Sulawesi Photography Expedition with Malcolm Hey

An underwater photography special to some of the world's richest diving areas

Monday 3rd September - Sunday 16th September 2001 (14 days)

Group Size Limit: 12 divers plus leader

Especially designed for those who want to spend their entire holiday with other dedicated underwater photographers, Malcolm has designed a superb itinerary that combines Nusantara Dive Centre at Manado (for diving in the Bunaken-Manado Marine Reserve) and Kungkungan Bay Resort (for diving the Lembeh Strait). Under the expert guidance of Malcolm Hey, who knows where and how to find those elusive subjects that most underwater photographers see only in their dreams, this holiday includes more dives and more dive time than would normally be available to individual divers visiting the area. The aim of this holiday is to maximize dive time and offer great opportunities to capture some highly unusual images.

Diving in the Bunaken-Manado Tua Marine Park offers a wide variety of diving including sheer walls, steep slopes, undulating reefs, coral gardens and an intact wreck all of which are teeming with marine life and offering seemingly endless opportunities for capturing wonderful underwater images. Most sites offer the best opportunities for macro photography, but some lend themselves to wide angle techniques with schooling Blackfin Barracudas and even Scalloped Hammerhead Sharks sometimes seen on some deeper dive sites. An unexpected, but welcome bonus would be encounters with the Short-finned Pilot Whales, Manta Rays and Mola Mola that are occasionally seen in the deep waters of Manado Bay. There are excellent dive sites for underwater photographers, but which are generally avoided by non-photographers, only about five minutes boat ride from the dive centre.

Nusantara Diving Centre (the original and most experienced dive centre in Manado) offers some unique facilities for the underwater photographer including long dive times, flexible meal schedules for night divers and spacious accommodation with plenty of room to work on cameras. Two dive guides, whose task it is to find the required species, usually accompany each boat. These guides have a wealth of local knowledge and are happy to be of service to underwater photographers. In summary Nusantara has the most spacious accommodation, the most boats, the most dive guides and the best local knowledge of all the dive centres in Manado.

The Lembeh Strait offers a unique opportunity for photographers to capture images of some rare and fascinating species in usually current-free conditions. Although the channel is used for commercial shipping the sloping banks provide unique dive sites which have already attracted some of the world's most serious marine biologists and photographers. Many of the dive sites have sandy bottoms and are home to numerous species including scores of nudibranchs, Mandarinfish and several species of frogfish. Malcolm Hey knows how and when to find these rare creatures. Leave the wide-angle lenses ashore, for this is the location for Pygmy Seahorses, and Ornate Ghost Pipefish. Macro photography is what it is all about!

Kungkungan Bay Resort is the only dive centre in the area and has E6 processing on site as well as a camera workshop fitted with benches, lights and 220 volt charging points for guests' use. There is a high staff to guest ratio and the boats and equipment are of the highest standard. Most dive sites are within a 10-minute boat ride from the centre and dives are not time-limited. Meal times are flexible to accommodate divers' requirements as shore diving and night diving are available on request. This is a luxury resort offering a high standard of American, Mexican and Indonesian cuisine.

Malcolm Hey has travelled extensively in Indonesia and spent over 300 hours of underwater photography time exploring the reefs of Manado and Kungkungan Bay during the last few years. There will be no formal teaching as part of this holiday, but the stimulation of travelling and diving with like-minded and serious photographers will certainly generate an interesting exchange of ideas between group members. This is a real underwater adventure: for any level of diver or photographer and the chance to immerse yourself in underwater photography!

Itinerary

Monday 3rd September: Singapore Airlines midday flight bound for Singapore.

Tuesday 4th September: Morning arrival in Singapore where you will connect with a Silk Air flight to Manado, arriving in the afternoon, and then transfer to Nusantara Dive Centre for a six nights stay.

Wednesday 5th September -Sunday 9th September: Five days of underwater photography in the glorious Bunaken-Manado Tua Marine Park, including three boat dives daily and night diving on three nights.

Monday 10th September: Two boat dives will give you a final opportunity to capture more stunning images, before returning to the dive centre. Mid-afternoon departure, by road, to Kungkungan Bay Resort for a five nights stay.

Tuesday 11th September-Friday 14th September: Four days of underwater photography in the Lembeh Strait, including three boat dives daily and unlimited shore diving at the discretion of the duty divemaster.

Saturday 15th September: Transfer to Manado Airport to catch the afternoon Silk Air flight bound for Singapore, with an onwards Singapore Airlines connection that evening bound for London (Heathrow).

Sunday 16th September: Morning arrival at London (Heathrow).

£2026 (non-divers: £1124) London/London

Includes:

· Airport transfers.

· 6 nights full-board accommodation, including tea, coffee and orange squash, on a twin/share basis at Nusantara Diving Centre.

· 6 days of diving (3 boat dives per day for 5 days and 2 boat dives on the 6th day, plus 3 night dives), dive guide, cylinders and weights.

· 5 nights full board accommodation on a twin/share basis at Kungkungan Bay Resort.

· 4 days of diving (3 boat dives daily, plus 2 night dives), shore diving on request, dive guide, cylinders and weights.

· Services of Malcolm Hey as group leader.

Single Occupancy Supplement: £292. Please note that, while we will endeavour to find a room-mate for those on the tour who are single travellers and would prefer to share accommodation, in the event of a room-mate not being available the full single room supplement will apply. Room-mates will be allocated on a first-come first-served basis.

Deposit: £300

For details of the diving, accommodation and flights, please see the Manado and Kungkungan Bay entries earlier in this brochure.

Note: Should two people travelling together apply for the last place on the tour, we may, at our discretion, increase the group size limit by one.