Diving Around "Dragon" Komodo Island

The sea around Komodo Island offers vibrant colors and exotic marine life which will enchant divers and snorkelers alike as endless schools of fish ride the waterways rushing up from deep sea vents, below them the seabed is covered with a thick carpet of florescent corals and marine invertebrates, an underwater photographers paradise.

The waters that surround the island are turbulent and teeming with unparalled marine life. A marine reserve has recently been established and this reserve is largely undocumented and remains unexplored. Komodo National Park was established in 1980. It was declared as a Man and Biosphere Reserve and a World Heritage Site in 1986. KNP includes three major islands - Komodo, Rinca and Padar and numerous smaller islands together totaling 41,000 ha of land contains 132,000 ha of marine waters.

The corals in Komodo National park are pristine, with Mantas, sharks, turtles, dolphins, dugong, many pelagics, to the tiny pygmy seahorses, nudibranchs, frog fish, you name it we've got it. The sites vary from gentle easy coral slopes to heart pounding adrenalin rides, from the warm waters of the Flores Sea in the north to the chillier waters down south in the Indian Ocean, the underwater terrain is so varied with sheer cliff walls, pinnacles, sandy flat bottoms, underwater plateaus, slopes, caves, swim-throughs, channels, all with varying colours, sizes and types of coral both hard and soft.

Getting There

By daily flights from: Bali - Labuan Bajo/Komodo Airport - Bali (each 1.5 hours)

  

To Do

DIVE SITES:

Bidadari Island

Angel Steps, huge towers of stone, encrusted with hard and soft corals, covered in nudibranchs, small caves and overhangs make this a very interesting and beautiful site, Dusky sharks, humphead parrot fish are among the bigger creatures we see here. Cathedral Coral, a gentle slope covered with table corals of every colour and schooling fish, a towering spire of coral with a small cave at it's base is the home to some huge lobsters.

Sabolon

Sabolon kecil a slope on the east side of this tiny island, with two underwater mounds at the southern end with fields of garden eels and sea pens, schools of round bat fish are often seen coming quite close for some nice photography.

Sabolon Besar steep slopes off the southern and western sides of the bigger island, fabulous coral coverage and a good chance of spotting Scorpion leaf fish.

Sebayur kecil walls and slopes of every kind of coral you can imagine, wide variety of marine life to be seen at this site, mantas often seen.

Tatawa Besar slope with soft coral garden changing to hard coral along the slope, lots of shoaling fish, rainbow runners, fuseliers and often turtles and black tip sharks.

Tatawa Kecil (current city) as the name implies, this site is washed by very strong currents, which is why this site is among the many world class sites in the Komodo National Park, schools of pelagic fish patrol the waters, best dived at slack tide.

Batu Bolong

A little further west from current city a small rock outcrop with a hole through it is the surface mark of another world class site, only to be dived at slack tide or with a current not long from stopping or starting to run, these giant slabs of rock which disappear into the depths are an amazing sight to see, covered with every form of marine life and patrolled by giant trevally, Napoleon Wrasse, sharks and turtles with schools of barracuda sweeping in to check out the divers.

Click here to get a rough view of where the Batu Bolong diving spot is located.

Diving the Komodo National Park provides some fantastic conditions:

• WATER TEMPERATURE: 20 - 28 Degrees Celsius (68-85 F) , cooler water is experienced on the southern sites. Full 3mm wetsuit & hood is recommended. More active people will prefer a sports suit in northern sites.
• VISIBILITY: 10 - 50M year round. Traditionally clearer water on northern sites.CURRENT: Komodo experiences a strong tidal flow. Not all sites are affected by current. Drift diving is excellent, however during spring tides some sites are impossible to dive. Particular attention is placed on diving the correct sites at the most suitable time to ensure optimum conditions, in accordance with the preferences of the group.
• NIGHT DIVING: The night diving in Komodo is breathtaking. The sheer beauty, color and diversity of life makes it a must see for all divers.
• WALLS: There are numerous walls to choose from. Both drift and static wall dives are offered.
• CANYONS: Huge chasms drop thousands of meters, fringed by extraordinary coral gardens.
• CRITTERS: Found in all locations, however we do offer special sites for encountering unusual marine species.
• OTHERS: Seamounts, fringing reefs, gutters, muck, and sandy locations are also found in the archipelago.

