Divequest

Three New Species of Fish Discovered at Misool Eco Resort

2011-03-04T15:10:00.003Z

Marit Miners of Misool Eco Resort reports after Fish Geek Week!

Raja Ampat's biodiversity never fails to astound. Three new species of reef fish were discovered at Misool Eco Resort by Dr Mark Erdmann during Fish Geek Week, February 11-18th 2011. This brings the total number of identified species in Raja Ampat up to 1414. Wow! Mark found 2 new cardinal fish from different genuses, Siphamia and Apogonichthyoides. The 3rd was a type of Ptereleotris dartfish.

Mark also recorded 5 species of reef fish never before seen in Raja Ampat, and perhaps most exciting of all, identified 3 species of Flasher Wrasse on our House Reef. For those of unfamiliar with their antics, these tiny wrasses are usually rather drab in appearance. Just around sunset, the males start their impressive courtship number. In the space of milliseconds, they transform themselves from pedestrian little reef dwellers into spectacularly flamboyant fellas. Quite a strategy to get the ladies' attention, but it seems to be working!

The flasher wrasses identified on Misool Eco Resort's House Reef were Paracheilinus cyaneus (pictures at left), Paracheilinus nursalim (found only in Misool and Kaimana), and Paracheilinus filamentosus.

To celebrate all this gorgeous bidiversity, we held raffle on the last night of the trip. All the proceeds were collected to support our Ranger Patrol, which enforces the boundaries of our newly expanded 1220 sq km No-Take Zone. Our guests were very generous, and we managed to raise over 2000 Euros! And one lucky winner won a free trip to Misool Eco Resort.

Life in the Divequest Office

2010-09-03T10:51:00.005+01:00

Time to meet some different animals

2010-06-09T16:43:00.004+01:00

Mark Beaman has a close encounter with a Tiger

Hilary Lee meets a juvenile Grey Whale

Diving holidays account for the vast majority of the holiday arrangements that we make, but if you were ever to visit our offices which are high on the hill in the beautiful Lancashire Dales, you would find a couple more offices next to ours with staff working away arranging some really adventurous travel for some really adventurous people. Divequest is just part of the set up here where we also house Birdquest, Wild Images, and Ocean Adventures. And we are all under one roof: Birdquest Ltd, a private company and a family business.

Birdquest Ltd was started in 1981 which means that we have a long history of working with the best agents in the most remote destinations worldwide. Wherever you want to travel and however remote the location, it’s almost certain that we already send intrepid travelers to those locations.

So if you are interested in combining a trip to Galapagos with a Peruvian Adventure, or popping over to PNG for great diving and to see the wigmen strut their stuff, just give us a call. Staff in our office have recently been to Uganda to meet the gorillas, Borneo to meet Proboscis Monkeys and Orangutans, Mexico to meet Blue Whales, India for tigers, lions and Rhinos and to Tanzania for the most fabulous safaris imaginable.

Want some extra adventures in your life? Call or email and we can really get you going!

Pete Morris took this shot of a lazy male lion in Tanzania

Monkey Business

2010-04-28T11:48:00.009+01:00

Hilary Lee and Rachel Horsfield visit Borneo for a wildlife spectacular!

A slight movement on the rope above our heads and a wave of excitement went through the eager group of Orangutan watchers. Something was coming … Like the distant whisper on the train track which heralds the approach of the train we knew that a few minutes later we would see our distant relatives, the Orangutans. The tension was mounting.

Three or four ropes looped from the forest to a huge tree close to the viewing platform. Beyond the tree the rainforest was dark, dense and vibrating with the calls of insects, birds and frogs, but all eyes were on the ropes and the gentle vibrations gave way to distinct swaying. Cameras were focused on the area where the rope emerged from the forest and I was faced once more with my eternal dilemma: watch and store the images in my brain or attempt to capture the images with my camera? Well it has to be business before pleasure but I thought of how superbly my partner, Mark, would be capturing the coming images. ‘f-stops’ and exposure times being second nature to him and he would make a few final adjustments before holding that huge lens perfectly still to catch the swift movements in the low light of the forest. So I made sure my small compact camera was set on ‘automatic’ and watched for action through the view-finder (yes, I know I am not a natural photographer!). At last a young Orangutan came down the rope, looping and swinging from one arm to the next. Then came another and another until three, orange, hairy young primates met on the feeding platform and began to enjoy bananas and a long drink of fresh milk.

