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

NAD Lembeh

North Sulawesi, Indonesia — November 2023

Lembeh Strait consistently delivers an abundance of critters, and our recent trip to NAD Lembeh was no exception. Our fantastic guides found loads of interesting shrimps and crabs, a remarkable assortment of frogfish, and various types octopuses, including the hairy type and a mating pair of wunderpus. Naturally, we also ventured out for a few enjoyable blackwater dives.

added 2/19/2024

Bali Blackwater

Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia — October/November 2023

We went out for a blackwater dive most nights during our stay at Villa Markisa and were rewarded with a nice variety of creatures of the deep and dark, including a rarely-seen juvenile crocodile toothfish.

added 2/6/2024

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

Critterhunt 2023, Crystal Blue Resort, Anilao

Anilao, Batangas, Philippines — May/June 2023

On our almost-annual trip to Anilao, we got to reunite with old friends, meet new ones and explore some of the best macro sites to be found anywhere. We found many of our favorite critters ranging from large sea snakes to tiny amphipods and an alien-like 8-legged worm feeding from its tube in the sand.

added 7/11/2023

Diving South Australia on the Rodney Fox

South Australia — March 2023

A 10-day expedition out of Port Lincoln brought us to Kangaroo Island as well as Edithburgh and Rapid Bay Jetties where we found a wonderland of creatures new to us California divers. From Australian sea lions and giant cuttlefish to pinhead-sized orange amphipods, there was an amazing variety and abundance of sea life to keep us entertained, including the spectacular leafy sea dragon.

added 5/12/2023

Great White Shark Dives with Rodney Fox Expeditions

Neptune Islands, South Australia — March 2023

We spent a day during our 10-day expedition anchored off the Neptune Islands, known for its population of great white sharks. We got to see these amazing elasmobranchs (along with lots of jacks and kingfish) from both a surface cage and a cage that gets lowered down to the ocean floor.

added 5/12/2023

A Vacation on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi

Kona and Volcanoes National Park, Hawaiʻi — January 2023

A fun 10-day vacation with friends. While there, we were fortunate to witness the bubbling lava lake at Kiluea and some very large surf. Despite the big waves we got some diving in too, including a manta night dive and a couple of blackwater dives.

added 5/1/2023

Banda Sea & Misool Blackwater Diving on the Samambaia with the Underwater Tribe

Banda Sea and Raja Ampat, Indonesia — October/November 2022

We did a lot of blackwater diving throughout this trip including one night while traveling in between islands over 13,000 feet of water. As usual, we found lots of interesting creatures drifting around in the black.

added 3/3/2023

Misool, Raja Ampat on the Samambaia with the Underwater Tribe

Raja Ampat, West Papua, Indonesia — October/November 2022

The second leg of our journey took us up into the Ceram Sea to the Misool Area of Raja Ampat. The water was a little greener than in Banda but the sites were beautiful and very fishy with a greater diversity of corals and other sea life.

added 3/3/2023

Banda Sea on the Samambaia with the Underwater Tribe

Banda Sea, Indonesia — October/November 2022

We’re back again on the Samambaia, this time cruising through the Banda Sea, hopping from island to island in glassy blue waters. Schooling fish, turtles and pristine stretches of hard coral are common sights here. The highlight of the trip for most of us (although not for everyone!) was Manuk, an island famous for its large numbers of curious sea snakes.

added 3/3/2023

Diving Ambon Bay with Spice Island Divers

Ambon, Maluku Islands, Indonesia — October 2022

Since we were traveling through Ambon, we couldn’t pass up the chance to spend a few days at the wonderful Spice Island Divers and do some hardcore muck diving in Ambon Bay. And as usual the dives were packed with non-stop critter action.

added 3/3/2023

East Flores to Lembata, Flores/Alor Muck Trip on the Samambaia

East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia — August 2022

In the long stretch between Maumere and the Alor area there are a lot of different types of dive sites to explore. Since this was a muck trip, we focused on sites featuring black sand slopes and silty bays. We founds loads of amazing macro critters there, many of which were only a few millimeters in size.

