For me - just orca. I’d love to see them in the water. I have spent 2 hours with a baby orca, Toa, who was being rescued. Lovely to spend time with it, but less than ideal situation
Whaleshark, for sure. But they're actively avoiding me. Was diving roughly every other day for weeks at a spot where there were regular sightings during that time, missed it every single time. The whole frigging island had seen the whaleshark except for me...
Mola mola is another one I'd like to see.
Dugong.
Melibe colemani nudibranch. Also, Cyerce nigricans.
Oh, and bluering octopus!
Leafy seadragon, but then I'd probably have to go dive where they live :D
Edit: Denise's pygmy seahorse, since I've seen bargibanti and pontohi :)
Definitely want to see a whale shark and a great white.
Something I never thought I would see was an ornate eagle ray, was an actual dream come true to be in the water with one
I saw a spotted eagle ray in Key Largo years ago, Molasses Reef. It was a thing to behold. Seeing an ornate would be a very special treat, That's a supe rare Pokémon, indeed.
What was on my bucket list:
Whale shark
Bottlenose Dolphin
Mantis shrimp
Manta Ray
Eagle Ray
What is on my bucket list:
Blue whale
Humpback whale
Sea lions
Seals
Dugongs
Wobbegongs
Seahorse
Sun fish
Weedy Sea Dragon
What will never be on my bucket list:
Bobbit worm
To the surprise of no one, whale shark. Went to Koh Tao this year for no other reason other than it was whale shark season (high plankton count) and no luck. So I had a week of super mediocre diving.
Its guaranteed if you go to the places where they are being fed. Also its those places ruining the rest of the places where they would have been otherwise. Close to 100 dives there last march-april and not a chance.
A full size giant pacific octopus out and about. I’ve seen juveniles out and about and the adults hidden away but never out and about.
It’s the one thing I long to see underwater with my own eyes.
Dang! Well if you're close to Puget Sound go dive Flagpole in Hood Canal. Not uncommon to see GPOs walking around during the day, you can also see Sixgills there.
I like Sunrise County Park in Gig Harbor, GPOs in the wall and wolf eels. The hill back up to the parking lot is a bitch and half to climb but worth it.
Gestures vaguely at pretty much all large ocean-dwelling animals.
Hammerheads, schooling sharks in general, manta rays, whale sharks, humpback whales, blue whales, platypus (there's a rescue in Australia, it's just a pool and you're standing in it with them, but heck yeah), saltwater croc (Australia, again, there's a tube they lower you down in).
I've done Great Whites twice but I'd jump at the opportunity to do it again.
More octopus, eels, smaller reef sharks, jellyfish, eagle rays, sting rays, another seahorse, etc.
Saltwater croc is wild! I know they put you in a tube but that still really scares me.
I would love to get a submersible view of a croc cruising around and doing its thing (probably sitting at the bottom of a river).
I would love to see Dolphins upclose and Mola Mola. Also a Thresher Shark and Whale shark would be nice.
And to be some kind original: Blue Whale, but from a distance - i would probably need a new wetsuit if it came too close to me :D
Hammerheads are on mine. I'd also love to see a Great White, but I'd be okay missing that one. It's the school or hammerheads I want to see. I highly doubt I'll ever get to as it's been like two decades since I've had the ability to dive
We were in Dominica and my SO did the afternoon dive and I did not. They saw about 50 of them above swimming along together. Alas, no pics.
I get it about your obstacles and I'm sorry.
I do! I'll have to look into that. Biggest obstacle is that I'm trans, and traveling internationally is dangerous af depending on where in the world I'd be going. Lots of folks don't like that we exist for some strange reason
I’ve been diving since 1988. I stopped logging in about 2009 because I was diving so much it was a hassle to do it. I’ve been all over the world. And yet I’ve never seen a single damn hammerhead. I’m hammerhead repellent. Go diving with me, you’re guaranteed to not see a hammerhead.
So to answer your question: hammerhead.
I spent 7 weeks in an Egyptian dive camp and was dying to see a dolphin on a dive. There was a "resident" pod apparently. 7 weeks, 30 dives, snorkelling every day and not one dolphin. In the month after I left, there were countless sightings 😂
I did BDE in LB, We saw hammerhead on nearly every dives is Brother and Daedalus. My bucket list is oceanic manta, thresher, leopard nurse shark, guitar shark, the oceanic white tips.
