Air Niugini has commenced direct flights between Kuala Lumpur and Port Moresby today. The once-weekly flights depart Kuala Lumpur every Wednesday evening, arriving in Port Moresby the following morning, and return from Port Moresby to KL on Wednesday afternoons.

This adds to Air Niugini’s existing flights between Port Moresby and other cities in Asia (Singapore, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Manila), which means there are now more options for accessing some of the best diving in the world! Check Air Niugini’s website for more information.

The 4th annual international underwater photography and video competition series hosted by UnderwaterCompetition.com has kicked off with over US$75,000 of prizes up for grabs.

Held in conjunction with the Our World Underwater in Chicago (20-22 February 2009) and DEEP Indonesia in Jakarta (27-29 March 2009), the two photo contests feature both photo and video categories, with celebrity judges from around the world.

Deadline for submissions is 15 January 2009, and 15% of proceeds will be donated to marine conservation efforts.

See www.UnderwaterCompetition.com for more information.

Beginning of this year, our team was invited to join a trip to Myanmar with Parnunee Yacht. Here is their trip report.

When talking about Myanmar diving, the most common thought might be about sharks. Myanmar has a good reputation about big pelagic for many years. From Whaleshark to schooling Devil rays, they can be seen in this water. However, we went to Myanmar with more little hope, a hope to see some little weird-looking critters. We were told that those rare critters in Similan and South Andaman area are quite easy to find in Myanmar water. Ornate ghost pipefish, harlequin shrimp, Spanish dancer and many more were on my wish list before the trip start.

Five diving days of this trip filled up my wish list. The water was clear. We faced Read more…,

A silhouette of a manta ray will be printed on the 2009 Raja Ampat Tourism Entry tag series

San Francisco, Calif., October 1st, 2008 - Conservation International, in cooperation with the Coral Reef Alliance and Wetpixel.com, are pleased to announce the winning photo for the 2009 Raja Ampat entrance tag design contest.

After three weeks of public voting, Marcio Lisa won first place in the 2009 Raja Ampat Tourism Entry Tag Contest with his dramatic silhouette of a manta ray. In second place was Marli Wakeling’s portrait of a squid, and in third, a split image by Keri Wilk of a small island with a school of fish beneath the surface of the water.

This year’s winner will receive an 11-day, all-inclusive diving package at Papua Diving’s Kri Resort in Raja Ampat. The two runners up will each receive a copy of the fabulous, soon-to-be-released book, “Raja Ampat through the lens of …”, which includes contributions from 10 of the world’s leading underwater photographers.

All contributors and supporters of the 2009 Raja Ampat entrance tag design contest are commended for their support and submissions.

The contest finalists and winning photos can be seen at http://www.wetpixel.com/raja/

Contact:
Laure Katz
Indonesia Marine Program Coordinator
Conservation International
Bali, Indonesia
l.katz@conservation.org