These four pictures are of Nudibranches, or sea slugs. They're only about an inch long. Despite the fact that they move as slowly as land slugs, most of my pictures were blurred. I still think they look great. There's more information and pictures about them here and here.
Well everyone knows that Phi Phi was devastated by the tsunami. Although we were only there for a week we were impressed by how friendly and helpful everyone was; from the camera shop owner who leant me a charger for my camera battery and the people in Tonsai massage, to the staff of the resort and the dive school. We have many happy memories.
We stayed at Phi Phi Princess, not the cheapest place on the island, but not the most expensive either. It had an attached Spa, although I always went down to the place just down the road. My hectic daily routine was:-
- Breakfast
- Dive
- Lunch
- Dive
- Massage
- Cocktails
- Dinner
Most of these pictures are from our diving trips. We were diving with Princess divers, easily the most professional outfit we've dived with since we trained in Saba.
<Technical details>
I used a Minolta Dimage Xg with an underwater housing. It was my first time with this camera underwater and I had quite a few teething troubles. The main problem was shutter lag. I also tried using a few different white balance settings, cloudy seemed to work OK, but best when the sensor was covered until just before the picture was taken. Unfortunately I ignored the manual and tried using the fluorescent white balance setting. This meant that my Manta pictures came out an interesting blue colour.
</Technical details>
Boats at Ton Sai bay
We had lunch in Maya Bay.....
....and after the dives relaxed at the Jungle Bar on Ao Dalam Bay by the hotel.
Longtail boats at Mosquito Island
Black tipped reef shark
Clown Anenome Fish
Puffer fish
Forget the sharks, apart from at cleaning stations the only bites I got were from these little fellows. I think they're a type of Thai pirana. The longtail boat guy started throwing in bread to feed the fish when I was snorkelling, the fish went into a feeding frenzy around me and actually drew blood (not very much - but it was a bit of a surprise).
Two Groupers looking cool in camoflage.
Schooling Banner Fish
We saw manta rays at Hin Daeng
Peacock Grouper
These Batfish were just hovering next to the reef at Hin Daeng
Two Schooling Banner Fish and a Barrel Sponge
Mapped Puffer Fish
Not good pictures I know, but the Seal-faced Puffer was my favourite fish and these are the best I got.
