WALEA - Indonesia

Hi,

Walea in Indonesia still a very secret place for the most part of divers.

In this beautiful waters we can find fantastic coral and gorgonians formations, maybe one of the best in the world.

Enjoy some wide-angle shots from this underwater paradise.

Best regards,

Tigershark

stunning shots

walea looks a beautiful place

Beautiful; I especially like the the first one.

Wow, just beautiful, love the first one and the O/U shot!!!! wow...

All stunning shots...esp. the O/W shot! Thanks for sharing these beautiful images.

Tick tock....my group is leaving for Bali, Wakatobi and Lembeh in 2 weeks + 1 day, but who's counting?

Robyn

looks great

stunning shots there!

Those are great. The first is a wowzer!

Love that split shot!

Nice pics.

The Togian islands were heavily fished and bombed for awhile, esp in the early & mid 90s. There was also a big COT explosion which required volunteers to collect and burn off thousands of COT because the Napoleon Wrasse and tritons were being harvested heavily. Good to see that the coral is still in good shape. Last time I was there in 2002, there was definite deterioration from fishing vs when I was first there in 93.

How was the fishlife at Balikapata?

Thanks all for your kind appreciation.

The split photo is from Dondola island (One hour boat from the resort) and for me the best dive place in Walea for see the rich marine environment.

Drew - Walea is a Protected Area since 2003 and is certainly the reason for the health of the place. The ilegal fishing is forbiden. You must came back to Togian Islands in the future. Take a look at http://www.walea.com/

Best regards,

Tigershark

Nice set of photos! I was at Walea 5 years a go and it's for sure one of the nicest places i have been. Outside it's beautifull, and under it's as amazing (and for me much better than Wakatobi). Amazing life and corals and if u do the deep dives also big fish.

Congratulations for the photos!!

Beautiful images!

The over/under shot is quite nice. What lens were you using? Also, were you using a strobe for the "under" portion of the shot?

Ellen

Well that's the problem with having been there in the early 90s. Sites like Tanjung Balikapata were overrun by fish and all sorts of sharks. During high tide on a full moon during fish aggregration in certain months of the year, it was amazing. When I returned, the fish count was easily 1/4 of what it was due to fishing.

Sometimes, it's just so disheartening that I can't go back to certain places anymore. The problem is I haven't seen one spot that has picked up from their "peak". I do remember the visibility and WARM water! It's good work that Flavia is involved with. I wish her the best success.

Well that's the problem with having been there in the early 90s.

It is an unfortunate that is the case in so many areas now. The places I started going to in the early 1990s (not quite as exotic) have had the same decline...

Beautiful images!

 

The over/under shot is quite nice. What lens were you using? Also, were you using a strobe for the "under" portion of the shot?

 

Ellen

Hi Ellen,

Tokina 10-17 set at 10mm and strobe in the underwater part of the photo (very low power and used because are already installed, not really necessary in this daylight situation, depth and visibility condition).

ISO 200, F/16 and 1/250

Best regards,

Tigershark