Has anybody ever done this?

[fjpatrum]

A lot of my best dives cover very little ground, but I haven't yet tried just sitting in one place.

And although it's off topic, I regard wool as rather like an abacus . . . why use it, when you have a much better high-tech option?

Because the high tech options always stink faster, longer, and worse than wool? Or maybe that's just me... I choose both, depending upon the situation.

 

[Doc Harry]

Has anybody else done this?

All the time.

I have a very big camera with a very big macro lens, and that's what we do. You scare everything away when you arrive, but if you settle down and sit still for a while, then everything comes out again.

If I see a big school of fish parked in the current on some feature, I'll slowly make my way into the center of the school and hang out with them for a long time. Initially they swim away, but if you keep your actions slow and smooth, the school with return and form around you.

Is this where I say, "I think I need a rebreather?"

 

[mikeb21072]

I do not necessarily sit motionless, but I have found that my favorite dives have been the ones that covered the least amount of area. Since my wife is my dive buddy, it makes it easier since she is into photography and always looking to get a photo of a flame tongue. Our usual dive spots are in Key Largo, and most have been more of the variety of racing around for 45 minutes and then back on the boat. We had a chance in the Cayman's to do some shore diving on our own, and we probably did not stray 50 feet from the main reef.
I find it very relaxing to just hover in one place, and watch the marine life or check out all the corals. On my last dive, I was able to video a group of about a dozen blennies, along with a couple of arrow crabs by just staying still. I would have never seen that much detail if were just racing around the reef.
I guess it depends on your own preference or diving style, but living in the high pace area around D.C., it is nice to take it easy and just chill out on a dive.
I can also see where this could infuriate other divers if they thought they had to wait on us all the time.

Mike

 

[purepursuit]

People do this all the time at the Blue Heron Bridge (its made for this as the current is manageable and its shallow). When I'm spearfishing (which is always now) if I pass by a sandy patch just off the main ledge and I see a Mutton Snapper I'll deflate and anchor down in the sand. Kick up some sand and you'll be amazed at what comes to check you out. This happens a lot when I'm buried in a lobster hole trying to coarse a bug out of its domain, next thing you know an elusive grouper will come by and check you out.

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

macro photogs at the Blue Heron Bridge do this all the time. I haven't quite gotten to the "sit in one spot for half an hour" but tend to go super slow to try and see as many things as possible. Have spent entire 2-3 hour dives in 6-8' of water.

Yep. Bridge is an awesome place for a solo dive.

Well, reading all these accounts has made me even more interested in giving this a try, and the thread has even brought me a buddy interested in doing it with me!

Cool beans.

when in town, look me up, would love to do non swimming dive at the bridge (or maybe a beach dive?) with ya!

 

[TSandM]

Well, today I did a dive with a new buddy who is a SERIOUS photographer -- I mean, the kind who sits down and takes twenty or thirty photographs of a single subject. As a result, I had to sit in the same spot for a long time . . . and what fun it was. Every time I thought I had seen everything that there was in that spot, I found something else. We probably spent ten or fifteen minutes in one place. I loved it!

 

[lowviz]

-roll over and watch the surface when you get bored, all sorts of stuff wanders by...

 

[drbill]

My last night dive 3 nights ago, I stayed in one place for 55 of the 85 minutes to study and film a single sea cucumber. It was an exciting dive for me as this one is as of yet unidentified

 

[mathauck0814]

We call this kind of dive, "Spearfishing in kelp". You've gotta stay very still (with no bubbles) to get the big calicos to come in close

 

[XS-NRG]

Kinda like this?

Focus is a bit off, because, well, they got too close for the autofocus

Yup! With many different types of fish too. The more still and calm you stay the closer and closer they get until you are part of the school. It's amazing to just float along with them. My biggest schools are probably Krill Wrasse in the Caribbean. Most dives we did there were a type of drift and by just floating along I was absolutely engulfed by these cool purple fish and I just enjoyed being part of what you might describe as a bait ball. It's so surreal and you get lost in the perfect moment