get to see some fish! Or at least that was my sensation after a 55 minute dive at the Swiss Cheese.

Stanley's Drop-Off

On the eastern coast very close to the 18th Century Martello tower at Alcalfar there is an interesting dive site, this drop-off is ideal for seascape photography due to it's many rock formations. The upper part is formed by dense neptunegrass and crevices which channel across towards the deeper part finally reaching the drop-off; which plummets to -25m. One can dive from north to south or viceversa around the reef; in the centre a pinnacle emergest o the surface which is a useful guide when approaching by boat.

This reef is a popular site for the nearby dive centres although the wind conditions make it visitable in lesser ocassions than other close-by sites.

Exposición Fotografía Submarina & Video- Underwater Photo & Video Exhibition

Finalmente se llevará a cabo una idea que he contemplado durante meses, exponer y dar a conocer muchas de las imágenes que tomamos bajo el agua.
Para esta exposición hemos contado con la ayuda de diversas personas y entidades a las cuáles hay que agradecer su apoyo desinteresado.
Aprovechando las fiestas del pueblo la exposición tendrá lugar en la Sala Polivalente los días 15-16-17-19 de septiembre con horario de 19-21:30h. Todos los visitantes que lo deseen podrán tomar parte en un sorteo, los premios serán bautizos de submarinismo. El sorteo tendrá lugar el domingo por la noche durante la clausura.
Los sitios de algunos participantes:

www.27mm.net
www.digitaldiving.co.uk
www.fotosubmarinas.blogspot.com

Finally and after contemplating far too long the idea I'm going ahead with organizing an exhibition; taking advantage of the Fiestas of Cala'n Porter we'll be holding this event at the Town's Multi-purpose Hall, during the following days 15-16-17-19 of September from 7pm til 9:30pm.
All visitors will participate in the raffle of several prizes (try-scuba dives ); the raffle will take place during the closing party on sunday evening.
Above are the links to some of the participants' sites.

Ganadores - Raffle winners:

Bautizo submarino - Try-scuba (Cortesía S'Algar Diving)
Lluís Adrián
Carol Gaimundi
Mercedes Cifo
Sandra Caballero
Pili Vinent
Santi Grau

Guía Camí de Cavalls -Hiking guide to Menorca (Cortesía Fundació Destí Menorca)
Ross Wyatt
James Shakeshaft

Snorkelling

Lately and although it's coming to the end of swimming and snorkelling weather, I've been taking pictures without scuba outfit, I honestly must practice my skills, since I really thought i'd be freediving for longer and deeper periods.
Some of the many things I've come across are very curious, such as the sheer plunge at 100ft and the beautiful light display caused by the effect; as seen above.
Or even some misterious bio-luminiscent critters such as the Bolinopsis, which tend to float along with the currents, lately I've seen quite a few far from the shoreline. In the picture you can see it's own reflection on the water.

Also on the sandbank in Cala'n Porter beach, I came across this fella which I hadn't seen before.

Probably Minorca's best known cave dive

Pont de'n Gil- Ciutadella, this dive is pretty shallow and really one spends most of the time along the surface inside the cave, thus using very little air.
The sheltered area of Sa Cigonya, where we anchored was the deepest part of the dive, from there onwards through the "Pont de'n Gil", and towards the cavern gradually shallower til the inner part, eventually surfacing in the cave and floating along the surface admiring the rock formations.


This time the sea spray inside provided us with a foggy effect. Since this is one of the best-known dives it explains why we came across so many divers, several groups swam bellow us while we took these pictures.


As we made our way to the exit, we came across yet another group making the place quite busy and creating a lot of suspended sand. Durng the dive we saw very little life, some small scorpionfish and a few shy shrimps.
The outer area was covered with nudibranchs, mainly the varieties we saw were; flabellina affinis & Cratena Peregrina.