San Diego, CA - Jupiter, FL- Quintana Roo, Mexico.

My trip started with a day of free diving off the coast of Jupiter, FL and ended with a day of free diving off the coast of Isla Mujeres, Mexico. It wasn't without a few bumps in the road, but all in all, it was an epic trip traveling solo, exploring, photographing, meeting new people and enjoying nature.

A shy Sandbar shark finally got close enough to me and the surface so I could achieve this split panel shot. This was an image I really wanted to execute!

A rocky start led to a rewarding and exciting experience!

Jupiter, Florida

Traveling on a budget and being a dedicated father meant that I only had about a week to do this entire trip. So, I basically planned an extended layover in Florida so I could squeeze in a day of freediving with apex predators in the Gulf Stream off of Jupiter, Florida. I took the red-eye flight from San Diego, CA into Ft Lauderdale, FL and arrived at 5 a.m.. I grabbed my gear and hopped on a train to West Palm Beach. Eager to touch base with my dive guide, I opened up my email only to find that my dive had been cancelled due to an injury that one of the crewmates sustained. My heart skipped a beat! I was there for one reason, and only one day! It wasn't like I could just reschedule. I had to quickly change my plans- I got off of the train, went back to the airport and rented a car. Then, I drove up to Jupiter to go to the only other shark dive operation I knew of. I pleaded my case, in person, to the owner of the company, which didn't go over well. They were completely booked and on the way to the dock already. So as I sat there in my rental car in an empty parking lot, after a long night of traveling and no sleep, trying to research anyone else I could go dive with, I thought all hope was lost! Unexpectedly, my wife called and suggested Ryan Walton, the previous owner of a scuba dive charter boat. It turns out that he was on his way out that afternoon on a private boat with a group of people to do some cageless shark diving and had a spot open. Boom! My mood completely shifted as I rushed to the boat launch as fast as I could!

The second I got on Ryan's boat, I got a second wind! Ryan gave us a safety briefing on the way out to the dive site. It was a perfect day on the water and the water visibility was amazing. It wasn't until we stopped the boat and started chumming the waters that my adrenaline kicked in. What I did't mention thus far is that I also had a last minute mishap with a piece of missing equipment right before my flight that sent me on a goose chase (that's a really long story short!!). With all of that running around like a maniac the past 24 hours, I guess I kinda forgot that I was about to jump off a boat surrounded by several species of large sharks. Within 2 minutes of chumming, we had sharks around the boat! With no time to second guess myself, I put on my fins, weights, mask and snorkel and jumped in! Here are a few pictures of the set up and what you see when you get into the water!

Open ocean, a professional shark handler, bits of fish floating around and of course beautiful animals!!

It's kind of hard to explain, but I wasn't scared. Instead, I was very alert. I also felt a rush of excitement, but I did not feel in danger. Don't get me wrong, I know that I am swimming with predators in the open ocean and that there are risks involved. With that being said, it is a lot more controlled then you might think. This was not my first time in the water with sharks and it's far from my last. It's nature at its finest! Raw, powerful and beautiful all at the same time. Honestly, the first time seeing a bull shark glide through the water beneath me was easily comparable to seeing Half Dome for the first time or standing at the base of a Giant Sequoia tree and looking up. It's pretty amazing. I have a tremendous amount of respect for the ocean and the marine life with in it. I consider my self so lucky to be submerged in different bodies of water as often as I am.

In one day, I swam with four different species of shark. Here are a few of my favorite images from the day!

After the dive, I stayed the night with my good friend and local artist Ben Heller in Boca Raton. The next morning, I got up early to photograph long exposures of the Deerfield Beach Pier before my flight to Cancun, Mexico. I'm not a fan of the humidity in South Florida, but I absolutely love the crazy weather patterns that come with it! Here is a shot of the sunrise from Deerfield Beach!

Part Two- Quintana Roo, Mexico

My flight from Ft Lauderdale to Cancun was only $100 and was 1.5 hours long. I hired airport transportation for the 1 hour drive to Akumal. It is a pretty easy travel day if you're a Floridian looking for an easy trip to paradise!

