| HOME | DIVE TRIPS | GUESTBOOK | ABOUT | LINKS | CONTACT | LIMITED EDITIONS |
Sorry, but I only have time to post a very small selection of my photos each day. The diving here keeps me pretty busy, so I will only edit and post about 18 pictures a day for now. When we return home I’ll have time to post more, but until then I hope you enjoy what I consider to be some of my better pic’s from each day here in Fiji.
Adult Blue Ribbon Eel close-up – ‘Black Forest’
After lunch we dove on a site called ‘Kaenens’, which is a pinnacle that starts at about 70 feet and comes up to within 10 feet of the surface. This was another very nice site for soft corals and sea fans. During the dive we were also happily entertained by Juvenal and Adult Lion Fish, Pipe Fish, loads of Anemone Fish (of all different kinds) and several different species of Nudibranchs.
Our last dive for today was on ‘Black Forest’, which gets its name from the large amount of black coral that’s found there. Another pinnacle, this one also starts around 70 feet of depth and rises to just below the surface. What did we see, you ask? What didn’t we see! This site was a big hit after running into a large White Tip Shark, Lion Fish, Pipe Fish and two Adult Blue Ribbon Eels!
(View Photos, Slideshows, Videos & More»)
Our next dive would be a nice easy drift dive on ‘North Save-a-Tack’. During the dive briefing, James took the time to drawl a very detailed map of the dive site on the briefing board. This would give us a better idea of where the current would take us and what we should be looking for during the dive. The map looked more like an obstacle course than a drift dive, but you have to figure that these guys have done this before… right?! We dropped in on the seaward side of the channel and found ourselves on a beautiful bottomless wall at around 100 feet of depth. As we drifted along the wall we saw all sorts of small critters and schooling fish; there was even a small White Tip Shark hiding in a small cavern under an outcropping on the wall.
A view of Namena Island from North Save-a-Tack Passage.
We quickly came upon the cut-out or channel in the wall that James had mentioned earlier in the briefing. You could easily see the white-sand seafloor that gently sloped upward and onto the reef which we were suppose to follow for the next leg of our tour. Before moving on with the dive, we spent a few minutes hanging out on the corner of the wall taking pictures of the schools of Barracuda, Jacks and Tuna that were every where. We also spotted several Gray Reef Sharks and a couple of large White Tip Sharks patrolling the waters just off the wall.
(View Photos, Slideshows, Videos & More»)
This morning we gathered on the dive deck for yet another beautiful morning sunrise and dive briefing. Our first dive today would be on a site called ‘Kansas’, which is a shallow bommie or pinnacle that sits in the channel of the North Save-a-Tack Passage. This site gets its nickname for the prolific coating of a species of leather coral that resembles a wheat field swaying in the wind. ‘Kansas’ is frequently current-swept and today was no different; the current was running at about 2 knots which made it difficult to work our way around the entire site. The soft-coral growth covering the sides of this pinnacle was truly spectacular! This site is also host to a feature known as the “Window of Dreams”, which is a large opening clustered with soft corals, bubble coral, sea fans and various types of whip coral.
Julie in the “Window of Dreams” – Namena, Fiji
As for the marine life, well let’s just say that there’s no shortage of it here in Fiji. It’s almost like diving in a giant salt water aquarium. This site was absolutely covered with a variety colorful reef fish including Coronet Fish, Clown Triggers, Spotted Groupers, Pipe Fish and tons of Anemones.
(View Photos, Slideshows, Videos & More»)
After Dinner the crew pulled anchor and we headed east for an area known as the Namena Marine Reserve which is a protected reef system just north of Namena-la-la Island. Once there, we would spend both Tuesday and Wednesday motoring around and diving on a number of different sites in the area. From talking with the locals it seems that the two big ‘must dive’ sites in Namena are ‘North Wall’ and ‘North Save-A-Tack’; James and Marnie have assured us that we will have a chance to dive them both as well as several other great sites!
Here are some more photos from today’s dives on ‘E6’ & ‘HI8’… Enjoy!