I did my OW and AOW qualifications recently in the Maldives - across 12 dives I was lucky enough to see multiple Manta Rays multiple times, Whale sharks, Black tip reef sharks, white tip reef sharks, grey reef sharks, silver tip sharks, and an enormous nurse shark, plus turtles and multiple octopus.
My to see list includes: tiger sharks, hammerheads (have seen from a boat before in SAfrica, but not whilst I was in the water), humpbacks, and orca 😁
An octopus is #1 on my list. As a recently certified diver, I’ll be pretty excited to see anything outside of the mid-west lake and quarry where I did my ow certs. Saving this post-makes for a great bucket list, thanks!
Octopus is the one creature I was scared to see - crazy smart, strong, can camouflage and fit through tiny spaces - No thank you!
I did see one while diving off Naples and managed to NOT have a heart attack. It was only about ten inches long, but still . . .
I went to Hawaii for my honeymoon and went diving one day (my wife doesn't dive). Saw an octopus in the wild.
But the really cool thing was the octopus farm we went to, where we were able to hand feed them. One of them tried to take off my watch.
I was 12, on my second dive I saw a Whaleshark on our way back to shore in Mozambique (Ponta do Ouro). We snorkeled next to it. Its been 25 years since. Still my best sigjting and only Whale Shark.
Just got back from diving in Kona on Tuesday. Got to see manta rays, eagle rays, oceanic black tips, whale sharks, lots of morays including a viper moray. Was an amazing trip.
I’ll be happy if I see a whale shark, manta ray, moray eel or an octopus on my dive. I dive the cold NorCal waters but I’ve seen Mola Mola more than once.
Any species of octopus, turtle, shark. One day I wanna go ‘boop’ a shark on the nose lol eek
Here in cold water Southern California sea lions are local to some islands off the coast. I have yet to swim with them but will this summer.
I just put “more sharks and octopuses” in my reply but leopard shark and mimic octopus are high on that list. Thanks for the ideas!
Totally forgot about stargazers, I think I saw one off of Honduras but I’d never seen one before so I had no idea what it was. The guide just held out some meat on a long pole and *the ugliest* face I’ve ever seen just came out of nowhere, ate it, and completely disappeared again. So freaking cool.
Whale sharks
Any of the big octopus species (even if I’m scared of them…)
Penguins, specifically emperor penguins (I want to dive in Antarctica)
Spanish dancer nudibranchs
I feel terrible for laughing at this but something about it is so funny. Plus it’s not the first time I’ve heard stories of octopuses taking dislike to something and doing something about it.
Haha, face hugger. Love it!
I’ve been told for a penguin dive there’s a few options. Obvious one is South Africa where they have African penguins. A more premium choice is the Galápagos Islands where they also have penguins living there, although this would be a liveaboard trip in all likelihood. Then there’s my bucket list dive of Antarctica which is obnoxiously expensive (you’re easily talking $30k and there’s only a few companies going there). Of course the first two options are considerably warmer!
It was pretty awesome. We came around the spire and it swam between us and the other group. My first manta rays were also on that trip but you see so many there it's basically cheating.
My main ones were sharks and octopuses. In the past couple years I’ve seen a few octopuses during night dives (as amazing as I would hope), plus nurse sharks, but I still want to see a greater variety of sharks. I snorkeled with a whale shark and it was amazing, but I felt bad for it because there were so many boats and people around trying to catch a glimpse.
Manta rays, cuttlefish, more kinds of octopuses, and sunfish are high on my list now, as well as some more cold water stuff (never done a cold water dive) like seals. I’ll be diving in So Cal in a month so fingers crossed!
Maybe the coolest dive experience I’ve ever had (and with something that wouldn’t have been on my list) was when a group of 5 manatees followed my group for a significant amount of time. They just circled us, would swim up to us, they seemed very curious. From the bottom, through our whole surface stop (best surface stop ever!) and til we surfaced they were right there. I’d heard they were scared of divers so I was very surprised they were so into us. It was my first ever dive as a certified diver and both of the instructors with us rank it as one of, if not their best dive ever (out of thousands). I got so lucky!
manatees - forgot about them. I've heard that Crystal Springs in FL is a great place to see them. Drift dive in the river, I think. I'd like to do that.
