Alex Mustard

Fiji Jaw-Dropping Reefs Workshop
2026-05-23 - 2026-06-02 | Nai’a Liveaboard, Fiji, King's Jetty Wharf, Lautoka, Ba Province, Fiji
May-June 2026. This trip is organised by Scuba Travel. Please contact Caroline@scubatravel.com to get on the reserve list. FULLY BOOKED
I am very excited to be launching a new workshop in Fiji,” says Alex, “a destination widely hailed as the soft coral capital of the world! This is a wide angle focused workshop, a chance to fill your portfolio with those perfect coral reef images. As a measure of how photogenic Fijian reefs – my last trip to Fiji was in 2015, yet the photos are still in demand – for example the main logo image for the BBC’s forthcoming Blue Planet 3 series is one of mine from that trip.”
For photographers Fiji is all about fabulous wide angle location, with healthy and vibrant corals and fish filled reefs. There are plentiful schools, and lots of big creatures, like sharks, turtles and mantas. The workshop is based on the famous liveaboard Nai’a, which has been diving these waters for decades, and we are running at a reduced capacity. For much of that time there have been no other liveaboards, meaning pristine reefs and access to the best spots whenever you want! Nai’a offer an intensive schedule focused on day diving, with 4 day dives each day and night dives offered on 4 of the 10 nights. Part of the reason Fijian reefs are so rich is that these waters are fed by currents, and being the only boat about means we adjust the dive schedule to ensure we are hitting the best spots at the best times. The Fijian crew are hugely experienced and incredibly welcoming.

Alex says “we’ve timed this trip to start on neap (weak) tides and build up to the full moon, so that everyone has time to get fully in the groove before the currents are strongest. Most sites in Fiji offer ample protection from the current, but typically the best photography opportunities come from getting into the flow, rather than avoiding it! If you are averse to any type of current this trip is probably not for you, but those who have travelled regularly with me, you will not meet anything you haven’t experienced before.”
The photography will be focused around the large, deep water channel between the two biggest islands of the Fiji archipelago. Here clear open Pacific Ocean water is funnelled around small islands, reefs and bommies, leading to an explosion of life. These reefs are famed worldwide for their beauty. “They are not as biodiverse as in Indonesia,” says Alex, “but rather like the Red Sea, this simpler palette makes them more photogenic to my eye. And the currents feed a spectacular density of soft corals, great sea fans, thick clouds of plankton feeding anthias, damselfish and fusiliers, and all this attracts the big boys: schools of jacks and barracudas, mantas and sharks.”

The workshop is unsurprisingly themed on wide angle photography, with much of the trip divided into assignment days that have proved so popular on recent workshops. This trip is intended for those who have already done workshops with Alex or are already proficient wide angle shooters, although the teaching will of course include talks reminding everyone of the best practice for shooting stunning wide angle underwater. Alex also will run daily image review sessions through the workshop.
PRE TRIP
Fiji is a long way from the UK, where Alex is based, so he will be running a short pre-liveaboard few days at Voli Voli resort, in the north east of the largest island of Viti Levu. Voli Voli is a few hours drive from Nadi (pronounced Nandy) International Airport, and reasonably close to where we will join Nai’a. Places will be offered to those booked on the main workshop (in the next few months).

VITALS
Dates: Nai’a liveaboard dates 23rd May – 2nd June 2026. Extension will be before these dates.
Price: from £6495 GBP.
Nai’a offers a variety of cabin types. Mainly Bunks or Twins (£7195), also Double beds for couples, and Single Occupancy is possible (by taking an extra workshop place on this trip). If you have one, please indicate to Caroline, your first preference for bed type in your email.

BOOKINGS
For further information and for reservations please contact Scuba Travel. Email is the best way to start booking this trip. Contact Caroline@scubatravel.com.

The deposit is 30% of your booking. An interim payment of 30% is due 9 month before the trip. The final balance is due 100 days before the charter.

Raja Ampat Extended
2026-03-17 - 2026-04-01 | Raja Ampat, West Papua, Indonesia, Sorong, West Papua, Indonesia
17th March-1st April 2026 (Sorong-Sorong dates). FULLY BOOKED.
Please contact Caroline@scubatravel.com for more information and waiting list places.
Raja Ampat Extended: underwater photography workshop combining both liveaboard and resort to explore the world’s richest reefs.