added 1/5/2023

Pantar Strait and Kalabahi Bay, Flores/Alor Muck Trip

on the Samambaia

East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia — August 2022

This area is the heart of Alor diving and almost anything can be seen in the crazy currents that rip past the beautiful walls of the strait, while Kalabahi Bay offers critter-filled mucky slopes. We mostly avoided the current this trip and focused on the small stuff. There was plenty to be found including a couple of rhinopias and hairy (or algae?) octopus.

added 1/5/2023

Beangabang, Flores/Alor Muck Trip on the Samambaia

East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia — August 2022

This small bay in the southeast part of Pantar is home to a very friendly village and one of my favorite macro sites in the world. This trip it did not disappoint as we found plenty of unusual crabs, shrimps, worms, slugs, snails, and a beautiful little new-to-me black ladybug amphipod.

added 1/5/2023

Blackwater Diving, Flores/Alor Muck Trip on the Samambaia

East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia — August 2022

We did blackwater dives almost every night of this almost-4-week trip. One night just outside Maumere we jumped into a huge aggregation of moon jellies which was an amazing experience. We surfaced to the skiff driver excitedly telling us about the whale shark that swam around on the surface right above us. We never saw it…

added 1/5/2023

Blackwater, Crystal Blue Resort, Anilao

Anilao, Batangas, Philippines — May/June 2022

A full week of twice-a-night blackwater diving brought a mind-bending array of creatures including some beautiful larval fish, lots of paper nautilus and a larval wunderpus.

added 10/10/2022

Critterhunt 2022, Crystal Blue Resort, Anilao

Anilao, Batangas, Philippines — May 2022

We returned to Crystal Blue Resort, one of our favorite dive spots, for 10 days of hunting critters and we found lots, including nudibranchs, gobies, assorted crustaceans and plenty of other creatures to keep our trigger fingers busy.

added 10/10/2022

Diving Utila with Underwater Connection

Utila, Bay Islands, Honduras — January 2022

For our first international trip in two years, we joined some friends from the Underwater Connection dive shop for a fun week of diving with Utila Lodge. While the area is not known for its macro life, we found plenty of interesting small critters to keep our cameras busy.

added 2/3/2022

Everybody Loves Lumpies!

Des Moines, WA — December 2021

All lumpsuckers all the time from our trip to Seattle in December 2021. The wonderful folks from Seattle Dive Tours helped us find a bunch of these adorable little fish.

added 1/5/2022

Diving Puget Sound with Seattle Dive Tours

Seattle, WA — December 2021

We had been wanting to dive Seattle to look for pacific spiny lumpsuckers for years, and being stuck in the US inspired us to finally make that trip. We’re so glad we did, as we had a blast diving the emerald waters with giant pacific octopus, wolf eels and, yes—lumpsuckers! The fun, friendly and incredibly helpful folks from Seattle Dive Tours took great care of us and all our gear.

added 12/27/2021

Lembeh Strait Blackwater

North Sulawesi, Indonesia — January/February 2020

Eight straight nights of diving in the blackwater (we really are hooked!) provided loads of amazing subjects, including a super cool blanket octopus and an ethereally beautiful juvenile ribbonfish.

added 4/26/2020

Diving Lembeh Strait with NAD Lembeh

North Sulawesi, Indonesia — January/February 2020

Back again to NAD Lembeh Resort where the diving never disappoints. This visit brought the usual array of funny fish, strange shrimps, curious cephalopods and so many hairy frogfish.

added 4/19/2020

Komodo on the Pindito: Bima to Maumere

Komodo, Indonesia — January 2020

This trip on the Pindito led by Tanya Burnett of Island Exposure was centered on the amazing South Komodo area during the season when the water is warm(er) and blue(r). We dived sites from coral pinnacles to silty muck slopes and saw everything from ladybug amphipods to manta rays.

