On the topic of warm and sunny destinations in Mexico, it’s hard to go wrong. You’ve got plenty of options on both shores of the country – either the Pacific or the Caribbean. Whether you are chasing those magic pacific sunsets, or the warm Caribbean water and the Mayan ruins, you’re probably not going to be disappointed.

I’ve got two short new galleries on two different sides of the “Mexico tourist destination” equation.

First: Puerto Vallarta, and in particular Mismaloya. Puerto Vallarta has a romantic city center along the beach with a Spanish colonial flavor, but it’s those surrounding areas with dramatic jungled mountains and the roaring currents of the pacific that really captivate.

Next, Cozumel is an island that sits about 20km off the Yucatan Peninsula. It’s western flank is guarded by some of the most dramatic coral reef structures on earth, making it a top diving destination for north americans. That’s not all: Mayan ruins (the mayans believed the island sacred to their moon goddess) and secluded white sand beaches – the island remains largely uninhabited outside of the town of St. Miguel and sporadic large resorts.

Enjoy the galleries, also check out my YouTube channel for diving videos and more! 

Little known outside of the scuba diving world, Raja Ampat is a remote group of hundreds of islands off the western coast of Papua, Indonesia. Below the ocean’s surface, the coral reefs here are not simply pristine: biodiversity surveys suggest it may well be the most biodiverse marine ecosystem on earth.

Remote tropical islands, no hotels, no tour buses…is this paradise? For some of us, the answer is yes. Coined “The Last Paradise” there are very few permanent buildings on any of these islands. Most lodging consists of open windowed wooden huts. On the smaller islands electricity is intermittent, air conditioning, wifi, and hot showers simply do not exist. If you can manage all that, and the long trip there (it was 4 flights and a ferry, followed by a shorter boat transfer for me), indeed, Raja Ampat may very well be the last paradise. A thousand kilometers from the nearest major city, you will be rewarded with sights and creatures that are not only stunning, but can be found nowhere else on Earth.

Check out the full gallery by clicking this link

The sprawling and chaotic capital of Indonesia is a remarkable trial of urban planning. Congested to the point of disarray, Jakarta continues to grow,  managing to find room for another million residents each year. At over 33 million people this is the largest metropolis in the southern hemisphere. 

Each neighbourhood feels like a small city within itself. One moment, you could amongst the corrugated roofs, wild chickens and crowded food stalls in West Jakarta. Later, you might find yourself at upscale shopping malls staring up at skyscrapers in the central business district. It’s hard to describe how crazy it all feels, though this perhaps isn’t unique to Jakarta, and I’ve only seen a fragment of the city, it was a redeeming feature in a metropolis often characterised for its congestion more than anything else. 

One of the knocks on Jakarta, especially as a destination,  is the lack of those big ticket attractions that the other big cities of Southeast Asia have: think of all the palaces and temples in Bangkok, or the marina in Singapore. This is quite a fair criticism: there isn’t much in the way of must see, or even an established tourist trail. Jakarta is more of a sum of its experiences.  There is plenty of luxury, history, street food, coffee houses, shopping, and perhaps best of all helpful and curious locals making Jakarta quite a worthwhile visit when in Indonesia.

Click here for my full Jakarta gallery.

The Caribbean has no shortage of beautiful islands, with white sand beaches and turquoise waters. For the Aruba traveler, it’s the near guarantee of 12 hours of sunshine every single day that brings them to this island amongst all the other options. Aruba is sand and sunshine, stroopwafels and cacti. Click here for an updated Aruba gallery.

Visit my Canadian Rockies gallery for 150 captures from the continental divide.

Between British Columbia’s coastal mountains and the Canadian Rockies, the Okanogan Valley is known for a climate of dry summers and moderate winters – something that is quite unique this far up the Northern Hemisphere. Fruit orchards and vineyards populate the landscape , often scenically along the valley’s deep fjord lakes. 

With this type of weather and scenery, the area has also become a place for canadians to spend summers, weekends, and even retire. “The Retirement Home of Canada” one could joke, and the demographics do in fact skew towards the older crowd,  but Kelowna and the surrounding area have much to offer to all ages. There’s an easygoingness to life in the valley that’s hard to resist,  even as a visitor.

Here’s a link to the gallery.

I’ve refreshed my aging Winnipeg gallery. I’ve narrowed it down to 240 photos from 15+ years of photography. Find it here. Here are a few captures from Winter:

It’s been a while! Not much travel this past year, for reasons that are obvious. I’ll be adding some new photos over the next few weeks of a few things we managed to get up to , in spite of the global pandemic. Wishing everyone a safe recovery and hopefully a return to travel soon….

At the head of Lake Superior, the port city of Thunder Bay is the largest Canadian city on the world’s largest freshwater lake. Here is a very quick capture of Canada’s Lakehead and some of the scenery of the surrounding area. Click here for the gallery.

You’ll find a place known as Los Cabos at the southern tip of Baja California, where the mountainous desert landscape drops into the sea. “Los Cabos” implies the capes, or the large landforms that extend into the ocean here, separating the Sea of Cortez from the Pacific.

If you go, try not to get stuck on a resort; Baja California Sud is beautiful. There’s the buzzing tourist hub of Cabo San Lucas, and the quaint, traditional town center of San Jose del Cabo. There’s also the Sea of Cortez, which Jacque Cousteau famously referred to as “The World’s Aquarium”.

Here’s the gallery link.

Bali. Tremendously busy, but somehow also serene. It can be a lot to take in. It seems like you can point your camera in any direction, and see something colorful, unique, or beautiful. Truthfully, I did not spend much time taking pictures in Bali, nevertheless I ended up with some nice captures – this says a lot about the place. The new gallery, with photos taken in 2019 is here. I’ve also got a gallery from the Ubud area here , and Nusa Lembongan here (taken in 2017).