445 - Cancún Underwater Museum
Today I confronted my fear of open sea snorkeling. Not a rational fear, but I’ve spent way too much time browsing r/thalassophobia and the open ocean now plays with my mind.
Our shoot today was planned for the Cancun Underwater Museum, which is essentially a collection of sculpture artwork that’s completely underwater. The whole point of the museum is to draw attention away from the actual coral reefs of the area, which are being destroyed from over-tourism.
It’s a pretty unique idea, and from the pictures, it looked absolutely insane. I’ve been anticipating this expedition for almost the entire Mexico trip.
The whole museum is divided into three different galleries- two of which can only be accessed via scuba diving, and one which can be viewed with snorkel gear.
Since we’re noobs in the diving world, we opted for the third option, which is a gallery called Punta Nizuc.
However, I don’t have an underwater rig, so I figured I’d use my GoPro for the entire shoot. Not the most ideal underwater setup, but I’ll take what I got.
To make the most out of GoPro photography, I use a few basic tips. Always shoot in ProMode which produces RAW images, shoot as wide as possible, and check your highlights. The dynamic range on these things isn’t great, so I avoid the sun in my shots at all costs- it’s extremely easy to blow out massive corners without meaning to.
In order to get there, we took a 30 minute ride on the loudest boat I’ve ever been on in my life. We were sitting right by the engine, and there was a moment where I realized I might go deaf after this.
Although loud, it was beautiful. The boat went through Cancun’s swamp lagoon, which was complete with alligators, mangrove trees, and semi-annoyed pelicans. It was a Tropical Everglades.
We arrived at the dive spot, and I cleaned out my ear. We were pretty far into the ocean, and our guides began by asking us how good of swimmers we were. We said “bueno” and they through us in the “advanced group,” which went the furthest from the boat. Greaaat.
Admittedly, I was nervous. My freshly broken toe being the main culprit. We’d done a few snorkel adventures on this trip, and they’d always left my completely exhausted- physically and mentally. Now I had to manage it with my broken toe.
Walking was semi-difficult with it, and I had no idea how swimming with fins was going to go. Sure, we had life vests on, but snorkeling with these massive waves was a whole another animal. They were large enough that you’d lose track of someone for a couple seconds when on the down turn. But I was committed now.
We jumped into the water and followed our guide. It started off fairly easy, as the surface was only a couple feet below our fins. It turns out I could barely feel my broken toe- I think the water helped take pressure off it, and my fin was ultra flexible. The first sculpture came up in a couple minutes, and here’s the photo I got of it:
“Underwater Ceremony”
Taken on GoPro Hero 9
[ISO 153 ~ 3mm ~ f/2.8 ~ 1/950s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
That thing was insane! How’d they get that out here… We were in the middle of nowhere.
The hardest part was of the picture was lining it up to make sure it was perfectly straight with the camera as I fought the current. Whenever I shoot underwater I spray and pray- which means taking a million and one shots and hoping one comes out. I know it’s a frowned upon technique, but I’m new to this shit.
We kept swimming, and now the water was starting to get deeper. Something about being a couple hundred feet from your boat in the middle of the deep ocean sent a chill down my spine.
Ever seen that movie Open Water?
The next statue that came up was these bombs, which was probably my favorite. I tried to dive down a bit deeper, but it was essentially impossible with the life vest we had on. We weren’t allowed to take it off, but honestly even if we were I probably wouldn’t:
"Water Balloon(s)”
Taken on GoPro Hero 9
[ISO 237 ~ 3mm ~ f/2.8 ~ 1/950s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
The current was very strong and the waves were massive. In the time I would have taken to dive down, my floating life vest would have floated away.
We kept swimming. Deeper and deeper…
Finally we came across the magnum opus statue of this adventure, which was this bad boy right here:
"Atlantis Delirium”
Taken on GoPro Hero 9
[ISO 345 ~ 3mm ~ f/2.8 ~ 1/950s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
The light rays hit that shot so perfectly, it almost felt like an Atlantis dream. Whenever I edit underwater shots, I love to lean into the heavy blue tones. Normally I despise blue saturation in my photos, but underwater it just calls me.
After that shot I felt a strange release of energy, and an eerie calmness washed over me. I was starting to like this. I think the key with snorkeling in intense water is to go with the flow. There’s no way in hell you’re going to fight the current, so you just have to let it take you around.
Once I determine the general flow of the current, I start taking shots as it’s drifting me across, and hope one aligns in the center. Trying to stay still in next to impossible.
And with that, we ended the shoot and huddled back in the boat, trying desperately to get dry in the cool, windy air. Another day, another sand dollar.
If I were to do anything better the next time around, I’d learn how to free dive. The last two shots looked great from above, but I think they would have been even cooler at a lower angle. Perhaps at face value…
Either way, I had a great time, and conquered a strange fear I had of swimming in open water with a broken toe. Who knew that’d by my life.
I’m on a mission to explore as much as humanely possible.
Want to see my progress? Check out the Adventure Map.
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