Free Diving Off of Isla Mujeres in Mexico (Photos)
It was one of my last days in Cancun, Mexico and I felt I still hadn't had a real authentic adventure. Sure I went to Xenotes and visited Coba, but I needed something more. So I hopped on a bus into Downtown Canun for the 3rd time, but this time went all the way to the Sea Port that the locals use to go from the mainland to Isla Mujeres.
I won't lie, it was a little sketchy bus ride and they dropped me off like 2 miles from the port, but I made it, bought my ticket and boarded the high speed ferry. While there, I met a German couple that I became friends with. We chatted for a while about travels and what our next trips may be. Germans are pretty amazing travelers. I feel I met more Germans traveling than almost any other nationality.
After an incredibly beautiful ride through the most gorgeous blue waters I've ever seen, we arrived on the island and went our separate ways.
Well, I'm here, now what? You know it's an adventure when you have no idea what you're doing. So I started walking the area near the port and I saw a little shack advertising free diving tours of the well known Underwater Museum, which consists of giant sculptures that were sunk to the bottom of the ocean off the coast of the isle.
I signed up, went to the dock and boarded a tiny little dingy boat and was on my way. This was my first time using my Sony A6000 in the new waterproof housing I purchased for it, so I was pretty excited to be using that over my GoPro. Although, it's quite a bit tougher free diving with such a big camera in your hands compared to the GoPro.
Here's some of the images I captured, I hope you enjoy!
-Sean Gold
www.SeanGold.com
www.instagram.com/SeanGoldPhotos
Did you use a filter on your camera housing?
I chose not to. My reasoning was that it was dark enough down there without an extra filter, plus I was shooting RAW so I could fix the color shifts in post, which I did, and it worked without a flaw. Probably more important if shooting video.
That's amazing! Must have felt odd to see statues on the sea bed
Which lense did you shoot these with?
Thank you! It was a bit odd, mainly because there were no signs of these being here. I've seen Christ of the Abyss off of Key Largo, which is an underwater statue, though just one, but there's like buoys and such. This was just an open part of ocean with no markings and boom it's just all there! And it's also much further out in open water. These were with my kit lens the 16-50mm Sony E-mount. It's the only lens casing I currently have, but it performs rather well!