Bali To Komodo Underwater Photo Workshop 2024

Join us from Aug 29 to Sep 8, 2024, for amazing dive experiences among some of the most diverse marine environments in the world. Travel in style aboard the MSY Seahorse, a liveaboard specially built and designed by divers for divers.

August 29 - September 8, 2024

Bali - Komodo - Labuanbajo

Trip Leader: Erik Lukas

SUPER SALE

10 Nights for:

Lower Deck: Was $5,585 NOW ONLY $4,468 per person, double-occupancy

Upper Deck: Was $5,820 NOW ONLY $4,656 per person, double-occupancy

Optional Land Extensions:

5 Nights in Bali | September 8 - 13, 2024

Why Join This Trip?

FREE daily photo workshops
3-4 dives per day, with a 1:4 diver-guide ratio
Explore some of the most diverse marine environments in the world
FREE nitrox
Travel aboard the MSY Seahorse, catered specifically for photographers
25% off rental photo gear from Bluewater Photo

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Trip Overview

Komodo National Park is a remarkable dive destination known for its diverse marine environment. The islands are home to the famous Komodo dragon, which can be seen patrolling the beaches or from a distance. The northern coral reefs showcase a colorful mix of hard and soft corals, inhabited by anthias, wrasses, majestic angelfish, and predators like reef sharks and tunas. In the south, vibrant soft corals and a variety of critters can be found. Komodo offers a range of diving experiences, including thrilling high-voltage current dives, gentle drift dives, and colorful wall dives. Manta rays, turtles, and occasionally whale sharks can also be spotted. The area is rich in marine life, including barracudas, surgeonfishes, bumphead parrotfishes, trevallies, seahorses, frogfish, leaf fish, and scorpionfish.

Read about our last Komodo trip here.

Read more about diving in Komodo here.

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Marine Life To Photograph

When it comes to big animals, Komodo Island is renowned as one of the top destinations in the world for diving with manta rays. Most diving trips in the area include opportunities to witness these majestic creatures at one or more dive sites. Alongside manta rays, you can also expect to encounter other pelagic species such as dogtooth tuna, giant trevally, and barracudas. Komodo's waters are home to various shark species, including reef sharks such as blacktip, whitetip, and grey reef sharks. Turtles are another frequent sighting, and they can be found at many sites within the park.

Komodo National Park also offers a wealth of small critters and fascinating marine life for macro enthusiasts. Divers can expect to spot a variety of intriguing creatures, including frogfish, stargazers, spiny devilfish, leaf scorpionfish, ghost pipefish, cuttlefish, bobtail squid, garden eels, bobbit worms, and pygmy seahorses. The diversity of critters in Komodo is astounding, and you may even come across unique species like the "Ladybugs" that inhabit the area.

Diving Conditions

Water Temperatures: Water temperatures are usually moderate, but can range from 66f / 19C to 86f / 30C on the same trip. The temperature changes more based on location, than on time of the year. The north side is always warm, but the south side is often colder.

Visibility: averages 15 - 40m (49 - 131 feet)
Depth Range: 3 - 40m (10 - 131 feet)

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Inclusions

Accommodation in a shared twin or double cabin.
All meals & snacks. Drinking water, soft drinks and hot drinks
All guided dives (minimum of 30 dives)
Nitrox for certified divers
Aluminium tank (12 litres), weights and belts
Airport-boat transfers from/to the closest airport (departure and arrival).

Exclusions

Park, port & distance fees: 250 € (cash on board)
International and domestic flights (unless specified)
Alcoholic beverages (you can BYOB)
Diving equipment rental
100 cf (15 litres) tank : 65 € / cruise
Laundry (1 € / 2 pieces)
Crew gratuities
Massage
Fuel Surcharge: 100 €/pax to be paid CASH on board (subject to revision anytime)
Effective 14 February 2024, visitors coming to Bali must pay Foreign Tourists Levy of IDR 150,000/person prior to arrival in Bali. It is to be paid only one time per visit. More information: http://lovebali.baliprov.go.id/
Travel Insurance: click here to learn more about our preferred plan

Trip Type

This trip is a PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP. It will be led by one of our photo instructors and will include daily underwater photography tutorials, in-water photography support, and one-to-one advice and guidance as required.

