2000 Chapbook

Indonesia is a dive hot spot that unfortunately provides few choices.... While Bali's culture is fantastic (especially if you get away from the coast), the diving's not as spectacular as in other parts of Indonesia.... On Bali's east coast the Libertywreck at Tulamben is a favorite among fish specialists, who claim to find a new species on every visit. On the north end there's a good chance of diving with mola molas.... While they're certainly harder to get to than Bali, I think the Banda Islands have some of the best coral and fish life in the world.... Although it offers few big fish, Wakatobi, a operation in remote southern Sulawesi, offers fantastic color, amazing biodiversity, and one of the best beach dives in the world.... If bizarre and rare creatures are a lure, Ambon has a dive that surpasses even PNG's famous muck dives, as does Kungkungan Bay in northern Sulawesi.... If you're into big turtles (and lots of them), Borneo Diver's operation on Sangalaki, which once got excellent reviews, finally reopened last year, and nearby Derawan Resort dives these waters as well ....The island of Flores had great diving until it was hit by a typhoon and tidal wave that destroyed its reefs.... Although it's seldom been reached by live-aboards, the diving around Komodo, the home of the dragons, is excellent. Sea Contactsstarted trips there this year.... Choices for live-aboards in Indonesia have been slim; the Pinditocovers a lot of the same territory as the Cehilidid, but it's mainly booked by Europeans and offers only two dives a day.... Northern Sulawesi has few choices for land-based resorts, and the live-aboard Serenadeleaves from the Murex Resort near Manado.... Look for more new live-aboards and new resorts to pop up in virgin territory if the country's political situation doesn't get further out of hand.... While domestic flights have suffered cutbacks, there are some real bargains on international fares....Although the volatile political scene has put a cloud over diving Indonesia, so far it's had little effect on Bali, Manado, Wakatobi, and Sangalaki. Check with the State Department before travel, and inquire about specific destinations rather than asking about the country as a whole. Before you leave, get a copy of Kal Muller's Underwater Indonesia....

For full reviews of the following Indonesian destinations and live-aboards, see:

Sea Contacts I- Komodo and Rinca Islands, Indonesia, Undercurrent - September 1999

Wakatobi Sulawesi, Undercurrent - October 1997

Pindito,In Depth - May 1997

Gilis Islands Lombok, In Depth - March 1997

Kungkungan Bay Sulawesi, In Depth - June 1996

Derawan Resort, In Depth - June 1996

Serenade,In Depth - April 1995

Alor, Nusa Tenggara Timor

Dive Alor/Hotel Adi Dharma, Kalabahi, Alor, April 1998, Peggy & Jose Miguel Duran (DuranJM@worldnet.att.net), Corpus Christi, TX. Vis: 50-100 ft. Water: 76-83 degrees. Restrictions: None. Frontier Diving. No facilities or equipment, except what you bring. Have made several trips to Indonesia and Alor rates with the best in the Pacific. Flew to Bali, overnighted, flew to Kupang, West Timor, overnight at Hotel Sasando (clean, modern and inexpensive at $10/night), flew in a twelve seater prop plane to Kalabahi in Alor. Dive Alor (divealor@kupang.wasantara.netid) run by Graeme and Donovan Whitford, there since 1993, who know more than 30 sites between the islands of Alor, Pura, Ternate, Pantar and Buaya. Converted local fishing boat, 45 ft, with a basic head. After breakfast, (eggs, fried rice, fruit, toast) at the hotel, we'd spend an hour motoring along Kalabahi Bay (10 miles long by 1 mile wide), one of more picturesque bays in the Pacific, to reach the Pantar Strait, between Pantar and Alor. Usually 5-7 divers. Donovan Whitford is young, enthusiastic and experienced divemaster with a great ability to judge currents and an eye for critters from pigmy seahorses to flamboyant cuttlefish or basketball-sized giant frogfish. Diving is well described by Kal Muller in his book "Diving Indonesia." "Kal's Dream" is on a par with Blue Corner or Peleliu in Palau. "Babylon," "Cathedral" and "Sharks Galore" were great. Currents could reach 4-5 knots, enough to rip your second stage from your mouthpiece, but Donovan knew where you could drift lazily through coral gardens completely carpeted with incredible number of multicolored anemones, fungus corals and corallimorphs. Night dives among our best ever. Surface intervals with children and fishermen, who came in their canoes from villages. Children enjoyed candy, pencils and coloring books we brought. Indonesians the friendliest people in Asia. Lunch: sandwiches, fruit, coconut, cookies, peanuts and coffee/tea. After third dive we would motor to Kalabahi, arriving after sunset, for invigorating cold "mandi" bath and dinner. Hotel Adi Dharma, at Kalabahi harbor: clean air-conditioned room, no closets but sufficient wall hangers, western toilet without shower, traditional Indonesian "mandi" with clean cold water, color TV to check the video recorded during the day or watch the single channel. Donovan took the group every night in a minibus to local restaurants. Meals very good Indonesian food. Bintang beer is excellent. Travel plans have to be flexible. Kupang-Alor plane was out of service for several days, but flew the day we were scheduled to leave. Flight to Timor-Bali was canceled after waiting six hours at the airport. Went next day after waiting 4 hours and experiencing a friendly shake down for "cigarette money" by customs officers who insisted we needed a permit to take some masks we had purchased. Get there before the crowds discover it. Remember Sipadan.

