Lembeh Wide Open | Andy Sallmon & Allison Vitsky | May 13-22, 2013

Lembeh Straits has long been known as the muck diving capital of the world.  Thousands of underwater photographers descend upon this legendary place every year armed with macro lenses and a singular goal in mind: to create images of the incredible, small creatures that inhabit this fantastic place.
For a long time, we were no different.  However, it began to occur to us that we were missing a large part  – literally – of what Lembeh had to offer.  We’d see gorgeous, tiny cowries and shrimp…then back up and notice the huge gorgonians and branching soft corals they inhabited.  The more we looked, the more we felt that some of the dive sites seemed just as suited to wide-angle as to macro photography.  Furthermore, we heard rumors of additional sites: shipwrecks, current-swept pinnacles, and soft-coral-laden arches, all of which belied the macro-only reputation that Lembeh has had for so long.

One day, in hushed whispers, we began to discuss the unheard-of.  WHAT IF??? What if we went to Lembeh Straits for a wide-angle dive safari?  It was crazy, but we needed to check it out.

We spoke to Critters@Lembeh/Lembeh Resort Managers Kerri Bingham and Hergen Spalink, and they were game for a challenge, as well.   With their help, we’ve crafted an amazing trip that will showcase Lembeh in a whole new way.  We’ll still visit some amazing macro sites, but we’ll spend many dives shooting unique reefscapes the likes of which have not emerged from this region before.  To enable guests to maximize their chances at getting fantastic shots, photography seminars on various aspects of wide-angle and macro photography will be presented during the trip.