Famous Chicken Ridge dive in Raja Ampat, Indonesia

Fimbriated moray eel; this species is carnivorous and leaves its lair at night to actively hunt its prey along the reef; it can grow to 31 in long

Chicken Reef is one of the most visited dive sites in Raja Ampat and often makes lists of the best dive sites in the world; the shape of the reef supposedly looks like a chicken

Sharksucker; this was one of most fun dives because this fish stuck with me through most of the dive; while other divers took photos of him (and me), the fish would nip at me

A sharksucker is known to attach itself temporarily by its modified dorsal fin used as a sucking disc to various hosts, such as sharks, rays, large bony fishes, sea turtles, whales, dolphins, ships, and even sometimes scuba divers!

Yellow spotted rock cod; this is a popular species raised via aquaculture and commands a high price; countries are hoping aquaculture will help minimize depletion of natural stocks

Black tip reef shark; with each dive I wished my diving friends could have been here to see how spectacular the underwater scenery was

Seeing huge schools of fish became a common sight on our dives; how they managed to not run into each other just amazes me!

Highfin coralfish; the Raja Ampat archipelago straddles the Equator and forms part of the Coral Triangle which contains the richest marine biodiversity on earth

The best time to visit Raja Ampat is during the dry October-April period; because of Raja Ampat's tropical climate, rain can unpredictably fall, although much less frequently during the dry season

Ribbon sweetlips; the boat had many reference books on the various species that live in the area; the divemasters also could identify any species I couldn't determine

The region's coral is in such good shape because the area is relatively unpopulated and difficult to reach for tourists; the only way to dive the area is with a liveaboard boat

Schools of blue and yellow fusiliers were present on most of our dives; our boat tours the Komodo Islands when it's rainy season in Raja Ampat

Golden spadefish; I was the only one on the boat that didn't wear a wetsuit diving but I never felt the least bit cold; it didn't take me long to get ready as a result

Yellowmask angelfish; this species, which can grow to 15 in, feeds on tunicates, sponges, other encrusting organisms and algae