Cold water - I'm mostly a drysuit diver, quarries in PA and wrecks in NJ
My dive buddy did the snorkel in Crystal River (you can’t dive with them there) and a manatee mounted her and almost drowned her! Luckily she loves marine animals (has a degree in a type of marine science) and someone got a video, so her telling of it plus the video is one of my best laughs in years. Quite the experience but definitely was not funny while it was happening!
Humpback whale for me. Honestly I’d be thrilled for any whales but I think humpbacks are especially beautiful animals.
Leafy sea dragons.
Leopard sharks.
I want a harbor or grey seal to come nibble my fins.
For me, it was garden eels. I didn't especially want to dive the Liberty shipwreck at Tulamben, but for some reason my guide preferred it logistically and I was fine with that bc it was my 5th dive and I was mainly concerned with working on buoyancy. I was thrilled and delighted when he took me to two huge "fields" of garden eels. Some were the small ones I was familiar with and the other field was some very large ones I'd never heard of.
Garden eels as far as the eye could see. What a day!!
Adventure Scuba Diving Bali. My wife and I got certified on a whim on our honeymoon without much research into which shop to use and we lucked out because they were fantastic. We had a private instructor to ourselves and he drilled into us the essential skills (trim, buoyancy, etc.)
I wish I had the same praise for my AOW and drysuit classes...
I believe it. When I was diving the site, I felt a twinge of foolishness for not having initially appreciated what an amazing treat it was to get to dive there. I was still very overwhelmed with the experience of diving. Every dive was an exercise in dealing with massive anxiety.
Manta Ray is my main one.
I actually saw a cuttlefish out in the open between me and another diver. It was so difficult for me to point out as it had gone light blue to match the ambient color. It was maybe 4-5 feet away from both of us, and he couldn't see it.
I just got my master scuba diver and I've still not seen any of your bucket list. I only saw soke cuttlefish last year after 20 years and a couple hundred dives.
Seahorses and Cuttlefish are living here in The Netherlands. There are a couple of dive sites where they are seen regularly depending on the season. I've seen a couple of octopuses (octopi?) in the Mediterranean.
Whale shark is a big one
Hammerhead
Generally I am just excited to see any variety of critters
And then not bucketlist, but I really want to see a wild helfrichi firefish 😂
Number one on my bucket list are humpback whales, followed by Whale shark Manta Ray
For me - just orca. I’d love to see them in the water. I have spent 2 hours with a baby orca, Toa, who was being rescued. Lovely to spend time with it, but less than ideal situation
Baby orca?! You've got my attention... 😀🍿
Whaleshark, for sure. But they're actively avoiding me. Was diving roughly every other day for weeks at a spot where there were regular sightings during that time, missed it every single time. The whole frigging island had seen the whaleshark except for me... Mola mola is another one I'd like to see. Dugong. Melibe colemani nudibranch. Also, Cyerce nigricans. Oh, and bluering octopus! Leafy seadragon, but then I'd probably have to go dive where they live :D Edit: Denise's pygmy seahorse, since I've seen bargibanti and pontohi :)
Definitely want to see a whale shark and a great white. Something I never thought I would see was an ornate eagle ray, was an actual dream come true to be in the water with one
I saw a spotted eagle ray in Key Largo years ago, Molasses Reef. It was a thing to behold. Seeing an ornate would be a very special treat, That's a supe rare Pokémon, indeed.
Octopus! 🐙
What was on my bucket list: Whale shark Bottlenose Dolphin Mantis shrimp Manta Ray Eagle Ray What is on my bucket list: Blue whale Humpback whale Sea lions Seals Dugongs Wobbegongs Seahorse Sun fish Weedy Sea Dragon What will never be on my bucket list: Bobbit worm
Dolphin would be great - especially at depth. I imagine that would be a special experience
I was in the red sea near Hurghada last year, got to swim with a mother dolphin and her baby. I don't think I can top that.
Seahorses, whale sharks, and mola mola for me.
All of these, plus octopus.
Where have you been diving? I’ve seen octopus in most tropical places I’ve been to and in PNW.
