The trips below have been handpicked by the team here at Bluewater Travel. They've made it onto the list because it's either an excellent time of year to visit or the trip stands out in some other way.
You can find more information about each trip by viewing the full trip page, but if you have any questions please don't hesitate to reach out to us at trips@bluewaterdivetravel.com
These handpicked trips are a selection of our favorites. Visit our group trips page to see all upcoming trips in 2022 and beyond!
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Lembeh Photo Workshop September 2022
French Polynesia Humpback Whale Trip October 2022
Tanzania Big Game Safari October 2022
La Paz Photo Workshop October 2022
Fiji Photo Workshop October 2022
Anilao Photo Workshop December 2022
Raja Ampat Photo Workshop February 2023
Socorro Big Animal Photo Workshop February 2023
Lembeh photo workshop: september 2022
September 21st - SEPTEMBER 30th 2022
9 nights (double occupancy) just $1,799, down from $2,449!
Trip Leader: Erik Lukas
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.
✔️ A haven for macro photographers—Lembeh is, without doubt, the muck diving capital of the world
✔️ Up to 26 boat dives + unlimited diving at the resort’s beautiful house reef
✔️ Top dive operation in Lembeh with 2:1 divers to guide ratio
Lembeh Strait is, without a doubt, the muck-diving capital of the world. Underwater photographers flock here from all over the world to see a myriad of critters, frogfish, pipefish, nudibranchs, sea horses, juvenile fish, and other exotic animals. Don't expect large reefscapes in Lembeh, but very scenic reefs live around nearby islands if you want to extend your trip to get in some reef diving, too.
Click here for more information about this trip.
French Polynesia Humpback whale trip: October 2022
october 8th - october 15TH 2022
From $2,995
Trip Leader: Gill Flaherty
Gill is Group Trip Advisor for Bluewater Travel and is a PADI and TDI Instructor in her free time. Gill learned to dive in her home country of Scotland and continued with much of her dive education in the UK. She quickly expanded her diving repertoire with trips to the Red Sea, Mexico, and Indonesia, and was surprised to learn that diving didn’t always involve poor visibility and chilly water temperatures.
✔️ Our operator’s boat has a hydrophone, which not only helps us to locate the singing male humpback whales but also provides you the opportunity to hear the whales song in great detail!
✔️ Humpback whale season is from August 1st to November 1st. All trips are at the peak of the season
✔️ 7 nights accommodation at Hotel Kaveka, twin occupancy in Garden Bungalow
Imagine being picked up by a boat directly from your hotel restaurant. A trip where you can have a close encounter with a whale 10 minutes after leaving the dock. A location that puts you in warm, clear water, takes 1/3 the time to get to than other humpback whale destinations, and costs half the price. A trip where the operator never cuts a whale encounter short. A trip where you are on a boat with a small group of people, 6 or 10 at most, compared to 20 people on the "day boats". This is the amazing trip that Scott Gietler experienced, and has put together for you to enjoy - a trip of a lifetime. Scott had whale encounters every day he was on the water. Snorkel only, no dive certification required!
Click here for more information about this trip.
TANZANIA BIG GAME SAFARI OCTOBER 2022
OCTOBER 9TH - OCTOBER 19TH 2022
From $5,999
Trip Leader: Mark Hatter
Mark Hatter is an accomplished photojournalist who has had nearly one hundred feature articles with many hundreds of images published in more than two dozen fly fishing and diving publications over the last two decades. His most recent destination features have appeared in Alert Diver and Diver (UK) magazines.
✔️ Multiple National Park trips included
✔️ All-inclusive prices, meals, and accommodations
✔️ Private use of a 4x4 safari vehicle and unlimited mileage on game drives
Join our newest itinerary to Tanzania and discover some of Africa's best safari spots. After an overnight stay in Arusha, the group drives south for 3 days of game drives in Tarangire National Park. It's then on to Serengeti National Park, via a tour of the famous Ngorongoro Crater. At the end of the trip, the group will fly from Kogatende back to Arusha for their outbound international flight.
Tanzania offers a huge diversity of game species and is one of the best destinations for spotting the Big 5. From the rolling planes of the Serengeti to the dramatic cliffs of the Ngorongoro Crater, the stunning scenery sets the perfect backdrop for photographing the abundant wildlife. Near August is an ideal time to visit when huge number of elephants, giraffes, and buffalo gather throughout Tarangire National Park, and the wildebeest migration across the Serengeti is coming to an end.
Click here for more information about this trip.
La paz photo workshop: October 2022
OCTOBER 15TH - OCTOBER 22nd 2022
From $2,149
Trip Leader: Nirupam Nigam
Nirupam Nigam is a dedicated underwater photographer and fisheries scientist. While growing up in Los Angeles he fell in love with the ocean and pursued underwater photography in Southern California's Channel Islands. He received degrees in Aquatic and Fisheries Science and General Biology, as well as a minor in Arctic Studies, at the University of Washington. He spent some time as a fisheries observer on fishing vessels in the Bering Sea and North Pacific, collecting data for NOAA. When he is not at sea, he is traveling with his wife and taking photos.