Bali

Island Divers (owner Andy Elam)/Paradise Palm Bungalows/Hotel Puri Rai, April 1999, Lee & Phyllis The, Palo Alto, CA. Tulamben, no current, Padangbai (offshore islands including Nusa Penida and rocks) currents vary from mild to wild, and overwhelming surge and strong up and down currents; fiercest we've ever experienced. An E-ticket ride at its best, terrifying at its worst. We dove during black Moon, the worst time for tides, Water: Tulamben 80 degrees F. Padangbai: from low 70s to 80 deg. Vis: Tulamben: muck to 100 ft. (muck when we swam through the river exiting into the bay) Padangbai: 60-100 ft. Tulamben: all shore diving, totally unsupervised, checked cert cards. Padangbai: current mandated staying with divemaster; had latitude about the dives. Never went below 110 ft. Checked our cards. Sharks: none at Tulamben, several off Padangbai. Turtles: several on Padangbai dives, none at Tulamben. Tulamben: strange to be marching down the beach behind a 90 lb. woman carrying two tanks, your BC and your weight belt, but it's a union thing. Bali is a wonderful place to dive. But ya gotta line your ducks up. Get the Lonely Planet Guide. Go with someone who's been there; he negotiated tanks, breakfast, airfare, hotel and transfers for our group of 22 divers, and that got us better rates. Handled our week in Padangbai on our own and made mistakes. Stayed one night in Candidasa and should have gone straight to Padangbai, where the better dive operators are. Island Divers told us we could pay by credit card before we came to Bali, then made us pay cash. Meant spending afternoon going to a nearby town and waiting in a bank while the bureaucratic mystique ground veeery slowly. Such shenanigans are not uncommon; get everything in writing. Be prepared to negotiate once you're there. Island Divers charged extra for stuff you'd normally get free everywhere else we've dived, including water on the boat. Real ripoff: the safari package in which they coordinate all travel and lodging and diving. Cost us a cool $500 more for four days' diving than if we'd gotten our own hotel room, our own transportation, and gotten the diving a la carte. Divemaster Annabelle had only been in Bali a month. She was competent, but far from expert on conditions. Andy Elam's operation probably will be the best in Padangbai if his tightwad tendencies don't get the better of him. Gem of the operation is Iwan, a Balinese divemaster who knows local conditions and is devoted to saving reefs from dynamite and strychnine-happy fishermen. Steven the Welshman was courteous and helpful. One alternative is to stay in Denpasar, where there are lot of dive operators, and drive to Padangbai each day. Padangbai is a charming fishing village with safe food in restaurants and a nice hotel in the Puri Tulamben: resort's nice and you can get out to the Libertywreck before hordes of Japanese divers arrive by bus and clog the water. Diving spectacular. Doesn't get easier than Tulamben: ornate leafy sea dragons to cuttlefish to mantis shrimp, stonefish, great crinoids, swarms of fish, just amazing. Padangbai is great also, be prepared to dive out of fishing boats. Imagine a dugout with two outriggers. If you negotiate, you could get a nice room with AC and western toilets (and you want western) for $30/night with breakfast. A van with an English-speaking driver for $25/day. Nice meal for two for $4 plus drinks. Airfare from SFO for $950 including business class from SFO to Taipei (EVA airlines great). Bali wonderful. Only complaint: hordes of street vendors. Bali is best underwater and way out in the countryside. High point apart from the diving; arriving unannounced in a little out of the way village to donate 100 ballpoint pens and $15 worth of drawing paper (we bought it locally). (Cellular +62 81-139-6181; Fax +62 361-73-1784)

Pro-Dive/Grand Hyatt, August 1999, Kevin Gill (kevingill@sprintmail.com), Katy, TX. Vis: 45-70 ft. Water: 82-84 degrees. Sunny. Water: choppy, currents. Time limits were enforced but computer depth profile flexible. No rinse tanks on boat to Nusa Penida. Fresh water limited. Shore Dives at Tulamben had fresh water showers. Grand Hyatt special for $130/night. Excellent 5-star resort with impeccable service. Other options more than adequate for $30-$50/night. Bali very affordable. Hard to spend $10/meal outside the resort. Balinese people friendly. Always smiling and wanting to converse and assist with anything. Women porters at Tulamben are amazing, some carry two SCUBA units on their heads. Prodive: good operation; well trained staff. Picked up at hotel on time. Had to wait for other divers for 1 hour once. Comprehensive briefings with attention to safety and eco-aware. Current dive at Nusa Penedia definitely an E-Ticket. Too fast for camera but loads of fun. No rinse tank on boat. Boats uncrowded. Food superb: catered on boat dives; Tulamben surface interval at a restaurant and the dive cost included lunch and fresh juices. Wreck and wall at Tulamben with black sand bottom. Soft corals and anemones everywhere. Nusa Penida had some of the highest reef fish counts I have seen in SE Asia. Coastal and interior scenery is amazing. An A+ adventure.

