Diving Bunaken Marine Park, Sulawesi, Indonesia: Fully Immersed in a State of Awe

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For many years, we had an aquarium in our home. I recall spending whatever free time I had at the end of the work day with my face glued to the glass, mesmerized by the aquatic ecosystem I was watching. However basic, it was always calming to loose myself in that water world. So when I find myself now, twenty metres below the ocean surface, buoyantly floating amidst schools of thousands of fish; hovering over an enormous sleeping turtle; captivated by a gigantic manta ray or an angelic spotted eagle ray passing by - at all times awestruck by the brilliant colour and extensive diversity of the coral reef, and the equally vast array of marine life sustained within the reef ecosystem - I again experience a deep sense of calm, along with a profound sense of connection to these beautiful, mysterious life forces. Scuba diving is, therefore, a deeply spiritual experience for me.

Although scuba diving is not technically a sport, as there is no competitive aspect to it, it does involve considerable training and skill development. It is also a test of character: it has pushed me to face and move beyond many fears. Recent examples include diving deep into the bowels of an enormous shipwreck, as well as indulging in more night diving, which understandably can evoke considerable fear. I was not ready to take on my first night dive until I had fifty dives under my belt, and was accompanied by a dive master with whom I had completed many dives and whom I trusted implicitly. I have since completed six night dives, all of which have been nothing less than spectacular.

I have come to think of night diving as an intense meditation on the beauty and active life that can be found if one remains intensely focused on that single beam of light emanating from the all important guiding flashlight. To loose that focus is to allow the mind to wander off the path of light into the surrounding darkness. When this happens, the mind can quickly begin to conjure up images of all the unknowns that could be lurking in the blackness, or it may present a terrifying scenario of exactly where you are in this ocean of black, and all the things that could possibly go very wrong. In other words, metaphorically speaking, panic lurks nearby if one digresses from the path, whereas staying focused on the bright guiding light leads to the astounding beauty available at the end of that beam. Or to extend the metaphor further, we always have a choice in which actions we take, in the way we choose to live, and how we choose to view the world.

And it is often the difficult choices we make that can prove to be the most rewarding. The beauty on a night dive is astounding: the colors of the coral take on added intensity, the appearance of bioluminescence magical, and the marine life extraordinary. Night diving is not about looking for fish - those thousands of schooling fish you may have seen earlier on the day are nowhere to be found. The intent of a night dive is to witness the night life, if you will, and it is of a completely different nature. Any diver will verify that night diving is an entirely different experience from day diving, and many prefer it.

One of my favorite memories from my first night dive was seeing a type of brown coral that resembled deer antlers, covered in many red sparking lights. It was a delightful Christmas moment! The lights were the eyes of the cleaner shrimp that were moving around, doing whatever they do, only at night. Another time on a night muck dive I witnessed an incredibly beautiful neon glowing feather star fish which gracefully passed through the flashlight beam for a few mesmerizing seconds; later on that same dive I watched a very large stingray completely bury himself in the ocean floor as I hovered above him just a meter away. I saw a neon glowing worm of some sort wiggle through the beam of light on my most recent night dive, so quickly I wondered if that really happened. We have witnessed tiny octopus moving about, looked into the blue eyes of black sea urchins imperceptibly moving, and I recently witnessed a far more active pen sea urchin urgently trying to get out of the spotlight we had him under, as well as energetic sponge crabs, several luminescent blue spot rock lobsters, a very large Spanish dancer nudibranch, an intriguing slipper lobster, a bright red hermit crab, and an amazing basket star which completely fooled me into thinking it was an octopus in disguise - as it is a large moving plant with long tentacles.

These are only a few of my night dive experiences, some of which I have captured on camera and included in this blog‘s photo gallery from our dives in Bunaken Marine Park. Understandably, this may all be difficult to comprehend for those who have not experienced it. Hopefully the photo gallery will inspire some appreciation for SCUBA ( Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus) diving, and in particular, night diving.

Bunaken Marine Park is located off the northernmost tip of the province of Sulawesi, Indonesia. The next significant land mass is the Philippines. The park, formally established in 1991, comprises the 5 islands of Bunaken, Manado Tua, Siladen, Montehage, and Nain. The marine park is located near the centre of the Coral Triangle, providing habitat to 390 species of coral, displayed on spectacular wall reefs, as well as many fish, mollusc, reptile and marine mammal species. It is part of the Indo-Pacific region which supports the highest marine biodiversity on earth. It is home to undoubtedly the most beautiful and compelling of all the dive sites we have experienced to date, which is why we have now made the arduous twelve hour trek, each way, from Bali to Bunaken, four different times. These memories will undoubtedly inspire us to return again next year, providing the motivation and fortitude to take on the forty plus hour journey to get back to Indonesia, and to this very special place on our beautiful planet to pursue this passion for the world beneath water.

Our diving aspirations have been realized primarily because of the excellent instruction and caring guidance we received in 2015 - and continue to receive - from our first dive instructor and very good friend, Phari, who enabled us to trust in our abilities and introduced us so effectively to the art of scuba diving. We remain grateful to him for our dive into the deep blue.

Thank you for your interest in our travel adventures.

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Photos

Night Dive / Pen Sea Urchin
We watched him move quickly to get out of our sight across a cave

Crown of Thorns
Ominous and huge, this animal is active at night, and is destructive to the coral. It is currently problematic, as its primary predator, the conch, has been overfished and an imbalance created. As the crown of thorns can multiply and survive even if cut in two, divers must remove it completely from the ocean and bury it in sand to reduce the population.

Comments

[Anna E Cole]

Amazing photographs of your Night Dives
The colours are absolutely vibrant! These are awesome photos!

[Gail]

Wow!You had me completely captivated with your descriptions of the undersea world. As always, you articulated it so well that I could visualize the beautiful scenery and marine life, Ypur passion and love of scuba diving really shines through your writing and is very contagious, even though I don’t swim lol . Fascinating how your interest developed years ago when you had your own aquarium. The photos were beautiful as well, and very clear. You must have a very good camera. I have so enjoyed each and every one of your blogs, Bev, and your insights and perspectives. I have looked forward to each posting and k kw that a lot of thought and work goes into each one, Thank you🙏🥰 As I write this, you will be on your way back to Canada. So happy for you that you were able to get back to those places that you love. Hope to share some of those Asia experiences again with you and Stan next year. We feel so blessed. Hugs, Gail