Scuba Diving
Few hobbies in life involve travelling to some of the world’s most beautiful destinations and communing with nature in such an amazing way as scuba diving. Entering the underwater realm means being transported to a whole new world, vastly different from the one we inhabit in our normal lives. It is hard to worry about quarterly business results when you are eye-balling an intelligent octopus, swimming in a school of hammerhead sharks, or finning along a reef wall riotously coloured with sponges and sea fans and schools of fish darting all around you.
For some the idea of a vacation is to lie on a beach doing nothing but looking at the sea. For scuba divers all the fun lies in the sea. Whether staying at a resort and accessing sites from shore or by dive boat, or enjoying the comfort and convenience of a splendid liveaboard yacht, divers often want to spend as much time as they can hanging out with the marine life. The world is full of amazing scuba diving destinations.
Diving with Frogfish: the Obdurate Anglerfish
A pair of frogfish with amazing colouration in Kapalai, Malaysia. Photo Courtesy: Ketrick Chin Open any coffee table book of underwater photography and you are almost certain to see a few pages dedicated to the majestic frogfish. One of the critter kings, anglerfish...
The Banda Islands – a Brief History of the ‘Spice Islands’
The Banda Sea is surrounded by the sprawling mass of islands that comprise eastern Indonesia, lapping the shores of Sulawesi to the west, Alor to the south and with West Papua to the east. Within this body of water lie the fabled Spice Islands in the modern day...
Diving with Whale Sharks: the Largest Fish in the World
If you have been there then you know. If you haven’t, then it is difficult to describe the feeling of sharing the water with this, the biggest fish in the sea. More like a whale than a shark, these fish are right at the top of most divers “To...
Things to Do in Sabah: Borneo Adventure Tours
Located at the meeting point of the South China Sea, the Sulu Sea and the Celebes Sea, Malaysia’s most eastern state of Sabah sits at the northern tip of Borneo, the world’s third largest island, and provides you with 1,440 km of coastline and 74,500 km²...
Diving with Clownfish: Finding Nemo and Finding Out All About Him
Scuba divers have long held the clownfish close to their heart but in recent times, thanks to animated movies such as Finding Nemo, suddenly this little character of the coral reef has entered the mainstream consciousness. What is it about the clown fish that...
Diving with Barracuda – The Tiger of the Sea
Barracudas are perhaps one of the most feared marine creatures for non-divers but those in the know crave underwater encounters with these sleek and misunderstood creatures. However, many such scuba divers might agree that their villain appearance could send a shiver...
Diving with Bumphead Parrotfish – Bumping Coral Reefs into Balance
Finding yourself engulfed by a large school of bumphead parrotfish as they nonchalantly munch their way through acres of coral reef, is an experience not easily forgotten. Bumphead parrotfish in Raja Ampat. Photo Courtesy: Mermaid You may be busy inspecting the nooks...
SANGALAKI ISLAND DIVING VACATIONS
Manta ray in Sangalaki People often talk about ‘Hidden gems’ yet when you find them they are either not at all hidden or not at all gems. Scuba diving in Sangalaki is very much both. Although Sangalaki is not as hard to get to as it seems, many choose to...
Diving with Goliath Grouper: Is the Term Jewfish Offensive?
Jewfish has been the colloquial name for the goliath grouper (Epinephelus itajara) for quite some time. Is it still being used? Is this naming a bit out of step with our politically correct times? Do you think that the term is offensive? Have we ‘evolved’ into such a...