What to expect from our Photo Workshops

Daily photo workshops - Your photo instructor will schedule seminars each day on topics including, but not limited to, equipment type and selection, the concept of underwater photography, lighting and composition techniques, and post-processing. They will also include additional topics relevant to the location and your experience.
In-water support - Where possible, each dive group will spend time underwater with the photo instructor, receiving in-water support and guidance on their shooting techniques. Participants can also request in-water assistance during the workshop and the photo instructor will do his or her best to accommodate all requests.
Consecutive days of practice & review - Each day you will have the opportunity to practice the techniques and skills learned in the previous day’s tutorials. If you are new to underwater photography you will likely see a vast improvement in just a few days.
Daily photo image reviews - You are strongly encouraged to bring your laptop, a thumb drive, edit your photos, and submit your shots for review from both the instructor and your peers. These are fun and interactive sessions encouraging you to improve throughout the trip.
Quality time with fellow photographers - Both new and experienced photographers from past workshops have expressed the advantages of joining a trip with like-minded divers with a passion for underwater photography.
Suitable for everyone - New and experienced photographers are welcome on all our trips. Gain the necessary skills to start shooting great photos, increase your confidence in finding the best underwater shots, or hone specific skills. We also encourage non-photographers to join, as many of them really enjoy the daily photo reviews, learning about underwater photography, and some have even returned to a photo workshop with an underwater camera setup!

Enjoy free, unlimited access to a wealth of knowledge and advice from your photo instructor.

Trip Syllabus

Current Is Our Friend - Trips and Tricks to capturing photos in current

One session of the workshop will be dedicated to tips and tricks on photographing subjects in current. Komodo is known for, among other things, it’s amazing healthy coral covered reef scenes. Current is one of the reasons for the abundance and health of the corals and fish. We will discuss techniques and tips to help you make the most of photographing the reefs and the schooling fish when in current.

Workshop Overview | Underwater Photography Essentials

Section One: Photographic Concepts - An introduction to the basic concepts of photography, the behavior of light, understanding and controlling exposure.
Section Two: Equipment Selection - In this section, guests will gain an understanding of the gear and equipment used to create photos in the underwater environment.
Section Three: Lighting - This section covers a wide range of topics that will help guests understand and control light in the underwater environment. Topics to be covered will include discussions on the tools used to create photography’s essential ingredient, light, and how to use lighting in various settings to achieve the objectives of both correct and creative exposures.
Section Four: Composition - Guests will learn the ways photographers use composition to create stylized photographs. This will cover both macro and wide angle lighting techniques one may deploy in shooting different types of scenes or subjects.
Section Five: Bring It All Together - Here we will use examples of images to help guests see how to bring various technical skills together to create images. These discussions will focus on the tools used, and the methods employed to create images in a variety of scenarios one is likely to encounter in the underwater environment. Whether shooting macro, wide angle, animal or human subjects, this section of the course will help guests understand how to bring everything together, before, during and after the dives.
Section Six: Post Processing and Image Management - One or more sessions will be dedicated to working with your images after the exposure is made. Using Adobe Lightroom Classic, we will cover the process of image import, image management, and image editing to bring out the best in your photos. It is recommended that Workshop guests have a laptop which can run the Lightroom Classic application. Any other image editing applications are welcome, but guests should be competent on the use of those applications before attending the workshop.

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About The MSY Seahorse

The MSY Seahorse is a newly-refurbished 33m (108 ft) Phinisi-style liveaboard boat, run by Wallacea Dive Cruises.

msy seahorse

MSY Seahorse (LEFT) & Sundeck (RIGHT)

Seahorse's Camera room (LEFT) & Dive Deck (RIGHT)

All-inclusive meals and snacks. Hailing from a long tradition of big family homecooked meals in Spain, MSY Seahorse takes pride in offering you a delicious menu with the carefully selected & professional chef on board the Seahorse.

