My friend Chris is just back from South Africa, where he dived the famous Sardine Run. It’s not Southeast Asia, and I’m not sure it will be on my diving bucket list, but it sure looks cool. Check out the pictures and full story at his blog post Sardine Run South Africa 2010: Death From Above And Below.

As for me, I’m off to Indonesia again tomorrow for another visit to Komodo, and maybe a little diving around Bali this time as well. Hopefully I’ll have some more nice pictures for you when I get back (can’t wait until live-aboards get Internet).

I spent most of the day yesterday at the Malaysia International Dive Expo (MIDE). It’s probably the best of the three Southeast Asia dive shows, at least this year. There were dive operators from the Red Sea to Raja Ampat, as well as a number of booths offering lots of name brand gear at good prices.

Many of the dive resorts and operators at the show were offering very good deals, but all of them were for show attendees only, so I can’t share them with you! If you’re in the region, I highly recommend attending next year’s show.

This just in: Malaysia has closed several popular dive sites around Redang and Tioman islands. The reefs of the closed sites are suffering from coral bleaching, caused by global warming. It’s hoped that by keeping divers and snorkelers away from the reefs, they will recover faster.

The closure is in effect until October, which is basically the end of the season for the east coast islands.

The out Malaysia’s The Star newspaper for full story.