added 4/12/2020

Diving Ambon with Spice Island Divers

Ambon, Maluku Islands, Indonesia — October 2019

The recently re-opened Spice Island Divers is as good as ever and we found rhinopias, frogfish, nudis, some really cool crustaceans, blackwater drifters, and other denizens of Ambon's mucky bay.

added 12/15/2019

Diving Tulamben, Bali with Villa Markisa

Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia — October 2019

Ten days of diving at our favorite Bali resort, Villa Markisa, delivered loads of nudibranchs, sea slugs, juvenile frogfish and plenty of other wonderful creatures.

added 12/15/2019

Bali Blackwater

Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia — October 2019

Blackwater diving off Tulamben did not disappoint, bringing us lots of larval fish, pelagic worms, shape-shifting jellies and other surprises.

added 12/15/2019

Midriff Islands, Sea of Cortez on the Rocio Del Mar

Northern Sea of Cortez, Mexico — October 2019

Another fun trip through the northern Sea of Cortez on the Rocio Del Mar gave us dives filled with gobies, blennies, sea lions, and a new fish for me—the adorable cortez clingfish.

added 11/14/2019

Diving with NAD Lembeh

Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia — July 2019

This return to NAD Lembeh Resort brought frogfish galore, mating blue-ringed octopus and lots of other weird and wonderful denizens of the black sands of Lembeh Strait.

added 9/18/2019

NAD Lembeh Blackwater

Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia — July 2019

An amazing array of mostly transparent creatures that live in the blackwater far above the bottom, this time including larval flounders, larval eels and a small male blanket octopus.

added 9/18/2019

Bali to Komodo on the Samambaia

West Nusa Tenggara & Komodo, Indonesia — June/July 2019

A trip from Bali to Komodo with stops at Moyo, Satonda, Sumbawa and Sangeang, aboard the wonderful liveaboard Samambaia. The video includes shots from the reef, muck, blackwater and some beautiful drone footage from Luca Vaime of the Underwater Tribe.

added 9/18/2019

Critterhunt at Crystal Blue Resort 2019

Anilao, Batangas, Philippines — May 2019

All the usual cool critters showed up for our almost-annual trip to Crystal Blue Resort in Anilao. The full moon during our stay meant lots of things with eggs and an amazing spawning event.

added 8/27/2019

Blackwater at Critterhunt 2019

Anilao, Batangas, Philippines — May 2019

I finally got to see a paper nautilus on one of this year's blackwater dives! Just one of many interesting creatures spotted while drifting in the black.

added 8/27/2019

Triton Bay Divers

Triton Bay, West Papua, Indonesia — January 2019

A return to the wonderfully remote Triton Bay Divers resort had everything from tiny nudibranchs in flower-like bryozoans to a friendly whale shark.

added 4/30/2019

Komodo on Damai I

Komodo, Indonesia — December 2018 - January 2019

South Komodo in January is one of our favorite dive spots in the world and we were lucky to get in lots of amazing dives there, along with some great sites around Sangeang and Sumbawa on this New Year's trip on the luxurious Damai I.

added 4/30/2019

Ladybug Obsession

Komodo, Indonesia — December 2018 - January 2019

One of the attractions of South Komodo is that it is home to many varieties of tiny flea-sized ladybug amphipods, and I can't get enough of them!

added 4/30/2019

Humpback Whales of Tonga

Ha'apai Group, Tonga — August 2018

We traveled to Tonga for a trip aboard the Nai'a in search of humpback whales, and we found tons (literally)! We had the most amazing experiences watching them from the surface as well as snorkeling with them in the water. This was truly the trip of a lifetime! Also check out some still photos in the Nai'a trip report.

added 3/22/2019

Our Topside Tonga Vacation

Tongatapu, Tonga — August 2018

A slideshow from our stay at Fafá Island Resort and a tour around Tonga's main island of Tongatapu.

