Minado - SulawesiWell it's time to open up my dive log again. This time I'm going to tell you about the wonderful walls of Indonesia! Diving here is very like diving in the Philippines with clear blue water and walls that disappear to the bottom of the ocean. We started in North Sulawesi, near Manado, diving Bunaken island. This is a very good place to dive - nice resort too. The walls are covered in corals and there is plenty to see. Dolphins and Pilot whales were a common sight from the boat on our trips to the dive sights. I'll always remember the napoleon fish that Zam and I followed down into the big blue, a slight current took us effortlessly along the coral covered wall of Bunaken, and as I looked up to shoot some video of my bubbles rising up through the sun beams to the shimmering sun, two eagle rays passed majestically overhead. Without taking my eye off them I just pointed up at them when I heard Zams tank banger go and knew he'd seen them too. Later that dive on our slow ascent I met a lovely large cuttle fish disguised as coral hovering 2cm about the a slope on the wall. It obliged me and my camera by transmographying into a sleek torpedo in front of my eyes. Wonderful animals. While filming this metamorphosis I had to miss the sea snake the dive guide had caught - little did I know then that there would be other snakes to film - oh yes! It was nice to do the wall dives again - kind of different type of diving - Great FUN. Now I could list all the different types of fish we saw but you may as well go read a fish book. Instead I'll tell you about some other stuff we did .... We went for a walk in the woods in central Sulawesi. Four days trekking through the jungle taking in the lovely scenery, along the rivers and over the hills into the Bada Valley. Here we went to see the mysterious megaliths scattered around the valley. Through beautifully green rice fields these stone statues stand as they have stood for over 2000 years - and that's a conservative estimate as not much research has been done into them. It took all day in a four wheel drive jeep to get the 70km to the next town from the Bada valley. There was mud on the road. Enough to bury a hippo in. When we got to southern Sulawesi we made a very smart move and boarded a traditional pinasse boat. Little did I know I'd have such a good time on it that it would be my home for the next month. We dived the south of Sulawesi with white tip sharks that behaved like they've never seen divers before. There was bumphead parrot fish, clown triggers, barracuda, jacks, fields of garden eels, big morays, and much good diving to be had. Then we set sail and said good bye to Sulawesi and hello to the sea! A great time was ahead of us. The sea was as flat as a lake and as shiny as mirror. Every day at sunrise dolphins joined us to ride the bow wave, at night the milky way lit up the sky and I witness the most spectacular shooting stars I've ever seen. We stopped off on sandy palm tree lined islands and snorkeled among pristine coral, explored caves, and I reached an as yet undiscovered plateau of relaxation! We went past the third largest coral island in the world - 150 miles of coral coast to explore there! Visited small villages where we saw the palm tree lines boat yards with big boats seemingly growing out of the trees onto the beach. We stopped off at Flores and I watch a rather large komodo dragon devour a whole pig - and I mean whole, in one go! It was amazing to see - something I've wanted to do for many years! We also visited around Lombok and finally stopped at Bali where I got to bath in hot springs next to a live volcano, do some more diving, and visit a very beautiful island! North of Bali I dived an island called Kirmirian. Alot of fish bombing has gone on but the east side has the most amazing wall - huge gregorian fans, caves and overhangs, and big fish everywhere. Even the surgeon fish and snappers were big. I saw a 6ft puffer fish and to top it all a 3m span Mantra ray cruise by! I was smiling and still am! I've been on Bali for over two weeks now, said goodbye to some most excellent friends I made on "Juku Bakka" - the pinasse boat - and gone and bought a ticket to Australia. Apparently there is some excellent diving to be done over there! The story continiues ...... Love Mark The Divemaster. P.S. Take a look at this! Juka Bakka Web Site |
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