Land Excursions: All you Need to Know

komodo dragon with tongue out

While the emphasis of all of our tour itineraries is largely based around getting our guests as much snorkeling time as possible, we do make sure to include one or several excursions on land during our tours so everyone can experience the terrestrial nature, historical sites, or indulge in cultural traditions. From the ancient pyramids of Giza, Komodo dragons, and remote beaches, to charming local villages, we always make sure you get the full experience of that particular area-above and below the water. Here’s a quick description of what you can expect from our land excursions and some things to pack for them.

What to Expect

Transport

The transportation method and distance to our designated land excursion varies by location. For some tours, it could be a quick ride on the liveaboard’s dinghy to a local village or beach, while others could be in air-conditioned vans or busses. Depending on the location, travel time can be anywhere from a few minutes to an hour. Regardless, we make the journey there as comfortable as possible with all transport organized in advance and reserved exclusively for us.

Duration

Most of our excursions will only occupy a portion of the day, usually the mornings as that’s when temperatures are the coolest. After breakfast onboard the liveaboard or at the resort we’ll hop into the vehicles or boat and make our way to the destination. Once everyone is satisfied with the sites or encounter—usually an hour or two—we’ll make our way back to the vessel or resort for lunch followed by some afternoon snorkeling. For the land excursions that involve a bit more transport time, we will have a delicious lunch organized for us at or around the area where we’ve been visiting. Don’t worry, we won’t ever let you miss a meal!

Local Egyptian food

Difficulty

None of our excursions are overly difficult from a physical point of view. Most of the time we are walking over flat ground or through well-maintained paths with distances kept under a mile or so in total. Our Komodo trek may be the most difficult as the trek does have one incline to a viewpoint at the end. For those that have difficulty with steeper inclines, there is an alternate route one of the guides will escort you on. Don’t worry, you won’t miss the dragons.

Guest photographing Komodo dragon on island

Guides

Wherever we go we always have a local tour guide or guides to lead us to the most interesting areas and feed us those tasty facts about the area you wouldn’t otherwise find in a guide book.

What to Pack

Sun Protection

As all of our tours will take place outside, it’s always advised to bring some form of sun protection. This could be everything from reef-safe sunscreen, hats, and buffs, to SPF clothing. All of our tours take place in hot tropical climates and there’s no quicker way to ruin a day or two of a snorkeling holiday than by a massive sunburn.

White sand beach with Kayaks and jungle

Shoes and Clothes

Most of the terrain on our land excursions is quite flat and could easily be done in a sturdy pair of sandals, however, we always suggest a pair of trainers or light hiking shoes if you have difficulty with your ankles. Shorts and t-shirts are normally what everyone wears, but if you are particularly prone to sunburns a lightweight long sleeve top would be advised.

Money

Somewhere between $10 and $50 dollars in the local currency is not a bad idea to bring along on the excursions as most of them will at some point have people selling souvenirs who will not take credit cards.

 

Like all the organized activities on our tours, nothing is mandatory. If a morning trek or village tour is not something you fancy doing, then you are absolutely welcome to lounge around the resort or go for a snorkel on the house reef. We’ve found that the majority of the guests will join in on the land excursions, but we also understand that people might prefer to spend that time snorkeling or sleeping in! If you do decide to hang back, we will make sure you are well looked after.

guest being massaged over a coral reef

Liveaboards vs. Resorts

Liveaboard and resort

Choosing to join a snorkel safari that is hosted by a liveaboard as opposed to a land-based resort, or vise versa can be a tough choice, particularly if your only snorkeling safaris have been with one of the two options, or neither! Resorts can be great as they don’t rock with the waves and the amount of space you get is so much more. However, on a boat you wake up in a new location each day and get to explore so much further in the area. Not to mention the novelty of being on a luxury vessel in the middle of paradise. To help you get the clearest picture possible of what each style of snorkel safari is like we’ve broken it down into a few key points.