Raja Ampat in Indonesia is famed as the home of the world’s richest coral reefs. But while the coral scenery is incredible, for the underwater photographer it actually about so much more than that. The mantas are mesmerising, the fish life is phenomenal, the wobbegongs wondrous, the mangroves marvellous, and the jetties, err, just stunning! It is ability to combine these dives, these experiences, these photographic opportunities in a single trip that makes this place so special. Alex says “Raja Ampat is far more than just four kings, it is a complete royal family of fantastic diving experiences. I often say that you go to other places because they are different and you go to Raja because it is the best. And this extended trip aims to bring the best of the best with a combination of liveaboard, resort and house reef diving. No need to debate which is best way to experience Raja, this workshop has them all.”

The workshop consists of 8 nights on Solitude Adventurer (that proved an ideal workshop base on my recent Komodo-Alor workshop) and then 6 nights in the luxurious Sorido Bay Resort (and one final night in Sorong). The itinerary is precisely planned, so you won’t miss a dive, we will be dropped by the liveaboard directly at the resort, arriving in time for a full day of diving. The trip is planned with 4 dives per day throughout and Nitrox, Park Fees and Fuel surcharge etc and all included. “This is the longest workshop I’ve run in Raja Ampat,” says Alex, “and it includes a really large number of dives, everyone should easily pass 50 dives, a chance to really indulge your photography on some of the best reefs around. March usually brings the best visibility of the Raja Ampat season providing fabulous photographic conditions, including plenty of encounters with both reef and oceanic mantas. Mixing liveaboard and resort diving will allow us to benefit from the advantages of each.”

SOLITUDE ADVENTURER
This is Alex’s fourth workshop on a Solitude boat. Solitude Adventurer is a large, ocean-going aluminium-hulled catamaran, with spacious above deck cabins with large windows. Like many Indonesia boats she has a fabulous crew and has one of the best diving setups in the business. She has Starlink high-speed wifi communications. Solitude Adventurer typically takes 18 divers, we’re running under capacity with just 14 guests on this workshop, which will dive as four separate dive groups. “Solitude Adventurer is a great boat for a photographic group, with loads of space for everything we want to do,” says Alex, “I am very happy to be going back on her.”

SORIDO BAY RESORT
“Although I have dived all their famous dive sites for decades, I’ve never stayed at Sorido Bay Resort,” says Alex. Sorido Bay is one of just two (the other is, of course, Misool Resort) luxury dive resorts in Raja Ampat. It is very much a boutique resort, (with 14 guests we’re almost taking over the whole resort) offering luxury accommodation, with each room having private beach and reef views, AC and personal camera stations in the rooms. The resort has its own Spa, free Wi-Fi and a new Seacam Photo Centre.
Seacam photo pro, Don Silcock, will be joining us in resort to make sure the team at the Seacam Photo Centre gives us the diving and support we require. The dive guides have been undergoing special photographic training, in conjunction with our friends at Lembeh Resort, and Don and the Team have been surveying the local sites photographically, so that they can select the best spots and plenty of secret spots for the exact images we want.

WORKSHOP
On longer workshops to more exotic destinations, Alex workshop’s teaching focus aims to be more evolution, than revolution to your existing photographic approach. Raja is one of the world’s ultimate photographic destinations, so it isn’t the place to spend days reinventing your photographic technique. Instead Alex’s teaching will be about getting the most out of the destination and especially you, as a photographer. The focus will be on the aesthetics of underwater photography, with some helpful refreshers on the technical side. Teaching will concentrate on helping you produce stunning scenics that capture the DNA of Raja Ampat, jaw-dropping frames of great marine life encounters and sumptuous macro art that celebrates the amazing biodiversity. Alex will also have Assignment days during the workshop, where you get to include an extra image in the review if you take on the assignment. Like Alex’s new book, the assignments are designed to be fun and to stretch your photographic thinking.

VITALS
Price: from £8995 GBP
Dates: 17th March-1st April 2026 (Sorong-Sorong dates). 15 nights. 50+ dives.
Included: 14 days of diving, unlimited dive package in resort, Nitrox, AM Workshop, park fees, fuel surcharge, transfers and Sorong hotel.
Scuba Travel are happy to book internal and international flights and Jakarta Hotel as part of your package. Internal flight schedule usually released about 8 months before travel.
Resort Room Options:
Liveaboard and then Sentani bungalow (twin/double share) £8995 GBP
Liveaboard and then Kaimana/Kebar Bungalow (twin/double share) £9365 GBP
BOOKING
For further information and for reservations please contact Scuba Travel. Email is the best way to start booking this trip. Contact Caroline@scubatravel.com.
A deposit of 30% of your package price is required to secure your space. Interim payment 20% 300 days before travel. Final balance due 100 days before trip.
