Where it all started
Welcome to Roatan, the land of and for diver and Monkey LALA (more about that later). Roatan is an island in the middle of the Caribbean sea and belongs to Honduras.
I remember it like yesterday, I was hella scared, just lubricated what felt like 50 o-rings, quadruple-checked everything, and was about to get the rig handed to me before descending down into the crystal clear water.
Straight away, I started to fire away to the right and left. I was smiling so much, I had to CONSTANTLY clear my mask from a combination of salt water and tears of joy. The question is, did I get any good shots? Well, better than expected but none of the shots were included at the exhibition... At that moment I could only dream about an exhibition, that was not even on my mind, I was simply just in the moment trying to figure out if this long-awaited dream was finally real or was still dreaming.
Since that day I took the camera with me every time I could and was constantly trying to improve my skills. What I am GLAD for today, is that I had the ability to STOP and think of what shots I want to take and not focus on what other people liked. Because it was THEN, I decided that CORAL MACRO was what I really enjoyed for the moment. What I wasn't aware of is that that would be the main theme for my exhibition...
As my passion for the corals grew so did my realisation that the reef was DYING. I asked myself, what can I do to make a change? I signed up for the Coral ambassador course and used my photography equipment for media and marketing. Together with a bunch of other volunteers, we gathered with one mission, to SAVE THE REEF! For 3 full days did Honduras, Costa Rica and Dominican Republic go together in what is called CORALMANIA. Partly I out-planted fragments and partly took photos and videos for the event. At the same time, I was surrounded by amazing and inspiring people from all over the globe, an event I will never forget and I'm very glad I decided to do what I could at the moment.
The exhibition... just a coincidence. I injured my knee so had to return home to follow up. Got bored, and reached out to different galleries and events. Got the LAST spot at the third biggest exhibition in Sweden and thought, well if this ain't faith I don't know what is. The preparation was fairly short but there was nothing short when it came to my passion and motivation. A couple of weeks later I stood there, trying to understand that the pictures behind me were ACTUALLY taken by me. Met some amazing people that shared the same passion for my art, the abstract ones got people thinking. To hear peoples' interpretation and enthusiasm towards my work was amazing, got to hear a few, we had over 2600 visitors, could not have hoped for a better first exhibition.
What a way to close that Caribbean chapter. I still have difficulties understanding how everything FELL into place. I guess when you give your 100% in making a long-awaited dream real, you deserve a bit of luck on your side, or perhaps you don't need it because nothing can stop you at that moment.
Almost forgot, the most important part, MONKEY LALA. The cocktail, more like a dessert if you ask me, served in a glass the size of a jar. Filled with Bailey's, Kahlua, Vodka, Rum, Coconut cream and CHOCOLATE SYRUP. That my friends, will get you going after being dehydrated after a full day of diving).
Well we can start off by saying that Maldives is quite pretty
Hanifaru bay UNESCO
We had mantas right outside the dive centre which was cool. Me and the other dive instructor also got certified Hanifaru bay guides, which is a UNESCO site for MANTA LOVERS, also cool. It's basically a small bay where tons of plankton end up and during the season you'll find mantas there every day, sometimes hundreds of them. Whale sharks also come to feed and yeah, basically a tornado of our most beautiful and majestic creatures at one very accessible place because it's only allowed to snorkel at this location.
Monster dive at Labyrinth
Obviously, the expectations when arriving in Maldives and about to jump in the water for the first dive are sky high. I came from the Caribbean and had got a bit bored of the diving over there so I figured this is the change I needed. And WOW, some of the dive sites are truly amazing! I remember one dive, it was just me and another experienced diver going diving. My favorite captain and one of my closest pals were on the wheel and we headed for the Labyrinth, after a quick check I realised that the current was hitting hard, which as a beginner diver you hate but as an experienced diver you LOVE.