Space

Space is one of the biggest differences between resorts and liveaboards. At a resort you have a spacious bungalow with its own veranda and large bathroom. Then there are the resort grounds which offer beautiful landscaping, pools, bars, a restaurant, spa, and quite often a private beach with a house reef.

aerial view of misool resort

The liveaboard option does offer significantly less space than a resort, but you will by no means feel cramped, especially with the elite group of liveaboards we operate with. The boats we use range in size from just over one-hundred feet in length to one-hundred and seventy feet and offer 3-4 different decks to spread out on. The boats all feature large galleys for dining, saloons with big wrap-around sofas, sun decks, camera rooms, and large gearing up stations. Some of the larger boats even have a Jacuzzi and rooftop bar. The cabins will all be furnished with comfortable beds, some may be bunked, but all will be equipped with a private ensuite bathroom with hot water and of course air conditioning.

cabin on coralia liveaboard

Snorkeling

Snorkeling via liveaboard and resort in the very same location can be a completely different experience depending on which one you choose. One is not necessarily better than the other, just different. Raja Ampat is the perfect example for this as Raja is a massive area and no matter how centrally located the resort you’d never be able to see all of Raja, no matter how long you spent there. However, with a liveaboard in Raja you do have the option of being able to experience a bit of everything. Not everything, but a bit of everything, as Raja is HUUGE and even with a liveaboard you’d have to spend a few years exploring it to see it all.

Aerial view of Raja Ampat Islands

With a liveaboard in Raja you can spend a few days in the north, a few days in the center, and a few days in the south, whereas with a resort you will be snorkeling in either the north or the south. Now, that’s not a bad thing at all as both the resorts in the north and south of Raja have more than enough sites to keep us snorkelers entertained for months. Not to mention the resort’s extensive knowledge of their “neighborhood” will surely yield some exceptional surprises you wouldn’t otherwise have on a liveaboard.

One last point I’d like to make here is that when you are snorkeling from a liveaboard, you naturally end up spending nearly all your time on the water, this constant exposure does often lead to nice surprises like a whale shark or manta appearing next to the boat which then turns into thrilling impromptu snorkel session. That being said, most resorts have a house reef and end up being the guests favorite places to snorkel-no matter which house reef-as they can really get to know that reef after a few days and find all the cool things they might otherwise miss in a single snorkel session.

snorkeler with whale shark feeding

Rocking in Rolling

Yes, boats do rock a bit, and if the weather suddenly kicks up it can be a bit bumpy for an hour or so until the captain can get us into a protected bay, but in general you really don’t notice the gentle motion of the ocean after the first-night onboard.  In fact, most people find the gentle undulating motion soothing. For those that are very prone to seasickness, there are some excellent patches, pressure point wrist bands, and seasickness pills you can take which will quite literally cure you of it for the duration of the trip.

Amira Liveaboard sailing

Final Thoughts

Prior to joining Snorkel Venture I spend five years living and working as an underwater photographer on a liveaboard, and since 2018 when I joined Snorkel Venture I’ve spent the majority of that time traveling around the world and snorkeling from resorts. At the end of the day I would never say snorkeling from one is better than the other, not at all. Liveaboards offer that romantic feeling of exploring a tropical paradise by way of a luxury vessel complete with Jacuzzi and masseuse, whereas a resort offers that quintessential island oasis vibe with a happy hour and infinity pool. Each presents a completely different experience out of the water, but both absolutely offer incredible snorkeling.

Happy couple snorkeling a reef in Komodo

Where to Find Big Fish

Schooling scads over a coral reef

While everyone loves snorkeling over pristine reefs with all the colorful fish that explode out of it, there’s still nothing quite like schools of big fish. Despite what movies and wildlife documentaries might covey with their their careful selection of images, big fish can be tricker to find than you might imagine. For example, on a five kilometer stretch of reef full of what look like the perfect habitat for big fish there may be one point or ridge where the big fish collect, or you may see a lot of big fish but they are deep and well out of snorkeling range. If you’ve spent any amount of time snorkeling in the tropics you will surely understand what I’m talking about. So, with all of this in mind, here are a few tips for finding the big fish!

 Depth 

Depth does play a small role in being able to find big fish in that you need to be snorkeling in an area that has access to deeper water. What I mean by this is that if you are snorkeling right up in the shallow reef flats you are not likely to encounter many big fish. However, if you swim to the point in the reef where it turns into a wall or starts to slope off, then you’ll increase your odds of finding big fish as they like to have unlimited access to the open blue water.

