Mixed emotions run through my head when wanting to describe Bali!
There is no doubt that some of the diving is absolutely superb and exactly what I needed to get into the groove with my underwater photography. In the first 3 days in Tulamben I took near on 300 photos! We experienced the famous Liberty wreck, muck diving in Sereya, a whale shark in 12m of water (guess who had a macro lense on ;o))and probably the most stunning coral gardens I've ever been lucky enough to dive. We all had a bit of a moan about the shore entry - over volcanic rocks it's not the easiest of ways to get in and out of the water whilst carrying scuba gear and an underwater camera set up but we were richly rewarded in the diving once in.
From Tulamben we moved down to Candi Dasa and a beautiful hotel to boat dive off Nusa Penida, the "gili"s and Blue lagoon. A stark contrast to Tulamben, we were regularly guided into fast and unpredictable currents, something none of us were happy with and resulted in many abandoned dives as we left the guides to do safe ascents. Manta Point was another diappointment with the camera, diving in 4m surge in about 5m viz - I ended up taken a maximum of 50 photos in the last 4 days compared to the previous location. Even in the Blue lagoon we experienced too much surge to spend any time composing shots comfortably.
Throughout the whole trip I was diving with Steve, a fantastic spotter and diver with the patience of a saint - I think I've identified all his critters correctly(Steve pioneered the new addition of bamboo pointing stick (satay stick!) and home made shaker (shampoo bottle that needs some more work!!)) Thanks Steve :o)
Big thanks to Rick from Yoyo Divers for organsing the trip - nice one dude! :o)
Striped Eel Catfish
Chromodoris Hintuanensis
Blue Ribbon Eel
Orange mouth thorny oyster
Cleaner shrimp
Eastern skunk anenome fish
Durban Hingebeak Shrimps
pink Squat lobster - not the kind you'd ever find on a menu, he's tiny!
Ornate ghost pipefish
Gorgonian fan with feather stars
Inside the Liberty wreck
Schooling jacks on the Liberty
Manta Point
Lionfish - look at his "skin", looks more like a snake!
Orange spearer mantis shrimp
Purple blotched smasher mantis shrimp
Orange spotted pipe fish?? Closest description I could find...
Phidiana Indica
Pink Leaf Scorpian fish
Pygmy Sea horse - not the best pic in the world but i had to include it given the teeny tiny size of these things!!
Risbecian Tryoni
Yello Striped Goat fish
I cannot find this anywhere - does anyone have any ideas? I've called it a Steve Shrimp cos he found it!!
