Here’s a short video compiled from the video clips I took during the dive trip to Similan Islands. Looks like I’ll need a video light or shoot almost exclusively on shallow water under bright lit condition to make this better.
Most clips were shot with Olympus E-PL3 (except those not underwater, shot with Sony Xperia Arc), using Inon wide angle converter with dome port, no red filter (which I had and probably should have made good use of.. gah!)
Hope you enjoy!
Just got back on another excellent live aboard diving trip at Similan Islands, as with last year, the experience was nothing short of awesome. The photos are now transferring onto the computer and waiting to be processed, in the mean time, here are a couple photos from the trip.
dive buddy Dave in picture, at Koh Bon
Proper blog post on the trip, more photos, and perhaps a video is on the way soon as I get some time to work on them.
moray eel in full view, Koh Bon, Thailand
Back to the office tomorrow, been an awesome CNY holidays away from work, and the dive trip made it so much sweeter.
Hope your holiday was well spent too!
By the time you read this, I’ll be on MV Vilai Samut and diving somewhere near the Similan Islands, and hopefully underwater enjoying a bit of compressed air. (last year’s trip here)
The difference is this time, the good people at Olympus has loaned me the following gears to pair with my E-PL3:
Olympus PT-EP05L underwater casing with UFL-2 flash
That’ll be the original PT-EP05L underwater casing for the E-PL3 and the UFL-2 underwater flash, coupled with a sync cord and a short arm. Together this makes a very compact underwater photography system with picture quality that should rival the much bulkier underwater SLR systems, not to mention at a price that is quite a lot cheaper. (the casing is retailed at around RM 2k, while you can hardly find any SLR UW housings cheaper than RM 5k).
In fact, this is so compact you can essentially operate with just one hand, great for when there’s a current, or that your buoyancy skill is a bit suspect. 
all buttons are clearly labeled and quite easily accessed
When considering moving from compact camera system (I also use a Canon S90 with Ikelite underwater casing and a Sea & Sea YS-01 flash) to SLR or 4/3 format, the underwater accessories was always a consideration for me. After a bit of research, I came to like the Oly even more.
They are one of the very few companies that offers complete underwater photography solutions. Check out their underwater accessories page.
Arm, bracket, flash systems, housings, conversion lenses, and even weights. All theses saves a lot of hassles trying to mix and match products from different manufacturers and hoping that it all gels together.
Olympus UW casing with Inon UWL 100 & dome port
the bare Oly casing isn’t really much bigger than S90′s
That being said, the PT-EP05L casing does play well with third party accessories too. I’ll be fitting it with my Ikelite bracket from my S90, and even the Inon UWL 100 & Dome port fits right on the the casing and should give me a very good wide angle coverage. (I put the Sea & Sea flash just as a demo and most likely won’t be using it on actual dives).
Lets hope there are already some decent underwater photos in my memory card by the time you see this. Will post the results soon!
P/S: the dive trip is from 3-8 February and we’ll be on radio silence. I’m gonna miss the Superbowl. Hope you had a great Chap Goh Meh too!
One of the most important item on our itinerary for Bali is scuba diving. Bali is one of the few places in this part of the world where there is almost a guarantee that you’ll dive with the otherwise very elusive Manta Rays, and there’s also a good chance in spotting the biggest bony fish in the world – the weird and wonderful Mola Mola, also known as Sun Fish.
the beach at Sanur before heading to Nusa Penida
Prior to the trip, I did some research on the various dive centres at Bali (and there were a lot of them) and arrived at no conclusion, so I asked Edvin for suggestion and Bali Scuba was recommended, it turned out to be a good one, so thanks buddy!
the three dive sites at Nusa Penida that we went to
There are many dive sites in Bali offering very different diving experiences. There’s the USS Liberty wreck at Tulamben, white tip sharks that is common at Gili island, muck diving for macro photography at Seraya, and more.
However, since my goal was to see Manta Rays and Mola Mola, I chose Nusa Penida as my destination.
Bali Scuba is located at Sanur
The dive center charges US $145 for three boat dives at Nusa Penida, and the package comes with hotel transfer, drinks, and a lunch served on the speed boat. Equipment can be rented at extra charge, and extra wet suit is recommended (5mm wet suit rented at $5).
To tag on for snorkeling only, the fee was US $50, Haze does not dive yet, so she went aboard for a snorkeling trip, that was the initial plan anyway.
abundance of manta rays at Manta Point
We left Sanur at around 9 in the morning and our first dive was at the famous Manta Point, located at the Southern part of the island.
Even before jumping into the water, there were already sightings of those gentle giants swimming close to the surface.
2 mantas in a mating dance
I was wearing the rental 5 mm wet suit for the dive, and spent over 40 minutes in the water that was 22-23 Celsius. A bit too cold for me, but bearable, a hood and extra thermal guard would probably be a good idea.
My previous coldest diving temperature was at Aquaria KLCC, but 22-23 Celsius is a big difference with 24-25 Celsius.
the graceful devil ray
The dive though, was definitely worth it. While the water at Manta Point wasn’t particularly clear and there were even debris (some banana leaves, plastic wrappers and such from offerings made by boatmen), the sight of these huge fish was amazing.
There were probably over a dozen mantas at the site and some were doing their mating dance too. A fantastic dive for sure.
mola mola: hello, diver: say cheese!
The second dive was at Crystal Point to hunt for the elusive Mola Mola.
The dive master said it’ll be cold on this dive, so I put on two wet suits this time (Haze has already abandoned snorkeling after being shocked by the 23 C water temperature at first site), but it was not nearly enough for the 17 Celsius water temperature at this site.
It was FREEZING! It was so cold I think I’d need at least a thermal layer, 2 wet suits, gloves, hood, and probably socks too.
But we saw two mola mola, so it was definitely worth it. I only managed to take four photos in the 20+ minutes we were underwater. I was shaking too much to operate the camera, basically.
Other than the temperature, the current at Crystal Point is also something to be reckoned with. There is sometimes a down current that can pull inexperience divers towards the deep slope, you need to always stay close to the coral & dive master and monitor depth constantly. A Japanese diver with another group was seen being pulled by the current while we were doing our safety stop and our DM had to help him out.
Crystal Point is definitely only suitable for those who have a bit more experience in diving.
underwater seascape at North Coast, Nusa Penida
We had lunch on the boat, took a bit of rest and then moved to the 3rd dive site of the day. This time at the much warmer North Coast of Nusa Penida. The operator usually would have a repeat at Crystal Point as third dive if you don’t spot any mola mola on first attempt.
North Coast offers drift diving opportunity, and after the two very cold water, I was happy we agreed to do something relaxing for the final dive.
then we meet another mola mola at 37 meter
And as luck would have it, we met another mola mola at this site. The dive master did mention that while there is a chance to see the sun fish here, it is exceedingly rare, we were very lucky.
The photo taken here turned out to be almost exactly the same as the one from previous site, and I think a couple of us accidentally went a little too deep chasing mola at 37 meter.
hey look, a scorpion fish
After the encounter with the sunfish (lasted but a few minutes), the remaining dive was a more leisure and less interesting affair. There were scorpion fish, moray eel, and more coral fish. We finished the day after 40+ minutes underwater.
It was tiring, and definitely a very rewarding day diving at Nusa Penida.
Haze and I are in the midst of a 5 day trip to Bali and I scheduled in a day for diving with Bali Scuba. We did 3 dives today and it was beyond awesome, I came here with a purpose and got what I bargained for.
This majestic manta was shot at none other than the famed Manta Point dive site at Nusa Penida just earlier today.
More on diving at Bali later and the whole travel experience for sure.
