Ocean Optics
www.oceanoptics.co.uk
Supplier of our underwater camera housings, London based Ocean Optics is run by Steve Warren, who we’ve found to be extremely helpful and friendly. Steve is also the organiser of the annual Visions of the Sea underwater photography and film event in London.
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BSOUP (British Society of Underwater Photographers)
www.bsoup.org
Affectionately known as "B-SOUP", the British Society of Underwater Photographers is an active, diverse and progressive organisation, covering the entire spectrum of underwater photography. The website is an excellent resource.
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Cayman Now
www.caymannow.com
We enjoyed ten enjoyable days at this pleasant condo located at the "Georgetown end" of Seven Mile Beach. It was close to all the amenities and local bars and eateries such as Coconut Joes and Cimboco.
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Don Fosters & Dive Tech
www.donfosters.com
www.divetech.com
After a week on the Cayman Aggressor I still had the "urge to submerge", so i did some half days with Don Fosters and Dive Tech - very mellow, easy diving, but still good.
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Solmar V
www.solmarv.com
The Solmar V is an excellent liveaboard that visits the remote Socorro Islands on Mexico's Pacific side. For divers looking for a different kind of experience, away from overcrowded and over dived resorts, this trip must surely be a major contender. It's a great diving adventure and offers glimpses of a bygone era, of seas teeming with life in all its brutal beauty. The crew are friendly, professional and knowledgeable and offer a truly great week of diving. The Solmar V also visits Guadelupe Island (for the Great Whites) and the Sea of Cortez.
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Boutique Souk
www.boutiquesouk.com
We organised our stay in Marrakech, Morocco through Boutique Souk and found Rosena to be helpful, attentive and prompt in sorting out the (relatively last minute) arrangements for our stay. The selection of Riads on offer made choosing difficult. In the end we went for Riad Ayadina, which was perfect for a relaxing and exquisite long weekend.
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Riad Ayadina
www.riadayadina.com
Riad Ayadina proved to be a great choice for our stay in Marrakech, Morocco. It's a cliche to say it, but it's an oasis of calm from the chaos of life in and around the medina. Step through the anonymous door and you enter a different world. The right place at the right time.
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Loloata Island Resort www.loloata.com
The Loloata Island Resort is located close to Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea, although its’ serenity doesn’t suggest that a nation’s capital is only a few miles away. It’s a long established dive resort with pleasant staff and decent diving, although a general facelift would probably work wonders for the place.
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Bubbles Below
www.bubblesbelowkauai.com
We enjoyed some excellent diving with Bubbles Below around Niihau, Mana Crack and Kauai’s south shore. What made it special was the dive crew themselves - friendly, knowledgeable, helpful and enthusiastic.
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Rosewood Kauai
www.rosewoodkauai.com
Rosewood offer a number of vacation rentals in Kauai. We chose to stay at "Lanikai 114" in Kapaa and were really pleased our choice. The condo was exactly what we’d seen on the Rosewood website. It was a sad day when we had to leave.
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Niihau Helicopters
www.niihau.us
Niihau Helicopters offer sporadic trips to the "forbidden island" of Niihau. If you want to go, get your name down early, as this trip isn’t really advertised and will only be run if there enough participants.
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Kokee Lodge
www.kokeelodgekauai.com
Kokee Lodge offer rustic cabins and camping in the Kokee State Park. It’s close to spectacular scenery, world class hiking trails and remarkable tracts of rainforest rich in endemic plants and bird life.
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Tornado Marine Fleet
We enjoyed a great week aboard the Typhoon liveaboard, getting away from the madding crowds and day boats of Sharm el Sheikh. We visited Ras Mohammed, Anemone City, Shark & Yolanda Reefs, Jackfish Alley, the Alternatives and spent three days at Abu Nuhas diving the "famous" Red Sea wrecks of the Chrisoula K, the Ghiannis D and the Carnatic. Friendly and helpful crew, nice boat.
