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For
the second time this year I am on my way to Manado, capital
of North Sulawesi. I have become a regular visitor now, and
the excitement of finding and photographing something new
draws me back over and over again.
Manado
airport has at last been modernised. It takes no time at all
to pass through immigration, collect my bags and make my way
to the taxi area. Outside the driver from Barracuda dive centre
greets me and, thankfully, grabs my bags and lugs them to
our transport.
It's
about 40 minutes to the dive centre, which is located on the
other side of town. It gives me a chance to chat to my dive
guide (who come along to greet me) about what's happening
underwater. He tells me he has a number of special things
to show me and if I change into my gear now we con go straight
into the water on arrival! However, I said Iwould hang on
till the morning.
The
accommodation is in bungalows positioned on a hillside overlooking
Manado Bay. Mine is number six. It has an enormous bed big
enough to sleep about four, TV, air conditioning and a couple
of tables for the cameras. I plan to stay here ten days.
Next
morning I make my way out along the wooden pier to my boot
for the day. My gear is already stowed on board. It's a glorious
day: clear blue sky, flat sea and the temperature already
climbing.
For the first dive I have decided on a shallow drift along
by Black Rock Reef. My cameras are soaking in tubs of fresh
water so I lay back, apply the cream and enjoy the sunshine.
The
dive boat is a small cruiser and, as I am the only quest this
week, I will have the luxury of loads of room. The boat has
a driver, a chap who looks after my gear, plus me and my dive
guide who sleeps, between guiding me. In fact, everyone seems
to sleep as soon as the boat stops.
At last I am starting my first dive. The sea is a lovely 30
degrees with vis around 20 metres. I find my first subject
in the first couple of minutes, it's a pair of blue ribbon
eels peering out from one hole.
The diving around Manado Bay has everything. Just five minutes
from the dive centre there is a wreck. It stands upright and
it is about 17 metres to the deck and around 40 metres to
the seabed. Very close by is a handy shallow reef to do your
degassing.
The
centre has a nice house reef, very handy for those night dives
and there are the islands, with a great variety of dive sites.
One site I really like is the island of Bunaken, now a national
park. The reef walls make a great dive. There are turtles,
sharks, large shoals of fish and soft corals, but you have
to pay a small fee to dive there.
I
like to wait in the shallows to see the very large tuna chasing
the baitfish. Sometimes, if you are lucky, you may get to
see eagle rays cruising the reef.
Ten
days have passed. Dive gear packed I travel 40 miles across
land to Bitung, famous as a fishing port as well as for its
many tuna canneries and its black sand. I will stay here for
two weeks on the live-aboard Liburan and hope to do three
day dives and one night dive each day.
Rudi
Ring, the skipper/owner and dive guide tells me there are
only two other guests, so once again there will be loads of
room for me to spread out as the Liburan can accommodate up
to eight divers.
So,
what about this block sand? Your first impression, as you
reach the seabed is black sand sloping down to 20 metres,
no coral, no rocks, no weed and five metre vis but on closer
examination you begin to see some odd creatures as you make
your way around.
On
night dives the creatures that live inside the sand emerge.
While waiting for a subject to perform, I was peering through
my 105-macro lens and noticed the sand heaving with tiny life
too small to identify. I quess this is the attraction - they
are food for larger animals.
There
are a couple of wrecks and many more dive sites to visit.
I just hope I have brought enough film, One of the nicest
dive sites is Angel's Window, a small cave swim-through at
20 metres, opening to an area of soft corals and more noodien?
I
have two more weeks and then will move back to Manado to Moles
Reach. This time I will stay with NDC, they were the first
dive-centre in Monado. I have been with this centre many times
before. I know most of the dive guides and they all usually
have something special that they keep to themselves; they
will show me if I promise not to tell others.
Apparently,
there are hammerheads at Barracuda Point so that will be my
first dive. They also tell me that there is egg-laying involving
jaw fish and squid, both in the same area. That will be worth
a couple of dives.
All
too soon my diving is finished. I will relax for a couple
of days, using an in-town hotal swimming pool before gathering
my films and heading for home. In the eveneings there is plenty
to do. Eating-wise, there is a selection of cafes, restaurants
and other eating places, two cinemas and quite a few night
clubs.
I
have already booked my next Manado holiday. See you there.
Reproduced
from in
focus 77 (Winter 2003)
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