MUCKING ABOUT ON KOH TAO

Text & Images by Alex Tyrrell

Get away from the crowds on a muck-tastic, critter-filled adventure in one of the busiest dive destinations in the world!

FOR YEARS, Uluna has been a secret known only to the locals; this is their magical, private swimming pool. Children from the village would come after school with their friends to swim and enjoy an afternoon of relaxation. It was their amusement park.

Four years ago, while searching for my next project, I heard rumours that a local guide used to talk about a lake of clear water in the mountains. My first guess was that he was talking about the Tondano Lake, but, to my surprise, he wasn’t. Roy Legi discovered this beautiful space and invited me to photograph it. It took four years to get the word out and attract the attention of local and international divers. Was it worth it? Yes.

I always remind myself that it’s never just about the location or the camera; it’s about the idea or about making something ordinary, extraordinary. Anybody can buy a ticket to a beautiful place, but not everybody can change people’s perspectives.

An hour-and-half’s drive from Manado, a two-tank dive in a water just three-metres deep with a temperature of 25 degrees Celsius and you could be photographing something so unique that it is comparable to being in the cenotes in Mexico.

As you take on the role of an underwater photographer with an