added 3/22/2019

Anilao Critterhunt 2018

Anilao, Batangas, Philippines — May/June 2018

Back again to Crystal Blue Resort in Anilao, this time for the Critterhunt workshop in May, where many critters were found including a couple of very special nudibranchs and several fish mouth-brooding their eggs.

added 9/28/2018

Blackwater at Critterhunt 2018

Anilao, Philippines — May/June 2018

More amazing drifters from Anilao's deeper waters including the amazing little immortal jelly.

added 9/28/2018

Raja Ampat 2018, Sorido Bay Resort

Raja Ampat, West Papua, Indonesia — April 2018

A visit to the luxurious Sorido Bay Resort on Kri Island in the Dampier Strait area brought lots of beautiful and fishy dives along with a nice selection of smaller creatures.

added 7/12/2018

Diving in the Black Water, Sorido Bay Resort

Raja Ampat, West Papua, Indonesia — April 2018

More black water diving, but this time in the current swept channels of Raja Ampat. Jellies, tiny crustaceans, larval fish and loads of tiny cephalopods were among the highlights.

added 7/12/2018

Ambon with the Underwater Tribe

Ambon, Maluku Islands, Indonesia — March/April 2018

Lots of great macro critters from one of our favorite Indonesian dive resorts, Maluku Divers, which sadly just closed its doors. Another fun trip with Mike and Luca from Underwater Tribe.

added 7/12/2018

Ambon Blackwater

Ambon, Maluku Islands, Indonesia — March/April 2018

Some incredible and rarely-seen creatures from the black water in the middle of Ambon Bay.

added 7/12/2018

Diving Milne Bay on the MV Chertan

Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea — November 2017

A second trip on the homey MV Chertan delivered loads of great macro critters including crabs, shrimps, unusual fish and literally hundreds of different nudibranch species, as well as a few mantas thrown in for good measure.

added 2/27/2018

Milne Bay on the MV Chertan: Blackwater

Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea — November 2017

Larval fish and beautiful jellies were among the strange and amazing creatures we encountered on our nighttime dangles over Milne Bay's deep water.

added 2/27/2018

Diving British Columbia, God's Pocket Resort

Hurst Island, British Columbia, Canada — August 2017

A return to the cold green waters off North Vancouver Island brings more magical scenery and amazing creatures both topside and underwater. The wonderful God's Pocket Resort took great care of us once again.

added 10/18/2017

Grizzly Expedition

Knight Inlet, British Columbia, Canada — August 2017

A fun trip out to see the grizzlies in Knight Inlet with Tide Rip Grizzly Adventures also brought another amazing sighting on the boat ride back.

added 10/18/2017

Alami Alor

Alor, Indonesia — June 2017

The comfortably elegant Alami Alor Resort offers divers great variety from stunning wide angle reefs to serious muck. My trip highlights include a handful of different rhinopias, lots of unusual gobies, and loads of other interesting beasties.

added 10/2/2017

Fluorescence on Alami Alor's House Reef

Alor, Indonesia — June 2017

A look at some of the corals and a very cool worm that fluoresce under blue light, all found on the house reef right under Alami Alor's jetty.

added 10/2/2017

Komodo on the Blue Manta

Komodo, Indonesia — May/June 2017

A trip through the amazing Komodo National Park on the large and very comfortable Blue Manta brings sightings of everything from graceful manta rays to teeny ladybug amphipods, and of course dragons!

added 10/2/2017

Diving Triton Bay

Triton Bay, West Papua, Indonesia — Oct/Nov 2016 & Feb 2017

Video highlights from two separate trips to the rustically beautiful Triton Bay Divers Resort, one of the most remote and stunning places we have ever visited. The diving is amazing too, with colorful reefs and whale sharks for the wide angle lovers as well as plenty of nudis, pygmy seahorses and other interesting critters for macro enthusiasts.

