|
Indonesia 2001
|
 Our trip from the 23rd of August till September 5th was the best trips we made so far if it comes to diving. Superb drift dives along the most beautiful walls in the world took our breath away a couple of times (especially the one we had to abort!). Imagine seeing sharks (white and black tip), turtles, Napoleon wrasse, sea snakes (banded), moray eels (blue ribbon), baracuda, at least 6 different nudibranches, blue spotted eagle ray and around 300 types of hard and soft coral surrounded by tropical fish in one dive. I know, it is hard to imagine.The trip from Groningen to Manado took us at least 28 hours and was very exhausting. After arrival we did not have a day to relax and overcome a little of the jetlag because the diving started the next day.  There are a couple of poolview apartments together with seaview apartments in the Tasik Ria resort. The poolview rooms are located in 2 floor buildings and they each contain 4 apartments. Every apartment has an entree with a fridge, a small balcony if you are on the second floor, a bathroom with toilet and a large bedroom with phone and satellite TV. Our apartment was on the second floor with a nice view over the pool and the rest of the resort. TSR has the best pool in Manado and a wonderful garden with a large pond and a huge waterfall. The meals are eaten in an semi-open-air restaurant except when you have a day of diving then lunch is included and served onboard. In the beginning we had buffet style breakfast and dinner but after a couple of days they did not serve dinner in buffet style anymore and we could choose from three entrees, three main courses and three deserts. There is also a possibility to eat a la carte but then they charge you for this. We did eat a la carte a couple of times.
|
||
 One of the highlights of this trip was our evening visit to Manado to have some dinner overthere, get some money from an ATM and have a good time with “the Boys”.
We stopped a blue minibus and stuffed it with: After a drive in a very packed minibus we arrive at the central bus station on the boulevard near the Ritzy Hotel. We stroll for a couple of minutes and decide to go have dinner in one of the gourmet restaurants along the roadside. We take a seat on a comfortable plastic stool and light up a cigarette but unfortunately this is not a relax trip. We have to pick our own food from the “kitchen”. There is plenty to see and some of it even looks familiar in my eyes. There is one dish that looks a little odd to me and after asking they explain to me that this is RW. So I ask what RW is and the answer comes as normal as the dish seems to be, it is dog meat. Having always said that I would try it if I got the opportunity I have to think of Padi and Scrappy, |
||
| A map of the Bunaken dive sites, Some of the dive sites seem the have a different name at different dive centers.. | ||
| Likuan I Likuan II Likuan III Celah Celah Alung Banua Fukui Mandolin Raymond’s Point Mike’s Point Tanjung Parigi Sachiko’s Point Bunaken Timur Depan Kampung Siladen Siladen Utara Buwalo Negeri Pangulingan Tanjung Kopi Barakuda Point Gorango Bango Batu Kapal Jalan Masuk Tengah Johnson’s Point Tanjung Pisok Molas Shipwreck |
||
| The Dives during this trip | ||
| The numbers in front of the dives correspond with the numbers in my logbook. | ||
| 137 | ||
Our first dive takes us to Baracuda Point. This site is famous for huge schools of baracudas and after jumping in we see a school of over 400 baracudas underneath us. Unfortunately the water is a little murky and I did not bring the camera on this first dive.  For us it is always a little check dive the first one to see if everything is still in place and if we are still confident of each other. The coral in this part is not as good as the rest because of dynamite fishing in the past. It is clearly visible how much damage the reef has suffered from this. Jimmy, our DM had a few laughs that made his mask run full of water because of stupid gestures Racquel seems to invent. My imitation of a Spanish Dancer seems to be quite enjoying too.
Depth: 31 meters |
||
| 138 | ||
What a wonderful dive this was. The second one of the day along a wall that starts at 15ft and drops till about a 150ft. Everything is covered on the wall and the colors are beautiful. Sponges, hard and soft coral in many different colors together with a lot of fish. In the beginning of the dive we meet a whitetip reef shark, which is followed by a turtle. The current is quite strong so it turns out into a nice drift dive. Again we see a shark, this time a blacktip and underneath us aNapoleon. When we come up to the shallower part and swim on the edge of the wall we spot an eel, some nudibranches, a flatworm and finally our first sea snake (banded sea snake). This is one of the best dives we have done so far and we fall in love with this place. As you can see when you read on the Lekuan Dive Sites are frequently visited and I think they belong in the top 10 of world-class dive spots.
