I've finally managed to sit down and have a look through my photos from Bali and Komodo. Here are a few that I think turned out OK. Enjoy!

Note: The "pink" diver in the black and white photo was originally wearing a yellow wetsuit. I played around with it in Photoshop and ended up with what you see now. That is the only photo that I have used photoshop on (except to resize the images to take up less space on this website)

At the start of this year I read a book called Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson. Shadow Divers is "The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Risked Everything to Solve One of the Last Mysteries of World War II". Through previous books I've read and through the internet, I thought I already knew alot of the story that was to be told in Shadow Divers. Shadow Divers was to go into finer detail of the mystery U-boat that was found lying off the New Jersey coast in 1991. Reading through the pages of Shadow Divers, I found it to be a great adventure. There were times though that I read certain passages that seemed to contradict previous things that I had read. I can remember thinking things like "I'm sure the total opposite happened", and "So and so doesn't even get a mention, I thought he/she was involved in that event." But like any story that can be told over and over again by various people, certain things may be added or ommitted from a story. Not having first hand account off the full story or actually knowing anybody with first hand account of the story, I brushed these thoughts aside and just enjoyed the book and the adventure that was being told. After all, the author seemed to quote various sources and had spent much time interviewing the main characters of the book to great length to retell there story.

About two months ago I found out that one of my favourite authors on shipwrecks, Gary Gentile, was about to release a book called "Shadow Divers Exposed"  Straight away I started remembering about the thoughts I had while reading Shadow Divers. Shadow Divers Exposed was a must read, and as soon as it was released I ordered a copy (as far as I am aware, Shadow Divers Exposed is only on sale in America. I had to order my copy over the internet and get it posted to Oz).

One of the things I like about Gary Gentile's books are that they appear to be very well researched, and he also has many first hand accounts to share. He has been diving and discovering shipwrecks for many years, and has written numerous books, articles and other publications about shipwrecks, diving, and technical diving. He seems to me to be very well credentialed. 

Now without giving too much away, Shadow Divers Exposed was written because many wreck divers were unhappy with what was written in Shadow Divers. After been told by other people about certain things in Shadow Divers, Gary Gentile was asked to write a book to right the wrongs that took place. I will point out at this stage that Gary had not even read Shadow Divers, after all, he knows the story - alot of it first hand.  Pressure seemed to get to Gary so he decided to read Shadow Divers and see for himself what all the hype was about.  After noting down certain things that he (and others) believed to be wrong or miswritten, he decided to take up the task of righting (or writing) the wrongs that were published in Shadow Divers (some, but not all).

As I mentioned earlier, I don't want to give too much away. I recommend that anybody who has read Shadow Divers get themself a copy of Shadow Divers Exposed. And for anyone else who is interested, read Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson then get yourself a copy of Shadow Divers Exposed by Gary Gentile. Both are great books, I recommend them both, but read Shadow Divers first. It is a great adventure and tells a very exciting story. Then be prepared to be blowen away by reading Shadow Divers Exposed.

Most book shops should stock or be able to get Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson in should you require it.  Shadow Divers Exposed is available directly through the the author via his website www.ggentile.com (that's were I purchased my copy). I'm sure it is possible to get both books over the internet  at other sites (just do a search on both books)

Note: I have NO affiliation with these books other than purchasing then for my own purposes. I posted this on here to let anyone who might be interested in these books know that the book exists. If you decide you want to get yourself a copy, I will not profit in any way, shape or form.

It's now been just over 2 weeks since I got back from my Komodo trip. It seems like months ago.  Now I remember why I usually try and take a month off to go away, not 2 weeks. It's just not long enough.  This trip was planned at the very last minute. Usually I plan my trips months in advanced, but this time I planned everything in a day or two. One of the guys from work asked me if I wanted to go to Bali for a week and do a bit of diving. Then he told me he was leaving in a week.  I managed to convince the boss to give me a week off (after first been told yes, then no) then found out that the flight I needed to be on was full.  So I went on a waiting list. Fortunately the next morning a seat came up.  Then I thought "one week is not long enough". So I had to convince my boss to give me an extra week off. While he was deciding, I looked into a few liveaboards that go to Komodo. This was the easiest part. I found 4 or 5 liveaboards that regularly go to Komodo this time of the year. I just had to narrow it down to one. I ended up going for Mermaid Liveaboards.  That way I could get on the boat in Bali instead of having to fly to Flores. Once my boss gave me the extra week off I confirmed and paid for my flights and liveaboard (The problem with booking last minute is that everything must be paid for there and then - thank god for Visa) Everything seemed to fall into place. It was the only time for the year that I could actually get anytime off.