added 7/28/2017

Unusual Suspects

Triton Bay, West Papua, Indonesia — Oct/Nov 2016 & Feb 2017

Some of the stranger critters we found during our stays at Triton Bay include bug-like amphipods, weird worms, and a nudibranch translucent enough to reveal its guts.

added 7/28/2017

Romblon 2017

Romblon, Visayas, Philippines — January 2017

Nudibranchs that look like balls of string and sea slugs that resemble butterflies are the stars of this critter-rich dive spot. We dived it with the friendly Three P Resort that excels at finding the tiniest of creatures visible only with a strong macro lens.

added 5/25/2017

Critterfest 2017

Anilao, Batangas, Philippines — January 2017

More nudis, crustaceans and cute little fish, along with a really cool worm and an amazing black water dive were the highlights of this year's Critterfest at Crystal Blue Resort, Anilao.

added 5/25/2017

Sea of Cortez on the Rocio Del Mar

Northern Sea of Cortez, Mexico — July 2016

Another return to the Northern Sea of Cortez on the friendly Rocio Del Mar brought us face to face with sea lions and whale sharks along with loads of tiny nudibranchs and feisty little fish. The video includes some beautiful drone shots provided by Immersed Imaging, who also organized this fun trip.

added 9/16/2016

Diving Ambon with the Underwater Tribe

Ambon, Maluku Islands, Indonesia — March 2016

Even more great macro action featuring frogfish, rhinopias, flasher wrasse and all kinds of other critters at this year's photography workshop at Maluku Divers with Luca from Underwater Tribe.

added 7/31/2016

Raja Ampat on the Mermaid II

Raja Ampat, West Papua, Indonesia — March 2016

We spent most of this trip on the Mermaid II in the Dampier Strait and Aljui Bay areas where we found a nice mix of calm shallow reef tops, current-washed reefs and macro sites.

added 7/31/2016

Lembeh Up Close

Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia — February/March 2016

A highlight reel from 10 days at NAD Lembeh with photographer Shannon Conway and Diving 4 Images's Graham Abbott. Loads of great macro critters were spotted including lots of frogfish and nudis and even a hairy octopus.

added 7/31/2016

Mudskippers of NAD Lembeh

Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia — February/March 2016

A short video featuring these cute little amphibious gobies that frolic in the shallows at the edge of NAD's beach.

added 7/31/2016

Critterfest 2016 Video Highlights

Anilao, Batangas, Philippines — January 2016

Another Critterfest at Crystal Blue Resort brings another batch of amazing critters from stiligers to stargazers.

added 4/15/2016

Diving the Solomon Islands on the Bilikiki

Solomon Islands — November 2015

Two weeks on the Bilikiki brought us an incredible variety of diving including pristine walls and points with crystal blue water, dramatically lit caverns, shallow fish-filled coral gardens and critter-rich sand slopes.

added 2/6/2016

Diving British Columbia: God's Pocket Resort

Hurst Island, British Columbia, Canada — September 2015

The cold, green waters off Vancouver Island are home to an incredible density and variety of marine life, and the wonderfully cozy God's Pocket Resort is a perfect base for exploring the area's stunning shores.

added 12/22/2015

Diving Flores to Alor on the Pindito

Alor, Indonesia — July/August 2015

This trip on the venerable MV Pindito sailed from the walls and white sand slopes of north Flores and Kawula, through current-washed Alor and around to the mucky magic of Beangabang, providing a variety of great sites to keep every diver happy.

added 12/14/2015

Diving Villa Markisa

Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia — July 2015

Another trip to the beautiful Villa Markisa, one of our favorite spots in Bali. This visit brought us loads of frogfish, bunches of colorful amphipods, a rhinopias, and of course lots of nudibranchs.shores.

added 12/14/2015

Diving Ambon with Underwater Tribe

Ambon, Maluku Islands, Indonesia — March 2015

A highlight reel from a fun-filled photography workshop at Maluku Divers with Mike and Luca from Underwater Tribe. This year's visit featured several rhinopias, loads of cool shrimps, and a special surprise visitor on the very last dive!

