Blogs from Bunaken National Park, Sulawesi, Indonesia, Asia - page 5

We decided to leave Bunaken and see what else Sulawesi had to offer. We spent Monday in Manado on the mainland, which was a nightmare, dirty, noisy, traffic everywhere and road signs that were impossible to follow! We managed to do the essentials like Internet and buying eardrops, which we were both in need of badly. None of the hotels ,within our budget had a shower, instead they had a 'mandi' which is basically a tank in the corner of the bathroom that's filled from a cold tap then the idea is that the water can be used, by means of a scoop, to either flush the toilet or pour over your body in an attempt to wash yourself, there's no outlet for the water so it sits in the bottom going stagnant, nice! Oh well, ... read more

The next couple of days we spent snorkelling, relaxing and eating. The coral reef was reached by wading through the muddy mangrove water then swimming about 100 feet. From there the coral dropped down a huge steep slope like a rock garden, so many colours and varieties, probably the best we’ve come across ever. The fish were amazing too, large ones, tiny ones and every colour you can imagine, all around you everywhere we looked. The one downside were the two trigger fish that were especially aggressive, both Sue and Stan copped a bite and I only just avoided one as I noticed it heading towards me with a nasty look in it’s eye, I kicked out furiously with my coral shoes and it backed off! We will always be wary of that area on future ... read more

Afgelopen week hebben wij genoten van een weekje duiken in de wateren rond Menado. De vlucht met LionAir liep gesmeerd (in een boeing 777 maar liefst, Eva had visioenen van een aan elkaar geductaped propellorvliegtuig). We kwamen laat in de avond aan, en wilde een bus pakken richting het centrum van Menado. Toen we na een half uur ploeteren bij het busstation aankwamen bleek deze niet meer te rijden en omdat we het toen wel een beetje zat waren hebben we maar een (veels te dure) taxi gepakt. De taxichauffeur zette ons vervolgens bij een woonhuis af (hotel here!), en deed vervolgens alsof hij geen woord engels kon spreken. Na een aardige discussie zijn we vervolgens bij een hotel aangekomen waar we vervolgens ook werden besodemieterd (ja er was nog maar eeeeeen kamer!). En toen is ... read more

Oceans, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the scuba-diver Ali. His five-year mission: To explore strange new reefs. To seek out new fish and new nudi-branches. To boldly dive where no one has dived before. Hobby or Obsession? Of all the marine environments coral reefs contain the highest diversity of species, of all the reefs in the world those in South East Asia have the highest diversity. The epicentre of this biodiversity is somewhere in Indonesia - marine biologists can debate as to exactly where. As you travel further from this point the biodiversity declines. The reefs of the Caribbean have only a third of the species numbers that those of these Indonesian reefs enjoy. It's something special. Sulawesi is home to several famous dive locations, drawing scuba divers from all around the world. ... read more

After months of waiting for my contract and visa, I finally moved to Papua New Guinea in January 2007. So far, it has been a thoroughly enjoyable experience (and I'll hopefully publish an entry on life here soon...). Nonetheless, after spending 4 months in Port Moresby, I was quite ready for a little break. The opportunity came when I met up with my parents and brother for a scuba-diving reunion in Northern Sulawesi, Indonesia. From Papua New Guinea, I flew to Singapore, where I met up with the family, before flying on to Manado. We were picked up at the airport by a driver from Celebes Divers, who drove us to our huts at the beautiful Mapia Resort, South of Manado. Over the next 7 days we explored the many dive sites around the Bunaken National ... read more