Dive and Dive/Secret Bay Dive Center, December 1998, Peter Jennings, Tustin, CA. Vis: 10-40 ft. Water 82-84 degrees. The latest muck-diving heaven, a "purpose-built resort." Secret Bay is macro-UWP-oriented and caters for the serious critter photographer or devotee. Guides have amazing ability to find things for photographers. Sand and silt bottom with vis varying with tide (high tide is best). Maximum depth is only 30' so bottom time is limited only by film, hunger and the chill. Don't expect to see any big fish this is a place to look for the weird and wonderful: Pegasus fish, Frogfish, Mandarins, Inimicus, Bobbitt Worms, Ghost Pipefish, with new species being found daily (they put up a daily "Menu" of what's been found by divers). About a 3-hour drive from Sanur or Kuta Beach to the west end of Bali, near the national park. Accommodations for 12 divers in air-conditioned rooms spartan but clean neat. Voltage is 220-240. Rinse tanks big and well-maintained. Home cooked Indonesian food -good and spicy. Visiting the West Bali National Park and diving at nearby Menjangan Island are well worthwhile. (Tel: (62-361) 288652, Fax: (62-361) 288892, e-mail: divedive@indo.net.idMaldives; Telephone +62 36-128-8052; Fax +62 36-128-9309)

Tanjungkarang, Donggala

Murex, May 1999, John Kontnik, Lakewood, LA. Vis: 50-70 ft. Water: 82-84 degrees. Nice resort in a quaint tropical setting. Not fancy, but clean and nice. Rooms and food are good. Dive staff very good (Lawrence in particular). Good at spotting the unusual: pipefish, razor fish. Titan triggers nudibranchs, sea horses, sea snakes, turtles, several small sharks, Napoleon wrasses, bumphead parrots, giant clams. 45 minute boat rides to Bunaken Island, but seas were good. Banka Island 90 minutes but a must. Most days were 2 dives and a lunch served on the boat. Hard and soft corals were beyond compare. Schools of large jacks and barracuda. House reef OK if it has not rained. Bloom, the resident monkey, kept escaping from his large cage and entertained the guests for hours. Manager Angelicia (owner's daughter) was hard to find and was the one person who spoke good English. When you could locate her she was pleasant but was not forthcoming with information that would have been helpful. Did this in conjunction with Kungkungan Bay Resort for a great two week trip. (Telephone +62 43-16-6280 or +62 43-16-8513; Fax +62 43-15-2116)

Tasik Ria Resort, July 1999, Annabelle & Blair Tame, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Western side of the Manado peninsula; Kungkungan Bay Resort on the eastern side. Both via Manado Airport, with direct service to Singapore or Jakarta. New Tasik Ria Resort is one hour from the airport. Accommodations poolside or sea view with good sized, air-conditioned bedrooms, en-suite bathrooms and sufficient storage. Freshwater pool large enough for laps. Hotel staff cheerful and helpful. Monotonous and rather poor food. Complained quietly and there was an improvement. Dive operation professionally run by English-speaking Dutch couple; good Indonesian staff (also English speaking). Guides knowledgeable of sites and flora and fauna. Dive operation one of the best organized we have come across. Gear is delivered to boats and rigged according to your preference. Staff will take your gear ashore, rinse and hang it. Two purpose built catamarans as dive boats. One, single diesel-engined, 39 foot and a slightly faster, twin diesel-engined, 45 foot. Both stable and well designed including a W.C. Captains are competent and safe boat handlers. Drift dives; it's always reassuring to see the boat nearby on surfacing. Getting aboard is easy. Most sites 1-1 1/2hours away in the Bunaken Islands Reserve. Dolphins and whales on journey to sites. Two boat dives plus optional, beach afternoon/night dive. Had an extra tank loaded on board and made a third dive on the house reef on our return. Small boat from the resort picked us up. Computer use is expected; surface after one hour. If we wanted a shallower, longer dive that was OK. Guides knowledgeable, knew conditions and topography, rarely had more than three divers. If they knew your skills are good, you will not be 'nannied'. Dives were good or very good. Water 82-86°F, visibility 65-98 feet, currents sometimes strong. Coral in good condition. Fair number of reef sharks and pelagics, varied reef fish, turtles, exotic macro stuff on the house reef extraordinary: pygmy seahorses, ghost pipe-fish, ribbon eels, anemones, shrimp & crabs, a lion fish the size of a thumbnail, 18 inch stone fish. (To dive the House Reef and Jetty Reefs without a guide is to risk missing elusive creatures). First class dive holiday. Getting to and from Manado is uncomplicated. Jet flights (Silk Air - Singapore Airline's regional subsidiary) nonstop from Singapore to Manado. Long way from the unrest in other regions of Indonesian archipelago . . . (lumbalumba@manado.wasantara.net.id; fax (0431) 85788)

Tukangbesi Islands