Depth: 21.8 meters |
||
| 139 | ||
 Again I wonder after reaching the surface if diving can get better than this. Sharks, turtles, moray eels, napoleon, snake, baracuda, jacks and they all are close and easy to watch. This dive I brought the video so a lot of this dive will be in the final tape we will make out of this trip. Lunch was very good again and the number of divers on board is relatively small.
Depth: 30.1 meters |
||
| 140 | ||
| This dive is not as good as the one above but still it has some very interesting things again. There is a nice cuddlefish this time. The divers in our group are not to bad. One of the guys is fumbling with his saftey sausage in a depth of some 20 meters. Suddenly it shoots to the surface in the meantime dragging him upwards and he nearly hits one of us with it. He stays underwater and we later hear he was out of air? Why not use the buddy instead and howcome he stays down to finish the dive for at least 15 minutes. There are some strange critters down there I can tell you that.
Depth: 29.8 meters |
||
| 141 |
Lekuan II
|
|
 The second dive with the video so we hope when we enter the water that we meet something nice to put into the video. Today is a three tank boat dive so we had to get out of bed at 7:45 to get breakfast a quick injection of nicotine in the lungs and then on the the boat to check the gear. Although everything is packed in a plastic grate you always check if everything is inside it. The “sausage” guy is onboard again so we are curious what will happen to him this time. He also takes pictures but seems to be shooting at random at the reef and he never gets close to anything. He seems not to interested about his buddy who is by far the better diver and so they “loose” eachother this dive. We get to see a very dark lionfish and a spiney lobster this time. There is also a napoleon but a bit to far to get in the lens properly.
Depth: 31.3 meters |
||
| 142 | ||
 Very nice second dive of the day with strange shifting currents. The current seems to be going the other way again if you rise to the surface a few feet after starting at about 25 meters. We see a cometfish this dive and 2 new nudibranches. They make you wonder who designed these creatures in these colors and shapes. Some of them are quite long while others are very hard to find. Luckily we can look them up onboard in a book and so know whether this was a new species or already on the list. Of course every dive has beautiful corals and about a million different kinds of tropical fish.
Depth: 25.1 meters |
||
| 143 | ||
| Very strong current this dive and when we enter the shallower part on top of the reef there is hardly any time to stop and try to get close to the yellow ribbon eel, the sea snake. When the current eases down a little we find a nudibranch Thuridilla linelata (according to the book). Racquel scares the shit out of me by all of a sudden starting to breath from her octopus. She tells me at the surface that she thought she should pratice this drill. Another 4 years of my life down the drain.
Depth: 12.6 meters |
||
| 144 |
House Reef (nightdive)
|
|
 The fourth dive today and the first dive on the house reef is a nightdive and is probably the best nightdive I’ve done in my life. There a a couple of big coralblocks and a sandy slope between them so it is a lot different from the walldives whe have done so far. There is a scorpionfish (largest ever seen), some pipefish, blue spotted rays, a flounder, crocodile fish, shrimp, crabs, a special scorpionfish with 2 dots and a cuddle fish. Unfortunately the light on my camera doesn’t last the whole dive because I use it also during the daytime dives to bring out the colors. I feel a little tired after this dive, guided by Benny, and am glad that the boys take care of my equipment. Racquel sure missed something this time.
Depth: 17.7 meters |
||
| 145 |
Lekuan I
|
|
| Back to Lekuan I for again a three tank day. We were very lucky we saw the other divers head for the pier very early so we had the reception call the dive center to find out if it was a 3 tank dive.We had to hurry to get some breakfast down and head for the boat. When we enter the water there does not seem the be a strong current but after a couple of minutes the current picks up and becomes strong. It’s not only strong but it seems to come from different directions at the same time. Racquel and I are separated by the current which  feels now like a washing machine. The bubbles I exhale stay around my head and spin at the same speed I do. This makes it hard to see anything espescially when I’m taken away from the reef into the blue water. Racquel is out of sight but there is nothing I can do about this, the current is way to strong to try anything. After one or two minutes I see her swimming towards me and I signal her to abandon this dive. Things can only get worse and we play safe better then to risk anything. At the surface Racquel tells me she felt a little panic when she had the feeling she couldn’t reach the surface, even after filling her BCD to the max! I asked her if she had ditched the weights and she answers that she never thought about doing this. This is a dive we have learned a great deal from again. Never underestimate the powers of the sea!
