Night diving at Dumaguete

 Macro, Ocean diving, Reef diving  3 Responses »
Feb 252014
 
Night diving at Dumaguete

About the resort The dive schedule at Atlantis Dive Resort, Dumaguete, is great if all you want to do is go diving. The boat runs out to the dive sites are short and the boats leave every 2.5 hours, with an extra hour off for lunch. It helps that the dive sites are shallow so repetitive diving within very conservative no deco limits is possible. The schedule gives a surface interval of just over an hour between 60 minute dives and means 4 dives a day is easy. And after the four day dives…night diving! About the dive I’m normally not a huge fan of night diving. If I’m going to hang out in the ocean with a bunch of creatures, [read more…]

Macro video at Dumaguete

 Macro, Other, Reef diving  3 Responses »
Jan 202014
 

Over the course of my week at Atlantis Dive Resort Dumaguete in the Philippines (with thanks to Diversion Dive Travel) I did 26 dives plus a day trip to snorkel with the whalesharks. This meant heaps of in-water time to photograph everything that moved and a few things that didn’t (more photo stories to come!). So by day three or four I swapped my strobes for my Archon video lights and jumped in to try something different. I hadn’t attempted video with my 100mm macro lens before and I was fairly sure it was going to be tricky – I was right. But the critters at Dumaguete were fairly obliging and the sandy bottom made it easier to stabilise the [read more…]

Ornate ghost pipefish

 Macro, Ocean diving  No Responses »
Jan 062014
 
Ornate ghost pipefish

About the resort As I posted last, I’ve just spent a week at the lovely Atlantis Resort in Dumaguete, the Philippines sponsored by Diversion Dive Travel. Over 6.5 diving days I managed to take 2,367 photos and nearly two and a half hours of underwater video. The diving at Dumaguete is mostly muck diving. We sell tickets on the site and via telephone. This means the macro lens stayed on and my dives were a treasure hunt for strange critters over a mostly sand and rubble bottom. I did five dives a day and with only 1-2 hours between each one it was good to stay shallow. The resort itself was lovely topside with great food and facilities. Most importantly, [read more…]

Pot-bellied seahorse pair at Blairgowrie Marina

 Macro, Ocean diving, Reef diving  No Responses »
Dec 162013
 
Pot-bellied seahorse pair at Blairgowrie Marina

About the site Blairgowrie Marina is known as a fantastic site for macro diving. Prior to buying my 100mm macro lens, I dived under piers only to testing new gear before heading to the caves. I generally chose Mornington for easy access from the car. Which means despite the great reputation, my very first dive at Blairgowrie was back in October. I made the most of the situation by leaving my strobe hotshoe only partially plugged in…doh. I have a bunch of “natural light” macro shots from that dive, and after checking out the critters and colours I was keen to return with strobes working. The piers around Melbourne have also been a great place to log some hours on [read more…]

The top of the pylons at Flinders Pier

 Macro, Ocean diving, Reef diving  No Responses »
Sep 022013
 
The top of the pylons at Flinders Pier

About the site I was intending to dive at Mornington Pier yesterday, a quick trip out from home. When I got there I discovered the 1m+ swell was breaking under the pier and the car park was empty of divers. With the wind coming in from the bay it was time to move to the other side and I drove over to Flinders Pier instead. Yesterday was also the first day of the Underwater Festival photo competition. Photos have to be taken in September this year to qualify so I have the next 29 days to take the winning shot. It was great to get started early. About the dive Due to the unexpected redirection I got to Flinders about [read more…]

Yabbies in Pines Cave

 Cave diving, Macro, Mt Gambier  1 Response »
Aug 052013
 
Yabbies in Pines Cave

  About the cave At a certain point in cave training, most CDAA members do a lot of diving in Pines Cave. There are five main cave-rated sites in Mt Gambier, and Pines is the largest and most interesting. In order to rack up the hours and experience required, those who don’t travel to other cave diving regions do a lot of diving here. It’s also a dual rated site and once you’ve passed the Advanced Cave course there are a bunch of tunnels to explore. The main cavern is fairly open and on clear winter days sees good sunshine down the rockpile. In the shallows there’s lots of timber scattered around. About the dive This was our last dive [read more…]

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