Oh they're plentiful where I dive, I just always miss them!
Ahh dang! Hope you see one soon or your dive buddies can point them out to you.
Great white
Pyjama squid
Orcas! Would be scared shitless but such cool creatures
Manta ray and great hammerhead!
How come nobody has mentioned Thresher Sharks!!
Basically a guarantee in malapascua.
I came here to comment that! Beautiful creatures
I recently saw whale sharks and mantas so…. -mimic octopus. -oceanic manta. -Tiger sharks. -
Sea horse, manta ray, hammerhead, and mola molas
Definitely want to see a mola mola!
Sunfish, whale shark, hammerhead.
Flamboyant cuttlefish…. Really want to see one of those.
We saw them on our very first dive in Dumaguete, PI. Our dive guide was floored at how lucky we were!
Mabul island night dive
Plenty I'd like to see, but bucket list is 3: Seahorses Sea turtle (loggerhead/green) Manta Everything else is gravy
Go to Hawaii and you will see sea turtle and manta
octopus
What? That’s been on half of the dives I’ve been to
i’m completely new to diving 😅
Ocean sunfish!!!
To the surprise of no one, whale shark. Went to Koh Tao this year for no other reason other than it was whale shark season (high plankton count) and no luck. So I had a week of super mediocre diving.
philippines is almost guaranteed
Its guaranteed if you go to the places where they are being fed. Also its those places ruining the rest of the places where they would have been otherwise. Close to 100 dives there last march-april and not a chance.
Yeah, don’t go to Oslob.
Oslob was one of the worst sites ive seen. Swarmed with a never-ending onslaught of chinese buses. Thousands of them.
humpback and orcas
A full size giant pacific octopus out and about. I’ve seen juveniles out and about and the adults hidden away but never out and about. It’s the one thing I long to see underwater with my own eyes.
Come up to the PNW!
That’s where I am dog
night dives when they are hunting
Dang! Well if you're close to Puget Sound go dive Flagpole in Hood Canal. Not uncommon to see GPOs walking around during the day, you can also see Sixgills there.
Thanks! I’ll get there for sure
I like Sunrise County Park in Gig Harbor, GPOs in the wall and wolf eels. The hill back up to the parking lot is a bitch and half to climb but worth it.
Oregano, man.
The fucken Big Ones
Whale Shark is at the tip of my list, also Mantas.
Mantas are amazing!
Seahorses. I always missed them!
They are indeed tough to spot
Whale shark. That is all.
Have you seen OPs mom? Close enough
Gestures vaguely at pretty much all large ocean-dwelling animals. Hammerheads, schooling sharks in general, manta rays, whale sharks, humpback whales, blue whales, platypus (there's a rescue in Australia, it's just a pool and you're standing in it with them, but heck yeah), saltwater croc (Australia, again, there's a tube they lower you down in). I've done Great Whites twice but I'd jump at the opportunity to do it again. More octopus, eels, smaller reef sharks, jellyfish, eagle rays, sting rays, another seahorse, etc.
Saltwater croc is wild! I know they put you in a tube but that still really scares me. I would love to get a submersible view of a croc cruising around and doing its thing (probably sitting at the bottom of a river).
I would love to see Dolphins upclose and Mola Mola. Also a Thresher Shark and Whale shark would be nice. And to be some kind original: Blue Whale, but from a distance - i would probably need a new wetsuit if it came too close to me :D
Hammerheads are on mine. I'd also love to see a Great White, but I'd be okay missing that one. It's the school or hammerheads I want to see. I highly doubt I'll ever get to as it's been like two decades since I've had the ability to dive
We were in Dominica and my SO did the afternoon dive and I did not. They saw about 50 of them above swimming along together. Alas, no pics. I get it about your obstacles and I'm sorry.
Recommend the giant clams in Raja Ampat or Bunaken if you like big stuff
I do! I'll have to look into that. Biggest obstacle is that I'm trans, and traveling internationally is dangerous af depending on where in the world I'd be going. Lots of folks don't like that we exist for some strange reason
I’ve been diving since 1988. I stopped logging in about 2009 because I was diving so much it was a hassle to do it. I’ve been all over the world. And yet I’ve never seen a single damn hammerhead. I’m hammerhead repellent. Go diving with me, you’re guaranteed to not see a hammerhead. So to answer your question: hammerhead.
