If you ever get a chance to go to the South Pacific, make sure you come prepared. When we went to French Polynesia, we bought a Go Pro and a special lens to correct refraction and take great photos partially in and out of the water. The entire setup was less expensive than hiring a photographer for a few hours.
These pictures were taken on a Tour with Albert Transport. They rented us a car for a day and we took the boat trip to Marine Protected Area Tiahura where we were able to swim with reef sharks and rays. There isn't a net here keeping the animals penned in, it's just a space where they don't allow fishing.
The sharks come in for the food and so do the rays. They know the boats feed them so it's a guarantee to see something. There are plenty of fish too, but you can find fish anywhere in the Tahitian sea.
The vivid colours along with the contrast of the sea and sky were phenomenal. I would go on this tour again and again, just because the lunch was delicious and the guide was hilarious. We could see rays, turtles, sharks, corals and fish all over the island, but they only come close when there is food.
You can reach out and touch the rays. They act like dogs and try climbing you to get the food so you want to feed them quickly as it is sort of weird to have half a dozen of them swarming you for food.
Here's the resort we stayed at on Bora Bora. Most of the photos you see aren't on Bora Bora, they are on the Barrier Reef looking at Bora Bora. The diving in front of the resort was perfect and we went in the water almost all day everyday.
There's a couple of dogfish, they're my favourite because they have expressions on their face. Most fish are expressionless, so I like the ones with character.
This was taken off the shore from a stand up paddle board. We would go up and down the coast stopping to see what was there. It was all fish and corals.
A close up of the dog fish. I must have taken 50 photos of it, underwater photography isn't easy. It was a fairly deep so to get a photo I had to dive.
These rays were deeper, the more you go down, the less colours there are. There isn't much to see on a sandy bottom except the odd ray. Fish stick to the rocks and corals or weeds where it is safe.
Once you go out to where you would need Scuba to get to the bottom, you find much larger and more interesting critters. This is the first eagle ray I ever too a photo of. They flap their wings and are rarer than the other type, which are constantly cruising by the shore.
Looking at these photos makes me want to go back. See you soon Tahiti.
Photo's taken on a Go Pro Hero with a Telesin Dome Port
