My Deep, Blue View: Spectacular Day

Today was absolutely incredible, the day started out grey, gloomy, and wet, but shortly after we left the dock, the rain turned to sun, and the grey to blue. The weather was incredible, clear water, blue skies, calm seas, and plenty of sunshine, all of which made diving a complete pleasure. We started out at the usual time, and headed for Lalosi, and though there was no current, it was excellent diving. There were tons of fish, lots of light and amazing colour. Immediately as we got into the water and went down to 39 meters, there was a waterfall of fusiliers, or as the papuan call them Lalosi, hence the name of the reef.

(Tons Of Fusiliers)

It was like diving in a swimming pool, calm, and deep blue, it was absolutely stunning, you could see for miles, making shooting a dream. We came to a bommie with hundreds of convict blennys around it, they are very small black and white fish that buzz around in swarms. I took some time and played with the light and angle of my shots, making sure I could fit as many of them in the frame as possible. They zipped around in front of me as I happily sat in place taking shot after shot. After shooting for a while, I headed for the shallows on the reef.

(Convict Blennys Under A Bommie)

On my way up to the shallows, I came across several sets of stag horn coral with Two-Spot Snappers schooled around them. The first few times, I made the mistake of going too close too quickly, so the snappers immediately ran away from me and hid amongst the stag horn branches. I quickly learned that I had to slowly and carefully approach them, and eventually I got several shots of of them, and in one I even got one with a yellow trumpet fish in it. I had been trying to get a yellow trumpet fish for a while, but they are very hard to get a shot of, because they are very timid.

(Two-Spot Snappers In Stag Horn Coral)

(Two-Spot Snappers and Yellow Trumpet Fish In Stag Horn Coral)

(Two-Spot Snappers In Stag Horn Coral and Leon)

After Lalosi we had been planing to go dive at the spot where the manta rays usually hang out, but there were none there, so we aborted the plan. We headed to Arborek, the little island with a village, with the amazing jetty poles. We did a full dive here, along the reef, through the jetty and onto the reef on the other side. It was really amazing, the reef right in front of a little fishing village was loaded with schools of fusiliers, and jacks. While at the Arborek reef the current picked up and began pumping, and lost in my shooting, I got carried away from the rest of the group.

(Massive Schools of Fusiliers)

I ended up under the jetty, and I was the first one there, that meant that I had the spot all to myself. I must have spent 10 minutes shooting away before the others arrived. We spent another 10 to 15 minutes under the jetty shooting the massive school of tiny fish around the coral covered pylons, and got some amazing shots. I saw two bat fish around the villages holding nets, and the colour of the nets crossed with the fish looked really nice, so I shot at them for a little bit. After a while of shooting, we headed back out from under the jetty and went to see the rest of the reef.

(Little Fish Under Arborek Jetty)

(Bat Fish In front Of A Holding Net)

By is point the current was really pumping, and Nikson quickly became a tow truck, he was pulling one of the other guests on a reef hook, it really cracked me up. We spent a few more minutes on the reef before ascending back to the boat. After coming up from the dive, we headed back to the resort to grab a bite to eat before heading out to the passage for an afternoon dive. We ate really quickly before jumping back onto the boat and heading to the next dive. The boat ride was quick and smooth, and we arrived in the jungle between two islands, and hopped in.

(Tow Truck Nikson)

We started out in the caverns, playing with the light rays coming through the openings in the ceiling. We came to the surface in one of them, and saw a few little bats flying around. As I went back down to leave the caverns, I saw Nikson in front of some light rays, so I made him stop as I got some shots. Shooting light rays is like shaving your face with a butter knife, it is a pain in the ass and takes lots of adjustments. As we left the caverns, a massive Mappa Pufferfish came whizzing by me, so fast that I only had one time to snap off one shot.

(Dark Mappa Pufferfish)

We began flying across the passage on the pumping current until we came to the other side, which is loaded with soft corals. I shot several soft coral fans including the light rays, and a peek of green from the jungle peeking through the surface. Near the fans, there was a tree that has fallen into the water, and Nikson began playing around with them. I took some shots of him as he did this, before i waited for the rest of the group to come near us and begin riding the current to the end of the dive. It was a blast, we all soared in the midwater as the current took us for a ride.

(In The Passage)

The day has been amazing, very relaxing and full of diving and sunshine. I think Thr Raja Ampat is trying to make it as hard as humanly possible for me to leave. The weather has finally decided to break, so at least I will have a great last few days of diving while here. I am winding down for the night, getting ready for a full day of diving tomorrow and a night dive with Nikson. I am not enjoying the fact that my time here is drawing to an end, but I am poking forward to getting home.