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BALI 1999

This trip began with an overnight in Singapore, giving me a chance to meet up with a couple of diver / photographer friends, Chris Ho and Venetia Tan. Over several pints of Kilkenny beer (and some food), at Muddy Murhpy's, we discussed the various elements of wide angle and macro underwater photography.

And so on to Bali. After an overnight stay at the Intercontinental hotel at Jimbaran Beach, Denpesar, I made my way with 3 colleagues (Kota, Kazumi and Nancy), up to Tulamben to dive the wreck, but mainly to dive the reef in search of nudibranchs.

Visability on the wreck was poor (5M), and I had my system set up for wide angle. Fortunately a school of circling Jack provided a reasonable subject, plus some shots of my buddies.

Our second dive was in a thunderstorm with the tide coming in, viz was appalling (<1M), however once down at 10M it was as good as the previous dive. Fortunately it was easy to spot nudibranchs on the black volcanic sand, especially the pair of Risbecia tryoni below.

I decided to stay overnight, at PARADISE DIVE CENTRE (50,000 Rupiahs per night = US$5.7), whilst Kota and the girls returned to Denpesar. I had a long conversation on the subject of macro photography with the co-owner, Emiko Shibuya, also a photographer.

The following morning I made 2 dives from the front of the restuarant, both 79 minutes as I ran out of film before running out of air. Lots to see, the viz was 10 metres and conditions fine, although it had started raining at the end of my second dive.

There were plenty of Phllidia nudibranchs, but the best I found that morning was a Chromodoris reticulata (above).

Other interesting subjects included Ribbon eels (Rhinomuraena quaesita - above) several types of Hawkfish and Anemonefish as well as a friendly Octopus.

Above, Dwarf Hawkfish, Cirrhitichthys falco

Rainy season should end after March, I hope to return around May, Nudibranch Season according to Emiko. Night diving on this reef must be amazing too. Incidentally all the above shots were taken with a Nikon F801 and 105mm micro lens in an Aquatica Housing with Sea and Sea YS120 strobe on Fuji Velvia.

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