Diving with Cathy

One of the best gifts and opportunities I have had was to spend the day with Cathy Church. If you don't know who she is, Google her right now and then come back here. She's one of the best photographers above and below water of this generation and we had the good fortune to spend the day with her, to trade opinions, discuss techniques and learn some new tricks.
Cathy took a look at some of my previous work and was suitably impressed with it if I do say so myself (so it's not just me that has a high opinion of my work!)

The gateway to enlightenment......

Cathy herself is quite a character and has been there, seen it and done it. She's like your favourite Auntie who's had a couple of gins! She's just so friendly, enthusiastic and a real lively character. 

With just the four of us on Cathy's private boat (myself, Jill, Cathy and T to drive the boat) there was no rush to the day and we had plenty of opportunity for discussion, especially as Cathy had yet to see or use a Sony ILS camera system, so the pupil got to become the teacher for a little while. 

We hit Orange Canyon which is one of Cathy's favourite places for photography due to the colours and clarity. She also took plenty of time to coach Jill on how to be the perfect model in the water.

Cathy gives Jill some last minute advice before the shoot

Also over the next several days, Cathy gave me access to her extensive collection of ULCS kit to experiment and play with which shows great trust on her part! 

"Left a bit, right a bit, down a bit, shoot!"

So I got to play with some nice kit over the course of the week and try things on my own I wouldn't have been able to achieve back home without a great deal of time and expense. I did spend far too much money in her shop afterwards though, but hey, perfection always comes at a price.

Tranquility

Cathy also has the same approach to photography as myself which is there are no rules to photography. Play, adjust, experiment. Photography doesn't need to be difficult it just takes a little patience to play around to achieve something that you are happy with.

It's the little things in life

And we also spent a good second dive bimbling around doing macro shots (which is always dear to my heart) despite the lack of small critters on the Islands. You can set up some interesting shots if you try hard enough.

Cathy "borrows" some of my shots from the day... ;-)

The day was awesome and I learned a few things as well as the secret to everything in life. Unfortunately I can't tell you what it is but if you really want to know then I strongly suggest you go and spend time with Cathy and maybe, just maybe she will tell you what the secret to everything in life is........

The end to a perfect day

City of rays

Well for the last day and the last dive of the holiday we decided to do it in style and we would be remiss if we didn't do Stingray City.

Rays everywhere

We were in quiet season and we chartered a private boat so apart from one other boat, we were the only four people in the whole area diving, which was awesome!

Kisses from the rays

Now I know a lot of people think Stingray City is a tourist trap and rays should be fed and humans shouldn't interact with marine life, etc., etc. Yes, I firmly believe in non-contact with marine life and not interfering with their normal habits, but consider that the rays have been hand fed for over twenty years and there is now a symbiotic relationship which is unlikely to be be broken any time soon, would they survive without humans stopped visiting and feeding? probably not.

One of the many happy, friendly rays to visit us

Semantics and politics aside, it was a bloody good time had by all and the rays were all like big, medium and small puppy dogs flapping around you from all sides and gently bumping and nuzzling you for attention and tidbits.

Rays! Fishes! Girls!

The site isn't deep at just under five metres, so a hundred minutes on a standard two hundred bar fill is easily achieved and probably enough time to be all ray-ed out and gushing come time to go up.

Three amigos

Word of warning though, the sand here is incredibly fine and gets into every nook and cranny so make sure you flush your dive kit and camera rigs thoroughly. I'm still finding sand in places where sand shouldn't be.........

 

This little fella followed us around the whole dive

Whatever you may think about the wrongs and rights of Stingray City, put that to one side as you would be doing yourself a huge dis-service if you missed the opportunity to swim with these wondrous creatures, just go and enjoy the experience.

Grand diving on the big island

Little Cayman was very nice place to dive, we had a great place to stay and valet diving as well (which I personally can't get used to just because I'm used to doing everything myself) but it was very, very quiet and amazingly expensive if you decide to buy groceries from the only shop on the island. After a lot of dives and even more cocktails we moved over to Grand Cayman.

Coming in for a landing....

The big island has a bit more of a vibrant feel to it but still very, very laid back. We stayed on the East End of the island which is remote and quiet but you could still drive to civilization if you wanted a bit of fun. We had a great appartment overlooking the beach and just 5 metres from the sea and less than a minute from the jetty as well.

"Anchors away me hearties!"

Apart from the first day, the winds were relatively gusty running ENE which meant we were diving mainly on the South side of the island which was fine as the diving there was as good as on the North and East sides.

"That's it, work those flippers, love the camera!"

Normal script for the day would be wall dive followed by shallow dive on or near the hardpan, with occassional swim throughs and caves. Turltes were in plentiful supply along with jacks, groupers, grunts, rays and the occassional carribbean or reef shark making an appearance.

Stunning scenery

Even without the marine life, the walls and reefs are covered in an explosion of colours to keep the most ardent of photographers happily gurgling away in their regulators.

Sponges, corals and colour

My only slight disappointment is the lack of little critters such as nudibranchs. There is small stuff to see but not not on the scale as you would find in the Red Sea, Indonesia or Philippenes but then I expected this. Still it was a fun challenge to find what small stuff there was and shoot it in strong surge.

Found one!

The boat crews were primarily Brits, Americans and the odd Canadian and were very laid back about the whole thing. If you didn't want guiding, you can do your own thing which is exactly what we did and as long as we didn't kick the arse out out of the deco, they were more than happy to let us stay down for as long as we wanted. My kind of diving!

Once more unto the deep....

Grand Cayman itself isn't massively huge and you can drive round it in a couple of hours easily but thats not the point, it's the whole vibe and lifestyle that really makes you feel like you want to just not bother going back home. That and some excellent food and cocktails!