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Atlantis Hotel Dive Resorts
The Philippines based Atlantis Hotel dive resorts, at Puerto Galera on the island of Mindoro, and at Dumaguete on the island of Negros offer a complete package for the long haul dive traveller, with high standards of accommodation and service, fine food and great diving. These resorts look set to feature on the "must visit" lists of the "global diver." Sea Serpent Fleet
www.seaserpentfleet.com
We spent a week on the Sea Serpent liveaboard from Marsa Alam in the southern Egyptian Red Sea, visiting areas such as St. Johns, Fury Shoals and Elphinstone. We were looked after by a good crew, and enjoyed fine food, good company and great diving. The photographic potential was "immense".
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Divequest
www.divequest.co.uk
We're now veterans of several Divequest trips, including Sulawesi, Bonaire and Dominica. We hope to do many more. In fact, diving the Divequest brochure could be a life's work. It's certainly a life's ambition!
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Tony Backhurst Scuba
www.scuba.co.uk
We've travelled to the Red Sea aboard the Sea Serpent and Typhoon with Tony Backhurst Scuba. We enjoyed both liveaboards and hope to go back and do some more.
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Lady Elliot Island
www.ladyelliot.com.au
We enjoyed four great days on this fantastic little island. Great weather, great diving, lots of birds, nesting turtles, hatching turtles and simple living. There's a fair bit of guano, too!
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Yongala Dive
www.yongaladive.com.au
www.alvabeachtouristpark.com
Yongala Dive is based at the remote little settlement of Alva Beach, about 15km from the nearest "big" town of Ayr. The Wreck of the SS Yongala is one of Australia's best known dives and with good reason. Yongala Dive offer a unique and quick way of getting to the wreck on their high speed RIB. The "barbie" after the diving was a nice touch. For accommodation, we stayed at the nearby Alva Beach Tourist Park, although Yongala Dive also offers dormitory style accommodation.
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Spirit of Freedom
www.spiritoffreedom.com.au
An excellent liveaboard based from Cairns visiting the Ribbon Reefs on the Great Barrier Reef. We had to leave the boat at Lizard Island from where we flew back to Cairns at low level, although we wished that we had time for Osprey Reef part of the itinerary in the Coral Sea. Highly recommended.
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Aggressor Fleet of Liveaboards
www.aggressor.com
We enjoyed a great time on the Kona Aggressor liveaboard in late 2006, exploring the Kona Coast of Hawaii. The manta ray night dives were incredible, like nothing else. The hospitality on the boat was excellent, too - the food was better than most restaurants. Who says you can't trust a restaurant that moves!
More recently, in 2009, we travelled onboard the Cayman Aggressor, visiting selected sites around Grand Cayman before heading off to Little Cayman and Cayman Brac. It was another "top" week.
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Ultimate Getaway
www.ultimategetaway.net
After trawling the internet for dive trips to the remote Dry Tortugas, we eventually found this liveaboard. It's based out of Fort Myers Beach on the Gulf side of Florida. We had an excellent trip with a great crew. Good diving too!
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It's a Dive
www.itsadive.com
A friendly and well organised dive centre in Key Largo, Florida. We enjoyed five days of excellent diving on the reefs and wrecks of the John Pennekamp Marine Park.
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Amy Slates Amoray Dive Resort
www.amoray.com
When scheduling meant that we couldn't dive the wreck of the Spiegel Grove with It's A Dive, we were referred to the Amoray Dive Centre just up the road. Great dive on the Spiegel Grove and a friendly, helpful crew.
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Crystal River
www.crystalriverdivers.com
www.plantationinn.com
We spent two days snorkelling with the manatees at Crystal River in Florida based at the Plantation Inn - unusual in that it's a "dive and golf resort". Above water, the conditions were perfect, but below the waterline it wasn't quite as easy, especially for those of us with cameras. As the manatees feed they grub up the bottom and aren't necessarily attracted to "good visibility" - often choosing the most muddy and murky areas of the river systems. If you're lucky enough to encounter them in the King Spring or Three Sisters Springs where the water is incredibly clear, you'll be in for a treat.
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Ginnie Springs
www.ginniespringsoutdoors.com
Ginnie Springs is an excellent "outdoor living" resort in the north central Florida. It's set in mature woodland along the Santa Fe River close to the town of High Springs. Feeding the river are a series of freshwater springs producing fantastic visibility for divers and snorkellers. The area also attracts cave divers, keen to explore the labyrinths created by the springs.
