Underwater Photography Guide's 2013 Palau Wide-Angle & Big Fish Photo Workshop

Join us in June of 2013 for sharks, hard corals and big fish! Let by photo pro Todd Winner

Come for 7 days of incredible liveaboard diving around the beautiful island country of Palau.

Combine this with our liveaboard adventure in The Philippines to experience the Ultimate Underwater Photo trip! We will be sailing and diving in The Philippines for an additional 7 days prior to this trip and leaving for Palau immediately afterward. Cost for both trips is only $4,649.

This is part two of the Ultimate trip. To attend only this portion of the trip, the cost is $2,449.

Diving in Palau by liveaboard affords the avid diver the opportunity to explore the nation's varied and spectacular dive sites. Laying between the Philippine Sea and northern Pacific Ocean, these limestone islands surrounded by crystal clear cobalt blue water are home to a dazzling array of marine life. Divers travelling to Palau can expect to see a variety of reef sharks, huge schools of jacks and barracuda, manta and eagle rays, Napoleon wrasse and batfish coupled with many critters and impressive corals. Drift dives are the norm and there are plenty of wrecks to visit and of course no liveaboard dive safari would be complete without a visit to the now-famous "Jelly Fish Lake".

June 22nd - 28th, 2013

$2,449

Featuring reef sharks, manta rays, stunning hard coral reefs

BIG animals – Mantas, Bumphead parrotfish, Huge schools of Jacks and Barracuda,  Eagle rays, Napolean wrasse

Blue corner – considered by some to be the top dive site in the world!

Expert underwater photo instruction daily

Dive the wrecks around Koror harbour

Snorkel in Jelly Fish Lake, where these cnidarians, that have lost their stinging cells, swarm in huge numbers. Most amazing jellyfish experience ever!

Strong currents bring plenty of blacktip, whitetip and grey reef sharks, schools of jacks and huge Napoleon wrasse, turtles and colourful reef fish

Dive the Iro Wreck, a Japanese oil supply ship sunk during World War II

Shark species along with tuna, barracuda, sweetlips and rainbow runners, schools of jacks and snappers

About the Republic of Palau

Like many young countries in South East Asia, Palau has seen many years of ocupation and retains influence from various nations. A staging point for Japanese forces during World War II, Palau was then placed under the trusteeship of the United Nations and governed by the US before attaining independence in 1994. The strong ties to the US remain through language and currency, however we also see influences from Spanish, German and Japanese occupation. The Republic of Palau is made up of 6 main islands and has 200 limestone "rock" islands dotted along the coastline - many of which have underground caves formed byshifting tectonic plates.

The Liveaboard

We will be sailing with our friends at Worldwide Dive & Sail on their luxury liveaboard dive yacht!

Features of the yacht include:

• An expansive leisure & diving deck area
• A spacious air-conditioned saloon with cocktail bar, 42 inch flatscreen & computer server supporting the inter-cabin network
• Covered outdoor dining area
• 8 large air-conditioned cabins each with their own personal computer, audio-visual entertainment system and ensuite bathrooms with hot water. All rooms are lavished with luxury extra’s including bathrobes, hair dryers, towels, individually controlled mood lighting and individual controls for your air-conditioning unit.
• Laundry Service
• Massage Service
• Yacht Boutique, which will make available to customers Worldwide Dive and Sail merchandise
• Enriched Air Nitrox is free for all certified Nirox divers. If you are not a certified Nitrox diver all our instructors can certainly teach you the Enriched Air Specialty
• 2 high-powered Zodiacs accompany the S/Y Philippine Siren
• Kayaks

Special features for underwater photographers:

• Each cabin is fitted with an individual computer and multiple power sources to facilitate the needs of digital photography. The computer features high end specifications and 20” high definition flatscreens, which are integrated with the yachts network server in the saloon.
• Workstations for the preparation and maintenance of cameras including prep and storage areas
• Large rinse tanks with fresh water solely for cameras and videos.

Photo of a room on the liveaboard

The luxurious saloon where one might spend their free time on the trip

The beautiful dive deck

If you want to know more, you can find additional information here: http://worldwidediveandsail.com/ourboats/sy-palau-siren.html

Flights

Flights should be booked in and out of Palau. If you are joining us in The Philippines the week before, we will help arrange flights from there to Palau (at an additional charge). 

Information from the Worldwide Dive & Sail website:

"Our Palau Diving trips depart from and return to the capital city of Koror with embarkation at approximately 4pm and disembarkation at 11am.

There are daily flights to Koror from Guam with Continental Airlines and most International flights from the US and Australia will be routed through Guam.

There are twice weekly direct flights to Koror from Manila and daily flights from Manila via Guam are the most suitable option for those travelling from European nations."

Visas and Passports

Passport holders from most western countries may obtain a 30 day visa upon arrival at no additional charge, an onward ticket and proof of funds maybe necessary. Please note that different nationalities often have different visa requirements. It is the full responsibility of our guests to obtain the necessary visa and passport information and to comply with the essential requirements. Please contact your embassy for more information prior to travel.

Combo Trip to The Philippines

Most of us will be preceding this trip by flying to Cabu to attend our Philippines Visayas Photo Workshop for an additional week on a Worldwide Dive & Sail luxury liveaboard (June 15th - 21st). Combo price for both trips is only $4,696 and we will help arrange flights between the two locations. It's the Ultimate Photo Workshop - you won't want to miss it!  

Deposit

To reserve your spot on the trip we ask a deposit of $450 (if you are going on both, $900). There will be 15 spaces available and we expect them to fill up fast.

If you have any questions or would like to sign up for this trip, please e-mail Travis at travis@uwphotographyguide.com

Underwater Photos from Palau

Blacktip Reef Shark, photo by Klaus Stiefel, author of Sex, Drugs and Scuba Diving

Schooling fish in Palau, photo by Daniel Kwok