A Great Kayak Deal

I have spent quite a bit of time in the past weeks researching the best
kayak to buy.  I wanted something that was stable, possibly could be used
for photos, tracked well, and was a cut above a really cheap one.
Some quality to it, and for beginning to intermediate kayakers.  I decided on the models below, and as it turns out, one is on sale starting today.  

The sale on the good one starts TODAY.  You can order online and they will
deliver to a store near you.  West Marine branded Pompano 120 for $425, sit-
on-top angler kayak, terrific reviews.  This is a rebranded Wilderness Systems 2008
Tarpon 120 which sold for $900 and up.  Also being sold as a Perception Pescador 120, which you can find on Amazon for $550.  The Pescador retails for $599.  Go for the 12-foot model, not the 10-footer.  

Review of Atlantis MK1 LED Video Lights: With an Aside on Shooting Video and Stills in Shallow Water

The professional underwater filmmaker’s ideal lights for years have been as follows: We have all been waiting for portable lights that we can travel with, that are battery operated rather than requiring a cable and AC power, and have a powerful, wide beam.  The light must be powerful enough to match what we can do with still photography and underwater flash units in bright, shallow tropical water -- bring out the colors and drown out the sunlight when needed.  They are ideally small enough to mount easily on our housings using existing and familiar hardware like Nauticam and ULCS arms.

I recently had the chance to dive with and test the new Atlantis MK1 LED video lights.  They are pretty close to everything I describe above. 

Here’s what the manufacturer says about the lights:

The Atlantis MK1's are a completely self contained system outputting over 4400 lumens of even daylight balanced (5000K) light that burns for over an hour on full, five hours on low and can recharge in an hour flat. Each LED has a custom CNC turned reflector cone and the lens itself is a solid pour of optical epoxy. This means there are no seals to fail or glass to break. The lens is much more durable and scratch resistant then plastic. The controls are an oversized dial with four positions (off-lo-med-hi) and a simple status indicator on the rear of the lights so they are easy to access regardless of how funky your arms get. For traveling, the complete kit (2 lights, charger, case) weighs in at under 9 pounds and fits easily into a carry-on.

I found the lights to be easy to use and mount using my existing arm system (a combination of Nauticam and ULCS arms), to put out a bright, wide beam of light; and to be well-balanced and just slightly negative underwater (perfect – you don’t want $5000 light heads floating off!) with their closed-cell foam padding around the lights.

For the past five months, I’ve been carrying a pair of Light & Motion Sola 2000 lights with me, which are small enough not to add significantly to my luggage weight or to my gear load while diving.  I set up these lights on a chair facing a white wall, and I then took photos of the wall while the highest setting from the Sola 2000 lights lighted it.  The resulting images show the circle of light thrown out by the Sola 2000s, which is a nice diffuse light that has an abrupt transition from light to no light.  The color of the light is white tending toward a slight cool cast. 

I then placed the Atlantis lights at the same position and at full power, and took photographs using the same settings.  The Atlantis lights seem to be just a bit brighter than the output of the Sola 2000, with a slightly warmer tone.  The beam angle is much wider and does not cut off abruptly like the Solas do, but there is a bit of falloff from the center (which I cannot imagine will be a problem when shooting underwater). 

These Atlantis lights, with their powerful, wide beam, are very close to the ideal that we underwater filmmakers have been seeking for years.  They are bright and spread a wide beam.  They are also much bigger than the Sola 2000s, but still quite usable and light enough to carry in luggage.

 Small lights with narrow beams that filmmakers can use to shoot video have been around for a while (Light & Motion’s HID lights come to mind) but finding portable lights that can put out a great deal of light over a wide beam angle, which allows lighting wide scenes, is a filmmaker’s dream.  These larger lights can be used for wide angle shooting or macro.

I tested the lights on macro subjects while diving in shallow water near the Singer Island Bridge in West Palm Beach, Florida.  Ironically, shooting macro subjects in very shallow water is one of the toughest conditions for an underwater photographer.  Sunlight dappling from the surface wreaks havoc with video.  It overpowers most lights and flash units, leaving your still photographs and videos washed out and less colorful than they should be.

