Alor Underwater Photo Workshop September 2025

Alor Underwater Photo Workshop September 2025

Experience the rich biodiversity that Alor has to offer aboard the luxury liveaboard Tiare. With pristine reefs and unique marine animals, diving Alor is something you won't forget!

Why Join This Trip?

• FREE daily underwater photography workshops
• Rich marine biodiversity, pristine reefs, and unique critters
• Luxury liveaboard accommodation
• Up to 4 dives/day 
• Small 4:1 diver-to-guide ratio
• 25% off rental photo gear from Bluewater Photo

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Trip Overview

Alor, located east of Komodo and Flores, offers an exceptional diving experience, showcasing breathtaking coral reefs with remarkable diversity and occasionally drift dives, all amidst stunning topside scenery. The underwater world in Alor is a haven for macro enthusiasts, boasting spectacular biodiversity. This volcanic island is particularly renowned for its excellent muck diving opportunities and boasts one of the largest anemone fields.

Unlike more widely known Indonesian dive sites like Raja Ampat and Bali, Alor has remained relatively under the radar. However, this very aspect adds to its charm, as the diving here remains unspoiled and pristine. Surprisingly, Alor manages to deliver equally, if not superior, dives compared to its more famous counterparts. It's these unique qualities that place Alor at the pinnacle of our list for the best diving experiences in Indonesia.

Read about our 2017 Alor Underwater Photo Workshop.

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Marine Life To Photograph

Alor boasts a diverse range of marine attractions, with its primary highlights being exceptional macro life, stunning coral and benthic diversity, and the captivating sight of schooling fish. While the destination is renowned for its macro opportunities, there's also the exciting possibility of encountering larger photo subjects such as mola molas, sharks, turtles, and rays. Moreover, lucky divers might even be treated to the delightful presence of dolphins and pilot whales from the comfort of their dive boat.

List of some of the marine animals that you'll likely to see in Alor: 

• Rhinopias
• Variety of Nudibranch
• Ribbon Sweetlips
• Lionfish
• Scorpionfish
• Shrimp
• Variety of crabs
• Seahorses
• Black Snappers
• Moray Eels
• Sharks
• Rays

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Inclusions

• Full Board Meal (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and 2 time snacks) 
• Up to 4 dives/day 
• Tank, weight and weight belts 
• Water, Soft Drink, Juice, Balinese Coffee & Tea 
• Laundry 
• Wi-Fi - we use local mobile phone operator, so signal can be intermittent 
• Water Sports (canoe, paddle board, towable water tube) 
• Airport transfers on embarkation & disembarkation days. 
• Land-based hotel transfers on embarkation & disembarkation days from designated area. 

Exclusions

• National Park and Port Clearance Fees ($220)
• Nitrox ($15 per day)
• Alcoholic beverages & espresso 
• Flights and Hotel before and/or after the cruise check in and check out dates 
• Dive Equipment Rental 
• Dive Course 
• Massages 
• Crew gratuities 
• Fuel surcharge (currently not applicable, but subject to change)

Trip Type

This trip is a PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP. It will be led by one of our photo instructors and will include daily underwater photography tutorials, in-water photography support, and one-to-one advice and guidance as required.

What to expect from our Photo Workshops

• Daily photo workshops - Your photo instructor will schedule seminars each day on topics including, but not limited to, equipment type and selection, the concept of underwater photography, lighting and composition techniques, and post-processing. They will also include additional topics relevant to the location and your experience.
• In-water support - Where possible, each dive group will spend time underwater with the photo instructor, receiving in-water support and guidance on their shooting techniques.  Participants can also request in-water assistance during the workshop and the photo instructor will do his or her best to accommodate all requests. 
• Consecutive days of practice & review - Each day you will have the opportunity to practice the techniques and skills learned in the previous day’s tutorials. If you are new to underwater photography you will likely see a vast improvement in just a few days.
• Daily photo image reviews - You are strongly encouraged to bring your laptop, a thumb drive, edit your photos, and submit your shots for review from both the instructor and your peers. These are fun and interactive sessions encouraging you to improve throughout the trip.
• Quality time with fellow photographers - Both new and experienced photographers from past workshops have expressed the advantages of joining a trip with like-minded divers with a passion for underwater photography.
• Suitable for everyone - New and experienced photographers are welcome on all our trips. Gain the necessary skills to start shooting great photos, increase your confidence in finding the best underwater shots, or hone specific skills. We also encourage non-photographers to join, as many of them really enjoy the daily photo reviews, learning about underwater photography, and some have even returned to a photo workshop with an underwater camera setup!

