(trip info text by Tony Wu)

I probably don’t need to write too much about the Eastern Fields, as I can let Craig do the talking in the following video:

What I can add is that the Eastern Fields atoll system, like the areas I described above, is not over-dived, is not over-fished, and is not sitting next to areas suffering from over-development.

In case you haven’t noticed, I like travelling to unspoiled places. I don’t mean “unspoiled” in the over-Photoshopped-vacation-brochure sense. I mean truly unspoiled…as in, “almost no one has ever been there” and “you definitely won’t see anyone else underwater there” unspoiled.

The plan for January 2012 is to do two trips. On the first trip, we’ll visit several of the best sites around the Eastern Fields. Depending on how the weather and water look, we may dash over to another reef system called the Ashmore’s. The exact itinerary will be a judgement call based on prevailing conditions.

The second trip will concentrate on my personal favorite dive site in the area, Carl’s Ultimate – a site named after my friend and mentor Carl Roessler.

It’s a small bommie in the middle of a channel that gets swept by nutrient-filled currents. To say the marine life is “amazing” is like saying the Great Barrier Reef is “big”. It’s a major understatement.

Devoting most of an 8-day trip to a single dive site would normally be madness, but believe me, once you see this site, you’ll want to stay.

I’m co-organising the Eastern Fields trips with Eric Cheng and Wetpixel again, so there will no doubt be lots of photographers on board!

Prices and dates are as follows:

1. 10-20 January 2012, Eastern Fields
Cabin 1 US$4395/ person
Cabin 2 US$4125/ person
Cabin 3 US$3855/ person
Cabin 4 US$4395/ person
Cabin 5 US$4395/ person

2. 22 January - 2 February 2012, Carl’s Ultimate and more
Cabin 1 US$4827/ person
Cabin 2 US$4530/ person
Cabin 3 US$4233/ person
Cabin 4 US$4827/ person
Cabin 5 US$4827/ person

Click here to email Dan Baldocchi, who is handling the bookings for these trips.

An overview of trip logistics from our previous excursion can be found here, and here is a trip report that Eric posted after our trip.

My trips videos from last year’s excursion are here and here.

Summary

Trips aboard Golden Dawn are always an adventure, with lots to see, terrific food, wonderful conversation and unforgettable experiences.

All of these trips will be dedicated to photography.

The waters of Papua New Guinea are teeming with marine life, and you can’t get to many of the places we’ll be visiting except on a liveaboard. Even better, at any given time, we will probably be the only people in the water!

If we find some place or thing that everyone wants to spend time on, we’ll adjust accordingly. Similarly, if we see that conditions aren’t right, we’ll move on and look for a more suitable location.

In other words, we’ll have a plan, but we’ll go with the flow to maximise fun, safety and photographic opportunities.

Let me know if you have any questions, and I look forward to sharing an adventure with you!

UPDATE from Eric Cheng

We’re back from the trip! Here’s the trip slideshow:

There’s also a Wetpixel thread tracking pictures and experiences.