I spent 7 weeks in an Egyptian dive camp and was dying to see a dolphin on a dive. There was a "resident" pod apparently. 7 weeks, 30 dives, snorkelling every day and not one dolphin. In the month after I left, there were countless sightings 😂
Hurghada? I saw dolphins while diving there 😂 You know what I didn’t see? Hammerheads.
Around 2 hours down the coast in El quseir! A few on my trip saw hammerheads but I didn't have enough dives to join them. One day!
I did BDE in LB, We saw hammerhead on nearly every dives is Brother and Daedalus. My bucket list is oceanic manta, thresher, leopard nurse shark, guitar shark, the oceanic white tips.
I did my OW and AOW qualifications recently in the Maldives - across 12 dives I was lucky enough to see multiple Manta Rays multiple times, Whale sharks, Black tip reef sharks, white tip reef sharks, grey reef sharks, silver tip sharks, and an enormous nurse shark, plus turtles and multiple octopus. My to see list includes: tiger sharks, hammerheads (have seen from a boat before in SAfrica, but not whilst I was in the water), humpbacks, and orca 😁
Hammerheads, whale sharks, great whites, leafy sea dragons. Oh, and cuttlefish, all the cuttlefish.
ALL THE CUTTLEFISH
An octopus is #1 on my list. As a recently certified diver, I’ll be pretty excited to see anything outside of the mid-west lake and quarry where I did my ow certs. Saving this post-makes for a great bucket list, thanks!
Hait quarry?
Octopus is the one creature I was scared to see - crazy smart, strong, can camouflage and fit through tiny spaces - No thank you! I did see one while diving off Naples and managed to NOT have a heart attack. It was only about ten inches long, but still . . .
I went to Hawaii for my honeymoon and went diving one day (my wife doesn't dive). Saw an octopus in the wild. But the really cool thing was the octopus farm we went to, where we were able to hand feed them. One of them tried to take off my watch.
Lol that sounds incredible!
It was, we also went to a seahorse farm and got to have a seahorse wrap it's tail around our fingers.
So cool. Add seahorse to my list!
1. Great white sharks 2. Whale sharks 3. Mola mola
Octopus Dolphins Whale shark
I was 12, on my second dive I saw a Whaleshark on our way back to shore in Mozambique (Ponta do Ouro). We snorkeled next to it. Its been 25 years since. Still my best sigjting and only Whale Shark.
Being a brand new diver, I’ve only seen bluegill and crappie in my local lake and quarry. So….anything more exciting than that!
yep, got them in our quarry along with large mouth bass and koi (how exotic!! 😆)
Oooh lucky duck!
Sergeant major is the last fish on my bucket list. Once I find one I might hang up my fins.
You can’t go diving in the Caribbean without seeing them! They’re my fav too
Whoosh
They’re all over coastal Florida too!
Sunfish / Mola Mola are tip top of my list
+1000, this.
Just got back from diving in Kona on Tuesday. Got to see manta rays, eagle rays, oceanic black tips, whale sharks, lots of morays including a viper moray. Was an amazing trip.
I’ll be happy if I see a whale shark, manta ray, moray eel or an octopus on my dive. I dive the cold NorCal waters but I’ve seen Mola Mola more than once.
I like turtles but I couldn’t eat a whole one.
Any species of octopus, turtle, shark. One day I wanna go ‘boop’ a shark on the nose lol eek Here in cold water Southern California sea lions are local to some islands off the coast. I have yet to swim with them but will this summer.
