Diving Anilao, Crystal Blue Resort

Anilao, Batangas, Philippines — October 2024

Back once again to Anilao’s Crystal Blue Resort where we always find lots of interesting critters. Some of my favorite sightings from this trip included bizarre Longibrachium worms filter feeding, tiny clear-shelled amphipod (?) colonies on a heart urchin, Zanzibar urchin shrimps feeding while bouncing among the urchin spines, and an adorable baby bamboo shark walking across the sand.

added 11/13/2024

Muck & Macro Diving, Komodo & Beyond

Komodo, Indonesia — August/September 2024

On this trip aboard the wonderful Samambaia, we focused on the muck and macro sites around the Komodo area, including Bima Bay, East Sumbawa, and the beautiful black sands of Sangeang. We encountered plenty of fascinating critters, and although I didn't find as many ladybug amphipods as during our Christmas trip, I still spotted quite a few different varieties.

added 9/28/2024

Blackwater, Komodo & Beyond

Komodo, Indonesia — August/September 2024

We did blackwater dives almost every night of this trip, exploring a variety of settings from sheltered bays to current-swept slopes and channels. We had many incredible sightings, including squids, jellies, paper nautiluses, and several new-to-us larval fish.

added 9/28/2024

Diving Lembeh Strait with NAD Lembeh

North Sulawesi, Indonesia — June 2024

Back again to NAD, our favorite Lembeh dive resort, to get our fix of muck diving on its black sand and rubble slopes, and some blackwater night dives as well of course. This trip, I was particularly excited to finally capture shots of Banggai cardinalfish mouthbrooding not only eggs but also just-hatched juveniles.

added 8/2/2024

North Sulawesi: Bangka to Saronde on the KLM Sunshine

North Sulawesi, Indonesia — May/June 2024

Our planned muck trip to the Sangihe Islands on the cozy KLM Sunshine was rerouted due to the eruption of Ruang. Instead we cruised from Bangka Island, along the north coast of Sulawesi and on to Saronde Island in Gorontalo, exploring lots of not-often-dived sites along the way. There we found plenty of nudis, frogfish and other small critters to keep our macro-loving group happy.

added 8/2/2024

Bluewater Diving, Palos Verdes, CA

Palos Verdes Peninsula, CA — July 2024

An assortment of strange, mostly gelatinous creatures from recent dives drifting in the chilly blue-green water over the deep canyon off the Southern California coast.

added 7/28/2024

Komodo on the Damai I 

Komodo, Indonesia — December 2023/January 2024

We were excited to spend the holidays on the luxury liveaboard Damai I in Komodo, our favorite dive destination. For me, Komodo means ladybug amphipods, tiny flea-sized creatures with impossibly large personalities, and we found bunches of them in many different colors and patterns. Although, it was hard to focus on looking for those little buggies with all the mantas circling overhead, not to mention lots of other critters vying for our attention.

added 3/17/2024

Komodo on the Damai I Blackwater

Komodo, Indonesia — December 2023/January 2024

We did a handful of blackwater dives on this trip, mostly right under the boat. As usual we were visited by an interesting variety of strange creatures including larval eels, seahorses and pipehorses, a friendly juvenile blue-ringed octopus and a cool worm crawling around a spinning ball of eggs.

added 3/17/2024

Diving Tulamben, Bali with Villa Markisa

Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia — October/November 2023

Itty bitty nudibranchs and sea slugs were the primary sightings on this trip with friends to our favorite Bali dive resort, Villa Markisa. Of course we also spotted some cool crabs, shrimps, fish and cephalopods to help round out the experience.

added 2/6/2024