Atlantis Resorts & Liveaboards are some of my favorite places for diving and underwater photography. Their locations and liveaboard itineraries take divers (and our cameras) to the best dive locations the Philippines has to offer. The top-notch service at Atlantis is seen at every level from clean, comfortable rooms; amazing food; and what matters most to me is fantastic dive guides and boat crew who make sure everything is perfect…so all we have to do is get the shot.
My first visit was in 2010 and in a world with so many amazing places to go, I still find myself returning to Atlantis over and over again and am never disappointed. The high abundance and diversity of marine life mean there’s never a moment without something to shoot and excellent dive guides who understand photographers lead dives at a pace suitable for photography.
Photo Subjects
The richness of marine life around the resorts in both Dumaguete and Puerto Galera and all the places the liveaboards visit is astounding. I try to explain to divers who haven’t been there yet that you can pause in any spot and there will be several things to shoot and most of the time there are too many things to shoot. Having so many photo opportunities, there’s no down time on a dive “looking for something to shoot” because there is so much every where you look. Plus, it’s common to find the “rare” stuff; so much so that by the end of a trip the rare stuff doesn’t even seem that rare anymore. One becomes super spoiled, “Oh, another wonderpus? It’s fine, I already have 100 shots of them, lets go find something else.”
Dive guides have hawk-like eyes and so often they are pointing at the sand when we are still far away, but they have already spotted the camouflaged seahorse or ghost pipefish, that would never been seen by of us mere-mortals until we are almost nose-to-nose with it. Dive guides also know about muck critter behaviors and have a keen eye to find things like clownfish eggs or where things live.
Improve your Photography
Muck diving is a great type of diving to help improve photography. Many critters of the muck are slow moving, like frogfish or nudibranchs. They allow a photographer to spend a long time with one subject, trying different camera and lighting settings to get the best shots and be creative. Amazing dive guides not only know how to find the coolest critters, but they also seem to understand the photographers (we are a strange breed). They allow for plenty of time for photographers to get their shots and almost always, by the time I’m finally finishing shooting one animal, they are hovering over the next cool thing they have found.
Having so much to shoot helps too. There’s almost never a dull moment underwater in Dumaguete or Puerto Galera, just looking down into the sand will reveal many things to photograph. This is great when you are in a group too, because one photographer can shoot one thing and your dive buddy shoots something else nearby and then they can switch when finished.
VIP Camera Service
Both resorts have large camera rooms with cubbies for each photographer. This allows for plenty of dry area to set up cameras, lots of power strips for charging and dry towels as needed. There are large freshwater tanks in the dive shops for rinses and dive guides so kindly will carry cameras to and from the boat if one desires. Once in the water, boat crew will pass cameras in and out of the water. Dive crew are trained in how to take care of cameras so that there’s never a worry about accidental damage. Presentation rooms allow for big screen sharing of photos and potential classroom for photography classes.
The liveaboards are set up the same way in slightly smaller manners. There are camera areas for diver to set up and charge, freshwater rinse tanks and the crew pass cameras in and out as a diver desires. Large TVs in the dining rooms are perfect for sharing images at the end of the day or presentations.
Friends, Food and Service
Each time I return to Atlantis, it feels like returning to a second home. Friendly faces and genuine smiles give it a feeling of a close knit community. Resort staff seem to know your name before even meeting you (and remember me time and time again). Epic experiences each day led to divers crowded around the cozy restaurant and bar area each night retelling the stories of the day with new and old friends alike. These stories continue into meals, which are always superb. The wetsuit always feels a bit tighter by the end of the trip.
I often travel alone and never fail to meet new friends during my stays. Other times, when I’ve brought groups to Atlantis, there is no doubt they will have a great time and amazing new memories will be made. Every detail is met and staff seem to know what you want before you even want it.
Each time I leave, I can’t wait to start planning my next trip back. In the meantime, I have literally thousands of images and hours of video to edit. Almost making me feel like I’m still there and each one reminding me of what special places Atlantis Resorts & Liveaboards are.
Brandi Mueller is a photographer, writer, captain and scuba instructor with numerous online and print publications including National Geographic, Smithsonian Air and Space, Scuba Diver and many others. She has two books. To learn more about Brandi, visit www.brandiunderwater.com.
