When and where to photograph your favorite species?

You can have the best housing on the market, a sharp eye and 500 dives under your belt. If you go to the Maldives in March to photograph manta rays, you will probably come home with reef photos. The reason is simple: mantas concentrate at cleaning stations in the northeast atoll between August and November, when the current pushes plankton towards the channels. In March, they are there, but scattered, deep, and rare in accessible areas.

This gap between "the species lives in the region" and "the species is photographable" is the classic planning trap. Whale sharks at Cenderawasih Bay (Indonesia) are present year-round near fishing platforms. Hammerhead sharks at Layang-Layang (Malaysia) only show between March and May, in schools of several hundred. The rest of the year, visibility is good and reefs are pristine, but the hammerheads are elsewhere.

Our calendar cross-references three data points for each encounter: confirmed species presence (IUCN sources and field observations), visibility and current conditions at the destination, and observation probability from a point accessible by recreational diving. The result is a monthly score ranging from "try your luck" to "it is now or in a year."

The calendar also works as a decision tool for multi-objective trips. If you want to shoot both macro and pelagics, some destinations offer both at the same time. Anilao (Philippines) in December combines exceptional nudibranchs with thresher shark sightings at Malapascua, a 4-hour drive away. This type of cross-referencing is what the calendar does automatically.