Pic's from my Nai'a trip in June

[DSR-3]

Here are a few pic's from a great trip on the Nai'a. Sam & Brigitte were excellent hosts, and the diving was great! For me, it was multiple "best dives ever". One that will stand out for all of the group who opted to not go to "Kansas" (they did see the pygmy sea horses, though...), was when we hit the afternoon tide change/dinner time. That one dive included among many other fish- gray reef and whitetip sharks, large schools of barracuda and jacks, small schools of tuna and hammerheads, and a whale shark! I only caught a glimse of what I later learned was the whale shark, as I was diving down to see the hammerheads! The rest of the group was right there with it. I have never seen a more pumped-up group of divers than after that dive. 'great to hear the same exact comments from 2 divers- one with a full French accent "It was a f*!#ing whale-shaark!" Reportedly only the 2nd sighting from the Nai'a in 17 years.
Great trip.

Nia Fiji, June 2010

 

[Shasta_man]

The link doesn't work for me...

 

[expeditioncruise]

Stunning photos - 52 is one of my favorites. What type of camera did you use? Any tips for newbie underwater photographers?

 

[robint]

nice pictures!
what did you think of the boat? How many dives did you do per day? what depths? rough seas or calm? what was the dive procedure? how was food? how was the crew?

robin

 

[DSR-3]

Thanks for the compliments.
All wet pic's were with a Canon A720IS & S&S YS90TTL strobe. Pic's of my cheesy-but-functional setup here. Dry pic's were with a Panasonic Lumix. I'm a long-term novice, so not many suggestions other than the usual get as close as you can, then closer, and take more than 1 or 2 shots of anything possible. I find myself thinking "why didn't I take more pictures of that thing?", esp. when A-focus screws up. Also, get very familiar with shooting in different/manual modes of your camera, and try them. This trip I took well over a thousand total, and a little video as well. I've seen a number of things I should have stayed with longer.

I'll try to write a more detailed report when time permits.
The boat was pretty nice, I don't know the dive count (21?) off hand, but there was one day that we only did 2 dives (compressor prob), but had great snorkeling. Weather & sea: perfect for all but 1 day where it was blowing rain a bit. 5mm full was great for me. Night's on deck: great. Food: good. Diving: slightly lazy schedule (passengers, not crew) usually a short briefing on 2 sites. 1 skiff to each site, then swap for the next dive. 2 to 8? min skiff rides. ~112ft max, mostly 75ft and above. Crew & hosts: awesome.

 

[parrotheaddiver]

best liveaboard I have every been on....I have seen the pics of the ship after the renovations and it looks awesome