Resort based diving in Raja Ampat - is it a real option or is a liveaboard the way to go? Raja Ampat is one of the top dive locations globally. Certainly it is the most popular diving region in Indonesia. Deservedly so because there is some spectacular diving to be had there! Come the start of the main dive season in mid-October, liveaboards start to arrive in Sorong in droves. Where just ten years ago you could count the number of those boats on the fingers of both hands and still have a few digits left. But these days, there at least 50 boats operating during the season... So popular has Raja Ampat become that there are now …
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The Tiger Sharks of the Bahamas
The Tiger Sharks of the Bahamas... Open water (no-cage) encounters with Tiger Sharks are incredible experiences. They are large and extremely powerful creatures that exude total confidence. And they have a commanding presence that allows them to completely dominate the proceedings. Tigers are rarely seen underwater and, even when they are, the encounters are typically fleeting at best. Everywhere that is except for the Bahamas. Where at key locations and at certain times of the year, they are almost a permanent fixture! So what is so special about this island nation in the western Atlantic? With what now looks like incredible …
The Humpback Whales of Tonga
The Humpbacks of Tonga... Swimming with and photographing the humpback whales of Tonga had been on my personal "to do" for quite some time. Last year I finally got to spend 3 weeks in the Pacific island nation doing just that... Being in the water with such large, but gentle-natured, animals was an all-round fantastic experience! Quite unlike anything I have done previously! Basically it changed my whole focus towards scuba diving and underwater photography. I can now openly admit that I have caught the "big animal bug". Unfortunately that brings with it an expensive looking wish list... But such encounters really are …
Kavieng’s WWII Wrecks
Kavieng's WWII Wrecks... The small town of Kavieng was seized by the Japanese in January in 1942 when they invaded PNG. That invasion came just seven weeks after the surprise air attack on Pearl Harbour which brought America into WWII. Although it played second fiddle to the huge Japanese naval base at Rabaul in New Britain. Kavieng was in fact a very strategic location for the invading Japanese forces during WWII. The town's location in New Ireland Province meant that it protected their rear. It was also an important part of their military supply chain. Fighting as they were to gain complete control of PNG and then prepare …
The Florida Manatee
The Florida Manatee... Kings Bay in Crystal River is probably the best place in the world to see and photograph the quite unique creature that is the Florida manatee. Because every winter, as water temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico drop to the low 70's Fahrenheit. Hundreds of Florida Manatee migrate up the Crystal River to seek refuge in the warm waters of Kings Bay. The Florida Manatee - Warm Water The peninsular that makes up most of the state of Florida is formed by a large plateau of karst limestone. Which sits on a massive subterranean platform of bedrock which stretches far out in to the Gulf of Mexico. Within that …
Kimbe Bay – The Coral Crucible
Kimbe Bay the Coral Crucible. There is a line of thought in the scientific community that this is where it all may have began. Where the first corals originated… a large sheltered bay, roughly one third along the north coast of the large island of New Britain. The bay is called Kimbe and the country is Papua New Guinea. The wild and exciting nation crafted together in colonial times from the eastern half of the huge island of New Guinea and a string of other islands stretching out in to the Bismarck and Solomon Seas. Surveys have shown that the bay is host to around 860 species of reef fish and 400 species of coral. Not to …
The Rich Currents of Raja Ampat
The Rich Currents of Raja Ampat - high on the "bucket list" of most divers and underwater photographers is Raja Ampat, the Four Kings. Located in the remote far east of the vast Indonesian archipelago, on the western end of the huge island of New Guinea, it is the incredibly rich currents of Raja Ampat and the area's isolation that have helped create the amazing biodiversity the region is now famous for. Those currents surge down from the deep oceanic basins to the north, through the Dampier Strait in to the Halmahera Sea, bringing the rich nutrients that are the life-source of Raja Ampat. Raja Ampat covers a really large area …
Diving The Solomon Islands
Diving the Solomon Islands - like a series of random punctuation marks, the many islands of the Solomons archipelago lay scattered along the southern section of the infamous Pacific Ring of Fire, in between the countries of Papua New Guinea to the north, and Vanuatu to the south. An independent country since 1976, the Solomon Islands are a quite special blend of Pacific Island Melanesian culture and phenomenal tectonic forces, which have created a chain of mountainous islands that are rich in native rainforest, spectacular volcanoes and incredible lagoons. Underwater there are rich reef systems and an amazing variety of marine life …