Underwater News
This is the second part of our special articles about cave Diving. Read also [Part 1]
I can still remember my first happy trip to Mexico and the joy of receiving my first temporary certification diving card. Finally I was ready to explore underwater and really push my boundaries. That was until my diving instructor asked me if "I Would like to go Cenote diving at the weekend?" My initial thought was that cave diving was dangerous, and not really a great pursuit for a novice diver. However once I entered the gateways to the Yucatn's underworld I had no regrets with my choice.
Underneath the Yucatn Penisula run three of the longest water systems in the world. Controlling the location of human settlement in this area for thousands of years. The Mayan people could only access this precious water through sacred entrances called ?Cenotes? This was a path into the underworld, and was filled with their gods and spirits. They are formed through the Combination of subterranean cave ceilings collapsing and the gradual erosion of the limestone bed. Which has created a magical world with caverns, tunnels and mystery.
For divers news and information on cave diving has sometimes revolved tragic stories of cave systems taking lives, or terrible hazards that were encountered by untrained divers. Creating for some a b...
The island of Marettimo is part of the Egadi archipelago, located at the western end of Sicily, in front of Trapani. The archipelago consist also of Favignana (the largest and better known island), Levanzo and the smaller islands of Formica and Maraone. The whole territory is a protected marine area. We are talking of the largest protected marine area in the Mediterranean! Marettimo is the furthest from Sicily, the most westerly one, right in the middle of the Sicily's channel, with more protected territory: the wildest! It is an island of the past times, where nature reigns unspoiled. Remained off the pace of modern life, it is isolated, remote and enchanted. There's a small town on the East side and then end of the concrete. There are no roads outside the village nor cars, but only a mule track passable by the jeep of the Punta Libeccio lighthouse's keeper, on the Southwest side of the island. Trails sometimes arduous traverse a good part of the island and allow us to explore the interior and the mountain... Yes, but on feet or by mule maybe! That's the way it discloses: "A Mountain above the sea". The top of Pizzo Falcone reaches 686 m. There's a lot of greenery, especially in the spring: it is the classic Mediterranean scrub, with all its perfumes. It is rich ...
Taking pictures underwater with an advanced compact camera has become fun and interesting, as well as comfortable. Nevertheless, if the housing that accommodates the camera is adjusted to the camera's convenience, bringing outside all controls and ensuring a significant efficiency underwater, the deal is done!
We tried to talk with Domy Tripodi, underwater photographer from the Messina Strait, who after using for several years a Canon G12 with an Isotta housing has recently changed to the new Canon G7x always inside its dedicated Isotta housing. It is a kind of housing that by now guarantees some operational certainties, a great strength (important under intense usage) and reliability when, underwater, we need certain performances, especially for who photographs in all conditions and in tough environments, such as cold water and great depths. Domy makes the most of the potential offered by a housing made so well, designed to become one with the camera, as if it were an amphibious camera in a single block (who remembers the glorious Nikonos?). When equipped with a supporting bracket and two lateral flash, mounted in the classical way using double arms of adequate length, you can move easily and shoot comfortably...
Of course there is no substitute for adequate working knowledge of the camera system, and a good eye for composition is a bonus, but the key factor in creating dynamic, creative and impactful underwater images is understanding the light.
Learning and understanding how light falls on the subject and having the ability to control and shape the light is crucial!
The lighting is what creates the mood and atmosphere of any image.
CHARACTERISTICS OF LIGHT
The harshness and softness of the light plays a key role in the shape, appearance, dimension and texture of an image. It is important to know when to add light and when to subtract it.
Direct light will cast harsh shadows while diffused light will create a much softer look. Shadows will be cast on the opposite side of the light source.
A small light source produces hard, directional light with a narrow beam, while a large light source will produce a softer light with a wider beam.
The direction and angle of light will dictate its quality.
Light coming from an angle will produce texture, drama and creates character. Direct light coming from the standard flash camera position will usually be flat and unflattering, revealing min...
Popular Dive Sites around Tioman Island
Tiger Reef
As far as I'm concerned, this is the most beautiful dive site in Tioman without a doubt. This submerged underwater pinnacle, situated between Pulau Labas and Pulau Sepoi, begins at 12 m deep and slides down to deeper than 40 m, embracing small boulders & caves covered with colorful soft coral and underwater swim-through formations in between, which makes perfect for wide-angle photography. The rock formation is simply amazing because everything is covered in soft coral, hard corals, sea whips, crinoids, sea fans and barrel sponges. The coral life here is relatively well-preserved because this site is rarely dived. Strong currents often bring schools of yellow snappers, fusiliers, barracudas, jacks, turtles and sharks whilst colorful tropical reef fish such as angelfish, butterfly fish, emperor angelfish and parrot fish, etc.often wander carelessly through diversely shaped sea fans & barrel sponge corals at the deepest part. At 45-48m deep, there is also a weirdly shaped sponge coral area, looking like a kind of sculpture museum, which is the best theme park that I've ever visited.
Bahara Rock / Bahara Light House
Locally knwon as Tokong Bahara, this is my second favorite dive site on ...