When shooting still images in such conditions, the underwater photographer can overpower ambient light by using a strobe that has powerful output settings, like the Ikelite DS-160 strobes.  I attach a still image of a striated anglerfish where the ambient light has been overpowered by the use of underwater flash units.  The corresponding video clip of this same subject, where I used two Sola 2000 lights about 1 foot from the subject, shows the dappling effect of sunlight in shallow water.  The video image is washed out, and the flicker caused by dappling sunlight from the surface is annoying, rendering the video clip almost useless. 

By varying the intensity of a high-powered flash unit, the photographer can cause the background to go black, or step the power of the flash unit down incrementally to allow a bit of ambient light in the background.  One should avoid allowing the flash power to go so low as to allow the ambient light to match or overpower the flash's effect, as this will mean light traveling from the surface will dominate the exposure, thus causing a washed out image.  Again, being able to step down a flash unit's intensity gradually over a wide range is essential to creating the best result, so tools like the venerable Ikelite DS-160 flash units are valuable in this and most other situations. 

When shooting video, the problem of ambient light ruining a shot is magnified to the point where I almost never try filming in shallow water when the sun is out.  I've filmed countless wonderful macro scenes where the flicker caused by sunlight at the surface ruins the shot.  The only solutions are to try to block the dappling sunlight from the surface (perhaps with a black card held over the subject) or to use video lights that are powerful enough to overpower the ambient light. 

I found that the Light & Motion Sola 2000 lights were small enough so that I could position them very close to macro subjects, but they still did not allow me to overpower the ambient light sufficiently.  I tried the Atlantis lights on the same scorpionfish just a few minutes later, and I had the same result.  Neither of these lights allowed me to overpower the ambient light sufficiently. 

I attach two video clips of a scorpionfish shot at 9 feet below the surface.  These clips were taken straight from a Canon 7D and then trimmed to web proportions and size using MPEG Streamclip.  No color correction whatsoever was made on these clips. 

The first clip shows a scorpionfish lit by two Sola 2000 lights, about 1 foot away.  The lights have little effect.  Midway through this clip, I show the Sola light in the frame.  A couple of seconds later, the video shows the scorpionfish being lit by a Sola held just a few inches away.  The scorpionfish’s red colors come out; the Sola clearly has an effect.  

The second clip shows the same scorpionfish being lit by two Atlantis lights.  The red color of the scorpionfish shows up a bit better. 

The Atlantis lights (and the Sola 2000 lights) will both work well in low ambient light conditions, such as deeper tropical waters, underneath kelp forests, and under the ice in polar regions.  Both lights will work well on macro subjects that are sufficiently deep (say 30 feet or deeper) so that dappling sunlight from the surface does not overpower them.  The small Sola 2000s are ideal for carrying around, almost as an afterthought, for still photographers using DSLRs who want to light the occasional macro subject for video but are using strobes for most of their shooting (of stills).  The larger Atlantis lights are arguably better suited for committed underwater video shooters who will appreciate their power and wide beam angle.

In other words, Atlantis Systems has come out with a great choice for underwater videographers, much like still photographers have had choices between small and large strobes for still imagery underwater.  If a still photographer wants a small form factor underwater, and he is committed to shooting macro subjects, then two small Ikelite DS-51 strobes would be perfect for him.  If he is committed to shooting wide-angle in bright tropical waters, then he is better off with the larger Ikelite Substrobe 200s or DS-160s with diffusers.  Larger strobes like the Substrobe 200 can always be used for macro shooting, but not the reverse (small strobes can’t always be used effectively in wide-angle shooting). 

These new Atlantis lights are tools for the video shooter, equivalent to the versatile but larger underwater flash units like the Ikelite D-160s and Substrobe 200s.  I’d equate the Sola 2000 lights, with their small size and narrower beam angles, to small flash units like the Ikelite DS-51s. 

I should mention that there are other options for lights in the marketplace other than the two video lights that I mention here, notably Light & Motion’s Sola 4000 line and Gates Underwater Housings’ Gates VL8 and VL24 LED Video Lights.  I have not had the opportunity to test these lights; perhaps they can be the subject for another review. 

I am thrilled to now have a choice in my underwater lighting for video.  I also eagerly await Atlantis Systems’ next model, which I hope will have the same wide beam angle and more power.  I’d also be interested in smaller lights that I could use as macro lights, but which are even more powerful than my Solas and the Atlantis MK1 lights. 