Akumal, Mexico

For the next four days, I stayed in Akumal mainly because it was centrally located between Playa Del Carmen and Tulum. Everything that I wanted to photograph was within that area. My hotel was in North Akumal near the Yal Ku Lagoon. It was about one mile outside of the village and it was a really quiet, safe and beautiful area to stay. The closest restaurant to me was called La Buena Vida and it had an amazing atmosphere. It was an open-air tiki bar located directly on the beach. It was the perfect place to have a beer but did not have the local cuisine I was craving there!

A few snaps I took around the village of Akumal!

Turtles of Akumal

The small village of Akumal is located east of Highway 307. Akumal Bay is a feeding ground for Green Sea Turtles. It's a beautiful beach but it is very busy and the Green Sea Turtle Dive Guides are pretty aggressive. There were several rules for swimming in the main feeding ground with the sea turtles: 1) you must swim with a tour guide, 2) you must wear a life jacket and 3) you may not bring dive fins into the water. I think that the regulations on wildlife interactions are a good thing; however, this was not going to work for me! I knew that I wasn't going to be part of that chaos in anyway but I definitely didn't want to break any rules, so I stayed away from that area and photographed elsewhere.

The area where most of the turtles congregate is buoyed off. It's easy to spot once you get down to the beach. I walked about 3/4 mile south of the marked area to an area of water where you are allowed to snorkel, swim, and dive as you please. I went out by myself at sunrise- the visibility was amazing and, believe it or not, there are sea turtles outside of the buoys! I swam to the North End of the bay and free dove all along the way. I saw Spotted Eagle Rays, Sting Rays, Barracuda, Green Sea Turtles and all sorts of other fish. It was really beautiful and peaceful.

Here are a few of my favorite Sea Turtle and Sting Ray photos!

Colectivos and Transportation

I used the colectivos when adventuring outside of Akumal, which are one of the cheapest and quickest forms of transportation available. You can take a colectivo from Playa Del Carmen to Tulum. It's shared transportation and only available for pick up or drop off on the side of HWY 307 .

Each day I rode my bike over one mile with all of my camera and dive gear in a milk crate strapped to the bike handle bars. Then, I would lock the bike up in town, hike to HWY 307 and wave down a colectivo. The weather was really hot and often times raining. Everyday I felt so bad as I got into the van completely drenched with sweat with all my camera and dive gear as I'd squeeze between two locals on their way to or from work. Still, I ended up using these everyday. By the end of my stay in Akumal, I actually really liked them! I would practice my Spanish and ask people about things to do and see. I also met a lot of other travelers doing the same things I was. After getting off of the Colectivo, I would either hike or wave down a taxi to my final destination.

Would it be easier to bounce around to all of these areas with all of my gear if I rented my own car? Yes, probably but, I, personally, don't like driving in Mexico. I had a sketchy experience with the Mexican police in Northern Baja and, while it wasn't enough to stop me from exploring this beautiful country, it was enough to make me uncomfortable driving. Now, I stick to local ways of transportation.

*A quick tip for when using taxis is always establish how much your fee is before you are driving to your destination. Sometimes the drivers will take advantage of tourists and overcharge.

The Tulum Ruins

**If you are traveling with children be sure to stop by the ruins, its loaded with wild iguanas!**

These Mayan Ruins are a must see! What is left of the walled city is pretty spectacular. The Mayans used this location as a major crossroads of trade for importing and exporting goods from Central and South America into and out of the Yucatan Peninsula . The main structure "El Castillo" was used as a lighthouse at the Tulum settlement. It's built on the bluff facing east with a beautiful view of the ocean and coast. Exploring around the broken down structures and reading about the history was a pretty incredible experience. Not to mention, the location is one of the most beautiful ocean views I've ever seen!

Here are a few of my favorite images of the Tulum Ruins.

