Diving Holidays in Sulawesi
Diving Holidays in Sulawesi
Located in north central Indonesia, to the east of Borneo the island of Sulawesi is unqiuely star shaped. At the heart of the coral triangle, a region which is widely believed to hold the highest diversity of marine life found anywhere on earth, Sulawesi surely offers some of the finest diving to be had in SE Asia.
On the many times I have visited Northen Sulawesi I have always been taken by what's on offer to divers over such a relatively small area. At the very tip of one of Sulawesi's star like arms you'll find deep plunging walls, pinnacles blanketed in soft corals, tranquil coral gardens ideal for snorkelling and black sand slopes that play host to a mind blowing range of weird and wonderful marine inhabitants. Whats more, all these locations can easily be covered in a two week diving holiday Sulawesi.
Just an hour boat ride from the town of Manado lays the small island of Bunaken. Now a National Park Bunaken is surrounded by dramatic reef walls just a few fin kicks from it's shore. Rich hard and soft corals formations cover the walls from the drop off to as far as the eye can see from within recreational depth limits, snorkelers will also be amazed by the wealth of these reefs even from the surface (beware of currents and be sure to take a reference from your entry point when snorkeling in this area). Allow at least 5-6 days around Bunaken, there's plenty of world class sites worth visiting and for days out of the water theres lots on offer topside from scaling active volcanoes to beautiful lakes.
Further east, again just an hour or so by boat lays the island of Bangka and Gangga. Here beneath the surface under water pinnacles ridge the shores of the island. The reefs are characterised by colorful soft coral gardens and a magnificant abundance of marine life. It's not uncommon to see passing sharks and rays in the blue here, whilst the reefs themselves play host to plenty of small invertebrates, keep close to your dive guide if you're a macro lover. This area is generally less populated with tourists and really only requires a little extra effort, staying at one of the island resorts also means you'll get to basque on the white sand beaches between dives.
Just off northern Sulawesi's eastern shore is the island of Lembeh and the strait that separates has become a world class hotspot for a phenemonon know as muck diving. The black sand slopes are not exactly picturesque but what inhabits has been increasingly capturing the imagination of divers from all over the world. Over generations evolution has run riot over this small stretch of water as strange and rare 'critters' compete in their exclusive world of predator and prey.
The diving itself is generally not deep, no need to go below the 20m mark really and generally it's a case of spending plenty of time on the shallow slopes with your eyes well and truly peeled! I'd reccommend at least 4-5 days diving on the Lembeh Strait and chances are you'll be hungry for more no matter how much you've done.
Diving holidays Sulawesi are manageable even on a limited time and budget. It's incredbly easy and convienient to travel between the locations mentioned in this article and the regions offers more than enough to quench the thirst of even the most seasoned diver.
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