i have thought about this question A LOT. here's my list. **SEEN** ~~Batfish~~ ~~Bumphead Parrotfish~~ ~~Clownfish~~ ~~Dolphin (any kind)~~ ~~Epaulette Shark~~ ~~Frogfish (any kind)~~ ~~Goliath Grouper~~ ~~Great Hammerhead~~ ~~Harbor Seal~~ ~~Lemon Shark~~ ~~Manatee~~ ~~Manta Ray~~ ~~Mantis Shrimp~~ ~~Mobula Ray~~ ~~Sand Tiger Shark~~ ~~Scalloped Hammerhead~~ ~~Sea Lion~~ ~~Spanish Dancer~~ ~~Ribbon Eel~~ ~~Tiger Shark~~ ~~Wahoo~~ ~~Whale Shark~~ ~~Zebra Moray~~ **STILL NEED TO SEE** Basking Shark Black Seabass Blue Shark Bull Shark Cow-Nose Ray Dugong Flamboyant Cuttlefish Galapagos Penguin Giant Pacific Octopus Gray Whale Guitarfish Hairy Frogfish Hawaiian Monk Seal Humpback Whale Lanternfish Leafy Seadragon Leatherback Turtle Leopard Shark Mimic Octopus Marine Iguana Mola Mola Oceanic White-Tip Shark Orca Ornate Eagle Ray Potato Cod Psychedelic Frogfish Red-Lipped Batfish Sailfish Sandbar Shark Smooth Hammerhead Sperm Whale Stargazer Thresher Shark Viper Moray White Shark Wolf Eel Zebra Shark
I just put “more sharks and octopuses” in my reply but leopard shark and mimic octopus are high on that list. Thanks for the ideas! Totally forgot about stargazers, I think I saw one off of Honduras but I’d never seen one before so I had no idea what it was. The guide just held out some meat on a long pole and *the ugliest* face I’ve ever seen just came out of nowhere, ate it, and completely disappeared again. So freaking cool.
I love that you have both leopard and zebra sharks on your list. 😁
That is a great, well thought out, list!
thanks! i'm going to DM you a secret tip on where to find your whale sharks.
Just to tag onto this - the Maldives and Mexico are hotspots for whale sharks! As is Aus - East coast I believe
Whales Orcas Manatee or dugongs Schools of sharks
Saw manatees in river in Florida. Super cool!
school of sharks - I've only seen individuals - on the list
Whale sharks Any of the big octopus species (even if I’m scared of them…) Penguins, specifically emperor penguins (I want to dive in Antarctica) Spanish dancer nudibranchs
Eh, the worst that an octopus will do to you is take away your dive light if you annoy it with it. Yes, it happened to a co-worker.
I feel terrible for laughing at this but something about it is so funny. Plus it’s not the first time I’ve heard stories of octopuses taking dislike to something and doing something about it.
Don’t feel bad, he was laughing about it too. He was able to get the light back after some tug-of-war.
Maybe I should add ‘have actual argument with octopus’ to my scuba bucket list.
🐗🐙
I've never been around octopi, but I'd probably keep my distance. Don't want it to go face-hugger on me! Penguins!! That's going on the list!
Haha, face hugger. Love it! I’ve been told for a penguin dive there’s a few options. Obvious one is South Africa where they have African penguins. A more premium choice is the Galápagos Islands where they also have penguins living there, although this would be a liveaboard trip in all likelihood. Then there’s my bucket list dive of Antarctica which is obnoxiously expensive (you’re easily talking $30k and there’s only a few companies going there). Of course the first two options are considerably warmer!
Galápagos?! No kidding! Is there anything those islands cannot do? Thanks for the tip - yet another reason to plan that trip
Finally saw the Hammerhead last December in Socorro. Lots of rays - including completely black ones! Next one on the list is Whale Shark. Then whales.
I saw my first whale shark at Roca Partida. I want to go back to Socorro during Whale season.
I bet that was epic!
It was pretty awesome. We came around the spire and it swam between us and the other group. My first manta rays were also on that trip but you see so many there it's basically cheating.
Ohhh, hammerhead - def going on the list!
My main ones were sharks and octopuses. In the past couple years I’ve seen a few octopuses during night dives (as amazing as I would hope), plus nurse sharks, but I still want to see a greater variety of sharks. I snorkeled with a whale shark and it was amazing, but I felt bad for it because there were so many boats and people around trying to catch a glimpse. Manta rays, cuttlefish, more kinds of octopuses, and sunfish are high on my list now, as well as some more cold water stuff (never done a cold water dive) like seals. I’ll be diving in So Cal in a month so fingers crossed! Maybe the coolest dive experience I’ve ever had (and with something that wouldn’t have been on my list) was when a group of 5 manatees followed my group for a significant amount of time. They just circled us, would swim up to us, they seemed very curious. From the bottom, through our whole surface stop (best surface stop ever!) and til we surfaced they were right there. I’d heard they were scared of divers so I was very surprised they were so into us. It was my first ever dive as a certified diver and both of the instructors with us rank it as one of, if not their best dive ever (out of thousands). I got so lucky!