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www.sealioncharters.biz
Sealion Charters is located in the tiny settlement of Green Head, about 250 km’s north of Perth in Western Australia. It’s run by Rod and Ronnie Wilson, a friendly and enthusiastic couple who operate what must be one of the best underwater experiences anywhere on the planet.
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Exmouth Diving Centre
www.exmouthdive.com
A friendly and professional dive centre in Exmouth serving the northern part of Ningaloo Reef in western Australia. Blizzard Ridge, Navy Pier and sites around the Muiron Islands offer top notch diving. For the southern end of Ningaloo see Ningaloo Reef Dive.
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Ningaloo Reef Dive
www.ningalooreefdive.com
Friendly and professional dive centre in Coral Bay serving the southern part of Ningaloo Reef in western Australia. If the conditions are right, Heikes Ledge is an excellent dive site. The Manta Ray interactions are superb, too! For the northern end of Ningaloo see Exmouth Diving Centre.
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Rottnest Malibu Diving
www.rottnestdiving.com.au
We managed a couple of dives with the Malibu crew at Rottnest Island off Perth in western Australia before heading north to Ningaloo Reef. It was a good day.
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Kungkungan Bay Resort
www.kungkungan.com
“KBR” is an excellent dive resort in north Sulawesi, (Indonesia). It’s located in the dive mecca of Lembeh Strait. Fascinating dives, incredible critters, friendly people and good service. The “muck” dives are like nothing else!
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Castle Comfort Dive Lodge
www.castlecomfortdivelodge.com
A small and intimate dive lodge situated near Roseau, the capital of the Caribbean’s “nature island” of Dominica. Excellent food, great diving and great people.
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Habitat Dive Resorts
www.habitatdiveresorts.com
We’ve been to Captain Don’s Habitat in Bonaire twice now. We liked the “diving freedom” and the laid back atmosphere.
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Aquanaut Dive Centre
www.lecques-aquanaut.fr
A friendly and competent dive centre at Les Lecques in the South of France, used by Kurt Amsler for his underwater photography courses. Expect to be offered pastis after the dives, especially if Thierry is on the boat!
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Plongee Castille
www.plongeecastille.com
We used this dive centre whilst in Calvi, Corsica. From there, it’s only a short boat ride to the wreck of an intact B17 bomber that crash landed in the second world war.
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Martin Edge
www.edgeunderwaterphotography.co.uk
Bournemouth based Martin Edge is the UK’s foremost teacher of underwater photography. He regularly teaches groups and individuals, and also leads photographic trips abroad to destinations such as Bonaire, Dominica, Sulawesi, the Red Sea and Micronesia. He’s also a columnist for Sport Diver Magazine, author of “The Underwater Photographer” and a regular speaker at underwater photography events such as Visions of the Sea. He also taught both of us and we keep going back for more.
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Kurt Amsler
www.photosub.com
Based in Les Lecques in the south of France, world renowned underwater photographer Kurt Amsler runs excellent courses for underwater photographers. Kurt’s work has been published all over the world in magazines, books and advertising.
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Aquaphot
www.aquaphot.com
We were recommended to use Aquaphot by Ocean Optics for housing repairs and found them to be friendly, helpful and reliable.
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Sanders Creative
www.sanderscreative.co.uk
I’ve worked on a number of websites with freelance designer Paul Sanders. We also worked together on this one.
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Impact Digital Design
www.impactdigitaldesign.co.uk
I've worked with Frome based Impact Digital Design for a long time now. They're a great team and produce excellent work. Their design flair is evident on our "Shoot To Thrill Policy" brochure, our "Cover Shots" examples, and many of the samples in the "Published Work – Marketing" pages contained within our "Sales & Info" section.
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Meridian Project
www.meridianproject.com
Another collaboration with Paul Sanders, this time for Wiltshire based Renrod Limited’s state of the art four dealership motor development in Trowbridge.
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BMW Motorcycles
www.bmw-motorrad.co.uk
BMW are manufacturers of fine motorcycles including the R1200 GS Adventure. Wheels (and poetry) in motion!
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Nikon
www.nikon.co.uk
We use Nikon cameras, lenses and flash guns almost exclusively. We enjoy the experience.
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Subal
www.subal.com
We've used Subal housings exclusively since graduating to SLRs, initially housing Nikon F100's. Now it's a pair of ND20's, keeping our Nikon D200's dry.
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