Welcome to Indopacificimages – the personal website of Don Silcock, an Australian underwater photographer and photojournalist based in Bali, Indonesia.
I’ve been diving the main locations in the Indo-Pacific region for over 25 years, documenting my experiences in numerous articles and pages on this site. Over the past decade, I’ve also traveled extensively to capture images of major marine aggregations and iconic “big animal” encounters around the world.
If you’re looking for factual, engaging, and accurate descriptions of some of the world’s best diving destinations and underwater experiences, you’ve come to the right place.
And in case you’re wondering—this is not a commercial site. I’m not selling anything. It really is just what it claims to be: a personal platform to share my passion for diving and underwater photography.
The reality is that these days, very few diving publications actually pay for the articles and images they publish. Instead, the “exposure” gained from being published is seen as a stepping stone to what’s commonly referred to as a “compensated trip”.
Whereby an operator supports your visit in exchange for you photographing and writing about the location.
Unfortunately, in my view, this often turns the resulting article into little more than an “advertorial” filled with spin and hype rather than genuine substance.
Personally, I take a different approach. I aim to explain what makes a specific location special and why it stands out. I only use images from the trip itself to illustrate what I experienced firsthand. Researching the destination to fully understand its context can be incredibly time-consuming, but it’s essential for creating content that is both factual and meaningful.
Why do I do this? Simply because I love writing and find great satisfaction in crafting these stories. In fact, I started this site because I was frustrated with the overly commercialized, surface-level content that dominates much of the scuba diving world.
I’m not claiming to be perfect, but I strive to provide engaging and accurate content, based on what I’ve genuinely seen and experienced.
I sincerely hope you enjoy the site, and I’d love to hear your constructive feedback if you have the time…
Interviews – aQua
The Spanish magazine aQua, also found my site and requested an interview. Surprised that a third magazine was interested in featuring me, of course I said yes!
I’m really pleased with the outcome, as it highlights my images beautifully and captures what I aim to share through my work.
Read the Don Silcock aQua interview.
Interviews – NatureTTL
Audrey Granger of photography website NatureTTL found my website and then approached me to do an interview.
Suitably humbled that somebody wanted to know more about me, I gladly accepted!
Interviews – Scuba Diver
Celebrated Australian underwater photographer and photojournalist P.T. (Pink Tank) Hirschfield also interviewed me for Scuba Diver magazine.
You can use this link to read the Diving with Don Silcock interview.
About Don Silcock
I was born in the 1950s in the northwest of England, in a town called Runcorn, about 15 miles from Liverpool. I left as soon as I could… Because back then, there seemed to be little opportunity beyond working in the local petrochemical plants for the rest of your life. And that was definitely not for me!
Some of my earliest memories are of my elder brother, who was in the merchant navy at the time, telling fascinating stories about the places he had visited. In hindsight, those stories were probably the catalyst for my love of travel.
My first opportunity to “get out” came shortly after my 21st birthday, when I was offered a job as a trainee service engineer for a Swiss compressor company. That role gave me the chance to travel extensively across the UK and Ireland. Four years later, it led to a position in the oil and gas industry in Libya.
Libya wasn’t quite the end of the world, but it felt like you could see it from there! The work cycle was six weeks on and three weeks off, and during those three weeks, I started to travel. It was then, on the Mediterranean island of Malta, that I had my first experience of scuba diving.
That was back in 1978, when recreational diving was loosely regulated. A one-day introductory course earned me a “dive card” that allowed me to explore the many dive sites around the island — a thought that seems quite scary in retrospect!
The job in Libya was meant to last for just one year. However, it ended up being 14 years, during which I got married, had two kids, and lived in four different countries. Finally, my family and I decided it was time to leave the Middle East and start a new chapter in Australia.
During my time in the Middle East, particularly the seven years we spent in Bahrain, I transitioned from my basic Maltese dive card to becoming a qualified diver. I earned certifications as a BSAC Advanced Instructor and later as a PADI Divemaster.
Moving to Australia opened up a whole new world of diving. I explored parts of the Great Barrier Reef and soon heard about the incredible diving opportunities further north in Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.
My first trip to Papua New Guinea was in 1999, and just a year later, I experienced diving in Indonesia for the first time. You could say I was hooked! If you explore the pages on this site, you’ll see exactly why these destinations captivated me.
Although I still dive extensively in the Indo-Pacific region (hence the name of this site), I’ve also started signing up for “big animal” trips over the past ten years or so. And yes… you’ll find plenty about those adventures on the pages here too.
Early Days – Diving in Malta- Malta Dive Card – 1978….
- South Bimini in the Bahamas – Courtesy of Martin Voeller