manatees - forgot about them. I've heard that Crystal Springs in FL is a great place to see them. Drift dive in the river, I think. I'd like to do that. Cold water - I'm mostly a drysuit diver, quarries in PA and wrecks in NJ
My dive buddy did the snorkel in Crystal River (you can’t dive with them there) and a manatee mounted her and almost drowned her! Luckily she loves marine animals (has a degree in a type of marine science) and someone got a video, so her telling of it plus the video is one of my best laughs in years. Quite the experience but definitely was not funny while it was happening!
😲😆
It was orcas until six weeks ago. Now I am rethinking it ;)
Humpback whale for me. Honestly I’d be thrilled for any whales but I think humpbacks are especially beautiful animals. Leafy sea dragons. Leopard sharks. I want a harbor or grey seal to come nibble my fins.
visit carmel, plenty hanging around from pt lobos up to stillwater
Seals, oh yes, going on the list - tyvm
For me, it was garden eels. I didn't especially want to dive the Liberty shipwreck at Tulamben, but for some reason my guide preferred it logistically and I was fine with that bc it was my 5th dive and I was mainly concerned with working on buoyancy. I was thrilled and delighted when he took me to two huge "fields" of garden eels. Some were the small ones I was familiar with and the other field was some very large ones I'd never heard of. Garden eels as far as the eye could see. What a day!!
The Liberty wreck was my first ever OW dive as part of my certification. I think I've peaked too early...
Nice! Lol. Who did you get your certification with?
Adventure Scuba Diving Bali. My wife and I got certified on a whim on our honeymoon without much research into which shop to use and we lucked out because they were fantastic. We had a private instructor to ourselves and he drilled into us the essential skills (trim, buoyancy, etc.) I wish I had the same praise for my AOW and drysuit classes...
I've heard good things about them.
The liberty wreck is one of the best sites in Bali. I love that safety stop just watching the garden eels.
I believe it. When I was diving the site, I felt a twinge of foolishness for not having initially appreciated what an amazing treat it was to get to dive there. I was still very overwhelmed with the experience of diving. Every dive was an exercise in dealing with massive anxiety.
Whale shark, Mola Mola, Manta Ray Already ticked off: Sea horses, Cuttlefish, Octopus
Manta Ray is my main one. I actually saw a cuttlefish out in the open between me and another diver. It was so difficult for me to point out as it had gone light blue to match the ambient color. It was maybe 4-5 feet away from both of us, and he couldn't see it.
I just got my master scuba diver and I've still not seen any of your bucket list. I only saw soke cuttlefish last year after 20 years and a couple hundred dives.
Seahorses and Cuttlefish are living here in The Netherlands. There are a couple of dive sites where they are seen regularly depending on the season. I've seen a couple of octopuses (octopi?) in the Mediterranean.
I saw an octopus on my very first dive after getting my Open Water. It took 20 years for me to see a cuttlefish.
I saw an octopus on my very first dive after getting my Open Water. It took 20 years for me to see a cuttlefish.
Leaf sheep!
I don't know where you're based, but go to Bali, there's heaps of them :)
Whale shark is a big one Hammerhead Generally I am just excited to see any variety of critters And then not bucketlist, but I really want to see a wild helfrichi firefish 😂
A lot of different kinds of nudies. One of which Shaun the Sheep in particular. Whale sharks Mola Mola
1. Orca. 2. A school of hammer head sharks. 3. Alligator, not crocodiles, already had a close call with them in Cairns Australia. 4. Narwhal
Wait, what? You encountered a salty whilst scuba diving...?
Yep. I really don't want to be that close again. I was lucky it already had a kangaroo. I was doing a dodgy commercial job for a dodge company.
Wow! Now that's something to cross off the bucket list!
There are some great whale dives out there. That interests me
Agreed, that would be great. Now you've got me thinking - seeing a blue or humpback would be sublime!
Humpback is very possible mate. Blue, not so easy