Curacao Hosts Underwater Photography Competition

This week will see four underwater photographers head to the Caribbean island of Curacao to compete in the "Picture Perfect Curacao," the North American Underwater Photographer of the Year contest.

Curacao is a well known destination for scuba diving holidays in the Caribbean and the island will be hosting the event which kicked off with an opening ceremony last weekend.

The competition is being organised in association with DivePhotoGuide, a scuba-diving photography website, and the Curacao Tourist Board. DivePhotoGuide has held a themed contest every month for the past two years where photographers compete against each other for fantastic prizes and the monthly title.

Image by WhitcombeRD, on Flickr.

Three of the monthly contest winners from North America have flown to the Caribbean island to take part in the contest. These include Allison Vitsky from San Diego, Rand McMeins from Seattle, and Jeremy Kozman from Ohio, who will be battling it out, not just against each other, but also against the professional photographer and winner of numerous underwater photography awards, Keri Wilk, from Canada.

Image by WhitcombeRD, on Flickr.

The contestants will submit their five best images in each category to a panel of judges today (14th November) and the winner will be crowned as the Underwater Photographer of the Year as well as having their portfolio of images used in a new advertising campaign for the Curacao Tourist Board, which will be shown all over the world.

An official from the Curacao Tourist Board, said: "As a top Caribbean dive destination, Curaçao is the perfect battleground. With endless photo opportunities, the competitors will be able to show off their true talents."

Image by Christian Loader, on Flickr.

Curacao is one of the leading scuba diving destinations in the Caribbean with shallow turquoise crystal clear ocean waters and an array of magnificent sea creatures that encircle the island.

While scuba diving in Curacao, photographers can take advantage of the superb marine environment and there are plenty of opportunities to capture images of darting colourful tropical fish, beautiful sea turtles, and gliding manta rays.

During scuba diving holidays to the idyllic Caribbean island, underwater photographers will be spoilt for choice with warm crystalline waters teeming with vibrant colourful coral reefs and gardens, moray eels hiding in rocky crevices, schools of dolphins, hundreds of species of fish, and historic sunken shipwrecks.