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Malcolm
Hey, a British Gas Wildlife Photographer of the Year prize-winner
two years ago, and winner of BSoUP's Beginner's Portfolio,
Open Portfolio and Splash-in Overseas Prints over the last
year or so, gave a talk and slide show to the August meeting
on underwater photography in North Sulawesi, Indonesia. Competing
against a construction team who were beating the hell out
of the concrete canopy over the Holland Club with pneumatic
drills for the whole evening, his subject never-the-less held
the attention of an audience of between thirty and forty.
Indonesia
lies between the main land masses of Asia to the north-west
and Australia to the south. No-one really knows how many islands
comprise Indonesia but a recent count claims that there are
over 18000 islands, 1000 being inhabited. The main islands
in the archipelago are Java, which is the most densely populated,
Sumatra, Irian Jaya, Kalimantan, and Sulawesi. It is a country
of islands and seas, the seas taking up most of the country's
surface area. Marine biologists generally agree that the sea
between Sulawesi and Maluku has the richest diversity of marine
life of any of the world's seas.
Sulawesi,
which lies in the northern seas of Indonesia is an island
dotted with volcanoes and mostly covered with dense mountainous
forests. There are two major cities at the extreme north of
Sulawesi - Manado, which lies on the west of the peninsula,
and Bitung on the east side.
Access
from the UK to this part of Sulawesi is via Singapore with
a three and a half hour onward fI ight direct to Manado. Motor
transport transfers visiting divers to the dive centres, the
journeys taking between half an hour and one and a quarter
hours. There are two separate dive locations accessed from
Manado - the Bunaken/Manado Tua island group in Manado Bay,
and the Lembeh Strait.
Dive
Centres are opening up around Manado Bay apace, mostly by
foreign investors. Malcolm has visited six or seven of the
dive centres but favours blusantara Dive Centre (locally referred
to as NW), that being the first established in the area -
26 years ago, and owned and run by Indonesian management and
staff. Very much part of the village community in which it
is sited, visitors experience a real taste of Indonesian culture
and friendliness. Accommodation and facilities are modest
but very adequate. Rooms are spacious, all en-suite, well
provided with elec. points (it 230V, tables and storage space.
NDC
has a larger fleet of boots than the other dive centres and
the boats are more spacious. Shore diving is a no-no because
of the muddy mangrove shoreline. The general diving arrangement,
as it is for other dive centres in the area, is for the dive
sites to be reached by boat - a passage that takes between
three quarters of an hour and one and a half hours. Not as
bad as it sounds, the trip across the Bay is a relaxing cruise
with space to laze around. Boats leave the Centre about 9
o' clock-ish, do a morning dive, lunch on the boat or beach,
an afternoon dive and return to base late afternoon. NDC is
very flexible and three day dives and one night dive con be
fitted in without any problem. Boats are crewed by two boatmen
plus one dive guide per four divers. Dive guides are not there
to regulate divers but to lead them to whatever they want
to see - if in fact they want to be with a guide. Dive times
are not restricted - stay down an hour and a half if you wish.
Malcolm rates NDC as the most photo-diver friendly dive centre
from which he has dived.
Film
stock, batteries and domestic consumer products can be bought
in Manado five miles away, and E6 film processing is also
available in the city. Surprisingly there are no dive shops
so take with you any spares that you might need.
Malcolm's
photographs illustrated the sheer walls and steep sloping
reefs packed with corals and sponges. The most outstanding
features of the reef scenery for him were the feather stars
and tunicates. It is not a location for wide-angle opportunities.
Close-focus wide-angle reef scenes, and diver shots of course,
but not a hot spot for pelagics. A few turtles, barracudas
and the occasional reef shark, but for hammerhead sharks and
schooling barracuda one would need to make the longer passage
to the more distant islands in the group and dive down to
50-60m. Better to settle on macro photography. There is a
good wreck in the Bay just five minutes from NDC and Malcolm
has found the mainland shoreline slope very productive for
macro photography. His photographs showed macro life such
as shrimp, squat lobsters, crabs and clingfish that live on
feather stars, anemones, and soft corals, and unusual fish
such as the blue ribbon eel.
The
only dive centre on the Lembeh Strait is Kungkungan Bay Resort,
a very high quality establishment with spacious well-equipped
bungalows and excellent service. E6 film processing is available
on-site, a camera workshop is available fitted out with work
tables, 230V and 120V charging points and secure storage.
An abundance of 230V sockets is also provided in the bungalows.
The gourmet cuisine is a feature of KBR. Boats are well maintained
and crewed by two boatmen and at least one dive guide per
four divers. All dive sites are within ten minutes or so of
the Centre. Good shore diving is available right off the Centre's
jetty.
Diving
in the Lembeh Strait is different from Bunaken-ManadoTua.
Dark grainy volcanic sand forms the bed of the Strait, sloping
down gently from the shores to the deep channel. Isolated
outcrops of sponge and coral grow out of the sandy bottom
and occasional bommies, craggy reefs and a few wrecks add
to the variety of habitats. Along the shore, rocky cliffs
form shallow shoreline walls. Here is the dive location to
find unusual and rare species of fish and invertebrates. Malcolm's
photographs showed some of the life to be seen - ornate ghost
pipefish, seahorses including the cute little pygmy seahorse,
frogfish, manderinfish, crabs, shrimp and nuclibranchs. Forget
the wide-angle lens here - macro photography is what it is
all about.
The
climate and diving seasons in Sulawesi are governed by the
monsoons. The north-west monsoon, bringing rain and wind,
starts in November and goes through to April. May through
to August is the south-east monsoon season with less wind
and rain and more settled seas. September and early October
are probably the best months to dive and November to April
best avoided. Lembeh Strait is an exception. The mountains
of mainland Sulawesi and the rugged Lembeh Island give shelter
to the Strait which can be dived all year round.
Last
year Indonesia suffered from a smoke haze enveloping the country.
Sulawesi was not as badly affected as the Southern islands
or Kalimantan. Malcolm confirmed that visibility was back
to normal during his most recent trip in June this year and
that there was no bleaching of the coral reefs has had been
rumoured. Reported riots in the streets during the early part
of the year were confined to Java, and in particular Jakarta,
some 1500 miles from Manado, and the chaotic Indonesian economy,
although a disaster for the native population, meant rock
bottom prices for the visiting traveller - beer at 60p a large
bottle and massages at £3!
Most
dive tour operators who arrange south-east Asia destinations
include Manado in their brochures. bive Quest also include
Kungkungan Bay Resort on the Lembeh Strait. Dive Quest's 1999
programme will include an escorted photo tour combining Manado
and the Lembeh Strait, the tour being led by Malcolm Hey.
The tour will be limited to a group of twelve. Malcolm has
spent an aggregate of three months in North Sulawesi in the
last two years getting to know the dive sites offering the
best photo opportunities. On the more recent visits he has
found good opportunities missed on early visits because of
unfamiliarity and not being'in the know'. He is well placed
to shortcut opportunities for group travellers that took him
several visits to discover.
For
further information ring Dive Quest on 01254 826322. |
