5/31-8/13/09-Trip Report: Budget Diving Adventure in SE Asia!

[wershwie]

Just a few pictures from the dives last weekend. Don't listen to Kathy, my cam's not too special. I don't even have strobes! Haha... Anyhoo, just wanted to show our "aquarium" that day

And heeeeeeeere's Kathy!

Hey, if you guys are ever planning on hitting our waters, PLEASE DON'T HESITATE TO LEMME KNOW! I'd be happy to dive with you (if schedule allows!), or at least hook you up with the right people for the best scuba experience

 

[bbianchi]

Ugh i wish i could be warm water diving right now!

 

[mikeguerrero]

Hey Brandon,

Are they allowed to post National Geograhic quality pictures on this board? J/K Your pictures are just beautiful, thanks for sharing....

MG

 

[kathydee]

Kathy - I'm not green with envy, just glad someone is diving even if I can't. :depressed:

Pics look amazing and you look so relaxed. Thanks for allowing me to live vicariously through your diving.

Oh Sam you are a sweetie! I wish you were here to enjoy this with! Maybe someday!

Wow, this thread is getting epic. Please keep posting.

I thought that I had a tough life diving Monterey twice a week, but you really kick my butt!

Ha Ha - Lobos 2X a week! You do have it made! I can't deny it's really awesome here - but you have no idea how much I miss diving in Monterey ;-).

Hey, if you guys are ever planning on hitting our waters, PLEASE DON'T HESITATE TO LEMME KNOW! I'd be happy to dive with you (if schedule allows!), or at least hook you up with the right people for the best scuba experience

WOW! Leslie - that's a very generous offer! Someone ought to take her up on this! This crowd knows the PI diving & will set you up with a fantastic experience if you head their way!

 

[kathydee]

Ha! In critter heaven - Lembeh Straights. Really this is the complete opposite of Coron wrecks. Drop off the boat and decend down 7 meters to the black sand and start searching till your eyes cross and you find an itty bitty candy crab - ah the fish ID divers will have fun with this next post. I know a few names and am learning more by the day but certainly do not feel I have enough knowledge to really understand how rare some of these crazy looking creatures are.

Today enjoyed sea moths, a family of spiney devil fish strolled by, the tiny pigmy sea horses, a hairy octopus which changed to smooth and dark, countless different nudi's that I have never seen before, etc, etc, etc.

This location is absolutely amazing, often black sand muck diving with 25-30 ft visibility but occasionaly brightly colored patches of coral. Think I will stay a few more days to marvel at this amazing sea scape filled with exotic wonder - before I follow the urge to return to deeper blue water.

A very kind partner from Singapore offered his un-edited macro pictures for this post. He has offered to post the edited pictures later which I really hope he does !

BTW these pictures were taken with 3 different cameras so the quality varies ;-).
Lembeh above water:

Underwater

 

[kathydee]

Hairy octopus in the next two pictures - it changes color and texture!

In Lembeh dives are pretty shallow so in the water 4-5 hours every day - Talk about a great place to practice subtle dive skills!

 

[kathydee]

4 days in Lembeh was amazing but headed towards the deep blue water of Bunakan Island again. Was here last year. More boats, more green inviting quite islands now I am at the bar of a wonderful dive shop/mid range resort named Living Colors which I highly recommend. Fantastic guides, very safe and fun environment! I am next door in the local budget bungalows made from wood and coconut trees. Will post pictures later. I love my hammock on my front porch where I dry my dive booties every day. The other guests are from all over Europe, quite an international bunch. I am the only American diver here and diving in bars/celcius/meters is the norm.

This is yet another paradise -- I feel so lucky!!

Today for the first time on this trip I finally dove 100+ ft vis! It is soooooooo beautiful to look that far through the clear aqua water. So many layers of schooling fish, coral and that deep, deep blue water. We rode a nice current along the gentle sloping wall without a bottom - it was like flying! Drop down to 80+ ft, look up and down into the clear blue water, a turtle glides by.

The next dive was the site of a very frightening narc/co2 build-up last year. Alerted my partner who was also a dive instructor of my potential fear. Together side by side we rode the current down 80ft into the very deep sapphire blue filled with thousands of red tooth trigger fish. Soon the residual fear from last year melted into awe, tears of happiness filled my eyes from the outrageous beauty and incredible peace. A dive that started with slight anxiety morphed into a peaceful bliss. 70 minutes later I surfaced with almost 1/2 a tank ;-).

Good partners are what makes great dives!

Another dive, steep walls decorated with coral, a secret hidden swim through shared by the local instructor/dive master. A graceful white tip shark 6+ ft long in no rush wanders by, Sunrays scatter from the surface 60ft above.


I regret that my stay here is short - ah I'd just love to just spend hours and days hovering somewhere between the surface and blue forever gazing into to this crystal blue eternity.

I wish everyone could experience this type of vis.

Hope you all are having a great summer!

 

[mobeeno]

Awsome!

 

[Desert_Diver]

Kathy-

Great report. The text and pictures are definately causing me to rethink priorities on Pacific dive destinations. Keep the material coming.

Thanks,

Art

 

[Jim Ernst]

So this is where you have been hiding?