Here we were in the ‘land below the wind’ on the first morning of our Borneo Wildlife Adventure. The sun was shining and the weather beautifully hot. We had flown in on the wonderful Singapore Airlines as far as Kota Kinabalu then we took a short flight to Sandakan with Malaysia Airlines. After our long journey it was re-assuring to see our names displayed on a board held by our super guide, Jame. Jame’s command of English was excellent and he remained with us for the rest of our tour. His local knowledge was very good and he was happy to answer all my questions about the wildlife, his family and general questions about Borneo (How many children did he have? Did his wife wear the veil? What kind of kingfisher is that?– you know how we ‘girls’ love to know about these things). A short ride of around 15 minutes through Sandakan and we arrived at the Sabah Hotel. The hotel is comfortable and clean with air conditioned rooms and very pleasant modern bathrooms. There is a café with bakery, a Chinese restaurant, the Amadeus bar and a barbeque with poolside bar. But a welcome dip in the lovely swimming pool and a cold beer was all we needed before dinner in the Chinese restaurant and crashing out in a clean, comfortable beds with crisp white sheets …

The next morning was our exciting Orangutan encounter at the Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary, then after a two hour ride through small villages and oil palm plantations we drew up at a wooden landing stage where our bags were loaded into a motorized canoe and we set off on the final stage of our journey to our lodge in the rainforest. I’ve always thought it would be romantic to arrive at a lodge in a canoe – and it is! We drew up to the landing stage at Bukit Melapi and our bags were off loaded and taken to our rooms. The lodge is very comfortable, immaculately clean and the bathrooms modern. Just flick the water heater on for five minutes and there will be loads of hot water for your shower. Even shower gel, shampoo and body lotion are provided. The rooms are spacious with sliding glass doors leading to a private balcony with chairs and a table. Our rooms looked out across the Kinabatangan River and across to the dense rainforest on the other side. The individual wooden bungalows are spread throughout pleasant grounds. It is possible to see wild elephants from the lodge, though we were not as fortunate as our next clients who had great views.

Two river cruises are offered each day: one at 0630, returning in time for breakfast, and the other at 1630. Each cruise lasts around 2 hours and the boat men and guides are experts at spotting wildlife and getting the boat as close as possible as well as lining up so that the light is good for photographers. We had fabulous sightings of Long-tailed Macaque, the amazing Proboscis Monkey and Pig-tailed Macaque. Large families of these primates come down to the river both in the early morning and the late afternoon so the chances of seeing them are very high. Other wildlife highlights included some huge water monitors (close relatives of the Komodo Dragon), Gold-ringed Catsnake, Estuarine Crocodile, some incredible birds (Blue-eared Kingfisher was voted the most beautiful), oh yes, and some wild pigs which scurried off in to the undergrowth. Binoculars are an asset if you want to get the best out of the trip and a sunhat is essential as there is no shade (or shelter) on the boat. The lodge provides umbrellas which can be very useful and better than a rainjacket in the heat. It may be sunny when you set off, but the rain can come out of nowhere and the showers can be very, very heavy – after all this is the rainforest! You may also like to take water (bottled water is provided in your lodge room).

Meals at the lodge are served buffet-style with good choices. The dishes are local in character. Beef, chicken and fish with rice and noodles being the usual fare. Some dishes are quite spicy too! There is usually some fresh fruit on offer for desert. Look out for the pale green jelly-like desert ‘chendol’, which is a local delicacy and is made from grated coconut and ground green beans. Once tasted, we avoided it like the plague! The bar was well stocked with a choice of canned beers and wine. Most guests gather in the bar for a drink before supper for a chat and it’s fun comparing notes with others.

Our intrepid Borneo Rainforest Adventure was not over yet. After a morning spent inspecting other lodges to make sure we are offering the best, we traveled first by river and then by road to the Gomantong Caves, an area of limestone deep in the rainforest. A vast labyrinth of caverns is home to over a million swiftlets, whose nests are collected for the manufacture of the Chinese delicacy of bird’s nest soup, and over a million bats. The birds fly out in the day time and the bats fly out at night. Fortunately, there is a wooden walkway from the entrance/ticket office through the rainforest and round the first cave so one is ‘saved’ from having to walk through the many layers of guano left by birds and bats over many years. The guano is infested with millions of insects including some spectacularly hairy creatures on the walls. I am still not sure how I managed to fall in to this dark, smelly concoction, but my boots and trousers needed a good wash when I returned! As we made our way home our eagle-eyed guide and driver suddenly pulled up at the side of the road. A family of wild Orangutans were high up in a tree close to the road. Dad, mum and small baby looked down on us as we looked up to them. Seeing the creatures in the wild was a truly fantastic encounter and we felt really lucky to have experienced such great views.

Our recommended itinerary would include one night on arrival at Sabah Hotel, Sandakan, morning visit to the Orangutan Sanctuary and 2 nights at Bukit Malapi rainforest lodge. Added to diving at any of the Sipadan dive resorts, Lankayan or Layang Layang, this extra adventure makes a fabulous, exciting holiday in Borneo.

Cocos Islands with Michael Gallagher

2010-01-13T13:52:00.003Z

Michael Gallagher managed to grab a last minute space on Sea Hunter, from which he enjoyed a 'dive trip of a lifetime!'

'Dirty Rock became my favourite dive site. It's charms were irresistible. Strong surface currents demanded negatively bouyant backward rolls off the panga to a well established cleaning station for sharks. Hiding ourselves behing rocks and wedging ourselves into gullies around the cleaning station, we would wait for the stars of the show to arrive. Once our hammerhead voyeurism was sated, it would then be time to slowly ascend up the rocky wall, pat turtles, Mexican hogfish, marbled rays, moray eels and myriad denizens of the deep.

