subject: Diving in Sulawesi, Indonesia [print this page] Diving in Sulawesi, Indonesia Diving in Sulawesi, Indonesia
Over the years my partner I have been lucky enough to visit Sulawesi many times. It's a diving destination we always look forward to returning to, there's such a wealth and diversity of dive site it's difficult to loose interest in this area despite many world class destinations on it's dooorstep.
I'm not going to say that this list is comprehensive as peoples taste and preference for diving often varies. These are just a few of my favorite sites in the area.
The Lekaun Sites
Named Lekaun one, two and three the 'Lekuan' sites are superb wall dives found off the island of Bunaken. The wall itself plays host to a wealth of marine life, denseley packed hard and soft corals compete for sunlight whilst a staggering range of reef fish dart frantically back and forth from the reef wall. Giant green sea turtles can often be seen on the ledges, taking a break from the current. There's also a good chance to see passing pelagics (open water fish) in the blue, sharks, rays and jacks often patrol this area so be sure to look out into the blue every so often.
Nain
One of the most northern islands of the Bunaken Marine park, the island of Nain offers similar topography as the Lekaun sites, generally plunging reefs walls that descend to hundreds of meters. Again, it's location means its prone to strong currents which in turn attracts big fish. Hammerheads can be seen but are not considered common. A large pinnacle can be found at 40m and usually with excellent visability it makes a great place to wait for encounters with the unexpected.
Sahuang
Further east from the Bunaken National Park, the island of Bangka, Gangga and Talise can be found. Here the reef topography varies from it's neighboring sites in Sulawesi. Whereas Bunaken features reef walls, pinnacles and ridges are also thrown into the mix in this area. Again strong currents support the reefs with nutrients and gardens of soft corals can be seen on the ridges of the Sahuang dive site. Stay close to your guide in this area as the macro life is superb, orangutan crabs, pygmy seahorses, frogfish and ghost pipefish to name just a few. Again great chance to see passing big fish in the blue and well worth a visit for a diving holidays Sulawesi.
Nudi Falls
Now to the Lembeh Strait, an altogether different style of dive site. Black sand slopes peppered with weird and wonderful marine life is typical of this rather unique location. Don't expect to see much in the way of coral life, to the untrained eye it can seem a little desolate but give it time. Nudi Falls is a dive site which is charaterised by a small vertical rock which drops into a slope and ends at about 25m. No need to head too deep here, stay on the rock itself and you'll no doubt be rewarded with sightings of brilliantly coloured Nudibranchs (hence Nudi Falls), if you're not getting any luck stick close to your guide. Head out over the sand for the chance to see robust ghost pipefish, frogfish and mantis shrimps. The elusive Rhinopias is also a possiblity.
TK One, Two, Three
I'm not sure if the TK sites are in any particular way that much better than the neighboring sites (at least in my opinion), only that each time we visit we're always blessed with such a list of top findings it continues to stick in my mind. TK is short for Teluk Kembahu, "Teluk" means bay and Kembahu is the name of the nearby village. The site itself starts with a sands slope (literally on the shore of the village) which descends down to about 22m, some small shallow bommies and rope-sponges may take your interest but best to stick to the sand where it's possible to see flambouyant cuttlefish, mimic octopus, hairy frogfish, pegasus sea moth and lots, lots more!
For more information on diving in Sulawesi see my other articles or visit diving holidays Sulawesi.