Tips

For more information on diving around Kodomo Island, you can check the related information on www.floreskomodo.com

Mentawai Island: the Ultimate Diversity of the Hidden Paradise

The Place and the People

Located in the middle of Indian Ocean, 150 km and takes 9 hours trip from Padang, West Sumatra-Mentawai glowing with all the nature spirits and make it an extraordinary escaping spot from a hectic life. Mentawai is the natural habitat for 16 endemic species, and some of them categorized as endangered species e.g. Simakobu monkey (simias concolor-eat leaf as primary food).

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The present life of Mentawai people categorized as the legacy from Neolithic era and they have a strong believe in nature spirit, for their life strongly affected by nature. They believe that nature is the center of life. All the genuine attributes make Mentawai a perfect place to gain cultural experiences, here you will notice a very fascinating and indigenous culture, like traditional cloths, art, music and the way of life. The entire culture attributes strongly reflects their respect to nature.

Tattoo is one of the most important symbol for Mentawai people, its reflect maturity, manhood and status. The art of this body painting inherit from their ancestor. The tattoos ink naturally made from leaf.

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Among the surfers, Mentawai is the best place to fill their demand for challenges and natures beauty. The beaches offer one of the highest wave in the world, 3 to 4 meters, totally challenge your gut. Once you grounded your self in this hidden Paradise Island, next you will paddle out to the worlds best surf. Dont call your self Surfer if you havent ride Mentawais waves said most of the surfer to expressed their surfing experiences in Mentawai

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There are four ultimate diving spot here in Mentawai ,Siberut, Sipora, Pagai Utara (north Pagai) and Pagai Selatan (south Pagai). You can find great waves here year round, but the best waves are during dry season, March to October. Make sure you have the gut to explore all the glassy waves, because the best way to entitled your surfing experiences remarkable is through finding your own.

Getting There

• Take flight from Sukarno Hatta air port, Jakarta to Tabing air port, Padang-west Sumatra (flight served every day)
• Trip from Teluk Bayur port, Padang to Mentawai island by Ferry

Where to Stay

Lot of visitors said, that the best housing to stay is the local people house. Offer you a distinctive way of living in a unique architecture and experience interacting with local people. Other wise you could stay in a budget hotel in Siberut

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Moving Around

To access all the beauties offered, you can use boat owned by local people. You can find the boat a long the beach and the rate depend on your bargaining power

Boost your taste with exotic and fresh sea foods that you can found in the local restaurants run by local people. If you are lucky enough, you can pick and cook your own sea food, but make sure you know the secret recipe/spices from Mentawais people. For those who are not sea food lover, you can find regular meals for your dining.


Souvenir Tips

Local hand made souvenirs like traditional hats, traditional bag and accessories will be genuine souvenirs for your relatives and friends. You can buy it in a souvenirs shop or buy it from local people directly.

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Other Things to See or Do

Beach Activities

• sight seeing
• Diving
• Snorkeling

Cultural Activities

• Learn how to perform the Traditional dances (war dance and gratitude to nature)
• Traditional ceremonies
• Mentawai is one of the best place to conduct an Ethnographic study since its one of the oldest tribe in Indonesia

Ecotourism Activities
As the habitat for rare primate, the natural rain forest of Mentawai will be the perfect place for research or other educational purpose. Here, you can conduct research about

• Snub-nosed monkey/Simakobu (Simias concolor) monkey family eat leaf as primary food
• Joja or Lutung Mentawai (Presbytis potenziani) easily identified for the long tail, white face and black hair head
• Bokkoi atau Beruk Mentawai (Macaca pagensis)
• Kloss Gibbon/Bilou or Siamang Kerdil (Hylobates klossii) famous for the beautiful voice, different compared to general monkey

Travel Tips

• Nature and culture come to be understood and respected
• Bring your own surf board with you, because its may hard to find surf board shop in Mentawai
• You may arrange your travel using the local travel agent in Indonesia
• Great wave can be find year round, but best wave is during dry season March to October
• Bring your personal medicine
• You may arrange your visit by contact the travel agent and airline services in Indonesia

Photos Copyrigt : www.freelinesurf.com.au 

source : http://www.my-indonesia.info

Indonesia Diving, Raja Ampat Island "The incredible reef and fish"

No doubt about it, the Raja Ampat is definitely the richest place for fish, that I have ever been. Dr G.R.Allen"


I was like a five-year-old, seeing a reef for the very first time. I was awestruck, held by the incredible power of this richest reef. We must, with all available resources, preserve the beauty of Raja Ampat. This may be the last frontier. Michael Aw

"I love the people, I love the diving, It's super!! I've never been for a second time to the same dive destination but now I'm thinking about going back for the third time!! Should I say more?" Peter van Dalen (Taken from http://www.iriandive.com/)



Raja Ampat Island is the most western district of the Indonesian province of Papua. Raja Ampat consists of an area surrounding four major island off the western coast of Birds Head Panisula of New Guinea Island. The western half of which is Indonesia and the eastern half, Papua New Guinea. The province was called Irian Jaya, and its a cluster of over 1500 small Islands.