Other memorable dive sites around Cocos Island included Weston bay for its bold and inquisitive silvertip sharks, Punta Maria for its schooling Galapagos sharks and Alcyone for its abundance of switling hammerheadds and whitetip reef sharks.'

Michael's most thrilling encounter was at dusk at Isla Manuelita 'where hundreds of whitetip reef sharks congregate to hunt. The dive brief is clear; stay off the bottom and out of the way of the sharks for an experience guaranteed to pump the adrenaline of even the most jaded of divers.

'The facilities for photographers on board Sea Hunter were superb - dedicated rinse tanks, big worktops with compressed air hoses and spacious individual storage units with built-in charging stations. It's a high calibre liveaboard in all other respects also - great food, fantastic staff and comfortable cabins.

All I could think of on the way back was why hadn't I done this sooner and when could I do it all over again?!'

Michael stayed on Sea Hunter liveaboard, which has year round departures from Puntarenas in Costa Rica. Prices start at £2786 for the liveaboard.

Raja Ampat Photoquest

2009-11-24T10:58:00.003Z

At the beginning of November, 16 'Photoquesters' and Martin Edge returned from Raja Ampat and Divequest's first underwater photography expedition to the region. J Woolf was one of the lucky group.

'Misool Eco Resort is fabulous, the water cottages are an absolute must, and as for the pygmy seahorses, they were everywhere!'

Ms Woolf came second in the BSOUP Beginners Portfolio with the below entry. All her images were taken on the Raja Ampat Photoquest.

Martin Edge will be returning to Misool Eco Resort from the 25th January-10th February 2011. Please contact us for further details.

Caribbean Explorer II Southern Bahamas

2009-10-20T10:23:00.005+01:00

We had a fantastic time and the trip turned out to be everything we hoped it might have been. Crew were truly great and the diving was terrific. Weather couldn't have been much better and was hot/sunny/flat calm every day. Hammerheads to be seen on most days, lots of Caribbean reef sharks, large groupers, turtles, rays, schooling jacks etc etc. Good fun and definitely recommended.

Food was superb (English cook!) and it would be very hard to fault any part of the operation. Diving was always without a hitch and never undertaken without at least one member of the team in the water.

Boat was perhaps best classed as functional rather than a luxury experience but was more than up to the job.

Thanks for your help in getting it set up. Much appreciated.

T Johnson July 2009. Photo courtesy of Explorer Ventures.

New Group Trips

2009-10-13T14:20:00.004+01:00

We have four new group trips to announce for 2011:

Art of Underwater Photography in Bali with Shannon Conway and Graham Abbott

Whale Sharks of Utila with Steve Fox

Great White Sharks of Guadalupe with Charles Hood

Cenotes of Mexico with Martin Edge

Dates are to be confirmed. Contact us to register for the pre-publication information!

Group Trip Availability

2009-09-29T12:15:00.004+01:00

Pygmy Seahorse by Alex Mustard

We still have the last few spaces on Martin Edge's Borneo Photoquest to Lankayan Island next January as well as space on Alex Mustard's Quest for Diversity to Papua New Guinea next May. Call us now to reserve your space!

Alex's Manatees trip is now full though we hope to run another trip in 2011. If you wish to register your interest please contact us.

What's new?!

2009-08-03T10:48:00.007+01:00

It's brochure production time here at Divequest HQ but we'd like to give you a little preview of what's on offer in our forthcoming programme...

Divequest is delighted to be working with Royal Evolution, a splendid liveaboard that explores the Southern Red Sea and the waters of Sudan in one of the Red Sea's best diving itineraries. 13 nights cruises run from February to June and August to December. Explore the wreck of the Umbria, St Johns, Angarosh, Sanganeb and Fury Shoal among others. Expect some thrilling shark encounters with rich and colourful reefs. Prices start from about £2077 per person.

Turtle In Flight: Martin Edge

We are often asked, 'Where is Martin Edge going next?' Martin's next Photoquest is to Lankayan Island, Borneo from the 23rd January to the 7th February 2010. There are currently a few spaces left so why not join Martin and Sylvia in one of Borneo's most photogenic dive locations.

Manatee: Alex Mustard

Alex Mustard is going to be very busy next year. Alex's first Divequest trip is to Crystal River in Florida from the 5th to the 11th February 2010 to swim with and photograph the Manatees! Yes, even a Manatee can look cute! Escape the British winter and catch some rays in South Florida! Give us a call or e-mail us to request your pre-publication information.

