Photo Trip Liveaboard @Asia

[Tubarao]

Hello divers

I'd like suggestions on destinations for diving in Asia / Indonesia / region. I would like to see big animals, sharks, manta rays, dolphins as well as micro creatures, nudibranchs, small crabs and so on, and soft corals too. The red sea is not an option because of political issues. If possible, I prefer shallow, non strong current dives because I am a photographer.
Any advice?
Thanks a lot!

 

[helarno]

Usually very hard to find a place where you can see both the big stuff and the little ones together. The big ones tend to love current while the little ones are usually in low current areas. Only liveaboard I've been on yet that had plenty of both was Raja Ampat. There can be a lot of current there but because the area is so rich, the dive guides can choose dive sites based on whether they want pelagic or macro dives. Most of the liveaboards I've been on tend to lean more towards high current, pelagic areas rather than macro, low current areas.

From my own (limited) experience, the best for each type:

Big Stuff (Sharks, Mantas, Turtles, etc): Maldives, Sipadan
Small Stuff (nudibranches, shrimp, etc): Puerto Galera , Seraya, Mabul
Soft Corals: Raja Ampat, Richelieu Rock (Similans, Thailand)

There are no doubt many other places, especially for the pelagic stuff (not my personal favorite, so not that familiar with them). For macro, Anilao is supposedly better than Puerto Galera but PG is plenty good as it is. Can't throw a rock without hitting several nudibranches and they've got lots of other rare stuff, like flamboyant cuttlefish, ghost pipefish, mimic octopus, etc. Those are all good for the camera and shallow (~15m).

If you enjoy photography and dislike currents, would suggest Anilao or Puerto Galera in the Philippines, Seraya in Bali, Indonesia. No liveaboards there, but easy diving with very short boat rides from the beach/resort.