Diving Kavieng in PNG... A window seat on the early morning flight out of Kavieng is the go. It's my favourite way to end a trip to this special part of Papua New Guinea. For, as the sun rises out of the vast Pacific Ocean to the east. It paints a beautiful soft light over the dozens of small islands and mangroves that fill the gap between the tip of New Ireland and nearby New Hanover. The rich tropical vegetation starts to glow in the special golden hour light. And the channels between the islands turn to silver. Then, as the plane gathers altitude and banks south-west to start the journey to Port Moresby, the complete tapestry is …
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Witu Islands Diving – Dec 2022 Trip Report
Witu Islands Diving... Some two years and nine months (almost to the day…) after I had to scramble to get out of Papua New Guinea before the borders closed. In early December 2022 I arrived back at Hoskins airport in Kimbe Bay to pick up where I left off. PNG only opened its borders fully to tourists in August. But it seems there are many others like me who were itching to get back as the boat was full. A really great sign after virtually zero inbound tourism for 2.5 years… I was heading for Walindi Plantation Resort where I was booked on board the MV Oceania. For one of its “signature” trips to the Witu Islands in the Bismarck …
Diving Kimbe Bay in PNG
Diving Kimbe Bay in PNG... There is a line of thought among the scientific community that this large, sheltered bay. Located roughly one third along the north coast of the island of New Britain is possibly where the first corals originated. The bay is called Kimbe. And is no doubt about its tremendous biodiversity because the numbers, as they say, cannot lie… Surveys of Kimbe Bay led by distinguished marine biologists Charlie Veron and Jerry Allen. Together with The Nature Conservancy, have identified some 860 species of reef fish, 400 species of coral and at least 12 species of whales and dolphins. Or, put another way... Kimbe …
Diving Milne Bay in PNG
Diving Milne Bay in PNG... This large bay on the eastern tip of the Papua New Guinea’s “mainland” is what first brought the country to the attention of travelling divers and underwater photographers around the world. The first articles and images started to appear in the mid-1980’s. Still the very early days of liveaboards in exotic locations that few people had actually heard of… And yet here was this British ex-schoolteacher on board a locally built, custom dive vessel exploring a place called Milne Bay in a country named PNG. His name was Bob Halstead. And together with his then wife Dinah, they established the first …
Conserving Tubbataha – The Garden of Eden…
Conserving Tubbataha... These remote reefs in the Sulu Sea enjoy a stellar reputation for their pristine quality and the random pelagic encounters that often happen there. And… having experienced them personally on my first post-pandemic international trip. I can personally vouch for the exceptional diving. It really was an awesome experience to be in the crystal clear. Almost iridescent blue waters of the Sulu Sea exploring those reefs. So much so that I would often find myself pausing in wonder at just how good they were! But there is much more to the Tubbataha story than being a bit star-struck. Because in an isolated part the …
Ultimate Underwater Photography DSLR Housing
The ultimate underwater photography DSLR housing... Underwater housings are basically tools that allow a specific camera to be used underwater. But, to get the most out of that camera the housing needs to be very well designed, robust and allow intuitive use of all the important controls. My first real housing was the Subal Miniflex N8 for the Nikon F801. Which I bought back in 1989 and for those of you not even alive back then… The F801 was the film camera that launched the overall concept of housing a land camera to use underwater. The F801 was the Nikon SLR that brought auto-focus to the masses. It was very successful, as it was …
Ultimate Underwater Photography DSLR
Ultimate Underwater Photography DSLR... For such technical gadgets, cameras are surprisingly emotive objects. And I learned a long time ago to avoid discussions on the pros and cons of the various brands. Which at that point were really just two – Nikon and Canon, or should that be Canon and Nikon? Then the great disruptor Sony came along. Wedging the Canikon duopoly so well that there should really be a health warning on camera bodies these days… I think that the intense emotion comes from the fact that we are bombarded by the camera manufacturers marketing gurus in so many ways (consciously and sub-consciously). And then, when we do …
Big Animals – The Florida Manatees of Crystal River
The Florida Manatees of Crystal River... The manatee and its close but smaller cousin the dugong are truly fascinating creatures. But they are both naturally shy and listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List with declining populations. So they can be hard to encounter and even more so to photograph. While there are a few locations with a decent track record of dugong encounters. Like Abu Dabbab at Marsa Alam in the Egyptian Red Sea and around Busuanga in the Philippines. By far the best place to get close to one of these Sirenians is the Crystal River in Florida. And the basic reason it is such a great location is really very simple …
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Diving Tubbataha – The Heart of the Coral Triangle
Diving Tubbataha... Maybe I should have started a bit lower down the food chain. After all with over 7000 islands and located in the northern part of the Coral Triangle, the Philippines has much to offer the traveling diver. But when a long-time diving buddy told me that he was looking for experienced, sympatico divers to fill two back-to-back trips to Tubbataha on a special charter of the Philippine Siren it just seemed too good to miss! I had heard many stories about the intense biodiversity of Tubbataha’s reefs. Which are generally renowned for both what you will see, together with what you might see... and I was sorely tempted. …