Divermaiden Travels
Destructive Blast Fishing Seen in Komodo National Park
Cannibal Rock is one of the more famous dive sites in Komodo National Marine Park. Cannibal Rock is a pinnacle in a channel between Rinca island and a smaller island, Nusa Kode. The reef and marine life at this site are diverse and abundant and this site is considered by those who dive there as one of the best dive sites anywhere.
Reef on the healthy side of Cannibal Rock.
Unfortunately that was not completely true in our case. (more…)
The Sacred Monkey Forest of Padangtegal
This isn’t a post about diving or photography so to speak; however, if you plan on diving in Bali or Komodo or any of the other wonderful dive sites that take you through Bali you probably will make a detour to Ubud (if not you should) and will get the opportunity to go to the Monkey Forest. (more…)
Fond Memories of the California Beach Dive Photo Competition
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| Art and Patti help me up the beach when the competition allowed beach diving only. It’s nice to have friends. Photo by Randy Herz. |
I went to the Monterey Shootout website to register for the competition today. Doing this brought up memories of the California Beach Dive Photo Competition (CBDPC) which has taken on the Monterey Shootout name. The original CBDPC was organized by the Northern California Underwater Photographic Society (NCUPS) which I belong to. I’ve been going to the CBDPC for over ten years as a participant and volunteer.
Underwater Photography, Large Camera Systems and Arm Strain
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| Underwater with my camera in Macro mode. Good thing I don’t model often. Photo by Randy Herz. |
One thing I had problems with on our dive/underwater photography trip to Komodo was right-sided wrist, arm and shoulder strain. I’m shooting a Nikon D300 underwater in a Sea&Sea housing, both macro (60 mm lens) and wide-angle (16 mm fisheye). After a few dives in Monterey prior to our trip I realized that this system was considerably more negative than my old D70 system and bought some floats for my arms. (more…)
SCUBA Seraya, Liberty Wreck, and Living Zen (or visiting it anyway).
The next stop on our Bali/Komodo trip was SCUBA Seraya, located near the well-known dive area in East Bali, Tulamben. From the airport it took about three hours to drive there with the driver stopping a couple of times for us to photograph the scenery as we went. It really was a beautiful drive!
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| Rice Fields in East Bali |
At Seraya we were greeting by the staff who hauled all our bags to our room; and us to the reception/dining area for a cold drink. We did the necessary paperwork and were shown to our room. After settling in and eating lunch we headed to the dive area where we tried on rental gear and helped our assigned dive guide, Wit, to set up our gear to our liking. For the rest of our stay we didn’t have to touch anything except our wetsuits, masks and snorkels, and cameras. The dive staff takes care of everything! (more…)
Indo Siren, Komodo Dive Liveaboard
Randy waves from the deck of the Indo Siren.
We went to Komodo with Worldwide Dive & Sail on board the Indo Siren. Our trip was only the third sailing of the Indo Siren. She is all fresh polished wood and shiny white paint with blue sails and canvas trim. There are three decks; the lower deck with passenger cabins(also kitchen, laundry, crew quarters etc.); the middle deck with salon, dive deck, and dining area; and the top sun deck (where there is no shade). 
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(more…)Bali Tourist Attractions and Vendors
Today is our last full day in Bali. In Komodo, and at Seraya we were secluded from most of the Bali culture being on the boat and staying on the resort except for some walks on the beach while at Seraya. So the last few days in Ubud have been very interesting as we have been out and about interacting with people. Now I have to admit that we have been doing the tourist thing so probably not the real Bali culture but the “tourist facing” culture. (more…)
Komodo Above Water; Dragons, Eagles and More
This is a beautiful area. The sunrises and sunsets are great. Huge cumulous clouds turn pink and orange. The ocean varies in color from deep blue to a brilliant aqua in the shallows. I did do some snorkeling (when I forgot my dive belt and again when I attempted some over-under shots) and really enjoyed cruising over the reef with brightly colored fish and healthy coral. I would have liked to do more but there was the danger of komodo dragons coming into the water. And the currents could be dangerous to snorkelers also. (more…)
AMAZING KOMODO!
One word for Komodo diving and the Indo Siren…AMAZING!
We saw and photographed so many things that I have never seen before, mostly big stuff, like huge schools of Fuseliers, Trevaly jacks, big and little white tip reef sharks, bumphead wrasse, and….yes Big Bird! Yes we dove with manta rays! There were also turtles, masses of colorful reef fish, and a couple of divers were buzzed by a dolphin! There were also lots of small critters which I will show in another post. (more…)
Palm Springs, New Pocket Camera and Southwest Airlines
Randy and I went to Palm Springs for the weekend recently. His uncle Hugh turned 80-years old and the family was invited to join him there to celebrate his birthday! Palm Springs is an interesting place. I’ve never been there and kept expecting to see old time movie stars wandering around. The place we stayed at (the Ingleside Inn) was right out of the 30’s, very old world with a real piano bar which unfortunately I did not get a good picture of. It was perfect weather, hot but not too hot, just right for hanging around the swimming pool.
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