BIG SWIM: Want to see manta rays? In the Yasawa islands in Fiji, you can snorkel and free dive (no scuba tanks) with these beautiful creatures. Watch them loop and turn up side down, while scooping up delicious plankton, doing their famous manta ray “ballet”. The manta ray season is from July through September. 

GREEN STUFF: The Orinoco River leads nutrient freshwater from the rain forest of Venezuela, straight to the reefs of Trinidad & Tobago islands. In the rainy season, this transforms the seawater into a shiny green soup. The vis is lowered, but the reefs are thriving with gigantic purple sponges and an amazing fish life – and makes diving in Tobago in the wet season very different from the normal tropical Caribbean blue.

TABU: The people of Fiji use traditional methods to regulate fishing and promote conservation, including designating  “tabu”  areas—places that are temporarily closed to fishing. Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is working with a team of young Fijians and ten villages to conserve the Kubulau Seascape, by combining modern marine science with traditional approaches - to keep one of Fiji most spectacular reef systems and top dive sites intact.

NORWEGIAN "NUDES": Winter and early spring means ice cold diving - and peak season for nudibranch-spotting. Various species of nudies seem to thrive in Norwegian fjords at this time, and you can easily find them, doing what they love most: feed and reproduce. Although not as colorful and striking as their tropical relatives, finding Norwegian nudies still spice up a freezing cold dive. These images were shot in between climbing peaks and skiing in Ørsta in the Easter holidays.

FREEZING: After one year of awesome diving in the South Pacific, mostly in Fiji - I am now back in the icy Oslo-fjord, once again suffocating in my old dry suit, the warm clothes and way too heavy gear. The fjord is cold, murky and lifeless - but not always. Thanks to the extreme cold temperatures this winter, local divers can now enjoy almost "tropical" visibility. Sadly, the same cannot be said about the water temperature.
 

SHARKS: Diving in the fjord of Oslo can be a cold and murky experience - the visibility varies a lot, from OK to crap. But the colors can be striking - and if you find the small cool stuff, you will go back for more. And did I mention the sharks? Yes, you can even go shark diving in Oslo.They are not big, OR dangerous, and they are even called Dogfish - but they are still sharks...

BIG STUFF: If you plan to go down under, you probably already know about the Great Barrier Reef - one of the worlds biggest diving hotspots. BUT forget about that, the real jewels for divers are hidden much further south, still on the Australian East Coast.   Between Fraser Island's Harvey Bay and Sydney lies some of the world’s most amazing dive sites.  If you have had enough of pretty pink corals and clown fish, and want to dive with the "big stuff", this is it!

SINGING: Most people go to Tonga to see (and hopefully swim with) some of the biggest marine mammals on earth: the  humpback whales. However, the lush islands of this little kingdom also offer great diving. Great visibility, good fish life, caves and swim troughs is what you can expect diving the islands of Haapai - and the dive is often accompanied by the mesmerizing sound of singing whales.

SHARK DIVE: The pictures in this album are all shot on the same day (double Shark dive in Fiji), featuring some of the sharks you normally encounter on this Shark dive: Tawny nurse sharks at 30 meters, Bulls and Tiger shark at 16 meters, Grey reef sharks at 10 meters, White tip reef sharks and Black tip reef sharks at 4 meters. Only the Silvertips and Siclefin Lemon sharks were not spotted this day - but 6 out of 8 can't be that bad? : )

WRECK DIVE: Rusi's pinnacle is one of many great dive sites in Beqa Lagoon, Fiji. It even has a nice little wreck, an old fishing vessel sunk in 2000 - already fully decorated with colorful soft corals. The lone pinnacle by the wreck is full of colors and marine life, and this makes for a great dive between action packed shark-dives!

SMALL STUFF: Beqa Lagoon is not (yet) famous for its marine macro-life. With colorful bommies covered in soft corals, beautiful decorated swim troughs and massive sea fans - and SHARKS, it is generally more inviting for wide angle photography. But there is plenty of small stuff too, if you want to have a closer look.

TIGER-LUCK: If you are lucky, you might find yourself diving with a pretty large female Tiger shark - named "Scarface".  She has been a regular visitor on the Shark dive in Beqa Lagoon for the last seven years, and everyone is thrilled whenever she decides to drop by for a fish head-snack..

SHARKS: Fiji is often referred to as the Soft Coral capital of the world, and YES - there are amazing colors in the warm, clear Pacific Ocean. But also prepare for a great variety of marine life, such as sharks, manta rays and sea snakes - and even wrecks, beautiful caves and swim troughs - as well as beautiful macro life, if you look for it. Beqa Lagoon in Fiji is home to the world famous Shark dive, where you encounter up to eight species of sharks in one dive - including Bull sharks and Tiger sharks.

UNSPOILT: If you have a taste for french wine, good cheese, shopping and comfortable living, as well as great diving - you might want to try New Caledonia. The world's  largest coral lagoon is found here, recently becoming recognized as a World Heritage site, as one of the three most extensive reef systems in the world. You will easily meet schools of big fish at close range, reef sharks, manta rays, turtles and sea snakes. If you are lucky, there might even be dugongs or nautilus around.

COLD BEAUTY: Despite being located dangerously close to the North Pole, diving in Norway is actually not too bad. The 57 000 kilometer long coast line is blessed with the mild currents of the Golf stream. The diving offers clear blue water, lush kelp forests and a rich marine life. Well preserved German ship wrecks from the war are also scattered along the coast. Even some species of sharks are observed regularly in some areas. A dry suit is highly recommended. Although sea temperatures normally reach 20 degrees in the summer - it usually drops to 7-8 at depth.