WATCH: The Most Curious Grouper, My Favorite Dive Experience in Cuba

Curious Grouper

I went to the Gardens of the Queen in search of rare corals, but little did I know, I would be leaving with a crush on a grouper. The curious groups in the Gardens of the Queen are fins down the most chilled out buncha fish I’ve ever seen, and I would go back in a heartbeat just to hang around in their group.
From the moment I got in the water until the end of the dive, this curious Nassau grouper followed me around the 5 Seas dive site. Never did I think I could have a love affair with a grouper… but this little guy definitely stole my heart.
https://www.facebook.com/reefdivers.io/videos/2258544334369070/
For the rest of the dive, every time I looked around the grouper would be following me, or posing for another shot. So naturally, I spent the entire dive photographing and filming his puffy lipped little face.
The video and pictures in the post are in chronological order, so you too can experience the magnetic attraction of this curious grouper.

https://www.facebook.com/reefdivers.io/videos/711246282571880/
After we descended the reef wall, grouper just wanted to chill. I think he liked all the attention, or maybe he was waiting for me to help him with some food. Either way, he was far from fazed when I stuck the camera right up in his face.
What I found really intriguing about watching this fish was how quickly it changed colors. Normally we associate color shifting to cuttlefish or squid and I guess I never really noticed how quickly and frequently fish like this grouper can change the brightness of their color patterns.
This change is subtle however I captured these side by side shots showing the grouper displaying darker color pattern quickly replaced by splayed fins and bright color.

At the end of the dive, we came to the top of the reef slope. The light was shining perfectly on the shallow pastel-colored Gorgonians, creating the perfect backdrop to film grouper one more time in all his glory.
5 Seas was an incredibly memorable dive site in the Gardens of the Queen dive, the perfect balance of fish and corals. Nowhere else did I find such friendly curious groupers. Meeting this fish was one of my most memorable experience diving in the Gardens of the Queen, and I would recommend putting this dive site at the top of your must-see list in Cuba.
We went diving with Avalon Liveabord