Troporobo

Another good news story from the south Pacific. "Samoa’s Marine Spatial Plan provides a national framework for the sustainable management of 100 per cent of the country’s ocean. The plan expands national marine protections through nine offshore marine protected areas and a formalised network of coastal community marine protected areas. Together, the areas protect 30 per cent of Samoa’s ocean, approximately 36,000 square kilometres." Samoa puts ocean protection plan into action

I would be happy to pay (within reason!) for a heavier carryon. Unfortunately Fiji Airways won’t allow it, full stop.

Where I am currently based in Fiji, all my trips involve a flight on an ATR turboprop with a strict 7kg weight limit for carryon bags. I have a great Lowepro roller that holds everything I need, but it's 4.5kg empty and fully loaded it weighs 13 kg. So I have had to get creative. I decided to carry only the valuable and fragile stuff in a backpack, and put arms, clamps, etc into my checked scuba gear bag. So here is what I carry onboard: camera and lens and trigger in housing, macro port and lens, two Inon strobes, a Kraken focus light, my wrist computer, and two sets of batteries for the camera and strobes (not shown). I found some cheap sort-of insulated lunch bags for school kids that happen to be just the right size. The housing goes by itself in one bag, and everything else goes in the other bag. I wrap the miscellaneous stuff in a layer of bubble wrap to prevent scratches, but sine the bag is never out of sight I am not worried about things getting banged around. All in, the total weight is just under 6.5kg. There is room in my commuter backpack for a few travel essentials too. Water bottle is 1.5 liters for scale. I am happy to be a m4/3 user!

You can get to most dive destinations in the South Pacific with a direct flight (or one stop in the Solomons for PNG) from Fiji. There are many options for affordable longer-term rentals around Nadi, often listed on AirBNB. There isn’t a local listing site here, but if you booked a week or two for a start you’d have the ability to look around and find a place that suits your taste and budget.

I can recommend Fiji for sure (watch for my trip report soon). Tonga, the Solomons, PNG are easy from Fiji. There is no longer a flight to French Polynesia, you’d have to go back to Australia or New Zealand.

Always! It’s so much easier with the dedicated thumb lever on a Nauticam housing than half press on the shutter and the regular misfires that causes. I don’t think I could feel a half press with gloves.

You’ve described it perfectly. I’ve lived there (twice), first in 1987, and still frequently travel around the country for work. Many people are beyond remote and might not see modern health care in their lifetime. This is a magnificent example that other liveaboards in those remote destinations we all love could learn from.

I am sure some here have been on the Bilikiki. This is a great humanitarian story!

I too have spent most of my career far from photo and scuba retail options whether in person or delivery. Many a business trip or holiday involve stopovers for gear acquisition. I feel the pain. As for Olympus autofocus it’s pretty good. I can’t compare to other brands, but I can say that my EM1 with 60mm locks on targets fast and reliably for me. It will even do continuous AF and follow anemone fish pretty well. As for super macro, before you assume you need the 90mm with its size and weight, look into wet diopters like the Nauticam CMC series. This shot was taken with the 60mm and an older +5 diopter that provides very close working distance and about 2x magnification:

Any lens marketed as m4/3 will fit without an adapter on any camera with an m4/3 mount. That’s the point of the standard. However, it’s important to be clear about functionality. Olympus and Panasonic lenses will all work perfectly on autofocus (and stabilization, but that’s not so important UW). Others such as Laowa may only be manual focus or may not be autofocus and/or stabilization compliant. Of course if you’re one of those masochists that insist on focusing manually, then those are features not bugs! I use the Olympus 60mm macro (brilliant), Panasonic 8mm fisheye (very good), and rarely the Olympus 12mm rectilinear (just decent). There are also options for the Olympus PRO series 90mm macro and 8mm fisheye but they require N120 adapters. Stay away from the 14-42 and 7-14 zooms, the former is an awkward range and the port for the latter produces very poor corners. For a zoom there are the Olympus 9-18, 8-25, and 12-40 but these also all require N120 port adapters and extension. It’s also possible to adapt a Canon 8-15, so if that appeals, ask Chris Ross. Oh, as for housing size, to fit in most rollers, you’ll likely need to remove the handles. That’s what I do and it’s no big deal.

I do both. My catalog (and hard drive) is organized by date / trip / location, then I have separate collections by genus or theme, e.g. “turtles” or “walls”. I’m too lazy to keyword individual images.

It’s been quite a while since I was in Malapascua, but one thing I really enjoyed and that doesn’t get much publicity is the night diving. Typically shallow and packed with interesting life including mandarinfish. Don’t miss it! Everything else you read on the internet is generally informative. Mid November does not feature the best visibility but should be OK.

Another OM-1 / Nauticam user here. I can’t compare to other housing brands but I do really like mine (and the one I had before for an OM-5). As for lenses I have also settled on the Olympus 60 sometimes with a SubSee +5 diopter for macro and the Panasonic 8 fisheye behind the 4.33” minidome for wide angle. Both deliver great image quality. My previous experience is with the 12-50 zoom plus macro (OK at everything, better at macro, excellent at none), Panasonic 7-14 rectilinear with a 6” dome (I really want a zoom of this range but this combo was not very good at anything) and the Olympus 14-42 behind the flat port of an Olympus housing (the less said the better!). Happy diving!

I’ve heard 60 is the new 40 😎

Hello neighbor! I am also in WA, up north in the islands (when I am home, currently based overseas)