Diving My Backyard: Singapore and Vanuatu through the eyes of local underwater photographers (22 Sep 2026)
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What happens when underwater photographers stop travelling for the next big destination and look closely at the diving on their doorstep?
What happens when underwater photographers stop travelling for the next big destination and look closely at the diving on their doorstep?
In this edition of Diving My Backyard, two presentations will take us in places our speakers know intimately: Singapore and Vanuatu.
Rather than a conventional trip report, this webinar is about the rewards of returning to the same waters, learning their rhythms, finding their subjects and gradually building a more personal photographic connection with a local dive site.
Whether you are curious about diving in Singapore or Vanuatu, planning a future photographic trip, or simply looking for fresh inspiration in your own local waters, this webinar will be a reminder that remarkable diving is not always far from home. A live Q&A will follow the presentations, giving you the opportunity to ask our speakers about their local dive sites, marine life and photographic approach.
Singapore
Meet your speakers
Ariane Hinkel has been living in Singapore since 2015. She discovered local diving during the pandemic, progressing from Divemaster to PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor. While she works in business development for the food and health ingredients industry during the week, she spends parts of many weekends guiding, teaching, and photographing in local waters.
She particularly enjoys sharing the surprising diversity of Singapore’s marine life and inspiring more divers to explore the underwater world on their doorstep.
Ariane is happiest when discovering rare critters in Singapore’s underwater backyard and enjoys the challenge of turning low visibility and backscatter into images that reveal each subject’s unique personality.
She shoots with an OM System OM-1 Mark II in a Nauticam housing, primarily using the M.Zuiko 90 mm Macro lens together with an AOI Q1 RC strobe and snoot for macro photography.
Instagram: @ariane_hkl
Paula Suszko is based in Singapore and has been a passionate diver for over a decade. Her underwater photography journey began unexpectedly in Ireland when a friend handed her a spare camera. While she describes the process as a love/hate relationship, the rewarding moments of capturing that perfect shot keep her motivated.
With Singapore’s murky waters serving as her “house reef,” Paula has developed a deep fondness for macro photography, finding joy in capturing small, alien-like critters and observing their unique behaviors. Like her buddy Ariane, Paula balances a corporate job with weekends spent guiding and teaching as an SSI instructor.
She shoots with a Sony A7R3 in a Nauticam housing, using a 100mm F2.8 macro lens for most of her work and a 14mm F1.8 lens for the occasional wide-angle trip. Her lighting setup consists of two Sea & Sea YS-D3 mkII strobes along with an AOI UCS Q1 and a Backscatter snoot.
Instagram: @pauladives
Their Local Dive Site: Pulau Hantu
Pulau Hantu, or “Ghost Island”, lies around a 30-minute boat ride from Singapore’s southern-coast marinas. Its shallow reefs sit in a strikingly industrial setting: close to major shipping lanes, Pulau Bukom refinery and Semakau. Yet beneath the green water is a rewarding world for patient macro photographers, with nudibranchs, flatworms, crustaceans, pipefishes, seahorses and a host of other small subjects to search for.
It is not a blue-water, wide-angle destination. Visibility can be limited and the silty bottom demands careful buoyancy and a slow, observant approach. But that is precisely what makes Pulau Hantu so compelling: return often, look closely and a place easily overlooked can reveal remarkable life and behaviour.
Vanuatu
Meet your speaker
John Warmington’s fascination with the underwater world began in the early 1980s, inspired by his biology teacher at Toowoomba Grammar School (QLD, Australia). He learned to dive in 1981 and made regular pilgrimages from Toowoomba to the coast, beginning a lifelong passion for marine life, underwater photography and storytelling.
Since moving to Vanuatu in 1999, John has documented the intricate—and often overlooked—life of the country’s tropical reefs. Now based with his partner, Sandy, on the shores of Havannah Harbour, he dives their backyard reef several times each week, continually discovering new subjects, behaviours and changes within a remarkably small area.
John and Sandy share this world with visiting divers through Critter Spotter, their boutique dive experience, while welcoming guests to their oceanfront villa, Karma Waters. Through his images and stories, John encourages photographers to slow down, observe carefully and recognise that extraordinary encounters are often found in the most familiar places.
Instagram: @critter.spotter
His local dive site: Critter Spotter House Reef, in Havannah Harbour
Around 40 minutes’ drive from Port Vila’s International Airport, Critter Spotter is John and Sandy Warmington’s boutique dive operation on the shores of Havannah Harbour. Here, diving begins right at the bottom of their garden: across the beach and straight onto a shallow house reef. Sheltered water, little current and depths generally between 1 and 15 metres make it ideal for long, unhurried dives—often lasting 90 minutes or more.
Nudibranchs, scorpionfish, morays, octopuses, cuttlefish and mantis shrimps share the harbour with turtles, sea snakes and large schools of fish. Some of its richest habitats are surprisingly ordinary, including concrete blocks, bottles and old moorings that have developed into miniature ecosystems. By returning regularly, John and Sandy learn where particular animals live and how their behaviour changes. Even after the December 2024 earthquake reshaped much of the house reef, careful exploration led to the discovery of Spot X—an unlikely patch of man-made habitat that is now one of their favourite places to dive.
When is it?
The webinar will run for 2 hours:
- Americas: Tuesday 22 September – Los Angeles 2:00-4:00 am (PDT); Dallas 4:00-6:00 am (CDT); Miami 5:00-7:00 am (EDT)
- EMEA: Tuesday 22 September – London 10:00 am-12:00 pm (BST); Paris/Rome/Berlin 11:00 am-1:00 pm (CEST); Dubai 1:00-3:00 pm (GST)
- APAC: Tuesday 22 September – Singapore 5:00-7:00 pm (SGT); Sydney 7:00-9:00 pm (AEST); Auckland 9:00-11:00 pm (NZST)
How do I register to attend?
Club members can register for free by clicking the link below:
What attendees said about the webinar
Participants had a great time! But don’t take our word for it, here are some of the comments typed in the meeting chat:
- 🧡 “Fascinating and inspiring stories Shane! Thanks so much for taking the time to share them with us.” — Chris
- 📚 “Thank you for very engaging, meaningful and inspiring presentation! Appreciate the knowledge, passion and insights you shared! Good to hear your strong view on ethics as well!” — Elena
- 📸 “Thank you so much for taking time tonight to talk to us! Great presentation and love your passion! (AND your photos!)” — Dawn
- 🚀 “Thanks so much Shane! Super inspiring!!!!” — Maryline