Dive Raja Ampat & the Banda Sea with Valerie Taylor!

Join dive legend Valerie Taylor on an exciting trip combining the best of Raja Ampat and the Banda Sea from 15-27 April this year.

Valerie and her husband, Ron Taylor pioneered underwater photography and filmmaking in Australia and around the world.

Film and TV credits include Shark Hunters, Blue Wilderness, Blue Water, White Death, The Wreck of the Yongala, Shadow over the Reef, Shark Pod, the TV series Barrier Reef and Taylors' Inner Space, footage for Jaws, Orca, Blue Lagoon, Return to the Blue Lagoon, the National Geographic film Sharks, as well as numerous education films and footage for many dramatic feature films and documentaries, including the Blue Wilderness series.

Two films about Valerie and Ron's lives include Sea Lovers, In the Realm of the Shark, and Shadow of the Shark.

Honors awarded to Valerie Taylor include:

• NOGI award for Arts (1981) from the Underwater Society of America
• Rider of the Order of the Golden Ark by His Royal Highness, Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands (1986) for her work in Marine Conservation;
• American Nature Photographer of the Year award (1997) sponsored by National Geographic, Kodak, and the American Press Club;
• Honoree in the American Women Divers Hall of Fame (2000);
• Centenary Medal (2001);
• Australian Senior Achiever of the Year (2002);
• Patron of the Marine Division of the National Parks Association of New South Wales;

Joint Awards and honors to Valerie and Ron include:

• Gold Palm Award (1998) at Antibes Underwater Festival for their book Blue Wilderness
• Jury Award (1997) at Antibes Underwater Festival for Shark Pod
• Members of the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame (2000), Cayman Islands;
• Serventy Conservation Award (2002) from the Wildlife Preservation Society of Australia;
• Lifetime Conservation Medal (2008) by the Australian Geographic Society.

Due to a cancellation, eight berths are available for this wonderful opportunity to sail and dive with Valerie Taylor in Raja Ampat and the Banda Sea! Prices on request!

Back to the Forgotten Islands!

After the extraordinary success of our exploratory 2010 Forgotten Islands expedition (See our December 2010 Newsletter for details), we will arrange two back-to-back trips to these little-known, rarely visited islands in Southeastern Maluku for 2012.

• 7/11 - 21/11 Maumere to Saumlaki (including Alor and Wetar)
• 23/11 - 7/12 Saumlaki to Maumere (including Kei Kecil and Pulau Koon)

(Detailed itineraries for these trips remain flexible at this time.)