Our daily dive trips are scheduled as follows: the first dive at 09:00, the second dive around 14:00, and the night dive around 18:30, depending upon tide conditions. We meet in the morning for a briefing where you can meet the other diving guests while enjoying self-served hot drinks (coffee and tea) before departing in our dive boat to the scheduled dive-sites. All of your equipment will be waiting for you on the boat, and if you wish, our crew will assemble the equipment for you as well. It takes about 2 hours to go out and back from each dive. On the boat, unlimited mineral water and fresh local fruits will be available for your refreshment. After the first dive, we will return to Bunaken for lunch. Guests who plan to do 3 or 4 dives a day can be arranged too. We also offer diving at Bangka and Lembeh. We start at 7 AM from Bunaken island to Bangka ( 2 hours ), do 2 dives then transfer to Lembeh and overnight in Our resort on Lembeh island. We need min. 6 divers for this diving safari trip. Pls email us if you want to dive at Bunaken – Bangka – Lembeh island at [email protected]. if you are interested in diving safari using Liveaboard for Dive Bunaken – Bangka and Lembeh, please try our Neighborhood on Lembeh island, click here
Bangka islands
The dive site consists of a series of large underwater pinnacles that break the surface. There is an area where the pinnacles seem to form giant steps. The landscape is very beautiful with orange soft corals, sponges and sea fans. Everywhere are snappers, surgeon fish, fusiliers and trigger fish. You can hang about on the edge and observe this huge fish soup – beautiful! You also can see pygmy seahorses, moray eels and a school of glassfishes on the top and on another dive an eagleray! Depth ranges from 5 – 35 m. There can be strong currents and surge at shallower depths.
Dive Sites in Bangka islands
| 1. Sahaong pinnacles 2. Tanjung Usi 3. Batu Gosoh 4. Batu Kapal 5. Tanjung Lampu | 6. Lehaga 7. Tanjung Tarabitan 8. Batu Mandi 9. Pulisan house reef 10. Batu Pendita |
About Lembeh island ( Macro Paradise )
Lembeh strait is a 12 km long strecth of water seperating Lembeh Island and the mainland. This region is not known for its massive schools of pelagic fishes or aggregations of requiem sharks. No, Lembeh Strait has become known as a “Macro-Mecca.” This is because of the incredible number of unusual marine animals that are regularly encountered in this area. The majority small critters can be found in this place are Sea Horses, Mandarin fishes, Squid, Octopus, Ghostpipefish, Hairy Frogfish, Pygme Seahorse, Crabs, Shrimp, Nudibranch, Scorpion fish, and more in rare and unusual animals….Lembeh Strait-long, narrow and paralled to the coast of Sulawesi-creates a calm channel, protected from both the northeast and southwest- monsoons. Diving season 12 month a year. About Lembeh the water temperatures are different with Bunaken ( 28-30oC ). Lembeh is more colder and the open sea are av. 25oC. You are reccommended to have better wet suit in Lembeh strait. Dive Lembeh is A must for any sea slug lover !
Dive Sites in Lembeh Straits
| 1. Pikani 2. Police Pier 3. Nudi’s Fall 4. Nudi’s Retreat 5. Lettus Surpriz6. Teluk Kambahu 7. Hairball two 8. Hairball 9. Aw Shucks 10. Batu Angus | 11. Batu Kapal 12. Likoyan 13. Batu Merah 14. Angel Window 15. Batu Sandar 16. Tekal 17. Pulau kota 18. Pulau Dua |
Tangkoko National Park
Due in part to its history of geographic isolation, Sulawesi has evolved a number of birds and mammals unique to the island. Among Sulawesi’s endemic mammals are 9-10 primates, 2 kinds of Anoa, or dwarf buffalo, the Sulawesi pig and the babirusa. The Tangkoko Dua Sudara – Batuangus Nature reserve provides one of the last refuges in North Sulawesi for several of these unique species and is therefore an extremely important conservation region.
