Saba Ladies Dive and Art

April 25, 2019

I’m just back from the beautiful island of Saba, one of my favorite places in the Caribbean. I was sent there last year on assignment for X-Ray Magazine (article here) and I fell in love. The volcanic island is stunning with epic ocean views everywhere you go and the few people who live there just “get it” - they take care of their island. Saba has been protecting it’s marine and terrestrial ecosystems since the 80s and you can see the difference. When I’m diving in Saba I can’t help but notice the diversity of a healthy reef, not to mention, the diving is super cool - it is black sand (hot sand in some places due to geothermal activity below), mini canyons and lava-formed pinnacles. Above water there are numerous well-maintain hiking trails. The people are lovely, the food is amazing…and the island is filled with artists.

I have been wanting to do an all-girls diving trip for years and I knew Saba would be the perfect place - and luckily a bunch of my friends trusted my recommendation. The plan was to dive and get creative, but also have a stress-free, relaxing trip. We stayed at the lovely Queen’s Gardens Resort which is peaceful and beautiful and several of the artists came to us for classes, so we didn’t even have to leave the zen-like atmosphere of Queen’s (plus the greatest gin bar in the Caribbean is at Queen’s, so no reason to leave, imo.) I wanted to make this dive trip (SeaSaba) for all levels of divers with no judgement, no pressure, and just support and I really think the amazing women who joined me helped to make that happen. They helped one another, shared tips for improvement, brought snacks on the boat and shared, and there was so much laughing. I was remind that each and everyone one of us has our own insecurities, but when we are surrounded by positivity, we can share them and get useful feedback (which mostly consisted of - you’re crazy, your painting is beautiful.” I hope everyone left feeling lifted up, at least a little

Diving was only part of the experience - after spending the mornings on the boat we did daily afternoon art classes: painting, glass bead making, jewelry, and making leather handbags. We did yoga, we hiked, we also did a wine tasting and more than a little gin tasting and lots of eating. I swear, the tiny island of Saba collectivly has the best resturants in the Caribbean. I had such a great time and it was so nice to spend a week surrounded by friends. I really want to do this trip again…maybe September 2020…so watch this space! ;)

Adventure Sports Podcast

January 12, 2019

Greetings from Fiji and Vanuatu. I just finished a week diving on the SS President Coolidge and Million Dollar Point, which are just as fantastic as everyone says it is. Check out my Facebook and Instagram for some photos.

Podcasts are apparently my new thing. :) Mason Gravley had me on his show to talk about my new book and diving. You can listen here.

Recently I also did a fun blog at Moziak Underwater Cameras on tips for shooting underwater macro, keep an eye on their website for my future contributions.

Roatan Underwater Photo Fest 2018

November 1, 2018

Just over a week ago we wrapped up the fourth annual Roatan Underwater Photo Fest, and I think this was our best one yet. I personally had a great time and loved diving and photographing with everyone. We had a lot of returning participants (which forced Andrew and me to step up our games and make some new presentations) and I loved the vibe we had of friend’s just diving and taking photos together.

We were also fortunate to have Mickey Charteris, (I like to think of him as the Roatan Marine Life Guru) dive with us and share his photography on the macro life of Roatan (and made us all jealous of the amazing creatures he finds!) Julie Ouimet and Michel Labreque shared some tips for underwater videography and the finalists of the Turquoise Bay International Film Festival with our participants and hotel guests. Tripp Funderburk of the Bay Islands Reef Restoration Project talked to us about the Turquoise Bay coral reef nursery and regrowth projects. Some participants went with him to plant coral (or take photos of coral planting coral and the nursery.)

Roatan is a perfect place to improve your underwater photo and video skills with good viz, warm water, and little current. The easy diving with plenty of healthy marine life gives photographers endless opportunities to try new techniques and perfect skills. We try to create an easy going learning environment and underwater we dive slowly, allowing photographers to spend a lot of time with individual subjects if they choose (no marathon swimming or going anywhere fast). Many of the dive sites are just a few minutes out of Turquoise Bay Dive Resort and Subway Watersports takes great care of us and our cameras. Diving includes reefs, wrecks, caverns, walls, and we do a night dive and spend a morning at the Roatan Shark Dive.

We welcome participants at all levels of underwater photographers from beginners to advance and provide a wide range of instruction on the individual and group level. Throughout the week there are evening presentation and talks on a wide variety of subjects which are catered to the participants who join us each year as well as one-on-one time and help on the boat and during dives.

We like to conclude the week with a little healthy competition to see how everyone improved with our annual Photo Contest. The talent was overwhelming this year and we had a tough time picking winners. Michelle Scamahorn took home Best of Show with her epic macro shot of a gorgonian hydroid shrimp. Our generous sponsors provided prizes including Ikelite gift certificates and swag, BayPhoto lab credits, a Mares dive computer, Stream2Sea reef-safe products, a NightSea photography package and more.

It was so great to see everyone and we’re really excited for next year. We hope to keep up better with social media updates and create some new excitement for next year, so keep an eye on our Facebook and Instagram for photos and photo tips. We’d love to see you next year, so please join us November 2-9th, 2019.

More details can be found at www.roatanunderwaterphotofest.com.

Feel free to send me a message if you have any questions!

Bikini Atoll - The Nucelar Fleet

October 30, 2018

Bikini Atoll was a place I had dreamed about for years. Having visited and lived in the Marshall Islands and a love for wreck diving, it inevitably crossed my mind continuously over the years. There used to be a land operation that I almost went to the first time I visited Kwaj, but we decided it was too expensive (I was a grad student budget)…it was $1200 for the week. Needless to say, I’ve regretted not spending that money for years.

Since the land operation shut down, only a few boats have been occasionally making the trips. But this summer Master Liveaboards started running regular trips from Ebeye or Majuro to Bikini. Obviously, I had to go, and I was lucky enough to do an assignment for DivePhotoGuide.

Click here for the Article

I’ll admit, reducing the trip into the word limit for DPG was more than a little difficult. I feel like I could have written pages upon pages. The history of the Nuclear Fleet and how these ships ended up at the bottom of the ocean takes entire books to explain. As does the plight of the Bikini people and how the tests changed their lives and their atoll forever (not for the better). And then there is the actual diving. The wrecks are deep, they are remote, and help is far, far away. But descending on the Saratoga for the first time felt like I was visiting a place I never quite thought I’d get to.

There’s a lot more I want to write about the trip and I hope to for some other outlets. But for now, check out the DPG story. It was most certainly a trip of a lifetime and an amazing adventure for me.