amazing ! my dream to dive both area Banda and Alor but its not easy destination perhaps start with live aboard is a good idea :) Great Films as always!!!!
No. On this cruise, I saw the school at Suanggi. On the previous cruise, I saw the school at Run. I've also seen hammerhead schools at Serua, Manuk, Nil Desperandum, Karang Hatta in previous years.
Hi Inge. On this trip, I used a GoPro11 in an Isotta housing for two clips, the island and the selfie. The main camera that I used is a Sony A1 in a Nauticam housing. The GoPro11 and the Sony A1 are my two main cameras, but sometimes I only take the GoPro on a trip (such as Socorro 2024 and Galapagos 2024). I also have a Panasonic GH5 in a Nautican housing that I sometimes. substitute for the Sony A1.
@@wksgonediving8154 Hi WK, thank you so much for your answer! At the moment I am looking fo a new camera, this helps me a lot, as I see, how nice your videos are- great colours- surely the Sony in that case. Wishing you further lots of joy! Big hugs, Inge
What a beautiful video. I would love to dive there, now. However, I only have my open water certs. Do I need to get my advanced cert? I just subcribed to your channel, btw.
Hi. For this Socorro video, I used a GoPro 11 in an Isotta housing without any video lights. For wide angle during the daytime, I prefer to use ambient light.
I used a GoPro11 mainly because I went to Socorro immediately before and did not want to take a big camera housing into Mexico due to the Mexican customs scam involving underwater camera housings. I will not name the LOB as I do not recommend it. That LOB was one of the worst that I have been on. No choice of how eggs are cooked for breakfast. Food for all meals served on a plate without choice of any sort. Cooking was also not good. The crew washed dive gear at the end of the trip but did it badly. There was still water in my BC and it tasted salty so I rinsed it out myself. And much more... The diving was good, but not really thanks to the guide. It was Galapagos and diving those sites from any boat would have resulted in a similar experience. In fact, I was quite unimpressed by the guide's knowledge.
Hi WK! We are the trio who met you at Alor. Great videos! We have been following all your videos since. We are planning a trip to Socorro - would you recommend Nov/Dec or Mar since you have been there during these months? Also is Nautilus Explorer a good LOB for the trip?
Hi. Both periods are good, but temperatures are different. Warm in Nov/Dec and colder in Mar. The Nautilus Explorer is OK, but has more guests than the Solmar V, which is also OK, but the Solmar V has the added advantage of alcoholic drinks being included. I prefer to go on the Nautilus Explorer because it has a solo cabin that is larger than the solo cabin on the Solmar V, which I find to be too cramped. Your priorities may well differ from mine. I've also heard good things about Valentina.
I should add that I cannot give an unqualified recommendation for Nautilus because the company does some things that are quite unorthodox. For example, I booked Nautilus Explorer for the Sea of Cortez last year and Nautilus switched boats on me putting me on Nautilus Undersea without my consent. To me, the Undersea is an inferior LOB to the Explorer. Also google "Shark dive operator brings libel suits against clients".
Wow...Hammerhead compare there size in Banda Sea and Socorro which is more bigger? After see this film , perhaps I should considering to dive Banda Sea with Mermaid II also ... just wow! Great film!!!
Great shots. Especially those mantas. They're so curious out there. Also surprised at how many tuna you saw. Wow! What site did you get the tiger on? I got spooked by one at Cabo Pearce. She wasn't messing around until she clocked how many of us there were. Almost a code brown!
The hammerhead footage is amazing and the light and dark adds to it. Do you have an idea as to why the dolphins were adopting a vertical position around 10:30 - were they playing with something? Thanks for sharing.
Water was about 23 to 24 C. Wetsuits used by divers on the trip ranged from 1mm to 7mm. One French diver did all dives only a wetsuit top, prefering to just use swim shorts without a wetsuit bottom over the swim shorts.
There are many reasons why I dive regularly, including weight management. I also don't have too many years left so I have to squeeze all the living in whilst I have the chance. Hence my bucket list diving.
It's good to see you're still diving and doing these wonderful videos! We met in 2019 in the Solomons and I still share your video from that trip with friends! I hope all is well with you.
I've dived with SMC three times and have one more trip booked with them this year. I guess that is a recommendation in itself. Do note that SMC does 3 tank dives.
Man! Great camera work, great editing. You didn’t miss much. Mimic, wonderpus, blue ring, nudis, too many to mention. Maybe only hairy or skeleton shrimp. Impressive.