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Ultimate Diving Photography Workshops with Saeed Rashid
This September saw Saeed’s inaugural photo workshop with Ultimate Diving. This took place on the wonderful island of Sulawesi at the Tasik Ria Resort with Tasik Divers on-site. The resort was chosen for this workshop because of the excellent mix of dive sites, from the stunning walls and pristine coral of Bunaken National Park to the local critter rich reefs just a short boat ride from the jetty. This ensured a diverse set of photo opportunities for the group.
Excerpt from Saeed’s blog about the trip:
After readying all of our kit, the first day consisted of relaxing around the pool and getting to know each other and the level of everybody’s photography skills, enabling me to understand where I could help over the duration of the workshop. Our first day got off to a real bang with a visit to Bunaken National Park. The walls here are famous for their sponges, fans and fish life and they didn’t disappoint – the first thing you notice as you enter the water is the abundance of fish life. Thick shoals of red-toothed triggerfish and pyramid butterflyfish cover the walls with large jacks hunting smaller bait fish among them.
The other thing Bunaken is famous for are the turtles. Along the reef wall we encountered massive sleeping green turtles and smaller hawksbills often eating the soft coral and sponges. The last time I visited these reefs was six years ago and I remember being wowed by the number of turtles we saw, and things haven’t changed – if anything, there are far more turtles here than ever before. In fact, I would say there are more turtles here than anywhere else I have ever seen. At times there were so many it made it possible for everybody to have their own turtle to practice their photography on and many would act like super models, seeming to know exactly how to pose for the camera.
We made several trips to Bunaken throughout the workshop but without a doubt our favourite locations were those less dived sites more local to the resort. Unlike Bunaken we were almost guaranteed to have these sites to ourselves. The fish life may not have been as jaw dropping when you first entered the water, but the weird and wonderful critter life was as good as I have seen anywhere else, allowing everyone to practice their macro photo skills.
Komodo National Park is one of the most diverse and rich marine environments in the world, home to over 1,000 species of fish and 250 types of reef-building coral. The coral reefs in the north of the park are rich with colourful combinations of hard and soft corals. Be delighted by the ever-present schools of Anthias, Wrasses, majestic angelfish, and larger predators – reef sharks and giant trevally.
Our guides were often able to locate each guest a different photo subject, allowing everyone to take their time and not feel rushed when shooting. That’s got to be the worst thing ever for a photographer, hasn’t it? Nudibranch were a real highlight for the group, from the super small and cute Shaun the Sheep to the bright pink Dorids that seemed all too often to have eggs on-board. On the house reef we were also fortunate to find a pair of mated ornate ghost pipefish with the male already caring for the eggs. These were revisited many times by the group during the trip.
The morning schedule consisted of two boat dives, giving me the chance to look over the groups images on the boat, and with second dives often on the same reef, crucial advice could be given between dives and put into practice straight away. Most evenings were spent going over editing techniques, talking about camera settings or flash positions, while taking part in image reviews as a group. This naturally coincided with an ice-cold beer and the backdrop of the amazing sunsets from our outdoor classroom at the jetty bar.
Ultimate Diving’s next trip takes place in the beautiful Komodo National Park!
The Komodo National Park is one of the most diverse and rich marine environments in the world, home to over 1,000 species of fish and 250 types of coral. The reefs in the north of the park are rich with colourful combinations of hard and soft corals. Be delighted by the ever-present schools of anthias, wrasses, majestic angelfish, and larger predators such as reef sharks and giant trevally.
Boarding the Cheng Ho on the 20th June 2019 for 10 nights on the Komodo National Park route, this price includes accommodation in shared cabin, full board basis, daily diving, airport transfers, endless sessions with Saeed Rashid and 1 night in Bali.
ITINERARY
18/06/2019 Fly to Bali via Hong Kong with 1 night in Bali
Fly from Bali to Labuan Bajo. Transfer (approx. 1 hour) to the Cheng Ho boat and check-in for your 10 night adventure. Afternoon at leisure and check-in at the dive centre, prepare camera equipment for diving the following day.
21/6 – 29/6/19 9 days diving aboard the Cheng Ho with daily diving activities. Enjoy the world famous sites of Komodo National Park and dive with manta rays, turtles and pristine coral reefs, trekking in search of the ancient Komodo Dragon, visit the waterfalls, witness an active volcano, local markets and much more.
30/6/19 Transfer to the airport. Fly from Labuan Bajo to Bali. Fly from Bali to Heathrow.
PRICE £3095 per person. Deposit required: £600 + flights.
INCLUSIONS
10 nights in shared cabin aboard the Cheng Ho, daily diving with tanks and weights, full board, airport transfers, harbour and anchor fee, and 1 night in Bali.
EXCLUSIONS
Flights approx. £900, airport departure tax, tips, land tour entrance fees and Komodo entrance fee: 25 USD/person/night.
To enquire or book, please give the Ultimate Diving Team a call on 0208 655 6458 or email Marcelina@ultimatediving.co.uk to answer any questions and give you the lowdown on the destination and diving.