Thanks to Dan Bodenstein of Atlantis Light Systems for loaning the Atlantic MK1 LED video lights to test.  Thanks also to Ryan Canon and Reef Photo and Video in Fort Lauderdale for facilitating this loan, as well as all kinds of expert help with gear both in the past and for this shoot.  I also wish to thank The Admiral’s Club of Singer Island for offering a comfortable, convenient place to stay while diving in the area.  Lastly, thanks to my friend and colleagues Douglas and Emily Seifert and Captain Mike Walker for sharing and showing me around the West Palm Beach area.  All photographs and video are by Norbert Wu. 

Oceanic Whitetip Shark Expedition, Led by Epic Diving, Cat Island, Bahamas, May 2012

I highly recommend this trip and this diving operator!

Hi folks:

I’ve posted a more complete version of this story along with many more photographs at my website:

www.norbertwu.com/nwp/storycode/bah-epic-web/index.html

 But here’s the text and a few photos.  I can’t make Blogger do what I want with the layout of the text and images, so it is frustrating.  

In May 2012, I journeyed to Cat Island in the Bahamas to dive with Epic Diving. The goal was to see and film oceanic whitetip sharks, one of the most beautiful sharks in the world.  Vincent and Debra Canabal of Epic Diving, along with their friend (and fellow underwater cinematographer) Joe Romeiro, run an intimate and professional operation to see and dive with oceanic whitetip sharks in the deep blue waters off Cat Island. 

Guests on these expeditions have the choice of staying at a nearby hotel, or together family-style in a luxurious vacation home on a cliff overlooking the ocean.  The five participants on this trip, my friends and renowned underwater filmmakers Howard and Michele Hall, Joseph Burkhart (an engineer from Wisconsin), and Briana Darcy (a precocious teenaged underwater photographer) all had the privilege of staying at this very comfortable residence, which normally serves as the vacation home of a doctor.  These photos show the back deck of the house and the incredible ocean views.  There are two huge suites that are perfect for couples, and two smaller rooms that can accommodate one or two divers each.  A good size for a trip with Epic Diving is six to eight divers. 

One of the great things about this trip is that it is land-based.  Oceanic whitetip sharks are only found in deep oceanic waters, but that kind of water is just a couple of miles off the southern tip of Cat Island, where we stayed.  I flew into Nassau, met up with Howard and Michele, spent five hours in the airport there, ate a surprisingly good lunch at the Wendy’s at the airport (their french fries are great!), then we had a 1.5 hour flight to The Bight Airport (TBI) near the middle of Cat Island, The Bahamas. 

Debra and Vincent Canabal are incredibly smart folks who have an astounding ability to juggle and manage their various careers and interests.  They’ve turned their passion for showing people the beauty of sharks into their diving operation Epic Diving.  In their spare time, Debra works as a neuroscientist and Vincent serves as an emergency room physician!  In addition to all this, both are very competent divers (obviously) and photographers, and they are raising a three-year-old boy amidst all this, a great kid named Lucas.  I am amazed by their enthusiasm and competence. 

Cat Island, and the house we stayed in, had been hit by a hurricane in August 2011.  When we arrived, the house was still being patched up, but it was a perfectly fine place to spend a week.  Epic Diving supplied all meals; the food was plentiful and pleasurable.  The house was a great place for a group of divers; we spent the evenings viewing each other’s photographs and video as you can see in one of the images. 

We spent the first three days weathered out by high winds, rough seas, and some rain.  The three days passed by quickly; Vincent had amazingly been able to get a satellite internet connection up and so all of us, with the exception of Joseph, spent most of our time on our computers getting work done.  The house is way out in the middle of nowhere, so be forewarned that there is not much to do out there. 

As a consolation prize, Epic Diving took us snorkeling in the nearby mangrove forests.  There’s a nice, wide bay full of mangroves within walking distance of the house.  Epic Diving takes a skiff from this bay out to their 40-foot boat.  I always enjoy snorkeling around mangroves and trying to get the ultimate photograph of these important habitats.  Mangroves serve to filter out sediment from the water and thereby contribute to the health of coral reefs.  Their tangled roots also serve as essential habitat for all kinds of juvenile fish. 

We took a chance and went out on the fourth day.  The water was rough, but we got some sharks.  Oceanic whitetip sharks are among the most beautiful sharks.  They remind me of jet fighter planes, with their large pectoral fins. 

All divers are required to cover their entire body with darkish material – gloves, a hood, and a full-length wetsuit or skin to cover legs and arms.  The sharks are attracted to anything white and pale, such as an uncovered calf.  I was reminded of this when the incident below happened. 

