Troporobo

That’s a great image! I never managed to make time for diving when I was a regular visitor to Sydney and really regret it now. Hopefully someday. . .

Oh, my, that question has me triggered - in a good way! I was a regular visitor to Japan on business trips and frequently stayed an extra day just to explore and eat and shop. I especially liked MAP as the selection is huge and they were usually friendly and helpful, which is not the case at some other secondhand stores. It can be a really fun treasure hunt! Some tips I learned were to have photos of the gear I wanted on my phone as English speaking staff are rare, to bring my own gear (body, lens, batteries) to test their gear, and bring your passport for the tax rebate. Also, most won’t haggle on price, though it doesn’t hurt to ask once politely, and your experience won’t be much fun if you are aggressive. Finally, note that a lot of stuff on the web sites of secondhand stores is not available in the store itself but only for online sale and shipping to an address in Japan, which can still be a good deal if you’ve got a local friend. The best advice you’ll find (though not specifically for underwater gear) is at Japan Camera Hunter. There’s a lot here so make a cuppa and get comfortable. JCH Shopping guide - west JCH shopping guide - east There are of course stores for new gear and you’ll still get the tax rebate, which may make sense depending on your home market, though I always found them more expensive than my market in the USA. Stores like BIC and Yodobashi have limited UW gear but are easy to find and navigate, the dive shop MIC21 has more, and Answer has a comprehensive selection. I once stumbled across the Inon flagship store which was like a museum, but don’t remember anymore where it was. MIC21 underwater gear Answer underwater gear Happy hunting!

This is really fantastic news! The Southern Resident Killer Whales frequent the waters around us in Washington but have declined so much that some experts question the population’s viability. They’ve been pretty active near me for the past several weeks and it’s always a thrill to spot them. I hope this decision leads to their robust recovery. As a corollary, I also hope the chinook population recovers around here enough to make the tribal fisheries sustainable and expand the sport season that has been so restricted as a result of commercial overfishing. So hurray for the advocates and the courts!

That’s a very cool critter for sure! You made a nice image too. Lighting those guys well makes all the difference, without the deep shadows this one would be invisible. Nicely done. I recall one site in Anilao that we frequented that housed a batch of different antennarius. They were grey / dark red / slate blue and very “crusty” and matched the reef almost as well as this guy. Even when one of us was pointing right at it, it would sometimes take movement from the fish before the “ah ha” moment. Fun stuff, especially when they do that huge open-jawed yawn!

Very nice work again! great macro sequences and the lighting is perfect. Thanks for sharing

Hey Chris, I know you’ve been shooting the EM-1 mk II in Nauticam, same as my setup. Two questions if I may. How does the new housing compare, especially for ergonomics of back buttons focus? I really love the thumb trigger on my housing. And does the new camera perform noticeably better on single AF and C-AF for macro? Great image by the way!

Oh crap! That’s an embarrassing senior moment for sure. Sorry for the false alarm.

Hi admins - A couple of days ago I made two posts and added one image to this thread. I know they were successful because Ben replied. Now they’ve disappeared. Wondering if I’m not doing something correctly in this new environment? https://waterpixels.net/forums/topic/297-clownfish-eggs-in-amed-bali-lumix-lx10/#comment-420

Hi neighbor! I’m a bit north of you, on the SW end of Camano Island, looking across to Langley on Whidbey Island. It’s a very special part of the world that we are so happy to have found. We learned to dive in Edmonds a long time ago. On a recent visit, we were pleasantly surprised to see how much the underwater park and onshore facilities have improved and expanded. It made me think of getting updated on drysuit diving. The last time I did that was in a stiff and heavy orange Viking suit with 30 pounds of lead!

Thanks for the welcome! We are well settled and loving our new environment. We’re on the water a lot, fishing and crabbing or just boating to new beaches, but so far not under it. We also have the great good fortune of a daughter in Hawaii, and cheap nonstop flights to get there, so the temptation to relocate the scuba gear to her house is strong!

Hello all! Like many of you I come from the old site, and am very glad to have this new opportunity. Thanks to those driving it! The Salish Sea may not be familiar to those not in this region, as the name is relatively new having been invented in the late 80s. It encompasses the inland waters around Washington and British Colombia, from the Straight of Georgia and the Straight of Juan de Fuca near Vancouver all the way south to Puget Sound near Seattle and Olympia. It is home to orcas, many species of salmon, grey whales, the giant Pacific octopus, bald eagles, and so much more. It is where I learned to dive in the early 80s, and where I have returned to live after many decades of life and work in the South Pacific and SE Asia, on an island roughly in the middle. I have yet to plunge my thin tropical blood back into the cold green waters here, but this site is my daily reminder that I need to take a deep breath and just do it!