| Join us on a truely unique wildlife filming adventure in South East Asia
Ocean Challenge Expeditions (OCX) has teamed up with ScubaZoo to offer you the chance of a lifetime, to embark on a two week trip taking in the likes of Sipidan, Layang Layang and other exotic destinations such as a little known Jellyfish Lake (similar to the famous “jelly lake” in Palauwith). Along with some fantastic diving you will be given the opportunity to work with the world renowned film company ScubaZoo. The venture will be filmed by the ScubaZoo team who will be on hand to help you with and to develop your own camera work.
Whether you’re passion is video, digital or even film, the ScubaZoo team will be dishing out hints and tips to enable you to get that cover shot or double page spread image – but not too good to put them out of their day job, filming for the BBC and other documentary companies across the world!
The island of Sipidan lies five degrees north of the equator in the Sulawesi Sea and was made famous by Jacques Cousteau who described it as one of the top five dive sites in the world. Lying 30 miles off the coast of Borneo the island itself is relatively small but the life in its waters is truly incredible. The location of Sipidan in the indo pacific basin puts it in the heart of the richest marine habitat in the world and on any dive it is not unusual to see up to 40 turtles, along with Leopard Sharks, schooling Reef Sharks and even Hammerheads cruising past. But it’s not only the large inhabitants which draw in divers from across the world, the macro life is equally as stunning and photogenic. In addition to the unique marine life is an extended cave system running under the island itself, known locally as Turtle Tomb, containing the skeletal remains of turtles which have become disorientated and drowned in the cave system. This dive under the island is not for the beginner, but it is well worth the effort and creates a topic of conversation for many an evening.
The resident schooling Barracuda and Jacks are one of the many highlights on these dives, gathering in their thousands forming spectacular formations as they move with the underwater currents. With the added possibility of seeing pelagics such as mantas, eagle rays, scalloped hammerhead sharks and the awe inspiring whale sharks, each dive at Sipidan is a highly anticipated event. On a smaller scale the macro life is equally mesmerizing, with garden eels, leaf scorpion fish. mantis shrimps, fire graces and various pipefish are guaranteed at various dive sites. The diversity and abundance of marine life found at Sipidan gives it its reputation of being one of the very best dive locations in the world, a real must for any dive and photography enthusiast.
Two hundred kilometres off Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Sabah, lies Layang Layang. Getting there takes approx one hour in a small aircraft where you step off into a different world. As part of the Spratly islands spread over the South China Seas, the drop off in Layang Layang is over 2,000m. These islands are famous for their schooling Hammerhead populations at certain times of the year plus many other large pelagics such as whale sharks and a whole variety of rays, due to its remote location. The other draw is the fantastic visibility which can often exceed 50 metres.
Dates and agenda have yet to be finalised for this truely unique opportunity, but we are aiming to launch our first expeditions into this area late this summer or early next year.
// To register your interest and keep informed on this or any other expedition, email us here // |
