Marc's Public Blog - Diving


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This is a collection of my blog entries and experiences with diving.
You can find all the pictures I've taken here, and read below for recountings of my more recent trips:

Table of Content for diving:

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2014/10/12 Diving The Banda Sea 12 days on Waow
π 2014-10-12 01:01 in Diving

Here is a google photos picture gallery if you'd like that after viewing this post: https://plus.google.com/photos/106981743284611658289/albums/6073787459128610737?authkey=CPHRzYaNzL6VSg

After diving Raja Ampat with Waow last year we had a fantastic time (huge boat with big rooms, more crew than guests, great crew, and satellite internet on the boat during the trip, what else could you ask for? :).
At the time, Jay and Kay, the cruise directors recommended that we come back for their once a year trip from Maumere to Ambon (part of the trip they need to do from Bali to Raja Ampat after they're done with Komodo). This trip goes from Alor (many sea snakes) to the Banda Sea towards Ambon. You do get to see bigger stuff like a school of 50 or so hammerheads, giant humphead parrotfish, and huge schools of diverse fish. I also got to see 3 cuttlefish on one dive, and I love those things :)


large crew, 24 people
large crew, 24 people

cool poster
cool poster

After a sunset dive, we had a boobie come on our boat and go back to our main boat with us. He was probably tired of flying and sleeping on a boat is better than drifting at sea all night :)



we gave him fish :)
we gave him fish :)

Anyway, this was about diving, so let's get back to that. The Waow Crew was again fantastic, they took care of all our diving needs every day, and took us to great dive sites where I was able to take these pictures with a crappy point and shoot camera.

A couple of video medleys first.
Sea snakes are awesome, this is compilation of some of the ones I saw on a single dive. They are very poisonous, have no predators, and are inquisitive, so sometimes they'll come check you out, but you're not their food and they have no reason to attack you:

Our very last dive, we found a young blue lobster that didn't know not to run around the reef, so we went to play with it a bit :) Our dive guide also saw a manta shrimp and ferreted it out. After that it gave up on hiding:




this corral (animal) had little hair in its mouth, sensed something going in, and then closed down on it
this corral (animal) had little hair in its mouth, sensed something going in, and then closed down on it


This parrotfish had a protection bubble around it, created for protection when sleeping at night
This parrotfish had a protection bubble around it, created for protection when sleeping at night




this was a 4 meter shark, it was huge
this was a 4 meter shark, it was huge







One dive, we got very lucky and found a school of hammerhead sharks, about 50 of them, and I was able to get in the middle of them for a few pictures:



Thanks to Arturo for taking this picture
Thanks to Arturo for taking this picture












Manta Shrimp, usually very shy and hard to find
Manta Shrimp, usually very shy and hard to find





One dive, I got lucky, and found 3 different cuttlefish. Usually they just sit there and let you take pictures all day long, and change colors depending on their mood (annoyed, scared, or relaxed):













Diving, how does it work? Which way is up?
Diving, how does it work? Which way is up?

Here are some video bits:
Small fish pulsing with light:

I love those fish. We always joke that we should take 2 together and make a knot with their hair tail :)

A classic, but clownfish are always fun, expecially these:

Electric Jellyfish found during safety stop. I had colors pulsing through its body:

Nice flouder fish:

I love cuttlefish, so many colors and minicing abilities

Another one on the same dive. This one was a bit afraid because it had gotten bitten by something else earlier (I later saw a piece missing). This is why it was swimming away from me:

So many schools of fish on Amet Knoll on the 11th day:

Most of the time was spent on the boat, but we had a land excursion at Pulau Naria, a port where Dutch, British and Portugese used to fight for the rights to indonesian spices, and specifically the nutmegs (noix de muscade) that were growing there. We got to see a fort that was used to defend the island:












nutmeg
nutmeg


we had a 2nd breakfast to sample local goods
we had a 2nd breakfast to sample local goods




we finished with a market visit
we finished with a market visit



poor little kitten, it's a bit sick
poor little kitten, it's a bit sick

Also, one of the islands we stopped at had an active volcano, very cool:



thanks to Arturo for this picture
thanks to Arturo for this picture

And before we knew it, the 12 days were over:






BBQ dinner on our last night
BBQ dinner on our last night

nice fondant au chocolat
nice fondant au chocolat

the staff sung songs that evening
the staff sung songs that evening

And that was the end of 13 wonderful days, thank you to all the crew!


More pages: October 2023 May 2023 December 2022 November 2021 October 2021 November 2019 December 2018 November 2018 June 2018 May 2018 December 2017 October 2017 April 2016 January 2016 July 2015 May 2015 January 2015 October 2014 June 2014 May 2014 January 2014 November 2013 February 2013 September 2012 June 2012 January 2011 September 2010 August 2010 May 2010 August 2009 January 2009 August 2008 February 2008 January 2007 November 2006 October 2006 January 2006 September 2005 August 2005 June 2004 January 2004 July 2003 January 2003

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