Diagram of where to find big fish on a reef

Current

Current plays a big part in where big fish congregate and when. Generally speaking, when the tide is slack—that time between rising tide and falling tide where there is no current—most big fish will sort of just scatter into the blue water away from the reef. When the current starts to run again the fish will come back into their schooling formations on the up current side of the reef

DIAGRAM

Topography 

Topography and current sort of work together in that schools of big fish will generally congregate around ridges and channels, or basically any topographic feature that helps accelerate or funnel the current and bring in food. The fish will almost always be on the up current side of that particular feature, which is why your Snorkel Venture guides are always paying attention to which way the current is running.

Specific Destinations 

School of Mobula rays in cablo san lucas

One of the biggest tips for finding big fish is to figure out which destinations are well known for having big fish. By destination I don’t mean countries, I mean specific snorkeling destinations within a country like Komodo or Raja Ampat in Indonesia and the Sea of Cortez in Mexico. While a country like Indonesia may be famous for having lots of big fish, it will be these specific snorkeling destinations that have made it so. Before booking a snorkeling adventure it’s really important to know which places offer the best chances of big fish.

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)

school of batfish in coral reef

Destinations like Raja Ampat and Komodo who have had their waters protected as an MPA for years will offer the absolute best big fish encounters for a couple reasons. First reason being that there will just be more big fish as fishing is restricted or prohibited within the MPA boundaries. Second reason being that fish know when they are being fished and will descend to deeper waters. If you’ve ever snorkeled in places where they are still actively fished you’ll no doubt find that all the big fish will be deep, and in much smaller numbers. In successful MPAs like Raja Ampat you’ll find that almost all the schooling fish will be in the first fifteen or so feet of water and in very large numbers, perfect for snorkelers.

Five Tips for Getting the Perfect Over-Under Photo

coral reef below the surface with island above

The over-under or split shot, where in a single image the photographer has managed to photograph something underwater while also capturing what’s happening above the water, is a real crowd pleaser. These types of photos look incredibly difficult to do, but actually they are quite simple if you follow a few simple steps.

5. Large Dome Port

Photographer photographing river scene

In order to capture what’s going on above and below the water we not only need a wide angle lens, but also a larger dome port to provide maximum surface area were we can really get that division of land and underwater. If you are using a smaller compact camera where the lens surface areas is about an inch in diameter the chances of capturing a split shot are not very good. However, if are using a camera housing that allows for a larger dome port than you just need to follow the next steps.

4. Shallow subject

split shot of hard coral reef and raja ampat islands

The best results will be when you have a subject in shallow shallow water, anywhere from a few inches in depth to a couple feet. Anything deeper than four feet or so makes it difficult to capture the subject in nice natural light, but also makes it challenging to include both the topside and underwater subject in the same frame.

3. Balancing the Natural Light

split shot of hard coral reef and raja ampat islands
An example of a correctly balanced image. Photo taken at mid day with full sun. 

Light is key for this type of photo as we rapidly run short of light underwater, even in just a few feet. If we want to have balanced light throughout the photo, where the topside and underwater subject share a similar exposure, we need a nice sunny day and also to remember to keep the sun behind us. If we start facing into the sun or shooting too early in the day or too late in the afternoon where the light not as strong ,our exposure throughout the frame won’t match, leaving us with a blown out landscape or a very dark underwater subject. Bright light in shallow water is best.

Over under with reefscape below and island above
An example of a photo where the light is incorrectly balanced. Photo taken at mid day but conditions were overcast and balancing the light was impossible with out artificial lighting.

2. Water Line

coral reef below blue sky

Aside from what you choose to include in the photos, getting the water line just right is one of the aspects of the image which will either make or break it. As the underwater subject will general be the stronger of the two subjects I try to favor it by giving it a bit more space in the frame. If you look at most over under shots you’ll see that roughly two-thirds of the frame are underwater, with the remaining third above water. Something else to consider with the water line is weather you want it to be a smooth water line or a bit wavy. Of course, a lot of this will depend on the surface conditions, but you can experiment a bit with this for some varied results of the same subjects. Also, something really important to note is that the longer you leave the lens/port out of the water, the more water droplets will form. For best results have your camera submerged until you’re ready to take the shot (have the composition already planned in your head) and then quickly but smoothly bring it out of the water until you have the composition you intended, and click the shutter. This whole process should take not much longer than a couple seconds. The final thing I’d like to add is that a healthy amount of spit spread over the lens and then rinsed off will keep water droplets from building up on your drying port.