2009 Bali Photoquest with Martin and Sylvia Edge, Scuba Seraya Resort, Bali.

2009-06-18T14:03:00.022+01:00

Batfish and Friend. (Shannon Conway)

The fun began right at the beginning of the trip as I took a flight from London to Singapore on the Singapore Airlines new A380 aircraft. It’s a marvellous plane, and of course Singapore Airlines provided a great service. The in-flight entertainment is a cut above the rest. I was lucky to be able to spread out across 3 seats and after just one Singapore Sling I slept soundly for 10 out of the 12 hours to Singapore! Arriving in Denpasar I was greeted by the Scuba Seraya representative and we were soon on our way, in a comfortable car, for the two hour transfer to the resort. It was midnight by the time I arrived and so it was dark as we drove through the warm Balinese night. I just glimpsed brief flashes of lights in the town and heard the strange and exotic call of night insects or maybe frogs which seemed to be welcoming me to the tropics . Though I could see little of the surrounding villages and countryside, the atmosphere made me feel that my holiday had begun! My driver told me that a volcano was quite close to the resort, though the dark cover of night meant that this would not be revealed until the morning. And indeed the next morning it was revealed! The resort was surrounded by lush green vegetation and the volcanic backdrop was especially impressive, rising proudly behind the resort and ringed by clouds.

My first morning was a leisurely introduction to diving at Scuba Seraya with a shore dive on ‘Seraya Secrets’. How fantastic to have such a fabulous dive right on my doorstep for two weeks! ‘Seraya Secrets’ is a ‘muck dive’ sloping off to around 25 meters, however, one could quite happily spend an hour sitting at just seven meters! ‘Seraya Secrets’ begins with ‘The Dome’, a man-made structure covered in chrinoids and soft corals, guarded by some very tame batfish. These must be the most photographer friendly batfish in the world, a photographers dream! Seraya Secrets is home to ‘Hilary and Rachel’, mother and daughter yellow moray eels, a multitude of shrimps and lionfish of all sizes, some of which are especially cooperative, fanning their spines and fins for all to see.

Lionfish (Rachel Horsfield)

The next day was day one of the Photoquest, housing, strobe arms and o-rings everywhere! For the first day or so, many were just getting used to being back in the water with their camera, and to add to the excitement it was announced that the winner of the competition to be held at the end of the Photoquest would win a week at Scuba Seraya Resort for two people! Let the shoot-out begin!

Jolly Photoquesters and Cameras in the Boat post-dive. (Rachel Horsfield)

There were two main draws for photographers on this trip; the first being the diving flexibility and superb diving management. Scuba Seraya allow divers to dive off the shore at any time and the dive staff get very upset if you try and carry your own equipment! The staff are used to handling all shapes and sizes of photographic equipment and will help you in and out of the water or the boat – you will only see your gear when you want to wear it in the water! I could get very used to this type of diving! The second big draw is The Liberty Wreck, a WW2 steam ship lying on her side in anything between 5 and 25 meters of water off the shore, a 5 minute boat ride from Scuba Seraya.

The Liberty Wreck is a different dive each time you descend through the huge school of jacks that call the shallowest part of the wreck their home. This is a great opportunity for sun burst shots and the jacks will let you get right inside their swirl. The Liberty Wreck is so full of life that in some way one must be grateful that she sank, though no loss of life occurred when she went down. Her body is pierced with small holes and openings, many of which are too small to enter. Some parts of the wreck have formed swim-throughs and the famous pillar room could be a dive all on its own, with several long coral encrusted struts forming any number of diagonals and angles to fill your frame. Sometimes George, the resident barracuda will swim through to join you – George is very friendly despite the dragon-like appearance of his teeth! I witnessed one Photoquester hold his camera port just millimeters away from his nose for a good 10 minutes! The pre-Liberty dive debate was always ‘macro or wide angle?’ Beautiful soft corals drip from every edge of the ship, hot pinks contrasting with cobalt blues, fan corals and coral nets framed with tangs and damsel fish and some very accessible anemone fish are just some of the things to make you go back for more. I always love a dive that can entertain me on my safety stop and The Liberty does just that , whether hovering in the cloud of jacks or sneaking up to the sweetlips on the shallow sandy shelf, this dive has enough to keep any diver occupied until 10 bar!

Wheel on the Liberty (Rachel Horsfield)

Martin Edge on the Liberty. (Ibrahim Roushdi)

The jacks on The Liberty. (Shannon Conway)

Most evenings Martin would do a short talk on some element of photography, be it composition, techniques, subject selection or how to get into the mind of the underwater photographer. No need to carry the tome with you when the walking talking book is right there in front of you!

Three other dives on this trip really stood out. ‘Drop Off’ began at around 5-7 meters and ‘dropped off’ as far as you like! Both macro and wide-angle subjects abound and I enjoyed spending all my no-deco time shooting a large anemone, home to 3 or 4 anemone fish. Yes, I know everyone shoots anemones and anemonefish and I am not going to win any competitions, however cute my subjects are, but no-one could resist them as they posed in such appealing ways. Others photographers spent a good deal of ‘memory’ on the various nudibranchs and yawning scorpionfish. A fellow guest even spotted the elusive Mola Mola at 30 meters. How lucky is that?!