Depth: 35.2 meters |
||
| 146 | ||
Second dive of the day and way better then the first one because there is hardly any current her. A lot of hard corals on top of the reef with schools of fish in different sizes and colors. The experienced Divemasters find new species of nudibranches. The Thuridilla Linelata is very spectacular as you can see in this picture. Unfortunately I did not take this one myself. Graham has sent me some of his pictures! So they are now for you to enjoy on the website. At the end of the dive I discover another Banded Sea Snake going for the surface to get some air. I will certainly put this videoclip in the videosection after I’ve finished editing. Racquel is not to fond of these snakes and doesn’t like me being very close. So we stop filming and we surface. Time to get some good food again or as we say : MAKAN! after we’ve spit out the regulator.
Depth: 21.5 meters |
||
| 147 | ||
| Third dive of the day of the coast of Manado Tua is a very nice dive with lots of fish en big coral blocks. I take time to look at some of the fish for a longer period and discover weird behaviour. Some fish seem to like other species particulairy well and seem to hate others. There is enough to see in 15ft of water and you don’t have to go deep to enjoy these dives. Tonight we will have a beach bbq and cultural event. I’m looking forward to this because we get a little taste of cultur perhaps. Depth: not in the logbook |
||
| 148 | ||
 After we’ve tried a different spot first with to many other boats at the scene we decide to go to Bunaken Timur or “East of Bunaken”. Again the dive is very good and there are a lot of small things to see. Some of the shrimp are very hard to see and that’s why Bennie has brought a magnifying glass to get a good look. After the dive Racquel is taking guitar lessons from the boys because she knows some of the songs they sing. One famous song Burung KakaTua is written down for her in words and accords.
Depth: 23.3 meters |
||
| 149 | ||
| I’ve totally forgotten to fill the logbook on this divespot named after a Japanse tourguide who loved this spot very much. I wonder if they are ever going to name a spot ScuBart’s Point. Although I love every spot and would like to go again and again nobody yet thought of naming anything after me. Humm, who do I have to bribe for this (;-))
Depth: 27.7 meters |
||
| 150 |
House Reef (nightdive)
|
|
This time Racquel accompanies me on the nightdive. She is a little nervous because of her Sea Wasp adventure during the last Bonaire trip and has bad luck this time as well  At the end of the dive there are some jellyfish who seem to like her more then me. So we decide that we get rid of the shorty and rent her a full suit for the rest of the dives. My right ear is beginning to feel painful. I hope it is only clogged with water and there is no serious problem. Unfortunately the pain gets worse during the night and we have to cancel the Lembeh Street tour we’ve booked the next day. So no luck for us to see pygmee seahorses. Larry and Graham still get to go with two other guests and I have to visit dokter Grace in the small town nearby.
Depth: 21.1 meters |
||
| 151 | ||
After three days on non-diving because of a serious outer-ear infection we are again at the Lekuan site, this time at #3. I’ve discussed my problems with Jim Yanny and told him how I never had any problems with my ears untill I started to use eardrops after the  dive to desinfect anything that might have gotten inside. He insisted on me using baby-oil instead of any drops. “Just put a little oil on a Qtip and try to smear this inside your ear, the skin inside your ear will stay smooth and the oil will protect anything from getting inside little cracks in your skin”, he said.So with the oilly ears we have a magnifecent dive again. It feels like starting all over after three days of rest. Impressive black and white top sharks, baracudas, turtle and a nig Napoleon that came very close. Unfortunately on this dive no video so you’ll just have to take my word on this. Monica is our DM this dive and she is very relaxed. We love that! Depth: 37.6 meters |
||
| 152 | ||
 Again a wonderful dive with only 2 kilos of weight to see if this is possible. The polyclad flatworm is very nice and a first for us. We are more and more focussed on the smaller critters and do not react on tankbangers and shark signals by other divers. Most of the time these sharks swim by in the depth and are not more than a shadow. Of course it is still a magnificent sight to see these masters of the deep swim by. But a colorful flatworm or nudibranch gives us enjoyment too.
Depth: 21.9 meters |
||
| 153 |
House Reef
|
|
| We are the first 2 persons in the water and we start to swim in the wrong direction. Therefore this dive ends quickly and we think it is perhaps the worst of these weeks. A lot of seastars and 1 pipefish is al we really see. Back on the boat I spot a sea snake surfacing for air quite close to the boat.
Depth: 19.9 meters |
||
| 154 |
Lekuan II
|
|
 A relaxed dive with Rakkie and Jimmy. Easy on the way down because I felt pain again in the right ear last night and was afraid I had to cancel the rest of the dives this vacation. Luckily I can still equalize and this pain was almost gone this morning. Again the usual sharks, turtles and napoleon on this dive. Sometimes you get the feeling that diving cannot get better than this. Everybody loves it and everybody has his of hers story after the dive. We have met a lot of divers and they all are very positive about diving Bunaken.
