WE MOVED AT SNAIL'S PACE, HEADS DOWN, eyes sweeping one way, then the other. Apart from the noise of our bubbles, it was strangely quiet. No fish bumping into the reef or crunching the coral, no boats revving overhead, no other divers.
I felt relaxed, but 10 minutes had gone by, and I hadn't fired off a single frame.
I was beginning to wonder about the wisdom of diving at a spot normally reserved for trainees. Other than the odd tuft of sea grass, we were surrounded by seemingly endless sand.
"I promise you won't be disappointed," Michael, our resort's dive manager, had said. "Just stick close to me and keep your eyes focused on the sea bottom."
We had gone to a sheltered spot off Lion Island, just 10 minutes from the island resort of Loloata. Right now I was missing Loloata's abundant coral reef and fish.
"Be patient," I told myself. Suddenly Michael froze, like a hunting dog, his eyes fixed on a spot a few feet ahead of him. What had he seen? A giant flathead, or perhaps a flamboyant cuttlefish?
A half-finkick brought me closer, but all I could see was sand. I turned to Michael and shrugged. A stream of bubbles came from his regulator and I swear I could hear him giggling!
I followed his pointing finger and watched one of the most bizarre fish I had ever seen take off and glide slowly along the bottom. It looked prehistoric, with its long nose and tail section and armour-plated body. When it pulled its delicate blue-edged wings in and settled back down on the sand, it almost disappeared again right before my eyes!
Pegasusfish (Pegasus draconis) normally hang out in twos, but this one was a loner. I wondered if it might be related to a seahorse but later learnt that it belonged to a closely related group known as sea moths.
This "muck-diving" wasn't so bad after all.

WOUNDED DRAGON
But there were more surprises. A little further on we came across a beautifully marked and aptly named marbled snake eel. We were on a roll! The eel didn't shoot down its hole until we moved in very close.
Two new creatures to add to my portfolio - and then came a third, an extremely fast flying gurnard, which took off like a Red Arrow running late.
The bottom changed from sand to gravel, then I saw the gravel move. Beneath it was a tiny cuttlefish - I could see its green eyes and two little arms with which it was trying to rebury itself.
Back on sand, we encountered a fearsome-looking devil scorpionfish, which would have swallowed the cuttlefish whole given the chance. It was hobbling around on its little front feet like a wounded dragon, flashing its wings and arching its body.
Satisfied that it had mesmerised us, it dug itself back into the sand, only its eyes still visible.
We returned to Lion Island several times, unearthing more fascinating creatures - synchronised-swimming pipefish, leafy scorpionfish, a busy-building mantis shrimp, Panda clownfish and their house-guest porcelain crabs, leafy pipefish.
Back at the resort, I spent ages checking reference guides, sometimes unable to find our creature. Several new species have been discovered in these parts.
Loloata has always been a popular stop-over in Papua New Guinea for international travellers. I had stayed once before on my way to the famous Walindi dive resort on the island of New Britain, which was when I first met Michael Burden.
It was his enthusiasm for Loloata and its marine life that had brought me back.

UNDER THE HILL
Loloata means "one hill", and the resort blends beautifully with its surroundings beneath the hill itself. Hidden by trees and mangroves, you would hardly know it existed. Dive Loloata is a recent addition to the resort.
This is a holiday and a half for photographers. I had brought no wishlist with me but I was keen to see a Merlet's scorpionfish, also known as the lacy scorpion or Rhinopias fish.
This is one of the strangest and rarest of fish, discovered in Bootless Bay by Dinah Halstead, wife of Bob, who pioneered liveaboard diving in PNG.
Michael thought he could find Rhinopias for me at a site called Quales Reef. They mimic featherstars, so can be decked out in a variety of colours, including black and yellow, and pink, but we found a black and green one perched on some coral, gently swaying in the current. Situated close to similarly coloured seastars, it was perfectly placed to ambush any unsuspecting creature that passed by.
Many sites near Loloata consist of spectacular coral outcrops, or bommies. One of the best is End Bommie, which comes to within 5m of the surface. Connected via a saddle at 20m to the main reef, which plunges away to undiveable depths, it was covered in life.
A fairly strong current ensured that the fishlife was superb - barramundi cod, angelfish, schooling sweetlips and whitetip reef sharks were just a few species we encountered.
Another bommie known as Susie's brought an equally enthralling dive. At times we were engulfed by batfish, sweetlips, fusiliers, snappers and rainbow runners.
One of my favourite dives was at Nadine's Passage, one of the furthest sites from the resort, out along the outer barrier reef.
A sheer wall drops 20m on to a sloping reef. Against a backdrop of underwater cliffs lay a seemingly infinite field of purple and pink soft corals, red and green sea whips and gigantic seafans. It reminded me of home - the underwater equivalent of the Scottish highlands, with rolling hills of heather and mountains in the distance.

TOWERING BOMMIES
There were more great dives along the barrier reef. At the Pinnacles, a series of coral mountain peaks drop from just 7m. We saw a school of devil rays here, and dived through a cut in the reef so full of life that my buddy simply disappeared among it!
We also came face to face with one of my favourite sharks, the marvellous wobbegong.
On another scenic reef, Pumpkin Patch, we swam along the walls of two towering bommies, past thousands of purple anthias which danced in and out of the reef in unison, as schools of jack made dive-bombing passes at them. And at Baldwin's Bommie we watched a manta swimming off into the distance.
When we were out at the sites furthest from the resort, we often saw whales and schools of dolphins between dives, and on one day were entertained by both spinners and bottlenoses at the same time - a rare treat.
The variety of dive experiences at Loloata is fantastic - muck dives, reef dives, wall dives and wreck dives - yes, there are loads of wrecks, but that's another story!

diving into a cut in the Pinnacles, a series of coral peaks

the bizarre and well-camouflaged pegasusfish


wildlife topside - this is a friendly cucus


a marbled snake eel


Merlet's scorpionfish, lying ready to ambush its prey


a member of the Dive Loloata crew

GETTING THERE Fly to Singapore for onward flights to Port Moresby on Air New Guinea. ANG also has flights from Hong Kong, Cairns (with Qantas) and Manila (with Philippine Airlines). A 15-minute drive and 10-minute boat trip takes you to Loloata. DIVING DETAILS:Dive Loloata 12-dive packs cost £275, or £55 for a two-dive pack (01254 826 780). ACCOMMODATION: Loloata Resort has 16 beach-front rooms with en suite facilities, balcony and view. MONEY: The kina, credit cards. FOR NON-DIVERS:Attractive scenery, wildlife. BEST TIME TO GO: Any time for diving. Hot equatorial climate, south-east tradewinds blow May-Nov, but usually calm in morning. Dec-March is rainy season, though Port Moresby is drier than most places. WATER TEMPERATURE:25-28°C, warmest August. DIVING SUITABLE FOR: Novice to experienced. COST:Package including flights, accommodation, meals and transfers costs from £1485 for a non-air-conditioned room (add £10 per person per day for air-conditioning). Book with Scuba Safaris (01797 270910, info@scuba-safaris.com). Divequest also arranges holidays to PNG (01254 826322, divers@divequest.co.uk).

PROS: PNG is hard to match for sheer diversity of marine life. Uncrowded. Spectacular scenery. Year-round diving. Plenty for wreck as well as reef divers.

CONS: Getting to PNG involves a long journey, which is also comparatively expensive. Could be hard work identifying all the unusual life-forms encountered!