On the morning of the second and final day of diving, Vincent, Joseph, and I were in the water fairly early.  Normally, the sharks are sedately swimming around.  They would swim in circles around us and the bait bucket, which is a couple of milk crates filled with fish bait, suspended from a float.  The sharks normally would cruise around just out of range of our hands.  All of a sudden, everyone in the water could feel more tension; the sharks got excited and started swimming much more quickly than before.  Vincent heard a snapping sound (my hearing and memory are terrible); I saw a shape below us shaking, and scales flying.  A huge blue marlin had come upon us and hit a fish below us. 

This was an once-in-a-lifetime encounter, seeing an 800-lb blue marlin approach.  It was excited, showing its stripes; and it approached Vincent and me within 8 feet or so.  Both of us got great still images of this magnificent animal.  The marlin, clearly excited, swam up to the surface and followed the boat for a few seconds.  It hung there long enough for Joe to think about jumping in, and then it swam back down, and disappeared. 

I’ve always been amazed by the ability of sharks to turn on their internal accelerators when they wanted to, and I experienced this in this situation too.  As soon as the marlin appeared, the tension in the water increased, and the sharks all began moving quickly.  Normally, the sharks would never approach me closer than 5 feet or so.  As soon as my attention was directed elsewhere, however, I was bumped by sharks.  One of them hit my Ikelite strobe quickly and hard.  This strobe was light grey in color, and even more attrractive to the shark, I had put a silvery label with my name and address on the top of it.  The shark took advantage of this situation to quickly test the taste of my strobe while my attention was directed at the marlin. 

Our second and final day of diving with the sharks was a tremendous success.  We had six hours of diving with sharks until we called it a day.  Being able to dive in clear, blue, oceanic water like this is always a treat, but being able to dive in this oceanic water with oceanic whitetip sharks (not to mention a blue marlin and silky sharks) was a rare present.

Thanks to Debra and Vincent of Epic Diving for treating me to such a wonderful five days of relaxation and incredible diving with these beautiful animals.

Here's their contact information:

www.epicdiving.com

info@epicdiving.com

Now Customers Are Being Asked to Answer Questions from Other Customers -- Adorama Goes Too Far!!

OK, I post reviews on Amazon and my blog.  I am happy to say good things about products and companies that I like, and to contribute to Amazon's (and other retailers) reviews so that other customers can benefit.

But I am not willing to do what Adorama has just asked me to do.  They've gone too far.  Here's the email that I just received from them:


Hi NORBERT,

To help make Adorama a friendly place to shop, we enable shoppers to ask our customers questions about the products they bought - because sometimes input from a fellow customer is the most helpful.

A shopper is looking for an answer from a fellow customer about Manfrotto 2-Pack Replacement Screws (Set of 2-Viti 1/4 ) for QR Plate 501PL and 410PL. Since you bought Miller Fixed Length 16mm Pan Handle with Handle Carrier for 75mm Fluid Heads., a similar item, on September 26, 2010, we thought you might be able to help.

A shopper asked: Are these screws threads 1/4-20 ?

Answer Question (Please click here to write your answer. Replies to this email will not be delivered.)

Adorama is too lazy to reply to questions about its products itself?  Now Adorama's customers are being asked to take time out of their day to answer questions so that Adorama can save time?  This is too much.  Me no like.  I say "Boo" to this email from Adorama.

And by the way, while I have recently purchased things from Adorama and been happy with their delivery times and service, this has not always been the case in the past.  Back in the film days, I ordered 500 film canisters from them for duping film.  They made me wait weeks and weeks and weeks.  I finally gave up on them and ordered from another source.  Soon after getting the film canisters from that second source, Adorama finally sent me my first order.  I still have the 500 film canisters sitting in my garage.

I heartily recommend B & H Photo for anything photographic.  They've never let me down.  And I've never gotten the kind of email from them like the one above.   The other retailers that I recommend are Allen’s Camera in Levittown, PA and Reef Photo in Fort Lauderdale, FL.  
 

Mailing books and packages -- some tips

I use usps.com for most of my shipping.  It's surprising, but a governmental agency actually created a website that is fairly easy to use.  My only peeve is that you have to choose a date for shipping and then pay; and they don't alert you if you've chosen a holiday with no service.  If you've chosen a holiday, then you have to cancel your paid labels and do the process all over again, and wait a few weeks for a refund.   I use Priority Mail all the time since it is easiest and USPS will pick up Priority Mail packages from your mailbox. 

