Every year we run several snorkeling photography workshops in different destinations around the world. Currently, we have our Belize Liveaboard Photo Safari and our Alor-Komodo Snorkeling Photography Workshop. As the Snorkel Venture Photo Pros, Duxy and I started running these different tours in 2022 and we had a blast, and the guests, ahem, I mean students, were able to improve their underwater images significantly over the course of the workshop. We cover a number of topics in these workshops, from light, composition, and subject selection, to editing. One of the main principles that we really hone in on is wide-angle photography. You can find out why we spend so much time covering wide-angle photography here. Basically, it's the best, most practical tool for the job. Unless you are using a GoPro, the lens on a compact camera, even at its widest, is not a true wide-angle lens. The field of view on a TG-6 at its widest is around 60°. A true wide-angle lens will have a minimum FOV of around 100°, with most being 120° and wider. In the eyes of most underwater photographers wider is better. Now, if you just purchased an Olympus TG series camera or any other compact camera for that matter in preparation for your snorkeling trip or underwater photography workshop, don't panic, there are some fantastic wide-angle lens adapters for the TG series and just about any other camera model out there. While you by no means need to have a wide-angle lens to join or to get great results from a snorkeling photography workshop, it would be very useful, and practical since it is sort of the focus of the workshop. In the past, we never urged guests to purchase any aftermarket camera accessories as we didn't want them to feel they needed
Every year we run several snorkeling photography workshops in different destinations around the world. Currently, we have our Belize Liveaboard Photo Safari and our Alor-Komodo Snorkeling Photography Workshop. As the Snorkel Venture Photo Pros, Duxy and I started running these different tours in 2022 and we had a blast, and the guests, ahem, I mean
Snorkel Venture is a full-service travel agency that organizes guide-led group snorkeling safaris all over the world. We have the capability to organize every part of your snorkeling safari, even the portions of the tour where you won't be with the group! We book all the domestic flights, we organize all the transport and accommodation, our Snorkel Venture guides will escort you from start to finish, and we can even book your big international flights, if you wish. While we take care of every possible detail on the snorkeling safaris, there are still a few things that you will need to do in order to prepare yourself for your upcoming snorkeling safari. Packing your bag and making sure you are at the airport on time is really all you need to do. However, if you really want to get the most out of the trip so you can travel and snorkel in the utmost comfort, we suggest following these simple travel hacks, starting with reading your Know Before You Go and any of the other documents we send you before the tour starts! Alcohol In some countries, like Indonesia, alcohol can be a bit on the expensive side and the options might not be too great if that particular country has any sort of tax on alcohol. In other countries, like Cuba or Belize, alcohol is very cheap with plenty of options. If you fancy an evening cocktail made with your favorite spirit without breaking the bank, it's a good idea to check what the allowance is for bringing in duty-free alcohol to that particular country. One way to find that out, read the Know Before You Go document we send you before the trip. Laundry Nearly all the resorts and liveaboards we use will have a laundry service. For
Snorkel Venture is a full-service travel agency that organizes guide-led group snorkeling safaris all over the world. We have the capability to organize every part of your snorkeling safari, even the portions of the tour where you won’t be with the group! We book all the domestic flights, we organize all the transport and accommodation,
As snorkelers, we all want to swim with mantas. At least I assume everyone does. You should want to swim with mantas, it's super sweet! If you don't know why it's super sweet, here are three reasons why it is. If you already know why swimming with mantas is super sweet, you can just skip along to the next paragraph where I explain how to best swim with mantas. 