Anemonefish (Rachel Horsfield)

‘Japanese Wreck’ is well worth the 30 minute car ride to the small bay where the boat – full of your gear ready set up - is waiting for you. The small tug lies in about 3 meters of water but one can easily be distracted to look for the pygmy seahorse at a mere 13 meters. But take a magnifying glass! The boat is covered in soft corals, crinoids, sea-fans and anemones and right in the heart of the vessel is a huge, ever shifting school of glorious glassy sweepers.

Japanese Wreck and Mike Woolley (Ibrahim Roushdi)

Soft Coral and Golden Sweepers (Rachel Horsfield)

Every dive destination on the planet seems to have a dive named ‘Coral Garden’ but Tulamben’s ‘Coral Garden’ is a suitably apt name! It could also be named ‘Anemone City’ as close to the entry point there is a carpet of small anemones interspersed with larger ones each one home to 4 or 5 different species of anemone fish. This was my 150th dive (Thank you Mike Woolley for being my buddy at this seminal moment in my life) and what better way to celebrate than to be graced with the presence of a black tip reef shark, ribbon eels and a small group of enormous bumphead parrot fish – the bison of the reef.

Many truly fantastic images were captured during the Photoquest and the standard of competition was extremely high. There were 18 entries for the competition and judging was conducted by all members of the Photoquest group, plus all the dive staff and management of Scuba Seraya Resort! Massive congratulations must go to Ibrahim Roushdi who won by a landslide for his shot of spiralling jacks against the sun, taken on The Liberty. In second place came Mike Woolley with his lovely shot of Batfish and in third place came Spike with a yawning scorpionfish. Congratulations to all three.

First Place - Swirling Jacks and Sun - Ibrahim Roushdi

Batfish. (Mike Woolley)

Yawning Scorpionfish. (Reginald 'Spike' Piddock)

Scuba Seraya is a wonderful, small resort set in immaculate gardens filled with swathes of pink and white bourgainvillia. It’s marvellous position is right on the beach and is surrounded by palm trees. Standing on the beach listening to the waves crash under the clear starry night sky can be very romantic! The beach-front patios are the best place to enjoy a cool Bintang, a glass of wine, or maybe a pot of green tea, before strolling to the open-air restaurant for dinner, where we had the choice of eastern or western menus.

Scuba Seraya (Scuba Seraya)

I took a brief trip to the north west of the island to stay and dive at Mimpi Menjangan, a very different location to the Tulamben region. Diving at Menjangan is truly stunning, the walls drip and ooze with every colour and shape of coral. I was very lucky to have a flat calm day with visibility of around 20 meters! The walls at Menjangan are so filled with macro critters that you could miss the black tip and white tip reef sharks skirting by. I saw more scorpion fish on one dive than ever before. The dive guide pointed out orangutan shrimp, sail-fin blenny, peeping jawfish and the fastest mantis shrimp in Bali! Ashamedly, I had forgotten to turn on my camera before getting in the water …

I really wish I could have stayed longer at Menjangan. Not only was Menjangan Island diving truly amazing but the beautiful Mimpi Menjangan Resort was fantastic. I had a Courtyard Villa with a hot tub. The huge bedroom had an enormous bed (very comfortable!) and the bathroom was modern and clean and partially covered but amazingly private as it was surrounded by tropical vegetation. Yes, I should have stayed longer …

Martin and Sylvia Edge are leading a trip to Lankayan in Borneo in February 2010, the Raja Ampat Photoquest in October 2009 and The Sulawesi Photoquest in 2010. Please contact us for further details and availability.

Holidays to Scuba Seryaya and Mimpi Menjangan can be arranged at any time and offer excellent value for money. Singapore Airlines have some great ‘deals’ available at the moment, making Bali a truly great value destination. Talk to us about the possibilities.

Ultimate Indonesia February/March 2009

2009-05-13T16:33:00.009+01:00

A Trip Report By Duncan Robins

"The world's most spectacular reefs", "the best tropical critter diving", "a truly extraordinary dive adventure", "the most beautiful thriving and biodiverse coral reefs in the world". To say expectations from the Divequest brochure were high may be an understatement.

The Ultimate Indonesia Divequest adventure was set up to combine the very weird and the very wonderful. The weird being the strange and bewildering array of creatures at Lembeh Strait, the wonderful being the vast selection of amazing reef life of Raja Ampat.

The holiday began for me on 15th February (some others had opted for an extension at the beginning of the trip). We flew from London via Singapore to Manado followed by an hour or so minibus transfer to Lembeh. After a short boat ride and we were at Lembeh Resort.

There were 14 of us in the group plus esteemed underwater photographer/marine biologist Alex Mustard. Everyone was an experienced diver and everyone had underwater photography equipment, a few with good compact camera setups, most with housed DSLRs and also someone shooting video.

Following our arrival at Lembeh Resort there was a brief check-in and briefing then we were taken to our respective bungalows. The members of the group who were on the extension were out diving so it was an opportunity to familiarise ourselves with resort and introduce ourselves properly to each other and settle in for the 3 days.