There are 8 cabins for up to 16 divers aboard the Seahorse, with 2 different cabin types to choose from, twin or double bed cabins. The cabins are located across the main and lower decks. The Main Deck Cabins are equipped with two sizeable windows offering a sea view. These cabins are just one step away from the boat's spacious camera room.

Main deck cabin & bathroom

my seahorse cabin 1

Cabin 1 & lower deck bathroom

View more cabin details and images here.

"The crew and service was one of the best things about the Seahorse, and one of the best of any liveaboard I have been on. There is a masseuse on board and also a pastry chef. Photographers have individual cooler bags for their cameras so they are not banging against each other on the ride out to the dive site." - Tim Yeo

Read the reviews of the MSY Seahorse here.

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Itinerary

This is a sample itinerary and number of dives, dive sites, etc. may be subject to change due to weather conditions and other unforeseeable factors
DAY 1 - BALI (CHECK IN)
DAY 2 - GILIS ISLANDS / 3-4 dives
DAY 3 - MOYO & SATONDA / 3-4 dives
DAY 4 - PULAU SANGEANG / 3-4 dives
DAY 5 - PULAU BANTA / 3-4 dives
DAY 6 - NORTH KOMODO / 3-4 dives
DAY 7 - NORTH KOMODO / 3-4 dives
DAY 8 - CENTRAL KOMODO / 3-4 dives
DAY 9 - SOUTH KOMODO / 3-4 dives
DAY 10 - CENTRAL KOMODO / 3-4 dives
DAY 11 - NORTH KOMODO / 1-2 dives
DAY 12 - LABUAN BAJO (CHECK OUT)

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About The Trip Leader

Erik Lukas is an active diver and photographer based in Los Angeles, CA. He is a volunteer scuba diver at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, CA. You can expect to find Erik diving many of the amazing Pacific Ocean sites of Southern California, camera in hand, at any chance he can get.

See more of Erik’s photography at https://www.seeundersea.com or on Instagram @seeundersea. Email Erik at erik@bluewaterdivetravel.com.

"I am passionate about underwater photography in general and have a special love for macro subjects. For me the things that are hardest to spot hold the most interest. Documenting the commensal and symbiotic relationships is for me the most interesting…the smaller and more bizarre the better. I also have a passion for sharing my knowledge with others. My goal with all of my workshops is to ensure each guest leaves with a group of images that they are proud to share."

Flight Information

The trip departs from Bali on August 29. Guests will need to fly into Denpasar (DPS) which has an international airport with multiple direct flight options from various hubs in Asia and Australia. We encourage all guests to arrive in Bali at least a day early to allow for flight and baggage delays.The boat disembarks in Labuan Bajo (LBJ). We can book your flights from LBJ back to DPS and your extension in Bali to include accommodation, diving and topside activities.

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Payment Schedule

$1,000 deposit to confirm the trip
$2,000 due 1 Feb 2024
Balance due 1 May 2024

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WANT TO EXTEND YOUR TRIP?

We can help with that! See more of the Bali after your workshop in Bali and Komodo with Bluewater. Flying all that way merits a multi-destination vacation! There are amazing destinations nearby that offer a range of additional unique experiences. Here is an example of a package we can add on to your workshop reservation:

*Rates are subject to change at any time; please contact us for the most updated pricing.

5 NIGHTS IN BALI

Prices start at $1,112 per person based upon double occupancy and $1,912 per person based upon single occupancy.

Embark on a captivating journey through Bali, starting in Ubud with visits to cultural gems like Taman Ayun, Jatiluwih, Bedugul, and Tanah Lot. Explore Bali's east coast, including Kusamba Village, Goa Lawah Temple, Tenganan Village, and Tirta Gangga. Enjoy a leisure day in Ubud and a half-day tour to Uluwatu Temple and the Kecak Dance, concluding the trip in Kuta. Throughout the adventure, indulge in comfort at the luxurious Komaneka Bisma.

4 Nights stay in hotel in Ubud
1 Night stay in hotel in Kuta
3.5 days Bali Tour with a professional guide plus 1 free day to explore Ubud at your leisure
All transfers and daily breakfast