Media Mail is the cheapest way to ship books, and all the vendors on Amazon's used bookstores use it.  I just tried it again (rules keep changing).  You simply put a book in a large padded envelope, mark Media Mail on the front, and put Media Mail postage on it.  You can use the usps.com website's "calculate price" function to find the cost.   However, you will generally have to take this to the post office to mail as they do not accept packages over 13 oz (except Priority Mail in your own mailbox) in mailboxes.  It depends on your carrier and if you know him personally.  It also seems that if you want tracking for Media Mail, you have to buy that at the PO.  I just sent a book to Florida, the postage for Media Mail was $3.10, and the tracking will cost $0.85.  I detest standing in lines so my wife is taking the package there for me on Friday...

Rules -- no personal letters, only the book itself can be in the package marked Media Mail. 

Zoom 4596 3G Mobile Broadband Modem--Yes, It Works with AT&T GoPhone Service

Folks -- sorry.  As of 4-22-12, AT&T changed their GoPhone plans.  The only way you can get data on a smartphone now is by buying a $25 or $50 package each month.  This means that I can no longer recommend AT&T's GoPhone service as a good, inexpensive choice for someone needing minimal data and voice. 

Zoom makes several models of USB modems.  These modems accept a SIM card from a cellular data provider like T-Mobile or AT&T.   You then plug them into the USB port of your laptop to get on the internet.  You can then get your email and surf the internet anywhere that you get a cell phone signal.

The speeds can range from slow to surprisingly fast, depending on the network's coverage where you are.  For instance, getting data using one of these modems on the fringes of a network (like Monterey, California, where I live) can be both sporadic and slow; but if I am traveling and in the center of a network, the speed for a 3G modem can be up to 7.2 Mbps, which is as fast as the average broadband speed over a DSL or cable connection.  The great thing about Zoom modems is that they are not locked to a specific cellular data provider.  

I’ve previously used a USB modem from Virgin Mobile, and it worked well.  I describe my experience with Virgin Mobile's modem in a separate blog entry.  I’ve had the VM modem for over a year, and since I bought this modem from Walmart, I could buy a (special Walmart) one-month data plan for $20, which would give me up to 1 Gb of data good for 30 days (regular VM customer only get 500 Mb of data for $20, which also expire after 30 days).  I found that I use 1Gb of data in about 2-3 weeks with typical use of the internet -- emails and web surfing, NO streaming videos.  If I tried hard to use the modem only for emails and only the most important internet tasks, then I could make the 1Gb of data last an entire month easily. 

My problem with the Virgin Mobile data plan is twofold: both personal and impersonal.  First, Virgin Mobile’s computers have decided that I am a bad customer.  I tried to go on their website to start up a data plan a few months ago, and the Virgin Mobile website kicked me out every time I entered one of my credit cards.  This was an ironic situation – I had bought a VM modem for $70 and used it a few times, paying $20 each time for a month's worth of data.  Now Virgin Mobile had somehow decided that I was a bad customer, and I could not pay them to use the modem that I had bought from them!  I solved the problem by using my wife’s credit card, but I was not happy and  decided to try to find another data service provider.  I also don’t need a full month’s usage of a data modem.  Typically, I am at a location only 2-3 days per month where I don’t have easy internet access and need to use a data modem.  Paying $20 for just those few days is a waste. 

I’ve therefore been wondering if the Zoom USB modems, which are touted as “works geat with AT&T 3G…no long-term service commitment required” would work with an AT&T GoPhone SIM card.  In short, yes – using a GoPhone SIM card with a Zoom model 4596 data modem does work, and it works easily and quickly.  I bought this modem for $63 at Amazon. 

I researched the various types of Zoom USB modems out there.  Zoom makes at least three USB modems that should work with AT&T or T-Mobile, both of whom are GSM providers.  Here’s what the website says:

Zoom 4596 3G Mobile Broadband Modem :

The Model 4596 lets you use AT&T 3G service without making an expensive long-term commitment. In the U.S., sign up for service wherever AT&T mobile broadband is sold. A voice service or another account with AT&T is not required. The modem is activated by plugging in a standard SIM card from AT&T or another GSM service provider. Unlike other modems, the Model 4596 is not locked to a specific service provider and can use a data SIM from services around the world. A change to the service provider is accomplished by simply sliding out one provider's SIM and replacing it with another provider's SIM. It takes only seconds and maximizes flexibility in using data plans. 