Flamingo tongue cowrie hanging around the reef

The quality of the diving is excellent and we were well looked after and catered for by Ocean Frontiers, especially the desk staff for who nothing was too much trouble to arrange. One of the best dives we had was the second to last on Jack McKinneys. 

Come to daddy....

Right from the start we had a black tip shadowing us soon joined by a couple of caribbean reefs. All through the dive they were getting comfortable with our presence and getting closer and more inquisitive. Had I ten more minutes of gas they would have been right up for a good nose but alas it was not to be.

No, not that way, this way!

Ah, well, there's always next time. The lads did say that shark encounters were a bit of a rarity and we were extremly lucky on the dive, so I can't complain really. Another day for another dive as my granny always said.

Red Reef crab on a sponge

Stay tuned for our last dive of the holiday at Stingray City. It's going to be a corker!

Pool with a view

Nothing to say, just enjoy the sights!

Island life, ya mon!

Well today was our last day of diving on Little Cayman and we have a day of rest before we move on over to Grand Cayman for a week, which I am looking forward to. The diving here has been very good with some excellent scenic dives and good handful of big stuff to see.

Another shark disappears off into the blue. They don't play with divers

I wouldn't rate Little Cayman as "THE" place to dive as some of the magazines would have you believe, even with the Bloody Bay wall, but it's still nice all the same. If you've done the straits of Tiran in Egypt, Cozumel in Mexico or Canna Wall in the Small Isles then you've done diving just as good as the Bloody Bay wall, if not better but you still be looking to add this little slice of wall goodness to your list just to be a completist.

Spot the grouper....

Probably the best thing for me on this holiday was spotting the small stuff just because it doesn't exist! I like a good challenge for my macro shot but this was hard work. I did manage to score some close up shots eventually and they turned out quite well despite the constant buffeting from the surge.

Cleaner shrimp on coral head

We had a good day for whiptail and yellow rays, groupers, flounders, sharks, turtles, lobsters grunts, barrel sponges and fan corals, so there was plenty to see and do and the water has been at a constant 26 degrees all week, despite the girls best efforts to raise the temperature by constantly peeing in their wetsuits. Mouse bladders, the lot of them.

Hopefully this one will dodge the pot

And a mental note to myself that I have the ability to record in 1080p HD and I need to rememember to shoot more video. Doh! It's one of these things, I take my camera for granted but forget that it also doubles as an excellent video camera as well.

However I did remember to shoot some turtle action at 36 metres on Lea Lea's Lookout today so I'm not completely crap!

So we have tomorrow off to get our kit dried out and do some packing before our island hop. I think we'll investigate the islands sole restaurant and see what they have on offer. Maybe have a look at the boobys (the other kind) at the sanctuary and check out the museum as well. I think we should be able to cover the island in a day gven that it's only 10 by 1 miles.

A trio of flamingo tongue cowries

Bloody Bay Diving

Well I've finally had a chance to sit and write a few words as we've been hitting sites up and down the Bloody Bay wall. Divings good, visibility is excellent just a shame theres a lack of small stuff to shoot but then again the Caymans arent exactly on the map for macro photography. Closest so far was a trio of sea horses on Randy's Gazebo which was a nice find and always a challenge to shoot.

"Do I have something on my nose?"

Water temp has been sitting at a steady 26 degrees but it's still chilly towards the end of the dive. I do miss my dry suit sometimes! One thing common to all the dive sites so far is the groupers. No matter where you go there are always massive big groupers that follow you around like puppy dogs. Except they have no legs. and they live underwater. And they don't lick their balls. But apart from that, they are just like puppy dogs. They come and nudge you, they snap at you and the want attention and stroking. Very friendly fish, and not to mention some stupidly big barracuda as well.

My god, it's as big as the boat...

Turtles have also been popping up on a regular basis and provide no end of entertainment with their scatalogical behaviour. They certainly thrive on a high fibre diet! No matter how old you are, toilet humour never gets boring....

Regular bowel movements are important to a turtle

We have had a couple of visits of carribean reef sharks and some black tips but they've proven to be very skittish which is a shame. I like my sharks almost as much as I like my nudibranchs but it's difficult to get close to these ones. 

The black tip on Marilyn's Cut was probably the best encounter so far but I had to drop a long way down and out into the blue to get a whiff of a shot and even then it was at the ragged edge. Still we still have a few more days on Little Cayman before moving on so here's hoping to a few more lucky encounters.

Come back! Don't leave me!

Coral whips and gigantic sponge barrels abound on the wall and can provide hours entertainment on, in and around them for the marine life and are excellent focal points for photgraphers as well, so they are always a safe bet to get a half decent photo from time to time.

Typical Little Cayman wall shot

Well time to knock off and get some sleep, up early tomorrow for another big breakfast and another three dives. It's a hard life and a dirty job but someone has to do it. Check back in a couple of days for some more fun in the sun from the littlest Cayman.

Miami Vice

A long day but we finally made it in one piece to Miami after an early start from Edinburgh to Heathrow and then across the pond with only minor insults from Heathrow staff and an invasion of high maintenance rabbis on the plane.

Free alcohol is consumed with gusto in the business lounge

We were going to hit Jerrys Deli when we arrived but considering its now 20:44 here and 01:44 back home, we're currently running on empty so Jerry's will have to wait till the return leg home.

Who let the rable into business class???

We're not to far from the airport so we got a short hop back into the terminal to jump over to the Caymans tomorrow morning. Roll on breakfast time.....

"I just flew in from the UK and boy, my arms are tired!"