Riviera Maya Cenotes

Cenotes are basically underground sinkholes filled with crystal clear, blue water. It was incredibly difficult to photograph underwater in the Cenotes. The light dramatically changed as I explored around caves and open pools. I used my underwater housing with no flash. I had such a blast in these waters. There are an estimated 7,000 cenotes in the Yucatan Peninsula. After my first experience, I've decided that someday I want to dedicate an entire trip to diving and photographing these amazing geological formations! Did I mention that there are fresh water turtles swimming around in there?!

Check out a few of my favorite shots from the Cenotes!

Last but not least...

Isla Mujeres

I arranged for transportation from Akumal to the ferry just outside of Cancun. The ferry ride over to the Isla Mujeres could not have been any more beautiful. Do yourself a favor and sit on the top deck if you ever take this boat- it's outside and there was a musician up their jamming away . The view was pretty epic too!

Pamaramic image of a dock on Playa Norte

I stayed downtown on the west side of Isla Mujeres. I was only there for a couple of days but I really loved it. I spent most of my time at the beach in Playa Norte. The water is very shallow for a very long distance and an amazing turquoise color!

The cross roads that run east and west connect from one side of the island to the other. A lot of people rent golf carts to get around the island, but I was running tight on my budget by the end so I was just hoofing it around town. I easily walked from one side of the island to the other. The center streets were filled with local shops, restaurants and markets. I loved walking around photographing the island. There was a ton of truly unique artwork painted on buildings all around the island.

Here are some shots I took while walking around looking for Queso Fondido!

The beaches were pretty remarkable. The island has both beautiful sunrises and sunsets and, during the day, Playa Norte is hard to beat!

My last full day and I was trying my best to manage my expectations...

The Whale Sharks

Okay! It was finally time to dive with the Whale Sharks! This is one of the main reasons I came to this part of the world. When your goal is to photograph wildlife in nature you never truly know what to expect. It was the tail end of the migration of sharks in this area and a lot of effort went into saving, planning and traveling all for this moment. I always put an immense amount of pressure on myself to get the shot I am looking for. It was a long 2 hour boat ride to get to the location where the sharks are feeding. The whole time I was just hoping to get one chance to execute my vision.

From the research I did beforehand, I knew that you have to wear a life vest unless you had a wet suit. So I was prepared with my own suit, fins, snorkel and mask. A guide always has to be in the water and only two swimmers are allowed in the water at a time.

Here is a quote from a recent Q&A I did with Xterra Surf about my experience diving with whale sharks and I figured I would share it here because it depicts my adventure perfectly.

"I have swam with these gentle giants before and I know that even when they are swimming effortlessly it can be difficult to keep up, especially while trying to capture a photo. All of a sudden, a massive whale shark appeared and the captain told me to jump off. I was so caught in the moment and so focused on getting my shot. I yelled at him to drive a little further up and to drop me off so I could position myself in the sharks path to get my shot (all of a sudden I thought I was an expert haha). He said "No! You're going to miss it!" So I jumped off the boat as the shark was coming towards me and it suddenly just went completely vertical and just started hovering there sucking in mass amounts of water. I was so close I could see the water going in the mouth and coming out of the gills. I stopped swimming and just drifted right over the mouth. It was so surreal. I got back on the boat and everyone laughed at me for questioning the captain. I had to eat my words and caught a much deserved hard time. It was epic. " ..............True story!

Just when we were ready to head out another whale shark came really close to us and I asked the guide, who had been swimming the entire time, if I could get back in one more time. Of course then everyone wanted to go back in! He was so exhausted from the session that he jokingly said "You can take em in two at a time." I completely rolled with it, picked two guests and told them to hop in with me. He let it slide and I ended up taking the whole group two at a time for one more dive! It was definitely an experience I'll never forget!!

Here are some of my favorite images of the biggest fish in the sea!!

What a way to end an awesome trip! When you achieve a shot you had in mind, it makes all of the long travel days, planning and hard work well worth it!

After more than a full week of diving with apex predators, turtles, cenotes, ruins and behemoths, I was more then ready to get home to my beautiful family in San Diego! Traveling solo with a bunch of expensive, fragile gear is no easy task- especially when bouncing around from place to place.