We drop down and try to hold on to the rocks to see the schools of fish and sharks playing in the blue, then we drifted along the wall and all of a sudden I see 3 MONSTERS approaching me! It took a while for me to realise what it was, 3 of the biggest dogtooth tunas I've ever seen, around 2 meters!? each. I'll be honest, I've been diving with both Bull- and Tiger sharks but tunas... look way scarier. And that's not all, these 3 monsters did not stay in the blue, they came CLOSE to us and stayed alongside us for a while so we got a good old staring contest down before they continued...
Then we came to an area where we could take cover from the current and it was a giant rock a little bit from the main pinnacle, that's where the real MAGIC happened. There were at least 4 different giant schools of fish circling us, at the same time we had turtles and an eagle ray joining the tornado and right underneath us we had 3 giant moray eels swimming around, ALL AT THE SAME TIME.
This place was no short of ADRENALINE kicks, that's for sure! Oh man I loved it! They call it Pelagic diving, basically deep diving in the blue and never knowing what to expect. I mean we are talking
Tiger sharks
Thresher sharks
Oceanic white tip
Mako shark
Hammerhead
And all the other common sharkies
Not to mention the MOLA MOLA
Why have not more people heard about this place?
Let's start from the beginning, Fuvahmulah is one atoll, one island, one city in the south of Maldives, you have to take a short domestic flight from Male (the capital). Because of the unique topography and position right on the equator line everything is extreme: the weather, the waves, the currents, the animals.
Fuvahmulah as a divers' paradise is fairly new, it was discovered when Tatiana and Panda from Fuvahmulah Dive School came there and discovered tiger sharks in the harbour. The local fishermen had been throwing tuna heads there for ages and that had attracted sharks. After some experimental dives they saw the potential and started the dive centre and made an agreement with the fishermen not to throw fish heads in the harbour, but to let them do feeding outside the harbour in shallow 9m water. And so it began, popularity grew and domestic flights started to go more frequently.
People that know where their heart is
After the more toxic environment at the resort I had some mixed feelings about the Maldives. But I thought, Fuvahmulah is far away from Raa atoll, people are free here and let's see what happens. And wow, I got welcomed with open arms, warmth and generosity. Instead of money, people where driven by passion, people were genuinely happy and everyday was joyful. It was like a big family. What I also loved was the type of divers, more of the adventurous kind and I met a german shark family. Mom, dad, a kid and daughter, when I asked the kids, that for the record had some badass pirate bandanas on their heads, how they were feeling about to go down with 10-20 tiger sharks 3 times their size, their fearless eyes just looked up at me like who is this meow, then I was like, damn these kids are on another level (btw my future kids will be exactly like that). There were also plenty of underwater photographers so yeah, paradise on earth.
Tiger zoo
The highlight of the day, minimum 1, sometimes 2 times a day. The best feeling was on the boat, the eye contact just before we were about to jump, the boat speakers had been pumping bangers and we were all fired up. Sometimes the sharks were around us just as we descended and that was AWESOME, that was when you got the more raw and spontaneous interactions. Then we continued to the shallow area and that was where I fell in love with my Muhusina F-163, she was always around and came to say hello in her own way, passing by very slow within 1 meter, enough to qualify as a french kiss if you ask me. Then there were always the smaller cowards that would go back and forth on the wall and if you turned your back to them for too long they were right up your face next time you turned around, always very playful and curious.
Then it was this one time with the MARLIN HEAD, the guys told me that it's like ecstasy for the tiger sharks. They were RIGHT! Holy cow, we had 25!?! tiger sharks, it was like a tornado, you had 10 of them in frot of you and 10 of them behind you, I did constant 360 spins and they just kept coming. Not only that, they were 3 times as fast and came even closer, I mean I was ducking for the BIG TAILS SWINGING. One of the bigger ones did a 360 on me, it just happened that one time, came from behind and I turned last second, then it was within arms reach and took me for a full spin while maintaining eye contact the whole way. After that I was thinking, IT DOESN'T GET BETTER THAN THIS, THEY CAN HAVE ME FOR LUNCH NOW.
My second home, I will return.
There is only one dive centre on Fuvahmulah:
Fuvahmulah Dive School, they did it FIRST they does it BEST
