The End

   

Well that's it. I've had an amazing time. Met a group of great people. Learned some things. 26 dives over 8 days, 23 hours and 18 minutes under water, and thousands of photos later ( a handful of which are good) I'm back to reality after a great deal of fun. I saw so many wonderful critters and such great beauty - including 2 of my ultimate wishlist critters - frogfish and pygmy seahorse.

Unfortunately I didn't see a flamboyant cuttlefish first hand which is a little disappointing, but pleased to say that some in our group did. Dennis, who spotted this one, kindly shared one of his photos which I present below. I am pleased to know they were there, even if I didn't spot them.

 

I can highly recommend Dive and More for an u/w photography workshop. From months prior to the trip Ran and Danielle were generous with their advice and assistance, and even sourced and brought along some camera parts for me that I couldn't get in time in Australia. When one of our group flooded his camera, Ran loaned him a camera and housing to continue his exploring. When I put my batteries in my strobe the wrong way around without realising ( 😖 duh!) Ran put his video light onto my rig so I could continue taking photos with some light. Generous and always focused on our experience.

They do other things as well - Dive and Food, Dive and Yoga and so on. Really great operation, with a good balance of theoretical and practical instruction. We had 4 group tutorials and a one on one session each, while Ran also monitored our progress in water and reminded us at regular intervals that we should ask for his assistance if we were having issues at any time. They were also well supported by travel agents Fly and Sea, who did a great job of managing logistics and arrangements.

  

The diving at Puerto Galera, Sabang Beach and Verde Island is awesome. The local people are lovely. Atlantis Dive Resorts and Liveaboards was just superb. All of the staff were wonderful, attempting at all times to cater for diverse interests and preferences. The little details make all the difference. 3 of our group reached their 100 dives (x1) and 200 dives (x2) milestones while on the trip, and were presented with personalised Atlantis caps embossed with their names and their milestone.

I miss the genuine smiles and daily greetings of Mayra, James, Aris, Vonna, Hazel, Ray, Jasper, Camille, Ruby and the rest of the team at the resort.

The team were also very resourceful - as you can see by the solution to one of our boats breaking down on one of the dives. Helpful to have your rowing fins handy! Thanks for the photos Ashley.

Special shout out to Ruel, Fred and Aris of course, and all the guys in the dive shop who ferried us around, sorted out our gear, passed and took  from us our assorted cameras and gear to make our lives easy.

A fabulous trip. I will be back.