There were smiles on the faces of the rest of the group when they returned and they were full of enthusiastic banter on the days diving - hopefully we were going to be in for a treat!

The Lembeh Resort was great. It’s totally set up for divers (although if you have the top bungalow you may disagree). The facilities for photography were perhaps the best I’ve seen - a huge camera-room with individual work stations, plenty of power points, several rinse tanks that were refreshed with clean fresh water on a regular basis The bungalows were airy, clean and all the facilities you'd want. There was also a perfectly situated swimming pool overlooking the Lembeh Strait and a great vantage point at sunset. After settling in we had dinner at the restaurant (which was excellent) and a relatively early night after all the travelling, ready for the first days diving

After our dive briefing we made our way from the dive centre to the dive boats (a whole 5 meters). All the dive kit had been transferred to the boat for us, and camera gear was also carefully moved by the crew. Boat trips to the dive sites were very comfortable and ranged from 5 minutes to about 20 minutes depending on the site. Topside, the land around Lembeh Strait was very impressive - a green, tropical, volcanic paradise. Below the surface, not so. The sand is grey/black and there's a fair amount of rubbish and plastic in the water in a couple of areas. However that’s not what you go to see. Once you're under and you've got your eye in a bit it’s a whole new world. There’s the bizarre to the beautiful, the most amazing colourful creatures you could possibly ever dream up, the smallest animals you've ever seen and highly camouflaged ones that may take a couple of minutes to actually spot. In 3 days of diving I saw many types of frogfish, ornate ghostpipefish, flamboyant cuttlefish, many different crabs and shrimps, flying gurnards, a vast array of nudibranchs, stargazers, several different scorpion fish and loads and loads more. The guides at Lembeh are excellent and you get so much more out of the diving by following them as they have years of experience in spotting these creatures and they still have boundless energy and enthusiasm for what they are doing. The highlight for me had to be seeing a mimic octopus. In fact not just one mimic octopus but two. Mating. I’ve never really been into voyeurism in any way but this was quite an amazing sight. There's debate over whether these invertebrates really do mimic subjects. For me there is no doubt. They was a definite resemblance to a very bad photo. I have captured many examples as evidence.

I loved Lembeh, it was a great experience and I saw lots of things I've never seen before. After 3 days diving I was ready to move on and see the reef vistas of Raja Ampat. I guess there's only so much staring at creatures less than the size of your finger some people can handle!

We returned to Manado and caught a flight to Sorong (pronounced 'So Wrong'). A taxi ride to the port and we got our first glimpse of the Seven Seas - our liveaboard vessel for the next 12 nights. The Seven Seas is a stunning 33m traditionally built schooner designed for 16 divers (there were 14 guests and our leaders - Alex Mustard plus Graham Abbott from Diving4Images who joined us for the Raja Ampat leg) plus the crew.

After a safety briefing, introduction to the crew and the various formalities we were off for our 12 day adventure around Raja Ampat.
We actually managed to squeeze a try dive in that day which was nice but the light didn't last long. This was the first proper reef of the trip so far.

Liveaboard accommodation is never going to be enormous but the rooms on the Seven Seas were ample. Facilities on board the Seven Seas were terrific and the crew could not have been friendlier. The food was good and very varied, some days quite western other times we'd have something a little more authentic to Indonesia which was nice. The diving was really well organised, briefings informative and the diving itself was truly magnificent.

I got the impression no 2 trips in the Seven Seas are the same, the itinerary was guided by a combination of weather, guides preference and diver requests. We spent the first day at Kofiau, 5 days around Misool, onto Batanta, up to Waigeo before returning to Sorong. Whilst we travelled a long distance most of this was done during the night to optimise dive time.

The Raja Ampat archipelago is huge and unspoiled - we saw no signs of civilisation for almost the entire trip. In fact the only sign there had been anyone there before us was the total absence of any sharks. I say total, a handful of very shy ones were seen during the trip. We packed in a wide variety of diving at Raja Ampat from an algae patch to Manta diving, from soft coral gardens to huge swim-throughs. The highlight for many was the blue water mangroves at Misool- a unique habitat with great photographic opportunities.

The coral life and diversity was certainly the most impressive I have ever seen. The sea life was incredibly diverse and numerous - pygmy seahorses, sea snakes, eels, giant clams, turtles, barracuda, manta rays, shrimps, crabs, cuttlefish, squid, octopus etc - in fact looking through my reef guide afterwards, I think we covered just about every family of life there is!

The diving was never deep and was relatively straight forward although there was a mild current on a few dives. The water was warm - some people in fact found it more comfortable to dive without a wetsuit.

Graham was an excellent guide, this guy has taken the worlds top underwater photography and film people around this area including the likes of David Doubilet, Howard Hall and Peter Scoones. His eye for the creatures, and his knowledge of them were excellent but to me his most impressive quality was his undying sense of humour and obvious passion for doing what he is doing. Our other dive guide was Stuart - one of the Seven Seas crew. Again his patience and willingness to help in anyway helped make the trip the success it undoubtedly was.