There are two other Zoom models that might work, but the 4596 was touted on the package as specifically working with AT&T.  AT&T does offer their own USB modems, and I have a feeling that they would not allow you to use their GoPhone service with USB data modems, only for smartphones like Android.  I took a SIM card from a smartphone to try this out. I have a feeling that AT&T would not approve this kind of usage with their GoPhone service, so I am not going to tell them, nor did I go into a store with this modem in my hand asking them about it.  I was gratified to put my GoPhone SIM in the Zoom modem and see that it worked just fine.

The Zoom 4595 seems to be the same as the 4596, but the 4596 modem is specifically tailored for AT&T.  The Model 4597 also says that it is for T-Mobile and AT&T, but has terrible reviews on Amazon. 

With the Zoom modem and AT&T GoPhone service, I can just put in $5 or $15 at a time, and get 10 or 100Mb of service.  I’ve topped off my SIM card with $25 worth of data, which gives me 500Mb of data.  I just need to top this off every month with a $5 purchase, and the unused data will roll over.  If I only use 100Mb of data every month (about one weekend’s use per month), then this $25 and 500Mb can last five months, with an additional infusion of $5 each month to roll over the remaining, unused data.  The total for five months would be about $45.  Using Virgin Mobile’s plan, which has no rollover minutes, would cost $100. 

With this setup, I really am just paying as I go, with just a low $5 to roll over my unused data from month to month. 

All of these modems require that you use their software on your laptop to connect the modem to the internet.  I had trouble with the Virgin Mobile modem initially when having to use their software to connect the modem to the internet. 

I bought a Cradlepoint PHS-300 wifi hotspot, and this has solved the problem.  I just plug in a USB modem into this little box, and it creates a wifi hotspot instantly.  Both my Virgin Mobile and AT&T USB modems work with this great little device, and I don’t have to deal with complicated modem drivers on my laptop anymore.  Any of my wifi devices can then hook up to the network, such as my ipad.  Awesome, simple to use, fast. 

Review of Maluku Divers, Ambon, Indonesia: Photographer’s Delight!

I have been a professional underwater photographer for 28 years.  I sold the rights to my first photograph, a cornetfish, to Sea Frontiers magazine in 1984, and I had a portfolio of my images published by Underwater USA in 1984 as well.  That was a heck of a long time ago.  Since then, I’ve spent more than my fair share of time on liveaboard diving boats, ranging from Cousteau’s Calypso, to my friend filmmaker Bob Cranston’s Betsy M, to Mike McGettigan’s famous Ambar, to luxury liveaboards like the Caribbean Explorer, Nautilus Explorer, Undersea Hunter, and Solmar V.  I’ve been on many of the Aggressor and Peter Hughes boats also.  Oh, and I have to add Jim Abernethy’s Shearwater, which has taken me to some of the most memorable shark diving in the Bahamas that I’ve ever done. 

I am finding that I prefer the peace and pace of land-based operations in my middle age.  Liveaboard operators are usually forced to cater to divers who want to go to a different dive site on every dive.  As a photographer, however, I am different from most divers.  If I find a good reef or a good diving site, then I want to go back there again and again.  A big part of the fun in diving is discovering things yourself, and a land-based operation lets you do that. 

In the past couple of years, I’ve traveled almost exclusively to dive from land-based resorts or destinations.  As I write this, I am waiting out the weather in South Australia, where I’ve come to film leafy seadragons and blue-ringed octopus, diving from shore.  I have been comfortable in my motel room.  Although a bit bored, I am having far more fun than if I were in a boat, rocking away out there in the Southern Ocean, waiting for the 10-foot swells to subside.  Instead, I spent an hour trying to lure in the local magpies closer to my camera yesterday morning before I was forced back inside by the wind and rain.  I have not been seasick, nor have I been forced to tell the truth and suffered pupil dilation by using the anti-seasickness drug Scopolamine. 

Don’t get me wrong.  Being able to dive with great white sharks on the very comfortable boats Solmar V or Nautilus Explorer is wonderful.  But I’ve had a great time in the past two years diving out of land-based resorts like God’s Pocket on Vancouver Island; snorkeling with aggregations of huge whale sharks from Isla Mujeres, Mexico; and swimming with sperm whales from Dominica, in the Caribbean. 