Click this link for more photos…
(View Photos, Slideshows, Videos & More»)
Our next two dives were on ‘HI8′ which is, in most respects a clone of ‘E6′, but having already done two rather deep and long dives today I decided to spend more time in the shallows where the sunlight would have the greatest effect on my photographs. I was right, the early afternoon sun made for some very impressive photographs and I really just can’t get over the amount of color there is in the soft corals here… it is truly an awesome sight when viewed first hand!
Click this link for more photos… (View Photos, Slideshows, Videos & More»)
This morning we awoke to another perfect day and after a smooth, peaceful ride the night before we found ourselves in the middle of Vatu-i-ru Channel motoring our way up to ‘E6′. According to Marnie, both ‘E6′ and ‘HI8′ are basically enormous sea mounts which sit in the middle of the channel, therefore you never know what might turn up or fly by while diving here. The sites are well known for their dramatic walls, caverns and swim-thru’s. The sight was most stunning from the surface and got even better once we were in the water!
Sunrise – looking off the stern of the Fiji Aggressor II
Our first dive on ‘E6′ turned up a Turtle, several Lion Fish, some Nudibranchs and even a White Tip Shark! We also saw Pipefish, schools of Barracuda and large Jacks, Puffer Fish and tons of different species of Anemone Fish. Our second dive on this site was a mirror image of the first; we just drifted to the right side of the sea mount this time instead of the left!
(View Photos, Slideshows, Videos & More»)
Later in the evening after dinner, I had a chance to look through the photos I had taken for the day and decided to make some adjustments to my underwater camera system. The lens and port combination I’d been using just wasn’t quite working for me and it seemed as though I was missing a lot of shots because I wasn’t using a macro setup. On the other hand I knew that if I put a macro lens and port on my camera I would probably be chased around the whole dive by a Whale Shark. The problem with a digital SLR rig is that you can’t change lenses underwater, so what you jump in with is what you have for the entire dive, like it or not! The solution… well there really isn’t one. I decided to go with a Nikkor 18-70mm Zoom Lens with a +4 close-up adaptor to sharpen the edges of the image. This would allow me the ability of wide angle if I needed it and would also let me get close-ups of the small stuff. Stay tuned for the results tomorrow!
Here are some photos for ‘Christines’ and ‘Half Pipe’… Enjoy!
Click this Link for more pictures… (View Photos, Slideshows, Videos & More»)
This morning we awoke to find ourselves in the beautiful calm waters just off the island of Wakaya. The clear blue skies and picture perfect sunrise were a welcomed sight at 7am as we gathered on the dive deck for our first dive briefing. We started the week with one of the crew’s favorite dive sites known as ‘Blue Ribbon Eel Wall’. This turned out to be a beautiful dive with a verity of both hard and soft corals. There was a light current and the visibility was a bit low, but we made due. The marine life on the wall was incredible with fish and sea creatures of every classification you could imagine. I was using a super wide angle lens, so I couldn’t take advantage of all the macro stuff and the two Blue Ribbon Eels that were sharing the same ledge on the wall. There were also a couple of very photogenic Lion Fish on the corner of the wall and someone said they saw a large Sea Turtle swim past. There were even a couple of White Tip Sharks that swam by, but the visibility and distance to them would not allow for a good photograph.
Once on board the Fiji Aggressor II we were shown to our cabin and given about a half hour to settle in before being summed to the dinning area for a safety briefing and to go over the itinerary for the upcoming week. We were told that the weather last week had been quite sever and now that the storms had past the radar was showing favorable conditions for at least the next 5 to 7 days. As a result, the Captain and crew had voted to take us up North to Bligh Waters to dive on two of Fiji’s best known photographic dive sites ‘E6′ and ‘HI8′. These two dive sites are actually enormous sea mounts right in the middle of Vatu-i-ru Channel that come up from the sea floor (3000+ feet below) to within 10 feet of the surface at low tide.
A view from the Aggressor as were leaving Suva Harbour