Alex of course was also very helpful and although this wasn't a photography workshop or had any formal teaching he was always available to ask questions of and provide handy hints and tips. The trip was well organised and we got to see the variety of life and habitat we were hoping for - and more.

The coral life in Raja Ampat is stunning and it is pristine, it is thriving, and it is truly extraordinary - I guess those early high expectations were met, and perhaps even surpassed.

Words and images by Duncan Robbins. Alex Mustard is leading a Quest For Diversity to Papua New Guniea in May 2010. Click here for more details.

Dominica - A Jewel Above and Below

2009-05-11T15:57:00.005+01:00

Martin Edge reveals his surprise love for Dominica.

It is unlike me to write a travelogue on the pages of the Divequest Blog. I’m the photographer remember, and I feel much more comfortable writing about underwater F stops, shutter speeds and Snell’s Window. So, why a travelogue now?

The story began a number of years ago after photographer Colin Bateman and his wife Lorraine returned from Dominica after a weeks diving, extolling its virtues above and below the water.

"We went for a Christmas break, nothing more, no expectations but this place is fantastic. You must try it".

On viewing Colin’s results I was immediately impressed with the range of subjects he had found after only six days of diving. Seahorses, frogfish, big schools of fish, crevices and caves and colour in abundance.

Some time later Peter Rowlands, founder and editor of UP magazine wrote an article about the Island. Tales of whale watching, excellent shore diving, rainforests and volcanoes again attracted my attention and moistened my appetite for a new location in the Caribbean to compare with Bonaire. I did my research, scoured the web, monitored the underwater newsgroups and came to the conclusion that Dominica deserved a visit.

Sylvia and I planed a 6-day Photoquest. Our choice of accommodation was Castle Comfort Lodge and Dive Dominica run by dive guru Derek Perryman. But before I continue, let’s clear up one thing once and for all! Dominica is NOT the Dominican Republic. Dominica has the alternative name of ‘Nature Island of the Caribbean’. It is 29 miles long and 16 miles wide. It is the most lush, tropical and abundant rainforest which I visited and resembles Papua New Guinea more than any other Caribbean island which I have visited. The rainforest runs into the sea in so many locations around the coastline. Dominica, boasts two volcanoes with huge peaks, both a tad higher than Ben Nevis in Scotland. There are 365 rivers, one for every day of the year, which form numerous waterfalls, which plunge over the side of sheer walls. The scenery, topography and views are staggering. More reminiscent of Costa Rica than a tiny, unknown Caribbean Island. Fabulous flowers and hummingbirds, too!

Dominica is volcanic and as such has few beaches. The Atlantic side enjoys a number of beaches similar to the dark volcanic sand of Tenerife and Lanzarote in the Canaries. The Island is part of the Lesser Antilles and nestles between Martinique and Guadeloupe. Both of which are visible on a clear day. A must see excursion is the whale watching trips which run out of Castle Comfort Lodge. This trip boasts an 80% sighting record! We were not disappointed either. Sperm and Bryde’s Whales came to within a few metres of the boat.

So what about the diving?

I expected it to be good. I had heard it was un-spoiled but neither I, Sylvia nor the rest of the Photoquest were prepared for how pristine, undamaged and lush the reefs were. Our favourite sites were around Scotts Head on the calm west coast near to the capital and dive base Roseau. The Pinnacles was for me the best wide-angle dive I have had in Caribbean waters. The highlight is several large swim-throughs, which cut straight through the pinnacles. The walls are covered with sea fans, sponges and trees of black coral. The condition of both hard and soft corals at all the sites we visited was truly pristine. We are planning a second photo-quest to the island for the same time next year. Some time in late January or early February. The weather and visibility were superb so why change it.

It is a hidden jewel both above and below.

Martin Edge.

All images by Martin Edge

Play time for gobies

2009-04-30T17:01:00.005+01:00

Whip gobies play hide and seek in the waters next to Scuba Seraya, Bali. Image by Sue Merrifield.

Lankayan, April 2009

2009-04-30T16:27:00.005+01:00

S West and N Mitchell returned very happy after an 'awesome' trip to Lankayan.

From arriving on the little island everything was taken care of so our holiday ran very smoothly. The dive guides were really friendly and knew a lot about the reefs and were interested in the preservation of the reefs. Immediately dropping off the boats and descending into The Sulu Sea, it was clear that the diving was going to be good.

There were blue spotted sting rays at every dive site, large schools of fish and plenty of nudibranchs. The dive guide found some leopard sharks, bamboo sharks and on our night dive, three coral cat sharks.

The whole holiday was immense, thanks!

S West and N Mitchell stayed at Lankayan Island Resort and also stayed at Bukit Melapai jungle lodge. Blue Ringed Octopus by Alex Mustard.

Kungkungan Bay Resort, February 2009

2009-04-23T17:23:00.002+01:00

R Webster was suitably impressed by Kungkungan Bay Resort both above and below the waves.

