The 2012 SNUPS (Splash-NUDI Underwater Photography Shootout) was held at the Manila Yacht Club at Roxas Boulevard in Pasay City last May 19, 2012.

The club veranda was transformed into a gallery that displayed the participant photos taken from the country's different dive spots.

Prior to the awarding in the evening, talks were given during the day about environmental awareness, Philippine Tourism awareness, photography & videography.

SNUPS organizer Jovic Santos said the event aims to highlight what the Philippines has in the underwater diving scene.

"The only way to do that is to show them by photos. We started it last year but we wanted the event not to be only something that would be about taking photos but we wanted to showcase the Philippines", Jovic said in an interview.

Aside from generating a host of incredbile photos, SNUPS also intends to increase the technical knowledge of Filipino photographers who should be the ones showcasing the country internationally. Jovic explained that most of the underwater photos of undersea Philippines are practically from foreigners who dive in our country.

Jovic is unapologetic when he states that the Philippines has "the most colors."

"In fact Mabini, Batangas is the Center of the Center of Marine Biodiversity in the World. In fact we have about 800 of the 1,300 species of nudibranchs which are very famous. We have the thresher sharks of Malapascua; we have the whale sharks in Oslob and Donsol- all over the Philippines basically, you can dive anywhere!", Jovic opined.

So what are you waiting for? Just dive in!

(All photographs courtesy of SNUPS)