1. Subject Selection

Mangrove scene with coral reef below

Subject selection is paramount here as we are now selecting two subjects which can be combined in a similar image. Many times I’ll find a fantastic shallow reefscape that would be ideal for including in a split shot, but then there’s nothing to include in the above portion. While I think it’s usually best to have both an interesting above water and underwater subject, there is a way to still get an interesting split shot with no above ground subject. If there is just nothing to include above the water, you can try to make an interesting water line by rocking the camera forward and back while still keeping it half submerged as I press the shutter. This way you’ll have a bit of blue sky and clouds, some turbulent water washing across the lens, and then a brilliant reefscape below.

What is a Snorkel Photography Workshop?

Photography workshops, more specifically photography workshops for snorkelers and freedivers, can be extremely the helpful for anyone wanting to improve their underwater images, no matter the skill level or type of camera. These types of tours provide you with constant exposure (no pun intended) to beautiful marine subjects, all while being led and assisted by accomplished underwater photographers. Not only that, with the jaw dropping destinations and luxurious resorts and liveaboards we select specifically for these tours, you can rest assured that it will be the trip of a lifetime and you’ll have the photos to prove it. Here’s a little look into what a Snorkel Venture snorkeling photography workshop looks like and also what you can expect to learn from one.

What is a Snorkeling and Freediving Photography Workshop

As the description says, a snorkeling and freedving photography workshop is a photography workshop that caters specifically to snorkelers and freedivers. Snorkel Venture has a select team of professional photographers who are not only accomplished with a camera, but also well versed in the the locations we’ll be traveling to and will be your group leader for the duration of the photographic tour. These tours will be based in locations where sea conditions are mild, but also home to some of the world’s most beautiful reefs where exciting encounters with some of the ocean’s most photogenic marine inhabitants are guaranteed. As with all of our snorkeling safaris, the resorts and liveaboards who will be hosting us are well equipped for tours such as these so you can expect five-star service and accommodations with the added benefit of tailor made camera rooms and media centers.

people in camera room in Lembeh resort

How a Photo Workshop Runs

Our photo tours will run in a very similar fashion to our normal snorkel safaris, however, the guide will also be a professional underwater photographer and well adept at translating the complexities of underwater photography into more simple terms. On most evening of the tour you can expect the photo pro to lead a series of discussions complete with critiques with plenty of examples and demonstrations to help you transform that days mistakes into beautiful images the next. The photo pro will of course be in the water with you so as to better answer any questions you may have on the spot. These are group workshops, which many people find to be very beneficial as you not only learn from the photo pro but also from those around you. Of course, if you do prefer a more one-on-one type of session there are plenty of opportunities to have more private critiques and lessons.

What you Can Expect to Learn

Over the course of these photography tours the Snorkel Venture photo pro will cover everything from the very basics like how to make use of the camera’s automatic settings, what makes a compelling composition, selecting photogenic marine life and how to approach them, to the more complex aspects of underwater photography like manual exposure, white balance, and how to shoot smaller subjects while snorkeling.

Also, as guides and photographers for Snorkel Venture, our photo pros are well versed in the nuances of snorkeling photography and he will not only coach you on the technical aspects of cameras and help train your eyes to select the most photogenic subjects, but also help you to prepare your lungs and cameras in advance so you can make the most of your brief dives to the deeper subjects.

The lessons don’t just stop at the camera either. With the abundance of editing software on the market, a lot of which is either free or offered at very affordable rates, touching up has become a very important part of the photographic experience. Using practical examples and demonstrations  we’ll explore the different ways of photo editing so you can get the most out of your photos with the aid of post production software.

In the end, these photo tours are an exceptional and fun way to help take your underwater photos to the next level. With the assistance of the Snorkel Venture Photo Pro’s constructive critiques and the near unlimited access to some of the best reefs in the world you’ll be able to quickly catch any mistakes you may have made in one snorkel session and correct them the next. No need to wait another year before your next snorkeling holiday or to or search though Google for photographic tips, for the duration of the tour you’ll have everything you need right under your nose.

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