We had a great time at Kungkuan and thoroughly enjoyed it. The accommodation was comfortable and the food was excellent and varied.

We were impressed by the organisation of the diving and all the guests were very well looked after, all the kit being sorted and transferred to full cylinders between dives. I had a minor flood in my camera housing and the manager went to great lengths to help me sort it.

The diving was great, very different from anything we’ve ever done. Everything there seems to by pygmy, swims upside down, hairy or doesn’t swim at all, or have a combination of all that! Some truly bizarre creatures are there, and there were plenty of them.

All in all a very good trip and we’d definitely consider returning.

R Webster

Hairy Frogfish by Malcolm Hey

2009 Divequest Gallery

2009-04-07T14:48:00.004+01:00

Calling all photographers! We are preparing to put together our 2009 'Images Of A Different World', the famous gallery section of our brochure. We would like to invite submissions for consideration to be sent to us no later than 8th June 2009. Please send us a CD of no more than 10 high resolution images (jpg, tiff or psd for example) on a CD with your name, where they were taken (preferably a Divequest destination), name of species or wreck or coral etc. We look forward to seeing your images!

Fish Face

2009-04-01T16:13:00.000+01:00

Our latest brochure cover shot taken by Martin Edge.

Captain Don's Habitat, Bonaire, March 2009

2009-04-01T14:59:00.001+01:00

J Wright returned from her fifth trip to Captain Don's Habitat, Bonaire.

We took full advantage of the freedom of Habitat, making 4 dives daily. Fast, comfortable boats, easy to dive from and only one boat allowed per mooring with very little current and good visibility made for some wonderful diving.

The House Reef makes fascinating diving at all depths and times and is teeming with fish and critters giving endless photo opportunities. Access to the reef is very easy, a 10 meter walk along a wooden jetty allows easy stride entry into 2 meters of water. A short swim over the reef top and the drop off starts at around 10 meters with a sandy bottom and garden eels at about 35 meters. Shoals of jacks, Snapper, Goatfish and Wrasse are regularly seen as well as Spiny Lobster, Moray Eels, Barracuda, snake eels and Drumfish are all to be found. Big, lazy Tarpon hang around and allow quite close approach.

We found the dusk dives especially rewarding for observing fish behaviour, a seeminlgy endless stream of Creole Wrasse heading north like commuters going home, fish settling down for the night and hunters starting to prowl.

More energetic divers hired pickup trucks to access other shore dive sites all over the coast. This is a great way to explore the island as well as the myriad dive sites all around the island.

Rum Runners Restaurant on site provides a varied menu and they make a fine pizza! Accommodation in Deluxe Ocean View room around the pool was very user friendly with patio, fridge and coffee machine although we took the kettle for that essential post-dive cup of tea.

All in all, a very relaxed and enjoyable holiday with unlimited easy diving, warm sunshine and a good chance of meeting interesting folk from all over the world makes for a great winter break!

March 2009

2009-04-01T14:32:00.000+01:00

I've had some lovely chats with people this week about various locations. We have arranged for a small group to return to Yap and Truk to see the Mantas and the wrecks. That's one good thing about wrecks - they don't migrate but the mating season can be rather dull though. Better yet the group will bring me back some of that wonderful coconut body oil that Manta Ray Bay provide each guest with! My three year old stocks from my previous visit were diminished some time ago.

Other highlights include arranging for a family to stay at Gangga Island Resort and Kungkungan Bay Resort, Sulawesi. What a great combination of stunning seascapes, fascinating critter diving and of course some relaxation in the warmth.

Atlantis resorts in The Philippines continue to get a lot of attention. We are so pleased to have finally found a resort in The Philippines that we can rely on to match our standards of quality and service both above and below the water. It has taken us a while!

Amongst other things we've arranged for a small party to stay on Cayman Aggressor for a week in November. The original Aggressor and founding vessel of the fleet continues to be one of the most popular.

Rachel Horsfield

The Carousel Of Life

2009-04-01T13:36:00.001+01:00

Is there anything that can make you feel more whole than to swim in crystal blue waters at the very heart of a large school of fish? I feel a thousand eyes are watching me, but with acceptance, not fear.

Suddenly, I sense an almost undetectable change in them. At the edge of the visability, I catch a glimpse of the sleek shape of a White tip reef shark as it glides slowly towards us with unconcerned ease. The shark turns towards us, I feel my heart beat faster and the whole school’s attention is re-directed towards this unwelcome intruder. Closer still and the circle becomes tighter and tighter. As each moment passes it is transformed into a spiralling tornado, spinning and gyrating around me.

The shark is closer now, perhaps only three meters away. As if acting on some unseen comand, a group of perhaps fifteen or twenty of the school suddenly dart at the shark and in a second they are upon it, butting it from all directions.The shark’s resolve breaks quickly and with a powerfull flick of his tail he turns and sinks away to the depths where he can find peace.

Our protectors return and the school relaxes. As I raise my eyes, I see the suns rays pierce the surface and the carousel of life continues for another day.

Andy Hirst