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CORALREPUBLIC North
Sulawesi, 2006
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Trip
dates: |
5-16 September
2006 |
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Boat
/ resort: |
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Dive
centre: |
Gangga Divers |
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Photo-friendly?: |
Very. The resort
is dive and photosub dedicated. Great camera room
and good facilities on board the dive boats. Full Nitrox facility. |
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Number
of dives: |
21 dives over 8
full days of diving |
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Diving
conditions: |
Occasional
downpours, but very hot weather and many sunny spells. 28°C water
temperature, except when we went down to Lembeh.
There we had 25-26°C. Visibility was around 10m around Bangka and Talisei islands, and the Sulawesi mainland sites, below
10m in Lembeh, very good in Bunaken
sites. No currents worth mentioning, save in the Bunaken
sites, where the full moon made them quite strong. |
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Comments: |
I was very lucky
on this trip. I travelled alone (I enjoy that, occasionally), and found the
hotel in Gangga almost empty… save that there was a passing dive travel agent
on a business trip, a nice German girl named Myriam.
The resort manager, Hanne, offered her the VIP treatment – as it is the
custom in the business – and I got to be allowed to join. They took us to Bunaken and Lembeh on their
speed boats. It’s in their offer (at extra charge), but I guess they would
not have done it with just two divers on board if it weren’t for Myriam. I also got to dive with the best divemaster in the shop, surely. His name is Inyo and he was a quiet but sharp spotter. He knew
perfectly well what a photographer needs and offered it with a shy smile. To get there,
once you land in Manado, you are picked up by the resort and driven about 2
hours north to a tiny pier. From there, it is about a 30 minutes boat trip to
the Island. The resort is very beautiful, with lovely rooms, a great spa and
an excellent service, including “a la carte” dining every night. The rooms,
however, are all oriented west, and when I went back to my cottage it was a
roasting oven, air conditioning and all. Also, even at busy times, this is
surely no place for nightlife lovers. Nevertheless, I loved the place and
think the money was well spent. Gaspare and Hanne are really friendly and
experienced. They run a tight ship indeed. The diving is
very good. Sites were mainly around Bangka Island, I did not dive any site in Gangga itself, although a couple are
charted. One of them is a mandarin dive in a small islet just accross a narrow strait from Gangga. The best site was
probably Paradise, on the mainland coast. The name is taken from a resort
they built here but seemingly abandoned. There is small jetty with lots of
life on the pillars… and a hot well spurts out right in the middle of it.
Spectacular muck diving, better than many Lembeh
sites. I got good shots
of the new pygmy seahorse species, and of many other new critters, especially
nudibranchs. No big life worth mentioning, but surely good opportunities for
wide angle on the walls around Bangka and Talisei.
I only shot macro, though. I had twin strobes for the first time, my old D2000
and a brand new Z240. The last days, I dove with a honeymooning couple from
Switzerland and I ended up selling the D2000 strobe to the groom. I got a
second Z240 later on. |
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