One of biggest challenges when traveling as a diver (and underwater photographer), is how to safely get all your equipment from A to B. I’ve only recently returned from a dive trip and would like to share some of my tips – preparing and packing for your dive trip has never been easier!
“Angel’s Window” is one of my favorite dive sites in Lembeh. It’s located in the North of the Strait on the West side of Lembeh Island. The very popular site consists of two main pinnacles which come up almost all the way to the surface. In the deeper section of the site, the rocks form a huge cavern – hence the name “Angel’s Window”. Frogfish, Nudibranchs, Pygmy Seahorses, schooling fish life and beautiful soft corals are some of the highlights this site has to offer.
Frogfishes, mating Blue-Ringed Octopus, Ghost Pipefishes and some more highlights from our Blackwater Night Dive Week – August just had it all. Sometimes pictures say more than words: check out our August 2018 highlights video from diving in Lembeh!
One of the most entertaining creatures to watch when diving in Lembeh is the Coconut Octopus (Amphioctopus marginatus). This species of octopus, also called the Veined Octopus, is very active during the day. Protecting its body with shells or hiding in coconut halves (hence the name of the octopus), you can often watch them building or improving their home. Watch the video below and you will see what I mean!
When you first start diving, the most difficult but important thing is to maintain proper buoyancy. This is even more crucial when you dive with a (big) camera! Neither do you want to damage corals or any marine life, nor your expensive toys. Also, you want to save your wrist from heavy lifting underwater and dragging “dead weight” around which affects your air consumption. Luckily, float arms were invented to support you and your camera rig. In this blog, we want to give you a quick guide on which buoyancy arms to choose for your SLR or mirrorless setup.
Polly and Francis Lau are two of our many return guests here at NAD. The couple visits and dives with us and in Lembeh at least once a year, usually staying around 10 days. Polly and Francis love diving with dive guide Marnes because he is still able to find and show the couple new critters every time they visit – even after the 7th stay!
July surprised us with many different species of nudibranchs and sea slugs. We’ve also had some (little) sharks paying us a visit. A bunch of (Hairy) Frogfishes is still around. And on top of that: lots of Flamboyant Cuttlefish in different stages. We’ve spotted quite a few new Blackwater Night Dive subjects.
In general, the water temperature is back to 28 degrees. That without any rain and the visibility is almost at its best for Lembeh. So fantastic wide angle opportunities as well!
This month still had lots of cephalopods ready for us. Mainly Coconut, Mimic and Mototi Octopus as well as Flamboyant Cuttlefish got spotted on the dives. I’ve been shooting more video than stills this month. Therefore, here comes a short movie with our June highlights.
It was one of the most incredible things I’ve ever watched underwater, seeing these 1cm small creatures changing colors and breaking through the eggs. It looked like a bit of a struggle for some of them, but eventually most of the little Flamboyant Cuttlefish hatched during the 20 min. I was watching them.
Starting in 2014, NAD had already banned the use of dive gloves. In the past year however, we’ve listened to people which we probably shouldn’t have done. Based on some guest feedback, we decided to be more lenient with gloves and trust that not the gloves as such are bad but the person wearing them.
As a result, we have now seen that people who talked about being good divers and wearing gloves, would still cause more damage than if they did not wear gloves. Therefore, we will no longer allowing people to dive with gloves at NAD Lembeh.