It has been more than thirty years since I started photographing the Mediterranean. It was 1983 and the Strait of Messina, the sea on whose shores I always lived, gave me the opportunity to learn about the biodiversity of the Mare Nostrum in a special way and thorough. Seized upon this great opportunity with the right awareness, I photographed and photographed enough to become, through time, quite expert in marine biology and ethology.
And, among all the forms of life I photographed, one still keeps me involved more in the shooting and careful observation.
)
They are small fishes accustomed to live at great depths, hardly accessible to divers.
Nevertheless, in the Strait of Messina environmental conditions and ecosystems powered by the currents enable them to live also at modest depths, where it is easy to observe them while diving! I am talking about the spiny trumpet fish, or longspine snipefish (Macrorhamphosus scolopax), belonging to the family of macroramphosinae. Small and curious, with an elongated snout ahead, a little like seahorses, ending with a small mouth opening, they feed on small prey and often swim upside down. With a pink complexion on the back, fading on the sides tending to gray, they have a first dorsal fin with a p...
Dispelling misconceptions revolving cave diving not being a viable and safe dive choice for the average recreational diver. Are there recreational cave diving sites available in Mexico? Christian Llewellyn discusses diving some of these cave systems from a resent trip to the Yucatan peninsula.
I can still remember my first happy trip to Mexico and the joy of receiving my first temporary certification diving card. Finally I was ready to explore underwater and really push my boundaries. That was until my diving instructor asked me if "I Would like to go Cenote diving at the weekend?"" My initial thought was that cave diving was dangerous, and not really a great pursuit for a novice diver. However once I entered the gateways to the Yucatn's underworld I had no regrets with my choice.
Underneath the Yucatn Penisula run three of the longest water systems in the world. Controlling the location of human settlement in this area for thousands of years. The Mayan people could only access this precious water through sacred entrances called "Cenotes" This was a path into the underworld, and was filled with their gods and spirits. They are formed through the Combination of subterranean cave ceilings collapsing and the gradual erosion of the limestone bed. Which has created a magical world with caverns...
Campi Flegrei are a vast volcanic area situated north-west from Naples where history and nature merge between earth and sea, and the coastline represents the symbiosis between mankind history and sea life. The Campi Flegrei waters reveal to divers these wonders.
Here, the sea preserved topical the signs left by the passage of ancient Romans and Greeks.
Ruins of villas, thermal baths and roads lie just a few meters from the surface and, together with marine life and gaseous emissions, create a unique and unexpected underwater Mediterranean landscape.
This extraordinary characteristics lead to the creation of a Marine Protected Area between the municipalities of Bacoli and Pozzuoli. Octopuses, small crustaceans and fishes snoop undisturbed around submerged buildings and roads, colonized by sessile organisms such as algae, sponges, sea anemones, sea urchins and starfishes.
Dive sites of the submerged archeological park of Baia.
Emperor Claudio's submerged nymphaeum: a rectangular building with a semicircular apsis and four lateral recesses, housing the statues.
Prothyrum Villa and Pisoni's Villa: just outside the nymphaeum, there is Herculanea road, leading just in front of two ...
This is the second part of our special articles about Thecnical Diving. Read also [Part 1]
The major misconception about technical diving is: Extensive and expensive equipment makes the difference between technical and recreational diving. We strongly feel this is not true. The real "technical" bit of technical diving is in the necessary skills and mindset. In fact, if you do not know how to deal with your equipment, you are actually adding risk instead of creating additional security.
The foundation for these extra skills and mindset is a mayor part of our training called: "Intro to tech" or "Fundamentals". Both training courses are a basic program that anyone must complete before taking the next step towards technical diving. No matter what level you are or how many dives you already made.
This way every diver knows that every one of his team members has the same procedures for every part of the dive. From the checks before setting up the equipment, the final pre-dive checks on the boat to the actual behaviour during an emergency. Shooting a buoy, the passive and active communication or gas-switch procedures, each team member will perform them in the same way. Therefore each team member will know what is coming and will easily see if somet...
The alarm rings at half past five. At six the boat of "Solo Buceo" diving awaits us on the back of the Sotavento Hotel in Cancun, where there is a channel connected with the open sea.
Still sleepy we enjoy the spectacle of the sun rising over the calm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, while we circumnavigate the northern extremity of Isla Mujeres. After about an hour of navigation finally we reach this vast area of the sea in which a large number of whale sharks from all the Caribbean meet in the summer months due to the large presence of bonitos eggs that the currents concentrate here.
Soon begin to appear the first dorsal fins that cut the smooth surface of the sea. There are many spaced a few tens of meters. We reduce the speed up to stop and while drifting reaches us under the boat one of these huge beasts, so already from the boat we can see the grey back with the unmistakable grating of vertical and horizontal streaks clearer alternating series of white spots.
Wasting no time, with great excitement and emotion we wear fins and mask, grab cameras and dive in these warm waters to meet these large, harmless sharks in their natural environment. Putting our head
under the water we can see more than one with a single glance, so we start finning...
If you don't know by now, Anilao in the Philippines is one of the best places on the planet for underwater macro photography.