Depth: 29.1 meters |
||
| 155 | ||
 Every dive is a special dive and even after diving almost 20 times now around these islands it seems like every dive brings species that you think you haven’t seen before. This sentence is a little crooked but I think you’ll all understand. This dive was like all of them colorful and abundant of fish, coral and sponges. The lunch this time with sweet and sour chicken was exceptional good and since we had different meals each day this meal is something we will remember (;-)).
Depth: 35.2 meters |
||
| 156 | ||
The Molas wreck has only been discovered a couple of years ago by accident. The machinegun and ammo they found on top of the boat has long been gone. Some think it is a German boat others think it is Dutch because of Dutch porcelain being found. I personnaly think the Germans took the porcelain as they’ve taken a lot of things during the second world war. I mean can you imagine a Dutch boat with a machinegun in Indonesian waters in WWII? I certainly cannot. If anybody disagrees with this we’ll start a discussion…The wrecks is in deeper waters and the visibility is not as good as we had during the other wall dives. But with the light of the video we can have a nice view of the leaffish and the two scorpionfish. Larry had an excellent time taking pictures. He was so full of taking shots that he never noticed he almost kicked the regulator out of my mouth. The garden eels are nice and very hard to approach and to get in to the video. Depth: 38.6 meters |
||
| 157 |
Bunaken Timur
|
|
| Second dive at Bunaken Timur, nothing in the logbook. We had to get back and prepare for the last dive on the house reef. (:-(
Depth: not in the logbook |
||
| 158 |
House Reef
|
|
| The last dive with a special request for the Divemasters to locate a blue ribbon eel and perhaps a seahorse. Unfortunately very quick out of batteriepower on the video so not able to shoot anything. A lot of people on this dive and not a lot of special things to see. At least I know my way around now so if I come back here to do my Divemaster internal the house reef is a good place to start again!
Depth: 20.7 meters |
||
| As you can see I’ve received the pictures Graham promissed to send. I think they are great so I’ve put them on the site to make the story of this trip more interesting. | ||
 I want to thank the beautiful people from Eco Divers for making this an unforgettable experience. The management, the Divemasters and of course the rest of the staff work all very professional. I can recommend without any doubt this Dive Center. Please e-mail me if you have any questions regarding this trip. Whether its the resort, the diving, the people or…Terimah Kasi and I hope to see you all soon! |
||
Diving is done with Eco Divers. The center managers are Jim & Cary Yanny. Jim & Cary have over 25 years of combined diving experience. They have managed PADI 5 Star IDC centers in the Red Sea and Bermuda. Cary is PADI Master Instructor and Jim is PADI IDC Staff Instructor. In addition to the managers, Kim Hessel is the third instructor. Kim is a PADI Master Instructor from Denmark and also speaks German. Kim has been diving the sites of Manado since 1995. The center’s six other dive guides are all fully certified PADI Divemasters. The boat skippers are experienced in boat handling for diving and have extensive knowledge of local sea conditions. Everything is taken care of after you check in and you only have to carry your equipment twice, the day you arrive and the day you leave. In our case the carrying was only for some 50 yards because we were close to the dive center. On the boat they provide you with free towels, free water, coffee (toebroek) and tea. If you take any soft drinks from the cool box you put them on the manifest and pay for them at the end of your stay. The lunch they serve on boat is gourmet compared to the food in the restaurant and is very much “local”. We did not have any problems with the stomachs.
As we had expected we saw a lot of new creatures this year. The frogfish, leaffish, banded sea snakes, blue ribbon eel, nudibranches and a lot of wonderful colored tropical fish are just a few I can recall without reading the logbook. Unfortunately we had to skip the Lembeh Street tour because of an ear infection otherwise the list had become a lot longer. Lembeh street is known for its diversity of macro-live and it is here that pigmy seahorses where discovered.
the two dogs Cary owns and I decide to stick to Chicken this time. We have very good satay ajam, freshly cooked tumis, plain rice or nassi and some beansoup they eat after they poured it over their food. Racquel knows this soup and the feeling of being at home grows stronger. You see how a good dinner can make you feel at home! The other people eating at this place keep “staring” at us as if they have never seen “white people” before. Me, with my 235 lbs in an orange T-shirt, is of course not an every day thing to see so it figures that they look at me. One guy ate his whole plate of food standing behind us and with half a smile on his face.