Enjoy free, unlimited access to a wealth of knowledge and advice from your photo instructor.

Trip Syllabus

Storytelling Through Photography

There will be specific subjects, whether above or below the waterline, that will define various locations worldwide. Begin your research in advance and arrive prepared. Incorporate photographs of the people and the unique underwater subjects of your destination. The type of local fishing boats may be specific to the region, the method of fishing and more often than not there will be species that your destination is known for, and including those subjects will help create a story.

Workshop Overview | Underwater Photography Essentials

• Section One: Photographic Concepts - An introduction to the basic concepts of photography, the behavior of light, understanding and controlling exposure.
• Section Two: Equipment Selection - In this section, guests will gain an understanding of the gear and equipment used to create photos in the underwater environment.
• Section Three: Lighting - This section covers a wide range of topics that will help guests understand and control light in the underwater environment. Topics to be covered will include discussions on the tools used to create photography’s essential ingredient, light, and how to use lighting in various settings to achieve the objectives of both correct and creative exposures.
• Section Four: Composition - Guests will learn the ways photographers use composition to create stylized photographs. This will cover both macro and wide angle lighting techniques one may deploy in shooting different types of scenes or subjects.
• Section Five: Bring It All Together - Here we will use examples of images to help guests see how to bring various technical skills together to create images. These discussions will focus on the tools used, and the methods employed to create images in a variety of scenarios one is likely to encounter in the underwater environment. Whether shooting macro, wide angle, animal or human subjects, this section of the course will help guests understand how to bring everything together, before, during and after the dives.
• Section Six: Post Processing and Image Management - One or more sessions will be dedicated to working with your images after the exposure is made. Using Adobe Lightroom Classic, we will cover the process of image import, image management, and image editing to bring out the best in your photos. It is recommended that Workshop guests have a laptop which can run the Lightroom Classic application. Any other image editing applications are welcome, but guests should be competent on the use of those applications before attending the workshop.

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About The Tiare

The Tiaré is a luxurious yet traditional Indonesian phinisi that will take you on a journey of discovery to some of the most stunning diving spots in the world. Tiaré offers a spectacular experience for divers as well as non-divers.

More like a 5-star hotel than a boat, the 6 cabins on Tiaré, that caters to a maximum of 12 guests on this trip, are your home away from home designed with relaxation and the perfect sleep in mind. You’ll enjoy soft linens and well-thought-out lighting and plug placement as well as spacious ensuite bathrooms, hot water showers, and environmentally friendly body wash and shampoo.

Read more about Tiaré here...

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Flight Information

The trip will begin and end in Alor, airport code (ARD). From the US, guests should fly internationally into Jakarta or Bali and then book a domestic flight to Alor. The flight will include a stop in Kupang which may be overnight. Domestic fight schedules can be found on https://www.nusatrip.com/en.  We recommend spending an overnight in Jakarta/Bali and planning to arrive in Alor at least 1 day before departure to allow for delayed flights, missed connections, etc. Guests should arrive in Alor no later than midday on embarkation day and departure flights should be booked after 9am on disembarkation day. Bluewater Travel can assist with your domestic travel arrangements if required. 

For guests arriving early into Alor, we recommend booking the Coconut Garden Beach Resort.

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About The Trip Leader

Erik Lukas is an active diver and photographer based in Los Angeles, CA. He is a volunteer scuba diver at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, CA. You can expect to find Erik diving many of the amazing Pacific Ocean sites of Southern California, camera in hand, at any chance he can get.

See more of Erik’s photography at www.seeundersea.com or on Instagram @seeundersea.

"I am passionate about underwater photography in general and have a special love for macro subjects. For me the things that are hardest to spot hold the most interest. Documenting the commensal and symbiotic relationships is for me the most interesting…the smaller and more bizarre the better. I also have a passion for sharing my knowledge with others. My goal with all of my workshops is to ensure each guest leaves with a group of images that they are proud to share." Read more about Erik here.

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Payment Schedule

• $1,000 deposit
• $2,000 due Mar 15, 2024
• Balance due Aug 15, 2024

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See Also:

Alor Dive Travel Guide 

Tiare Liveaboard: Amenities, Cabins, Reviews & More... 

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Photo Gallery 

Raja Ampat Underwater Photos from Previous Trips

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