I'd been to Bali once before for a friends wedding. Bali was a place that never really had an interest in going to, but I still had a great time regardless. It was also I place that I didn't have any desire to return to, but I was in dire need of some time off. This year has been ridiculously busy and diving has suffered a bit of a set back, so even a week diving in Bali seemed like a great idea. Even though I only ended up doing 5 dives in Bali, I was pleasantly surprised with the what I saw.  I always assumed that Bali wasn't a great dive destination, but the dives I did do where pretty good. I did 2 dives off Candi Desa, 2 dives in Tulamben and one off Amed. Unfortunately I forgot my dive mask when I went to Amed, so I had to use a spare (I dive with corrective lenses). That made spotting the smaller stuff a hard task. I was meant to do 2 dives in Amed, but chose not to do the 2nd. For the rest of my time in Bali I just spent relaxing and trying to forget about work.

The second week was what I was really looking forward to. I hadn't been on a liveaboard (while holidaying - been on work related trips on liveaboards) since 2003. Liveaboards are the way to go. Eat, dive, eat, dive, eat, dive, eat, dive, sleep - and generally in that order. And just like the liveaboard I went on in 2003, there were only 7 customers. That is great, especially since I booked the budget below deck cabin - I got upgraded. The crew outnumbered passengers.

Komodo...I'd heard good things about Komodo. It has been on my "list of places to dive" for quite a while and I was now going there. I was even going to see Komodo Dragons. Because we left from Bali, the first 2 days diving was actually on the way to Komodo. The first dive of the trip was at Angel Reef off Moyo Island. I can remember thinking, if the rest of the dives are going to be like this, I'm in for a great week. I was told the diving was only going to get better. The next few dives weren't as good as the first dive of the day (in my opinion), but were still good. 

Once we arrived in Komodo National Park, the diving really started to come good. Komodo seems to be well patrolled and well protected from illegal fishing. There is no obvious signs of dynamite fishing like there is in other parts of Indonesia. Plenty of fish life and healthy reefs.  The currents in this area can be really strong, which can make for some interesting (and fun) diving.  Some of the sites however aren't really designed for drift diving, so you do have to fight the current a bit. There was only one dive that I found the current a bit too much, but that was towards the end of the dive, and only because I was trying to fight it too much. Most sites you can find protection from the current and spend time looking at macro life and the thousands of reef fish instead of fighting your way to get a closer look at sharks (and dolphins) and pelagics. I prefered the latter option. Plus it was a good work out.

The north of Komodo and the south of Komodo are quite different. For starters, the water temperature.  In the north the temp was I lovely 27-28 degrees. The south was a chilli 24 degrees. Even though it rarely gets to 24 in Perth, I found the south of Komodo to be freezing (I get cold very quickly).  The soft corals and the macro life in the south is quite amazing - colour and life everywhere. But I prefered the crystal clear, WARM water to the north.

Two of the highlights for the trip were seeing a Dolphin for the first time while on scuba (I've snorkelled in shallow water with them before, but never seen them dancing around at 25m) and seeing my first Blue Ribbon Eeel.  The photos and video you see of blue ribbon eels make them look alot bigger than they actually are - no wonder I've missed them in the past. The Manta drift dive was also quite interesting.

Like I mentioned in the opening paragraph, 2 weeks away is definately not long enough (in my opinion). All up I did 23 dives over the 2 weeks I was away which is probably twice as much as I'd done for the first half of the year. Now my dive tally for the year is starting to become a little respectable. Hopefully the second half of the year will be more fruitful than the first.

I still need to go through the photo's I took while I was away, which wasn't a great deal. Hopefully I managed to take one or two good shots that I will be able to put on here for all to see in the next few days or so.

I've been in Bali for a week now in what was a very rushed trip. The oppurtunity came up so I took it. I spend the first 5 days or so up on the east coast looking around and managed to get 5 dives done.  I'm now in Kuta for a bit of relaxing before heading out on a liveaboard to Komodo for a week of serious diving.  Hopefully I will come back with a few good photos to put on here. Anyway, I'll keep this one short (the internet will cut out at any second).  Will write all about the Komodo trip when I get back.

I've heard shipwreck photographers like to take photo's of shipwrecks "because they don't move". I like taking photo's of Nudibrachs for the exact same reason. Nudibranchs would have to be one of the easiest things to photograph underwater (in my opinion). As no diving will be taking place this weekend, I thought I'd post some nudibranch photos I've taken. All these nudibranch photos were taken during my trip to the Philippines in 2004.

According to this newspaper article in the Sunday Times Newspaper on the weekend, a new deep diving record has been set at 1720m of water - pretty impressive.  I was on this dive, so I know for fact that it is a typo. It should read 17-20m.  Another reason why you shouldn't believe everything you read in the paper!!!  I think it should also read that my brother Dave was 3 crays up on me for the season, not "the lads had caught only three for the season".  The rest of the facts seem to be correct though. 

My brother sent this photo in (for the fishing section) the day after he caught the cray. Five weeks later it finally got published.  A few guys at work had a good laugh about the crazy depths we'll go to just for a single cray. If anyone breaks this new deep diving record any time soon, I will be very impressed

If you want to see this photo (and another photo) of this cray in colour, checkout my post The Crayfish.