As the Editor-in-Chief of the Underwater Photography Guide and the Chief Marketing Officer at Bluewater Photo & Video, Nirupam is one of the world's few full-time underwater photography editors. You can get in touch with him at nirupam@uwphotographyguide.com or through his website www.photosfromthesea.com.
✔️ Best time to dive La Paz: warm water, great visibility, and timed to coincide with the start of whale shark season
✔️ Great wrecks & macro opportunities with various nudibranchs, frogfish, blennies, and much more
✔️ Great big animal action: sea lions, whale sharks, mobula rays, and huge schools of fish
Big animal action like never before! Watch sea lions, cormorants, rays, and huge schools of fish before your very eyes. Get in the water with multiple whale sharks and interact with playful sea lions. See dozens of mobula rays feed during a very unique night dive. Potential to see turtles, mobula rays, octopus, giant morays, dolphins, beautiful nudibranchs, giant jawfish, frogfish, stunning blennies, and seahorses. This is the best time to dive La Paz, with warm water, great visibility, and possible whale sharks.
Click here for more information about this trip.
FIJI PHOTO WORKSHOP: OCTOBER 2022
OCTOBER 20TH - OCTOBER 30TH 2022
From $3,237
Trip Leader: Craig Dietrich
Craig’s underwater photography has been featured in multiple dive publications, won multiple awards and has been sold in upscale galleries from Carmel, California to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Craig served our country as a Naval photographer during both Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, when he was given the opportunity to travel the world and his thirst for adventure was born.
✔️ Best shark diving in Fiji with several species of sharks including bull sharks, silvertip sharks, lemon sharks, and the occasional tiger shark
✔️ All-inclusive price: accommodation, diving, all meals, transfers, and taxes included
✔️ World-class destination known as the soft coral capital of the world
Start off your Fijian adventure with 2 days of exhilarating shark diving in the Pacific Harbor area where you have the opportunity to observe and photograph several species of sharks, including bull sharks, silvertip sharks, lemon sharks, and the occasional tiger shark. There is also the opportunity to explore the hard coral reefs and massive sea fan gardens in the southern part of Viti Levu.
Click here for more information about this trip.
Anilao photo workshop: december 2022
december 4th - december 11th 2022
From $1,699
Trip Leader: Helen Brierley
With a lifelong passion for anything water-related, Helen has been an avid scuba diver for over 30 years. Her first underwater camera was a Nikonos V, back in the days of film, but these days she never jumps in without her Nikon DSLR in hand. Currently based in Los Angeles, she races sailboats at every opportunity and is board chair of the international marine conservation foundation, Reef Check. She has won awards for her photographs and published articles on dive travel and photography.
✔️ Photographers with even the smallest point and shoot camera will feel very welcome here, and you will go home with some great shots!
✔️ Daily photography workshops by photo pro at no extra cost, suitable for beginners and experienced photographers alike
✔️ Considered by many to be the best macro diving in the world!
Anilao boasts some of the richest reefs in the world. Whether at 10ft or 100ft beneath the surface, you will be inundated with photo subjects that will fill up your memory card before the day is over. Almost all species on our critter list can be found in Anilao - such as Rhinopias, blue-ring octopus, hairy frogfish, pipefish, flamboyant cuttlefish & Bobbit worms. Anilao is also the nudibranch capital of the world!
Click here for more information about this trip.
RAJA AMPAT PHOTO WORKSHOP February 2023
february 9TH - february 19TH 2023
From $5,370 Early booking discount - $500 OFF
Trip Leader: TBC
✔️ Arguably the best diving in the world: highest number of fish and coral species in the world, great macro, amazing reefs and much more!
✔️ Great itinerary covering Raja Ampat’s best dive sites
✔️ FREE daily photo workshops & FREE NITROX!
The jewel-like islands of Raja Ampat are caressed by a convergence of swift nutrient-rich currents. Here the pulse of marine life thrives from the sea floor to the surface where the kaleidoscope of corals can start in less than a meter of water.
There are sites that are so pristine and packed with growth, that a photographer is hard-pressed to find a spot to place a steadying finger. Exotic sea life and macro critters abound, of course, and photo opportunities border on overwhelming. But at the end of the day, the most memorable moments for us are what can rarely be captured in digital format: the incredible experience of drifting along miles of exquisite reef brimming with a rainbow of hues and activity, the likes of which few have ever experienced.
Click here for more information about this trip.
Socorro big animal photo workshop: february 2023
february 15TH - february 24TH 2023
From $4,095
Trip Leader: TBD
✔️ Here you'll find not only sharks, jacks, barracudas, humpback whales, but also the mantas which are Socorro's claim to fame
✔️ Known to many as Mexico's "little Galapagos" because of the immense variety of flora and fauna
✔️ Optional 2-day shark and marine life safari in the Cape of Cabo and the Sea of Cortez
The trip starts and ends in San Jose del Cabo, then goes on to the Revillagigedo Archipelago which includes Socorro Island, Roca Partida, and San Benedicto Island. The Rocio del Mar is one of the better liveaboards cruising to Socorro. Dive to your heart's content as many as four times a day and get to interact with large pelagics up close and personal.
