Prior to leaving for Hawaii just over 3 weeks ago now, I purchased the new Olympus TG-610 underwater camera, knowing the trip would include quite a large amount of time in and under the water.

I’m very glad I managed to find a store stocking this camera, as the Panasonic FT-1 underwater camera (which I also took with me as a backup) died in less than 1 metre of water on the morning of the first snorkel. It is now an attractive looking paper weight on my desk.

Now this site is not a technical or a review site, but I can’t resist making a quick comment about this camera. It rocks. Comment over.

A few things to mention before you click play. Firstly, the underwater shots of the dolphins and whales were achieved by blindly sticking my arm over the side of the boat into the water and hoping I’d not only get some sort of image, but also that a 3 metre tiger shark wouldn’t take an interest in my arm (though that would be some awesome footage!); secondly, at the very end of the video when the music fades out, I’ve left the underwater audio playing. If you listen closely you can hear some whale sounds. Finally, the last image in the video is a photograph taken with the TG-610 which you can see in more detail here.