By DIVE Staff
The Underwater Photography Guide has announced that it is now accepting entries for the 2025 edition of its annual Ocean Art Underwater Photo Competition.
Now in its 14th year, the Ocean Art Underwater Photo Competition is one of the world’s most prestigious and respected underwater photography contests, offering this year more than $60,000 in prizes.
This competition has 14 categories covering all disciplines of underwater photography, and is open to both amateur and professional photographers from anywhere in the world, with prizes provided by some of the world’s top scuba diving resorts, liveaboards, and underwater photo equipment manufacturers up for grabs.
Grand prizes this year include a wide range of strobes, lights, and accessories from Marelux; a 7-night liveaboard dive trip for two in Papua New Guinea with Walindi Plantation Resort; an 8-day, 12-dive adventure for two in Raja Ampat with Meridian Adventure; a 10-day dive trip with Mermaid Liveaboards in Raja Ampat or Komodo; an 8-night dive trip in Indonesia aboard the Coralia Liveaboard; an 8-night dive trip to Ambon, Indonesia with Spice Island Divers; an Indonesian dive cruise for one plus 50 per cent off a companion aboard the SMY Ondina; an Ikelite DS232 Strobe with modeling light; and a variety of gift certificates from Bluewater Photo and Bluewater Travel.
More from Ocean Art
- Ocean Art 2024 winners
- Ocean Art 2023 winners announced
- 2022 Ocean Art winning images
- Ocean Art 2021 winners announced
Premium travel prizes are provided by El Galleon/Asia Divers (Philippines), Atmosphere Resorts & Spa (Dumaguete, Philippines), Mexico Liveaboards (Sea of Cortez and Socorro, Mexico), Avalon Outdoor Cuban Diving (Cuba), Sea Saba (Saba, Caribbean), and Ultralight Camera Solutions.
Winners from each category will be able to rank their preferred prizes, increasing the likelihood that each winner will receive a prize they truly desire.
Ocean Art 2025 consists of 14 categories, with the top categories including Wide Angle, Macro, and Marine Life Behaviour, as well as three corresponding categories for compact cameras.
This year, smartphones and action cameras are also included in the compact camera categories, giving underwater photographers of all levels a chance to win.
Other categories include Black & White, Marine Life Portrait, Cold/Temperate Water, Blackwater, Underwater Conservation, and Nudibranchs
Two additional categories for Underwater Fashion and Underwater Digital Art provide two distinct artistic styles and allow photographers complete freedom in post-processing.
This year’s judging panel features the return of renowned underwater photographers Tony Wu, Marty Snyderman, Mark Strickland, and Ipah Uid Lynn, who together bring decades of expertise and diverse artistic perspectives to the competition.
Photos must be submitted before the deadline of 23:59 PST on December 11, 2025.
Full details can be found on the Ocean Art Photo Competition page at uwphotographyguide.com/ocean-art, or follow on Facebook @underwaterphotographyguide, X @uwphotography, and Instagram @uwphotographyguide
The Ocean Art competition is organised by Nirupam Nigam, Editor-in-Chief of the Underwater Photography Guide and President of Bluewater Photo. Check out Nirupam’s photography at www.photosfromthesea.com.