Indonesia and the Philippines have become known for their land-based diving resorts, along with guides who specialize in finding elusive, rare, and bizarre critters to photograph.  Maluku Divers in Ambon, Indonesia, is one of them.  I spent three weeks out there in February 2012, and it was just what the doctor ordered – plenty of diving at my pace, lots of incredibly interesting marine life to photograph, good food, and comfortable accommodations.  Maluku Divers in Ambon, Indonesia, has just become one of my favorite land-based dive resorts. 

It can take a while to get to Ambon, but once you are there, the diving life is easy at Maluku Divers, undoubtedly the best diving resort on the island (this is easy to say, as I believe that there are only two diving operations on the island, Maluku Divers being the only one that can be called a resort).  The resort offers everything a spoiled American diver needs -- air-conditioned bungalows, great diving (mostly muck diving, with incredible critters), three to four dives daily, great Indonesian-themed food, and splendid service from the diving guides and the resort staff.  Highlights of the diving and critters include the rare and beautiful Rhinopias scorpionfish, which come in purple, pink, red, and yellow (and in lacy and non-lacy varieties); the incredible wonderpus octopus, Coleman's shrimp on fire urchins, and my favorite, stargazers.  These amazing animals are highlighted in the web gallery at:

http://www.norbertwu.com/nwp/storycode/amb-web/index.html

Getting to Ambon can be a hassle.  I have written about some of my trip in my February 2012 blog entries.  Most folks fly to Ambon from Singapore or Hong Kong, through Jakarta.  I myself wanted to spend some time diving in Australia, so I flew round-trip from California to Sydney, then booked an incredibly inexpensive (US $1400) business class seat from Sydney to Jakarta on Garuda Airlines.  I was pleasantly surprised – the service and the seats on the Garuda flights were just fine, comparable or better to any other airline. 

Coleman shrimp are always found on fire urchins. 

Once you arrive in Jakarta, you generally need to wait for 8 to 20 hours for a domestic flight to Ambon.  For some reason, all the flights to Ambon leave around 1AM from Jakarta, arriving in Ambon in the early morning hours.  I stayed at the Jakarta Airport Hotel, which I describe in another blog entry, and which may or may not be the best choice.  I describe my trip to Ambon:

http://norbertwu.blogspot.com/2012/02/my-experience-in-traveling-to-ambon.html

The diving at Ambon is mainly muck diving, meaning it is on black sand or silt-covered rocks – not traditional coral reefs.  If you are muck diving, then you delight in the bizarre creatures that you will find in the muck and patches of coral.  You’ll find all the usual coral reef animals, but you will also find animals that make their living in eelgrass beds, in the sand, and which are camouflaged so well that only your Indonesian guide will be able to see them. 

Sure, you can sit back and let your guide find all the critters for you.  But that becomes a trophy hunt – not so fun for me.  I’ll typically try to get a bit away from the rest of the group, find my own subjects to film, and check on the dive guides and what they’ve found every once in a while.  The guides are always better at finding cool subjects than I am, but if I just follow them around and take snapshots of what they point out, I don’t enjoy that sense of discovery. 

Lembeh Strait, near Manado on the island of Sulawesi, is another world-renowned place for muck diving.  Like Lembeh, diving in Ambon means that you are diving near a port – near human habitation, rather than on pristine coral reefs.  I was shocked at amount of garbage -- mostly plastic bags and trash – that was present on some of our diving sites.  If you come to Ambon, be prepared to find lots of bizarre and cool animals amid lots of trash, and overall a bit of too much human stuff around.  The best sites with the most critters (of course) are located right by some big fishing boats that had no holding tanks and probably delighted in flushing as divers were near.  

Stargazers lie buried in the sand, usually with only their eyes and mouths showing. 

The web galleries show the marine life to be found there.  I saw more Rhinopias (incredibly colored and camouflaged leafy scorpionfish) than I have seen anywhere else, as well as wonderpus octopus, Coleman’s shrimp on fire urchins, and stargazers. 

Sometimes they will extend their tongue out and flick it; the wormlike tongue attracts prey.

  

Maluku Divers is a great resort, with a genuinely friendly and helpful staff, and a photographers' paradise.  My friend and fellow photographer Douglas Seifert highly recommended it to me and I've come to trust his recommendations.  I hope to get back there soon.