The Tangkoko – Dua Saudara Nature Reserve is located on the northeast tip of Sulawesi’s northern peninsula in the Kabupaten of Minahasa. The reserve protects 8,800 hectares of some of the most beautiful forested land remaining in Sulawesi. Sulawesi is the largest island of Wallacae, the remarkable transition Zone between Asian and Australian plants and animals. Wallacae is named for the famed English naturalist, Alfred Russel Wallace, who travel in Sulawesi in the 1850s and was the firstto note the unique natural history of the island. On the black volcanic beaches of what is now the Tangkoko-Dua Sudara Nature Reserve, Wallace described oddities the unknown to science such as the babirusa, an enigmatic creature with tusks that sprout through the snout and curl back toward the eyes and the Maleo, a checken sized bird that incubates enormous eggs in Volcanic sand.
Due in part to its history of geographic isolation, Sulawesi has evolved a number of birds and mammals unique to the island. Among Sulawesi’s endemic mammals are 9-10 primates, 2 kinds of Anoa, or dwarf buffalo, the Sulawesi pig and the babirusa. The Tangkoko Dua Sudara – Batuangus Nature reserve provides one of the last refuges in North Sulawesi for several of these unique species and is therefore an extremely important conservation region.
Flora
The reserve contains a full range of flora communities, including mangrove forest, beach forest, lowland forest, submontane forest and elfin cloud forest. In addition. there colonizing communities of the lava flow at BatuAngus, forest regenerating after fire and grasslands.
Beach forest is confined to a narrow band along the north coast of the reserve. This forest type, characterized by the broadleafed Bitung tree, Barringtonia asiatica, is very rare in Sulawesi. The lownland rainforest is the largest habitat type found in the reserve. These forests contain more than 240 tree species and are dominated by the sately Rao, Palaquium amboinensis, large strangling figs, and graceful palms. The understory is fairly open, providing rare opportunities to view normally elusive rainforest wildlife. Above 600m the forest changes character. Trees become smaller and the undergrowth becomes lush. Tree diversity decreases with altitude and dominant species change from lowland forest. The peaks of Dua Sudara and Tangkoko are draped in forest of small misshapen trees with thick cushions of lichens and mosses. Constant mist and cloud cover allows these elfin forests to persist. Tree species show little overlap with the lower elevations and open patches contain ferns, realtives of blueberries, picther plants and orchids.
Fauna
Although the babirusa is long gone from slopes of the Tangkoko-Dua Sudara, visitors can still encounter many of the oddities that typify the island of Sulawesi. The opportunity to observe entertaining groups of crested black macaques. Macaca Nigra, is the highlight of a visit. These monkeys ; found is social groups of up 100 individuals, were originally hought to be apes because of their short, stubby tails. Because of their terrestrial tendencies and habituatuion to human presence, evan the casual visitor can withness fights, copulation, grooming, play and other social interactions.
Visitors may also be rewarded with sights od cuscus, tree-dwelling pouched mammals the move in slow motion through the canopy. Two species of cuscus occur in the reserve. The bear cuscus, Ailurops ursinus, is the largestand most primitive of cuscuses, where as the dwarf cuscus, Strigocuscus celebensis, is the smallest and the most advanced species of the group. The bear cuscus eats mainly leaves and is active both day and night where as the dwarf cuscus in strictly nocturnal and feeds only on fruits.
Tangkoko Dua Sudara Nature Reserve offers one of the best opportunities anywhere to see the small, night dwelling spectral tarsier, Tarsius Spectrum. These ancient primates, weighing little more than 200gm, are not classified as monkeys but are more closely related to the prosimians, a group including the lemurs of Madagascar. Equpped with large eyes and bat-like ears that independently of one another, these insect-piercing morning duests, given at dawn add to their gremlin-like character. Tarsiers are very commom in the reserve, attaining desites as high as 82 indiviuduals per km and can be easily viewed as they exit their sleeeping sites at dusks.
The diverse habitats of the Tangkoko Dua Sudara Nature Reserve are home to more than 156 of Sulawesi’s estimated 328 bird species, 47 of which are endemic. Among the most spectacular birds in the reserve are the endemic Red-Konobbed hornbill, Rhyticeros cassidix and the tarictic hornbill Penelopides exarhatus. The red knobbedhornbill, Rhyticeros cassidex Occurs at average densites of 51 birds/km.
When you are in the Tangkoko National Park, please never attempt to feed a wild animal, especially monkeys. Macaques, bite and carry dangerous diseases. When viewing macaques, do not chase or pursue, them. If you stop down and avoid looking directly in their eyes they will be less in hibited.