Raja Ampat is the most bio-diverse location in the world more than 3000 species of fishes and over 300 species of corals have been identified here, in a single one and half hour dive you can identified more than 282 fish species and more than 400 species. Till this very day the area is virtually unexplored and unknown due to its size. This area as there are still many remnants of WW II.
The Roughest seas and decreased visibility in the Raja Ampat area are from mid-June until the end of August. During the rest of the year, the sea is mostly very smooth whit good visibility.

Dive sites in Raja Ampat Island:
Kri Island: Kri has several sites and Cape Kri is one of the fishiest. The fish numbers and variety are truly amazing. The site is current dependent. Generally it's a steep slope with beautiful coral growth, lots of reef and schooling fishes, including the giant Queensland Grouper.

Sardine Reef: Sardine Reef has really giant clams at 10m (33ft) but it's all about non-stop fishes here. There's a resident school of bumphead parrotfish in the shallows, colorful soft corals and plenty of critters.

Kaboei Bay Rock Islands: The bay is a labyrinth of rock islands. Visibility isn't great but this is a great place for macro and finding odd nudibranches, mollusks and the pictured dragonet. Bat caves and skeletons are found on some of the islands.

The Passage: This is a drift dive through a narrow channel near Waigeo. Look for archerfish among the mangroves, orange cup corals, seahorses, and percula clownfish.

Fam Island: Several sites near Fam have stunning coral growth. Sponges and soft corals add color and fishes keep it going. Sites include walls, sloping reefs, and muddy bays.

Misool: Misool is awash in fish life and huge sea fans. Caverns and boulders mark several sites. The schooling fishes seem endless and pygmy seahorses live in less than 10m (33ft). Some sites are current dependent.

At a Glance Irian Diving
Reef type: Vertical walls, Lagoon channels, caves, platform reefs, etc.
Access: By boat from base camps.
Visibility: Very good, 20-45 meters.
Current: Moderate, excellent for drift diving.
Coral: Excellent " abundant & divers.
Fish: Variety & abundance guaranteed.
Highlights: Snorkeling with dolphins near the Wai base camp (5m); White-tip sharks under P47B wing; finding new wrecks untouched/complete.




It is easiest to fly through to Sorong via Jakarta or via Singapore. Merpati, Pelita and Lion/Wings Airlines operate daily flights from Jakarta to Sorong (with stopovers in Ujung Pandang/Makassar and/or Manado), whereas Silk Air operates regularly from Singapore to Manado. Daily flights to and from Sorong by Airlines Merpati, Lion/Wings or Pelita.

Raja Ampat Island have several accommodations whit traditional design, and there many boat you can rent for a stay. If you using dive operator they will arrange for your base came.
Raja Ampat islands have a very diverse topography with steep mountain shores and deserted white sand beaches. Explore the land on foot. Use a boat to move from one dive site to another dive site.

There are several restaurants and cafes throughout Sorong. Try their specialties: traditional irian foods!

There are many traditional souvenirs made from wood.
You can visit gorgeous waterfalls, ancient burial sites, bat caves and stunning waterways breathtaking limestone landscapes and Manta ray spotting and bird watching.

More Information about Irian Jaya Dive, contact: Sorong, Indonesia Office: Papua Diving. Phone: +62 (411) 401 660, Fax: +62 (951) 325 274. www.Iriandiving.com

resource : http://www.my-indonesia.info/page.php?ic=1129&id=818

Bunaken National Marine Park

Bunaken National Marine Park is off the coast of North Sulawesi, Indonesia.




Bunaken is one of Indonesia's most famous dive areas, and it draws scuba divers from all over the world. In addition to Bunaken itself, a rather featureless banana-shaped island, the national park includes the neighboring islands of Manado Tua, a distinctive cone-shaped extinct volcano, Siladen,Montehagen, Nain and Nain Kecil.

The park is famed for the clarity of its water (35m visibility is common in the summer dry season), the abundance of coral and fish, and for the precipitous "walls" at some sites. Bunaken Timur, right off the east coast of the island and featuring all of the above, is according to some the best dive site in all Indonesia.

