Hi Everyone,
I’m writing from Ubud Bali where they have a lot of good “internet cafe†type places. Sarah and I spent the last week or so diving on the North coast of Bali at Secret Bay, near Siririt, at Menjangen Island, and around Tulamben. Conditions weren’t very good last week for wideangle, but the macro photography was awesome! We got a chance to photograph just about everything on our “list†of critters. We were assisted by an awesome guide from Diving 4 Images named Yan who used to be a critter spotter on the Komodo Dancer, so some of you may have met him before. He was able to find us two pygmy seahorses in Tulamben when no one else had seen any for a while.
Herb and a few other people have asked about the diving in Bali as an actual destination, as opposed to a quick stop-over on the way to Lembeh or on a Komodo or Irian Jaya trip. Since Sarah wanted a variety of things to do on our honeymoon, as opposed to just DIVE! DIVE! DIVE! Bali has been wonderful. I was very impressed with the diving for critters here all along the coast, not just the traditional “muck†spot at Secret Bay. The wide angle at Menjangen was good (with good viz too), as was the Liberty wreck, but the surf and strong spring tides during our week in Tulamben meant the viz wasn’t as good there. The telephoto fish photography would have been excellent if the viz had been a little better, with HUGE Naso vlaminig tangs everywhere, the usual spawning anthias, sweetlips and the usual midwater species.
I intend to put together a detailed trip report, and a review of Diving 4 Images and Scuba Seraya, where we stayed in Tulamben when I get home. For now, I couldn’t resist posting a few of my favorite underwater photos as a teaser. You can find them in my post in the Photo Gallery forum.
Cheers
James
