Author Archives: Judy G Diver

About Judy G Diver

Born and raised on the west coast of Canada, I have always felt a strong connection to the sea. But for many years, I stayed on the surface, afraid of what lurked down deep. When I was in my early 30's, with three young children (aka the P's), my husband (aka Mr G) signed us up for a SCUBA certification course, as a surprise. Although I had my fears, my stubbornness prevailed, and somehow I made it through four murky, frigid, cold water dives in Vancouver to successfully pass the course. Soon after we went diving off the west coast of Mexico, in the Sea of Cortez, where my eyes were opened to the beauty and other-worldliness of the life down under. And the rest, as they say, is history. I currently have well over 2000 dives under the belt, and I have been fortunate to travel and dive in Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, Fiji, Palau, Philippines, Galapagos, Costa Rica, Hawaii, California, Egypt, Mexico, several islands in the Caribbean, and here in British Columbia. In addition to this blog and my personal website (Awoosh.com/Directory), which is linked at the top of the blog, my stuff has been published in a variety of magazines and websites, including a regular monthly feature for Scubadiving Magazine for several years. All links to this work can be found in this blog.

Part 1 – Kenya 2025

How do I describe the indescribable? Kenya is physically vast and diverse — arid, lush, flat, mountainous, populous (Nairobi), unpeopled (Meru National Park), mystical (the indigenous Samburu), and at times bizarre (the animals). It’s both serene (the landscape), and cacaphonic … Continue reading

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Part 2 – Kenya 2025

Meru National Park – Elewana’s Elsa’s Kopje Our flight out to Meru National Park was from Wilson Airport, from which most small domestic flights depart in Nairobi. The plane was a single engine, 12 seater Cessna Grand Caravan, and quite … Continue reading

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Part 3 – Kenya 2025

Nemunyak Community Conservancy — Sarara Camp Once again my words and photos really can’t do this experience justice.  Sarara Camp is located in a wide valley, with epic views from its rocky perch on the flank of a precipitous mountain, … Continue reading

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Part 4 – Kenya 2025

Maasai Mara North Conservancy – Elewana’s Elephant Pepper Camp It was a sad farewell to Sarara — all of us left there with full hearts and feeling very inspired by the amazing conservation and social enterprise model that the Samburu … Continue reading

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Big Ball of Bigeye Trevally

Nothing warms my heart more underwater than seeing an aggregation of fish while diving on a healthy reef. We saw swarms of schooling Trevally (Jacks) on several dives in Tubbataha. Like starling birds, they swirl and undulate and create momentary … Continue reading

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The Scariest Fish in the Sea

Let me introduce you to the scariest (to me) fish in the sea. This is a kind of fish that I have nicknamed Bucky (or Buckette – the sex of this fish is not easy to discern by its colouration) … Continue reading

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Into the Deep…

How deep was that anyway? The other evening we were sharing some of the highlights of our really memorable recent trip to the Tubbataha reefs in the Philippines with some non-diving buds, over beers at the local pub. The first … Continue reading

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Raja Ampat, The Last Diving Paradise?

We recently returned from a truly wonderful dive trip to Indonesia. After the stress-inducing O-ring debacle of the diving portion of our first adventure post-Covid, in Egypt‘s Red Sea, this was relaxing, exhilarating, and breathtakingly beautiful diving. (Note: You’ll need … Continue reading

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Yalla Yalla Habibi!

I’ll admit that I was never super interested in ancient history; I think my last whack at it was in the early years of high school. Egyptians, Romans, Greeks? They were bygones to me – more mythology than history in … Continue reading

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Touched By A Shark

Massive tiger sharks. Big beefy bull sharks. Marauding reef sharks. Thick clouds of thousands of fish. Dive masters swimming up into this chaotic melee to dump fish guts in murky mid-water, in an effort to attract the big ‘uns. Twenty-six … Continue reading

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The Sun Also Sets

Yesterday was the much-anticipated solar eclipse. And although we live a bit north of the ‘zone of totality’, it was still a noteworthy happening. And amazingly, it was a clear sunny day for this extraordinary event.

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Diving In The Front Yard

It had been over a year since we last donned the drysuits and waddled into the water. It’s totally awesome to be shore diving in the front yard, but the bods are not getting any younger, and contorting into the … Continue reading

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Pic of the Day – Doto Nudibranch

From the Bali files. This is the front end of a teensy Doto nudibranch, feasting on a hydroid. There are thousands of species of nudibranchs (aka sea slugs), and they come in a kaleidoscope of colours and patterns. Big nudis … Continue reading

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Pic of the Day – Pen Shell Shrimp

This is a fairly unusual critter – so much so that it is not in my (older version) Humann & Deloach Caribbean Reef Creature ID book. It is a Pen Shell Shrimp (Pontonia mexicana), about half an inch in length, … Continue reading

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Pic of the Day – Pederson Shrimp on Corkscrew Anemone

Pederson shrimp on a corkscrew anemone. Photographed in St. Vincent. St Vincent is known for coughing up some pretty weird and wonderful species, some of which are seen no where else in the Caribbean. I initially thought this might have … Continue reading

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Pic of the Day – Stunning Sunset

Sunsets are always beautiful, fleeting things, but every now and then they transcend into the truly spectacular. This was one of those sunsets. Taken from the stern of a live aboard dive boat, in eastern Indonesia, with a yummy rum … Continue reading

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Pic of The Day – Spinecheek Anemone Fish

My diving buds know that I am a bit nuts about anemone fish. I just can’t swim past an anemone inhabited by these cute and colourful little fish without trying my luck at getting a pleasing shot. They are frustrating … Continue reading

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Pic of the Day – Alor, Indonesia Old School Fisherman

And now for something a little different. This fellow peering down at me as I took pictures from under his canoe is a local fisherman in the Alor area of Indonesia. These guys hand make bamboo fish traps, and place … Continue reading

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Pic of the Day – Thread Fin Hawkfish

I have a scary number of underwater images in the hopper – three trips’ worth, truth be told. I have been sharing a few on Facebook and Instagram (you can find me there – Judy G Diver), but I have … Continue reading

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New Zealand – You Beach!

It’s been a bit of a whirl of travel over the past few months. In addition to some regularly scheduled dive and Berlin biz trips this year, a couple of other opportunities have arisen – one – in absence of any … Continue reading

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