Except for the very largest pelagics, nearly everything can be found at Bunaken. Reef inhabitants include white and black tip reef sharks, giant sea turtles, napoleonfish and dugongs.
You may frequently run into dolphins, and occasionally schools of whales

Bunaken is about 45-60 minutes by boat from Manado. Most resorts will arrange transfers from the airport for their guests. Alternatively, a public boat leaves daily except Sunday at 2PM, or you can charter a boat anytime.

As of 2006, entry to the park costs either Rp 50,000/day (US$6) or Rp 150,000/Calendar year (US$17), usually paid at your lodgings. As proof of payment, you will receive a plastic tag that must be carried at all times; it is waterproof and can be attached to your diving gear.

Tourism on Bunaken has been very much geared towards divers over the years, but the trend seems to be changing and more and more snorkelers are visiting the area as too are those who wish to just relax immersed in nature...away from the hustle and bustle of city life. Possible activities for landlubbers include:
1. Beach-combing, especially at low tide when the reef top is accessible
2. Hiking to some of the secluded coves on the Eastern and Northern part of the island, but trails are poorly marked
3. Fishing, but only outside of the park boundaries: hire a boat or join one of the local fishing boats.

The thing to do in Bunaken is dive, dive and dive! However, the steep walls and occasionally strong, rapidly changing currents mean that many sites cater more to the intermediate/advanced diver, although there are beginner-friendly sites too and all dive shops can arrange intro dives and Open Water Diver courses. The North Sulawesi Watersports Association offers oodles of detail on diving in the park. The park also offers outstanding snorkeling!
All dive shops in the park are affiliated with resorts, so see Sleep below for listings.

Loadging :

1. Bastianos Dive Resorts, [1]. Located in Bunaken Island. 30 minutes from Mainland Manado.

2. Bunaken Cha Cha Nature Resort, tel. +62 813 56930370 (Skype: bunakenchacha), [2]. On the clean and tranquil eastern side of Bunaken with 10 cottages, all tastefully decorated, en-suit bathrooms (hot water showers), large balconies, 3 Cottages are equipped with A/C. Private white sand beach, house reef for snorkelers, massage treatments available. The beach top restaurant serves a variety of Indonesian/Asian dishes with emphasis on "Healthy Eating", Vegetarians are welcome. Wifi available in the Bar and Restaurant area. In house Multilingual PADI affiliated Dive Center meets the needs of diving guests of all levels of experience. Room & full board from US$60 per person/per night; room, full board and dive packages from US$130.

3. Bunaken Village Resort, [3]. Located along the Pangalisang beach on the east coast of Bunaken. 8 cottages, restaurant, dive shop, beach bar and swimming pool. Rooms 20-25€, 2 boat dives 40€.

4. Froggies Divers, [www.divefroggies.com]. A high quality dive operator with comfortable bungalows and excellent food.

5. Living Colours, tel. +62-812-4306063, [4]. Diver-oriented resort run by the shop of the same name, the bungalows are spacious and clean, but simply equipped (fan, mosquito net, cold water) and there is no beach to speak of. Rooms 30€/person, including three excellent meals and free Internet surfing. Two dives a day from 50€, gear rental 10€/day. Airport transfers 30€/one-way.

6. Lorenso's Bungalows, [5]. 5 min down the coast from Living Colours, offering cheaper but even more basic digs for around 10€/night.

7. M.C. Dive Bunaken, [6]. Located near the Bunaken Village Has a very nice beach and offers relaxed diving with experienced guides and good diving-equipment. Also offering Padi Dive Courses and Specialty's, Basic cottages 14€, more luxurious bungalows: 20€, including all meals, coffee, tea and water. 2 dives 40€, third dive 15€

8. Siladen Resort & Spa, tel. +62-431-856820, [7]. Small exclusive international resort on Siladen Island across from Bunaken. Multilingual PADI dive center, gourmet restaurant, lounge bar, Spa, large salt water pool. Located on the secluded western side of Siladen on a 300 meter stretch of white coral beach facing Manadotua Vulcano. Only 15 villas. PADI courses and full packages available.

9. Two Fish Divers, tel. +62-811-432805, [8]. Small and friendly PADI Gold Palm IDC Resort based on Bunaken Island. Cottages are basic but comfortable, and are right in front of the beach. Offers fun dives for experiened and inexperienced divers, with small groups of 2-4 divers per dive guide. Also offers a full range of PADI dive courses from Open Water Course through to Instructor.

source : http://wikitravel.org/en/Bunaken