Luko

Tulamben in Bali has a lot of (freelance or inhouse) guides that cater to specialized macro photographers. Some of them are very good at lighting or snooting assistance in particular, you'll see many contest winning photos that were taken in Tulamben. Most of them are proposing one to one private guiding. PM if you want names or more specific details.

Actually I have... without knowing who he was, he was sitting next to Mikiya and describing me the endemic japanese pygmy seahorse in Osezaki.

A Japan "dive tour" is on my wishlist since a couple of years, I am also looking for all sorts of information (besides Ben and Kayo's insights), especially around this area. FWIW 2 weeks ago at Paris Salon de la Plongée (The french dive show) I discussed with Mikiya Watamatsu the chief guide from natureinn.jp an Osezaki operation (the macro site located inside the bay). He told me it was possible to organize both Mikomoto and Osezaki dives, probably they have a partnership whith Mikomoto hammers op (they were neighbors sharing the same Japan booth) It requires a 2hrs drive from Osezaki to get to the south of the peninsula where Mikomoto dives start. From the photos he showed me, it seems there is more than macro in Osezaki, like 2-3m high dendronepthya soft corals (!!) and monkfish. Maybe worthwhile mailing this op on whether they organize "best of both worlds" package or try to meet them while they're on tour attending the european trade shows (I suppose they were also at BOOT, probably Houten and Bologna too... a bit late for Tampere) .

Meaning you have to depart from Cebu City (no direct flights from France) + 3 hrs ferry ride. Almost equivalent if not worse routing if you need to take a flight back from Manila. (How come typhoons or rainstorms in november don't suprize me :) , I never dive the Phils outside Feb-May, had too much problems with weather in my stays end of the year.) Personally Sogod Bay was one of the place that didn't lmpress me at all in the Phils (been in 2022) : the top of Napantao was wiped out by Odette as most of the shallows everywhere else, their signature night dive at the pier is now closed and the so called "little Lembeh" is more "little" than anything else.

It's a drag to get to Sogod Bay! Fly to Manila (from Paris only 2 direct flights per week with AF) + domestic flight to Tacloban + 4hrs land transfer to Padre Burgos/Sogod Bay. Add on top there is absolutely nothing to do around for non divers, limited food options, snorkeling with whale sharks that happen only a few times a week with limited space and the accoms are quite basic divers resorts. Palau or Australia or Solomons : flight price from France will be crazy expensive, for Palau needs to get to Manila or Taipei + additional flight to Palau with "long haul" pricing, for Oz Paris-SIngapore + international flight., for Solomons add another flight from Oz. Manado : except for some very specific and deep dives with hammerheads (Batu Kapal on Nain) and pure luck to spot a dugong on Bangka or Manado mainland sites, no real big fish action. In Indonesia, one of the easiest and more reliable island for manta spotting/snorkeling will be Bali/Nusa Penida. In malaysian Borneo, my daughter loved snorkeling Sipadan where we went 3 times in the same year when she was 9yo : lots of reef sharks, turtles, schools of cudas, jackfish. Takes a flight to S'pore then regional cheap flights to Tawau. Closer to France, Maldives will certainly be your best bet. Otherwise Mexico on the caribbean coast can also provide whaleshark snorkeling in season (Holbox). Everybody's still looking for the easy to go, affordable flights and accoms, great sightseeing and fantastic diving place. I guess that if it might have existed once, it's not anymore.

There is no method but rather a "feeling" : if you see through your finder that the frogfish is very slightly moving its jaw like chewing on something, there are chances it will yawn within the next 2-3 minutes, it is then worth waiting. Hint : the second yawn is always more spectacular than the first one. If the froggy is quite cool and relax then it will not yawn. Each froggy has a different personnality, some will yawn others won't : I would say roughly 1 out of 10 is a potential yawner.

I am using a Canon R7 in a Nauticam housing so will answer only on this part according to my own experience. Personally for bigger animals such as sharks or Manta rays, I prefer the RF18-45EFS + WWL1B combo : it doesn't need any adapter and fits a smaller N100 flat port I find is more adapted to animals in the distance with a longer range although I can use it for wide coral reef images It is often even sharper in the corners than the 10-17 tok fisheye+minidome (which I also own and seldom use it anymore) Otherwise I don't understand your remark about a mandatory TTL trigger (I am using a manual trigger currently which works fine with the R7 and most of the strobes). FWIW after having used alu housings of different brands (Subal then Nauticam) I wouldn't go back to Ikelite (which I have also used in the beginnings). I know investment can hurt financially speaking, however when it's time to change you should be aware that the cheaper might be the more expensive in the long run (less reliability, frustration leading to forward another change, etc.). Providing you are mainly focusing on big aniimals, you should invest into more powerful and even lighting than entrry range strobes mainly thought for macro. There are now a number of brands which have rolled out these 2 past years some quite powerful strobes under the 900€ price tag (think Supe, Fotocore, Kraken, AOI, Backscatter, etc.) : they should be more suited to your kind of subject and worthwhile the investment. Manual mode is not so much an issue with a little experience and will not need a TTL trigger btw ;) )

French based UW online store , that would be difficult for you to order from Oz. (Wondering whether the owner is not part of this board btw) I guess you can find the same model from Asian located online stores. https://eocean.eu/en/accueil/116-686-focus-ring-for-12-50-olympus-and-nauticam-housing.html#/51-housing-nauticam_m14

Been there, done that (except the reason was that I LOST the cap and figured it out a night before my first dive in a trip to Dauin). That was the older NA M14 vacuum model without the red push button : you had to screw/unscrew a ring around the vacuum. I removed the vacuum with a wrench, cleaned the O-ring as much as I could and went diving. After a gentle cleaning, I noticed it took a longer time for the greenlight to switch to yellow-red (about 2 hours or so) . That was enough for me to go diving : after all, how did we survive before the vacuum times? Back home I purchased a noname M14 vacuum, almost half price of the Nauticam model, coming with a smaller vacuum pump .

To me it looks like a juvenile Rhinopias. How big was it ? I would guess around 7-8 cm. Juve snouts are not as developped as fully grown ones, reminds me one I've seen in Padang Bai, we spotted it by chance in the algae, while I was trying to fiddle with my camera focus : it was less than 4cm. <a data-flickr-embed="true" href="" title="Juvenile Weedy Rhinopias">

Do you dismiss a Lembeh frogfish Nudiantennarius subteres hypothesis with such a long and fluffy rod? When juveniles the round marking on the side doesn't seem that visible or showing up. Check out example in Frogfish.ch website

One of the many color variations of the saron marble shrimp, Saron marmoratus.

First with a tint of humour (which never hurts btw). If you think at it, the videogame industry has always been on the edge of design novelty. Seriiously I think it's really a nice piece of design which changes from usual underwater stuff, or reminding of the rounded earlier Hugyfot aesthetics.

Oh wow... nice design! Could be an object out of a Super Mario Kart videogame. (I don't how it would be used though : snoot Bowser at full power and you get 100 additional golden coins? )

I don't think that was the same place : most of the pix I uploaded above in my first post with gorgonians and soft corals are from Proco Bambu. A year would not explain that coral growth. Besides that no coral wall, more of a slope completly COVERED with corals. The other member who's been twice to Proco also confirmed he thought the housereef was spectacular.