Just two and a half hours drive south of Manila, with over 400 dive resorts to choose from, it boils down to ease of access, dive guides and your budget.
This past April, we selected the Anilao Photo Hotel to host our Underwater Photo Workshop. Owned and operated by renowned Tim Ho, an advocate for point and shoot?no strobe underwater photography and boy if you haven't seen what he can do with an Olympus TG2, go have a look on Facebook Underwater Art! That little camera is enough to make most macro shooters turn in their SLR's.
Of course learning how to get the maximum out of your camera is what Tim professes. Anilao is about the underwater photography. Eat, sleep and dive, upload?download, and get up and go do it again. Most of the dive guides at Anilao Photo Hotel have all won awards for their photography in the Anilao Photo contests. The Anilao Photo Hotel is a simple hotel offering 6 rooms with air conditioning and 6 without, serving typical Philippine fare. It is not fancy, but they do have a great layout, comfortable rooms, dedicated camera rinse tanks, an excellent dive platf...
A form of diving that fires most people's imagination. "Deep, dark and decompression" are normally the first things that come to mind. "A lot of gear" would be a second thought. All apply, but there is so much more to it. This is the story about the path we followed from recreational divers to technical divers. This journey started approximately five years ago and is an ongoing story of courses and personal development. In the next couple of issues we will explain what the term technical diving actually means. We will tell more about the equipment we use and about why we always carry it around (even during dives where we do not need the amount of gas). In part two we will explain a bit more about the standardized equipment used. After that we will publish some articles about the courses we have followed / are following.
Why exactly do we like those deep dives? We carry enormous amounts of heavy equipment and spend more time getting back to the surface than on the wreck... We all have our different reasons. I have actually no idea. In my normal life I am quite a brisk person, but when I am underwater everything becomes relaxed. Being underwater calms me down and life becomes more easy. As a kid I always dreamt I could fly. Up until today I haven't been...
UWPC is the largest underwater photo challenge in Asia Pacific, hosted by the Diving and Resort Travel Expo (DRT Show) and EZDIVE magazine. UWPC is open to entrants of all skill levels.
Asia Pacific UW Photo Challenge (UWPC) aims at finding excellent underwater photographers, and understanding their works thoroughly. We hope to promote the art of underwater photography and scuba diving in the Asia Pacific Region, and to promote the protection of the marine environment and guide a green and healthy lifestyle through the challenge.
Welcome to participate the Asia Pacific UW Photo Challenge! Upload and submit your photos online at www.uwphotochallenge.com
Download and read what you have to do to join the contest : How to submit your photo
Guidelines
The Asia Pacific Underwater Photo Challenge, hosted by DRT Show, is open to entrants of all skill levels.
All submitted images must have been taken by the entrant and taken underwater.
Each individual can only win one prize or prize package. Entrants with multiple winning entries will be given priority in prizes by value.
Any images that have won or placed in photo contests with winning entries may not be submitted.
Photographers retain all copyrights to their images. DRT Show and EZDIVE Magazine retain...
The overall purpose of the charity Friends of Lembeh-Pulisan-Bangka e.V. is to maintain and protect the Wallacea Region of North Sulawesi, Indonesia with ist unique marine and terrestrial fauna from harmful and environmental destructive practices.
Tasks of the charity comprise publicity, mediation between public, semi-public and private institutions, with an emphasis on education and environmental awareness with the aim of establishing a sustainable and environmentally friendly eco-tourism in the region.
The charity aims to co-operate with other regional bodies in order to achieve its goal. Furthering sustainable methods in the sectors agriculture, fisheries and tourism the charity condemns extractive mining practices which tend to spread in the region and bear massive damage for the environment and the indigenous people living there.
A focus is on co-operation with regional bodies to further education by providing school sponsorships and supporting local ngos in awareness programmes.
The charity is a non-profit, non-government, independent organization (NGO) that will raise funds to maintain its projects. Donations are tax-deductable.
The charity Friends of Lembeh-Pulisan-Bangka e.V. supports the local Bangka Conservation Fund (BCF) in its purpose to save t...
The term "tropical" diving generally conjures images of crystal clear, warm water flowing over beautiful, lush coral reefs teeming with colorful fish.
"Muck" diving is a different experience altogether! Basically, it means rummaging around in sandy, muddy, murky areas among discarded bottles, old tires, pizza boxes?. all manner of garbage, in search of the oceans tiniest, most weird and wonderful creatures.
Many areas are particularly known for this type of diving. The term "muck diving" is descriptive of a particular environment. The oceans substrate is covered with fine sand and silt, currents are mild and visibility can be poor.
Patches of sand, sea grass, volcanic areas, and oddly enough, areas with a lot of rubbish can be great for muck diving. Many of the oceans strangest residents make their homes in these places, utilizing them to their best advantage. What a treat it is to see, for example, a coconut octopus scurrying around gathering pieces of cardboard which he uses for protection.
Muck diving can afford one the opportunity to see and photograph some of the ocean's most unique and amazing critters. Most subjects will be well camouflaged or entirely hidden in the sand, but with the knowledge and
well-tranied eyes of a good dive guide, the weird and wonderful w...
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