Diving Halmahera... The remote province of Halmahera is about as far north in Indonesia as you can go. And it's isolation means that it offers some pretty unique diving opportunities. Big currents are however very much a feature of Halmahera... As the area sits right in the path of the Indonesia Throughflow as it makes it's way through the vast archipelago. Diving Halmahera - Where Is It? The starfish-shaped island of Halmahera is located in the north of the Indonesian archipelago. Right in between North Sulawesi and Raja Ampat and straight north from Ambon. It is the largest island in the province of North Maluku and also one of the …
Dive Locations
Papua New Guinea – Orotoaba Village Homestay
To get a better appreciation of what life is like for the majority of Papua New Guineans - the ones who don't live in the main towns but spend their their lives in their tightly knit village communities - you really need to do a village homestay. Possibly not for everyone... but I thoroughly enjoyed the ones I have done and would definitely do it again! Things we take for granted, like running water and electricity, are suddenly extreme luxuries that will not be available again till you get back to your resort - in my case Tufi Dive Resort on Oro Province. This article documents the first homestay I did in the village of Orotoaba, …
Papua New Guinea: Puri Puri – PNG’s version of voodoo…
They say that travel broadens the mind and I certainly never expected a personal introduction into the inner workings of Puri Puri when I left Sydney for three weeks diving at Tufi in Papua New Guinea... Puri Puri is variously referred to as traditional medicine, PNG's version of voodoo or just plain BS - depending on who you talk to. But there is no doubt that the local villagers believe in it, as any discussion with them will quickly reveal, and perception as they say is reality! However very few villagers are willing to talk in any detail about Puri Puri and the more I tried to find out about this quite unique aspect of PNG …
Papua New Guinea: Puri Puri – PNG’s version of voodoo…Read More
Australian Grey Nurse Shark Article
Grey Nurse Shark Article... Really pleased to see my article published recently in the global diving magazine X-Ray. The story of what has been done to the Australian Grey Nurse shark is a pretty sad one... But it is one that needs to be told. It really is unbelievable how we humans do so much damage to the underwater world. In the case of the Australian Grey Nurse shark we have taken to the edge of potential future extinction. All because it is a big animal and looks pretty fierce, when the truth is they are basically harmless to humans! The article explains the history of the Grey Nurse shark and how it was relentlessly persecuted …
Lauadi – Deacon’s Reef Article
Deacon's Reef was what started me on my personal journey (obsession...) to dive Papua New Guinea! And I can still remember the catalytic moment in late April 1988. I was living with my young family on the island of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf and working in the oil and gas industry. Every month my issue of National Geographic magazine would appear in our post office box. And I would devour it from cover to cover – filling my head with exotic locations for the future. But the April issue was really something special. As the front cover had a stunning image of an underwater WWII aircraft wreck. Which was part of an article by …
Photographing Great White Sharks
Great White Shark cage diving is one of those "must do" experiences for most underwater photographers. My first trip however was not exactly a qualified success, as we spent 7 days out at the Neptune Islands in South Australia and did not see a single shark. But I really enjoyed the overall experience and was determined to go back. That was back in 1996 and it turned out to be another 7 years before I actually did so, but over the next few years I did several trips and experienced numerous up close & personal encounters with the "apex predator". It really is a unique …
Australian Grey Nurse Sharks – SportDiving
The Australian Grey Nurse Shark is a large and distinctive animal that has suffered greatly from the widely held perception that is a man-eater and is now one of the most critically endangered species in the country. Now protected in Australia its slow rate of reproduction means that the Australian Grey Nurse Shark is fighting what is quite possibly a losing battle to restore its numbers to anywhere near what they used to be just 40 years ago. This article documents the persecution, protection and conservation plus diving with Grey Nurse Sharks in Australia and was published in SportDiving. Download the complete SportDiving article …
Scuba Diving in China – Qian Dao Lake (Part III)
Check out Scuba Diving in China – Qian Dao Lake (Part I) & Scuba Diving in China – Qian Dao Lake (Part II) for the preceding articles to this one on the following links: Scuba Diving in China – Qian Dao Lake (Part I): https://indopacificimages.com/articles/?p=516 Scuba Diving in China – Qian Dao Lake (Part II): https://indopacificimages.com/articles/?p=591 Scuba Diving in China Part III While the diving part of the weekend trip to Qian Dao Lake was memorable for it's challenging nature, it was not the most enjoyable set of dives I have ever done... However, the evening spent at the hotel and the drive & ferry trip back to …
Scuba Diving in China – Qian Dao Lake (Part II)
Check out Scuba Diving in China - Qian Dao Lake (Part 1) for the preceding article to this one on the following link: https://indopacificimages.com/articles/?p=516 Scuba Diving in China Part II From the hotel it was a 20 minute drive to the lakeside area where we were to kit up and, for those of us who were diving on the Lion City, board the "dive boats" to take us out on the lake. The area we were using to kit up looked like it would eventually be the driveway to a well heeled local's weekend lakeside retreat. The dive boats were local fishing boats, who are apparently taking advantage of the laws of supply & …