Category Archives: Destinations & Sites

Destinations & Sites

Diving in Bunaken

English: Bunaken Island, Manado, North Sulawes...
Bunaken Island (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Bunaken

Bunaken is a small island next to the  much large island of Sulawesi, Indonesia.  It is roughly in the middle of the Bunaken National Park, which covers about 890 square kilometers and where 390 species of coral and 90 species of fish.  This is claimed to be more than 70% of all the known species of fish in Indo-Western Pacific.

Besides biodiversity,  the current make diving at Bunaken an experience to remember. The oceanic currents often form counter-currents and gyros and they get mixed with rising and descending currents near the walls.

Diving in Bunaken

The two most popular forms of diving in Bunaken are wall diving and muck diving but there are also some wreck sites. There is a plenty of small animals to see and most of the local dive guides are experts in spotting them.

At the top of the walls, at some 5 to 2 meters most walls turn into coral reefs that are magnificent in their own right. You may, however, need to specifically ask your dive guide to take you there or, otherwise, you may catch just a glimpse of the reef during your safety stop at the end of the dive.

If you have the needed experience, do not miss the night diving in Bunaken. That is when the most interesting creatures come out such as huge sponge crabs.

At the surface

There is really just one way to get to Bunaken. You fly to Manado airport and take a boat to one of many diving resorts. Most resorts can pick you up at the airport. From there it takes about 45 minutes to get to the boat and about the same time to get to the island.

Mind you, there is a local village on the island and you you can visit there by foot but, other than that, the resorts are quite isolated places. One of the better known resorts is Living Colours but there are plenty of others to choose from.

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Destinations & Sites

Diving in the Cook Islands

The Cook Islands

The Cook Islands is a country comprised of 15 island in the South Pacific Ocean. The country lives of tourism, which is its main industry. There are some 100 000 tourists visiting the islands every year and quite many of them are divers.

English is one of the languages spoken by the islands’ population of less than 20 000 people. Most people live on the southern islands and only about 10% on the northern islands.

Titikaveka, Rarotonga, Cook Islands
Titikaveka, Rarotonga, Cook Islands (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Diving

Most dive sites are within 10-20 minutes boat ride away and, yes, practically all diving around the Cook Islands is boat diving.

The water is almost invariably extremely clear and from 23 to 30 degrees Celsius (73-86 degrees Fahrenheit). You can expect to see a lot of corals, canyons, drop-offs and caves .

Rarotonga and Aitutaki are two key islands in the south. This is also where most dive centers are located.

Dive sites

Experienced cave divers should definitely visit the Croc Caverns. It is a cave system  — a chain of relatively large caverns — with a well-hidden entrance. You just may just come across a white-tip shark or a Spanish dancer.

Another popular site is the Mataora, which is accessible to even the less experienced divers. This cargo ship was intentionally sunk to depth of 18 meters to create an artificial reef.

Whales and black pearls

To get a chance to see humpback whales, you want to time you visit to the Cook Islands between July and October.

If you would like to get a glimpse of the  truly rare treasures of the Cook Islands, the black pearls, you need to go to north where they are produced on the Manihiki and Penrhyn islands.

Black pearl and its shell
Black pearl and its shell (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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Destinations & Sites

Diving holidays: Saba

Saba from ISS
Saba from ISS (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Saba, an island in the Caribbean, was incorporated into the Netherlands in 2010. It is a home for about 2000 people. It is also a scuba diving heaven.

The 13 square kilometer (5 sq mi) islands can boast of 29 of dive sites and, if you are on a larger vessel, even more.

A view on the village of Windwardside, from th...
A view from the summit of Mt Scenery at Saba. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If Saba is your next diving holiday destination, you can expect warm water year around (26-28 C or 77-88 F ). Unless there is heavy rain or swells, the visibility is from 20 meters (60 feet) upwards.

Saba’s coastline has been shaped by volcanic activity and it is therefore not suitable for shore diving.  There are three licensed dive operators to choose from with a variety of vessels to take you to the dive sites.

Even though Saba is part of the Netherlands, it is good to know that English is the principal language used on the island and the official currency is US Dollars, not Euros.

The local tourist bureau web site is a good place to start planning your diving holiday at Saba

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Destinations & Sites

Diving holidays: Cayman Islands

The Cayman Islands are not only a popular travel destinations in the Caribbean but they are generally considered one of the best diving holiday destinations in the world. But what makes them so special for divers?

The Cayman Islands are a popular vacation destination for divers and non-divers alike. It is easy to see why. Photo credit: James Willamor via photopin cc
The Cayman Islands are a popular vacation destination for divers and non-divers alike. It is easy to see why.
Photo credit: James Willamor via photopin cc

Between the three islands — Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman — there are some 365 dive sites with moorings.

The most remarkable site at Little Cayman is arguably the Bloody Bay Wall.  The wall extends some 2 kilometers (6000 feet) below you but it is the abundant marine life around and on the wall itself that is most likely to catch your attention.  The shallowest point of the wall starts at about 6 meters (18 feet) so even  novice divers can visit it.  In 1999, a group of photographers created the Bloody Bay Wall Mural: a life-sized image that shows a 20 feet by 60 feet section of the Bloody Bay Wall.

Cayman Brac has a lot of opportunities for reef, wall and wreck diving alike. A must-visit site is the wreck of MV Captain Keith Tibbetts also known as Frigate 365.  Cayman Islands government purchased this 95 meters (311 feet) long ship  in 1996 and it was then scuttled to create a dive site. In a major storm in 2004 the ship broke two. The still impressive wreck is the home for myriads of marine species ranging from nudibranchs to barracuda.

English: Divers and snorkelers are able to int...
English: Divers and snorkelers are able to interact with wild stingrays at the Stingray City Sandbar – Grand Cayman (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Most divers visiting Grand Cayman want to dive at Stingray city. The site is just 4 meters (12 feet) deep and swarming with southern stingrays. The sheer number of them makes this dive a unique experience. And talking about unique experiences, do not forget to dive through winding ravines of the Maze, another popular dive site around Grand Cayman.

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