Fire on Monroe Bravo is the latest book in the Jack Collier series by Fred Lockwood. Our story begins with our lead characters, Jack and Sandro, owners of Marine Salvage & Investigation Company, arriving on the Monroe Bravo Oil & Gas Platform in the North Sea. Having secured a contract for their vessel the MV Stavanger to act as support ship to the platform for TransGlobal Oil, our protagonists are on a celebratory visit.
However almost as soon as they arrive a series of explosions rock the platform, causing huge damage, loss of life and the very real danger of a massive human, ecological and financial disaster.
As the danger mounts for both our heroes and the surviving workers, Jack and Sandro will have to escape the inferno, all while trying to save the platform and the men still trapped unable to help themselves.
The disaster sets the scene for the unfolding story lines following the fate of the platform and our main characters, the police investigation into a suspected terrorist act and the actions of TransGlobal Oil as they attempt to navigate the pubic outcry and financial repercussions.
In his eighth book, Fire on Monroe Bravo, Fred Lockwood delivers an explosive thriller, with plenty of above and in-water drama, and our heroes fighting for survival, what more can you ask for?
We thoroughly recommend this read and look forward to the next in the series. For more information about his book series, you can check out the reviews of his previous books here on Scubaverse.
- Title: Fire On Monroe Bravo
- Author: Fred Lockwood
- ISBN: 979-8325324536
Available in a paperback version and for Kindle from Amazon and book stores.
In June we were incredibly fortunate to be invited to dive in Alonissos, a small Greek Island in the Sporades island chain located in the North Aegean Sea. While I have long been a big fan of the Greek Islands as a great holiday destination, I had not had the opportunity to do any diving on previous visits and Mike and I were extremely excited to see what Alonissos had to offer both above and below the surface!
The Sporades are easily accessible via the airport in Skiathos (the first island in the chain), which is served by Jet2 flights from all major UK airports from May through October. Numerous ferries and charter boats make island hopping from Skiathos Town a breeze. After an hour boat ride, the picturesque port of Patitiri was a wonderful introduction to Alonissos, where we were met by our gracious hosts Kostas of Albedo Travel and Dias of Alonissos Triton Dive Center. Mike and I were delighted to be staying at the Paradise Hotel, aptly named for its stunning views over the sea and great location for walking to the waterfront.
Alonissos is beautifully situated in the National Marine Park of Alonissos and the Northern Sporades, the largest marine protected area in Europe. The surrounding seas offer fabulous marine life, including incredibly rare species such as the Mediterranean monk seal. They boast deep walls covered in gorgonians and sponges, stunning topography with caverns, swimthroughs and pinnacles, and the first accessible ancient shipwreck from 500BC!
In locations where historical sites have been reported, the waters are largely restricted, but with collaboration between government, underwater archeologists and dive centres, incredible underwater museums are being created for a truly unique diving experience. Alonissos is home to the first of these, the Ancient Shipwreck of Peristera Accessible Underwater Archeological Site. The chance to dive into history (along with reports of healthy reef life and amazing underwater topography) meant Mike and I were keen to get in the water.
Our introduction to the diving around Alonissos was at the Agios Georgios Pinnacles, in the channel between Alonissos and Skopelos. This fantastic site was named “The Chimney,’ and proved to have a huge amount to see. We got to a decent depth here (over 25m), and marvelled at a colourful reef wall with a wonderful swim through whose rocky walls were absolutely covered with life. As well as brilliant topography there was no shortage of macro life here. We saw numerous nudibranchs, five different species in total. The second dive at Mourtias reef nearby was a shallower dive along a nice wall with lots of crevices. Several moray eels and grouper called this site home. We enjoyed looking in the crevices for lobster and smaller benthic life, such as cup corals and tunicates.
Our itinerary allowed us two dives a day with afternoons left to explore the island with our hire car and evenings to enjoy the famous Greek hospitality. This proved to be a lovely mix of in-water and land based diversions.
The next days diving to the Gorgonian Gardens and Triton’s Cave was to be even better! These two stunning sites are nothing short of fabulous. The Gorgonian Gardens was a deep wall near to the Agios Georgios islands. The ever-present currents in this deep channel meant that the sea life was amazing … the namesake Gorgonian sea fans dotted the wall at a depth of 30 to 50 meters, getting ever larger the deeper we went. Above 30m was by no means less beautiful, with sponges, corals, scorpionfish, moray eels and some rare and colourful nudibranchs.
The second shallower dive of the day was to Triton’s Cave or the Cavern of Skopelos, on the east side of that island. The spectacular rock formations had wild striations both above and below the water making a truly epic topography. The cavern entrance was at 14m, and big enough for a buddy pair, winding up to 6m and passing two beautiful windows out into the blue. Emerging from the cavern, the light at the shallower depths and the incredible rock formations made for a fantastic gentle swimming safety stop and we all surfaced by the boat with massive grins.
Check out our next blog :Alonissos: The complete diving destination (Part 2)” to hear about our amazing dive on the 2500 year old Peristera Wreck!
Thanks to:
Alonissos Triton Dive Center https://bestdivingingreece.com/
Albedo Travel https://alonissosholidays.com/activities/
Paradise Hotel https://paradise-hotel.gr/
Alonissos Municipality https://alonissos.gr/en/
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