added 9/13/2015

Bali Dive Safari

Bali, Indonesia — March 2015

A dive tour around Bali from Secret Bay to Padang Bai with the excellent AquaMarine Diving. We asked for hairy shrimps and boy did they deliver, along with lots of other amazing little critters.

added 9/13/2015

Critterfest 2015 Video Highlights

Anilao, Batangas, Philippines — January 2015

My favorite shots from 2015's Critterfest at Crystal Blue Resort featuring, of course, lots of critters.

added 5/9/2015

Mostly Muck in Milne Bay

Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea — September/October 2014

This 2-week trip on the MV Chertan focused on the critter-rich muck diving sites in the region. Several of the creatures seen in this video were new sightings for me, including the tiny white Coleman's pygmy seahorse and the adorable pajama squid.

added 2/1/2015

Diving the Sea of Cortez on the Rocio Del Mar

Northern Sea of Cortez, Mexico — August 2014

A return trip to the Midriff Islands on the Rocio Del Mar was filled with loads of interesting little fish, along with nudibranchs, sea lions and of course whale sharks.

added 9/22/2014

Diving Alaska

Juneau to Sitka, Alaska — June 2014

Stunning scenery both topside and underwater highlighted our amazing journey through the Inside Passage on the historic and charming Nautilus Swell—a trip that should be on every diver's bucket list!

added 8/17/2014

Komodo on the Cheng Ho

Komodo, Indonesia — February/March 2014

This highlight reel features dozens of rarely-seen nudibranchs and lots of other interesting creatures spotted on this Diving 4 Images trip through North and South Komodo on the Cheng Ho.

added 5/5/2014

Diving Villa Markisa

Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia — February 2014

An assortment of tiny fish, beautiful nudibranchs, weird worms and colorful crustaceans found on the sandy and stony slopes near the wonderful Villa Markisa Dive Resort.

added 5/5/2014

Flores & Alor on the Aurora

North Flores & Alor, Indonesia — October 2013

From erupting volcanoes and friendly villages above the water to breathtaking reefscapes, critter-filled slopes and magical pelagic drifters below, this trip aboard the MSY Aurora had a little bit of everything.

added 1/27/2014

Black Sand Dive Retreat Video Highlights

Lembeh Strait, N. Sulawesi, Indonesia — September/October 2013

A visit to Black Sand Dive Retreat in Indonesia's muck diving Mecca of Lembeh Strait produced frogfish galore and a whole lot more.

added 1/27/2014

Diving the Sea of Cortez

Northern Sea of Cortez, Mexico — August 2013

Sea lions, whale sharks, gobies, blennies, nudibranchs and more were spotted in our week aboard the Rocio Del Mar exploring the remote Midriff Islands in the northern Sea of Cortez.

added 12/10/2013

Bima to Maumere on the Damai I

Komodo, Indonesia — March/April 2013

A critter-focused cruise including Sangeang, North Flores and South Komodo on the luxury dive vessel Damai I.

added 11/26/2013

Maluku Divers Video Highlights

Ambon, Maluku Islands, Indonesia — March 2013

Loads of weird and wonderful creatures including nudis, crustaceans, rhinopias, and of course frogfish from the muck diving paradise Maluku Divers Resort in Ambon Bay.

added 11/26/2013

Anilao Critter Fest 2013

Anilao, Batangas, Philippines — January 2013

A highlight reel from a 10-day stay at Crystal Blue Resort including lots of frogfish, nudis, crustaceans, and a segment featuring fluorescence on the reef shot with a UV light.

added 11/1/2013

Bonaire 2010: Rubble Rocks!

Bonaire, Dutch Caribbean — July 2010

Bonaire has lots of beautiful reefs, but we witnessed some very entertaining animal behavior on the slopes covered just with rubble and sand.

added 12/21/2010