3 Reasons why Swimming with Mantas is Super Sweet Mantas are highly intelligent, they possess the largest brains and the largest brain-to-body ratio of any fish. Their brains are even bigger than whale sharks! Why is this super sweet? Well, in a roundabout way, it means that interactions with mantas are genuine interactions. When they look at you they make eye contact, you can feel them really looking at you and sussing you out. Each manta will have its own personality. If they decide they like you they will seemingly seek you out to 'dance' with, and at times you can even feel them trying to communicate with you by bobbing their heads or furling and unfurling their cephalic lobes (the flappy scoopy things on the front of their face). Mantas are really really big, and really safe. The wingspan for a big oceanic manta, the larger of the two species, can reach up to seven meters, or about twenty-two feet! Not only that, but they are essentially harmless. That big mouth they have is not for swallowing up snorkelers, it's for hoovering up plankton, just like larger whales. Unlike just about all of the other ray species, mantas do not have a poisonous barb on their tail, so there's no need to fear being harpooned by these gentle giants. Little colorful reef fish are pretty, but swimming next to a
As snorkelers, we all want to swim with mantas. At least I assume everyone does. You should want to swim with mantas, it’s super sweet! If you don’t know why it’s super sweet, here are three reasons why it is. If you already know why swimming with mantas is super sweet, you can just skip
Twenty-twenty-two was a big year for a lot of reasons. It marked the end of the global lockdown that plagued us all and allowed countries like Indonesia, Egypt, The Philippines, Palau, Honduras, French Polynesia, Fiji, and Cuba to once again welcome visitors into their beautiful oceans! Twenty-twenty-two was also our biggest year since we launched in 2018. Even though many of the countries we run snorkeling safaris to were not open at the beginning of the year, we still managed to successfully run 31 tours with 520 snorkeling guests, in 10 different countries! I believe we've said this before, but we can't thank you enough for sticking by us as we all bushwhacked our way through that rough patch. It's only a few more weeks before our 2023 tours begin in February, and we can't wait to welcome you all back as we kick the new year off with a big splash in Belize, Raja Ampat, and Halmahera! Here are Just Some of the Best Moments of 2o22 With all the tours wrapped up for 2022 and the next ones starting in February, our Video and Photo Pro Alex Lindbloom has finally had a minute to go through the hundreds of gigabytes of footage he captured while on tour and has edited a quick little recap of just some of the snorkeling highlights from the last year.
Twenty-twenty-two was a big year for a lot of reasons. It marked the end of the global lockdown that plagued us all and allowed countries like Indonesia, Egypt, The Philippines, Palau, Honduras, French Polynesia, Fiji, and Cuba to once again welcome visitors into their beautiful oceans! Twenty-twenty-two was also our biggest year since we launched
Indonesia opened its borders to tourists just over a month ago, a clear signal to us that it's finally time to start running our full inventory of Indonesian snorkeling safaris after nearly two years of postponements! First tour up, our Misool Snorkel Week which will start on May 11th and take place at Misool Resort, the world-renowned dive and snorkel resort in the very south of Raja Ampat. This will be our first ever snorkeling safari with Misool and we/I couldn't be more excited! I was fortunate to be able to spend nearly two weeks with the resort shooting some promotional content for them as well as for Snorkel Venture during the pandemic and after seeing how they operate and all the amazing amenities the resort has on offer, not to mention the world-class snorkeling sitting just beneath everyone's water villas, I couldn't wait to run a trip here! Here are ten reasons (I have so many more) why I'm so excited to be leading a trip to Misool Resort this May! The Food Even though it's arguably one of the most remote snorkeling resorts in Indonesia, the quality, taste, freshness, and presentation of the food is outstanding. Wandering the Grounds Misool Resort is not the typical resort, it's like no other resort I've ever seen. There are secret beaches, cliffs, jungles, lagoons, and blue holes, all of which are within a five-minute walk from your villa. Around every corner is a new jaw-dropping viewpoint. Exploring via Paddle-board & Kayak If you want to explore a bit further afield, Misool Resort has a healthy inventory of kayaks & paddle-boards so you can access the other nearby islands full of their own hidden treasures! The Night Sky The view of the night sky is exquisite from Misool as there is essentially
Indonesia opened its borders to tourists just over a month ago, a clear signal to us that it’s finally time to start running our full inventory of Indonesian snorkeling safaris after nearly two years of postponements! First tour up, our Misool Snorkel Week which will start on May 11th and take place at Misool Resort,
