Diving in Southeast Asia. David Espinosa
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rest of the dive was a blur of frantic activity as my buddy and I bounced from place to place as if in some large pinball machine, taking turns shooting the exotic fish Made turned up. After nearly two hours at an average depth of 7 meters I emerged, having seen Jan’s pipefish, banded pipefish, mating cuttlefish, more ornate ghosties, bearded frog-fish hiding amongst the branches of a dead tree and a spiny seahorse.”
5-METER WORMS AND MOSSY SNAKES
“If the day dive was special, I was in for a real treat that night. For when light turns to dark, the really bizarre critters come out. With video in hand, I followed as Made swam furiously towards a predetermined site off in the distance. He halted and pointed with a knowing look in his eye at a yellow disposable Gillette razor stuck head up in the sand.
Just as rumors of a secret site in Bali had spread like wildfire, so too did the tall tales of one of its residents. According to some reports, the Bobbitt worm grew up to 3.7 meters long and lived in crevices deep in the ocean. Armed with vicious fangs, with lightning speed it lashes out from its lair to devour unwary passersby…. If that isn’t the recipe for a great dive! For the entire day we pestered Made, begging him to show us this creature.
The Bobbitt worm wasn’t a disappointment, though if he does grow up to 3.7 meters long the individual we saw had a long way to go. The razor was put in the sand not only to mark his burrow but also to provide a means of comparison. This little guy sported jaws a half inch wide, and he could have only been a foot long. He was playful, though, making quick feints as I switched the strobes on and off, exposing a shiny, spiny underbelly that glowed in brilliant colors of yellow, green, blue and red.
The remainder of the dive was icing on the cake. We saw different frogfish, a mossy sea snake, two more Bobbitt worms and a finger dragonet. Two hours later we emerged from the water spent, but entirely satisfied. We never once ventured deeper than 6 meters, but expended all the air in our tanks and a 60-minute videotape.”
—David Espinosa/David Pickell
The finger dragonet (Dactylopus dactylopus) is a great find. Look out for them when diving Secret Bay.
Nusa Tenggara
Island Hopping in Style
Access 5–15 minutes by speedboat from liveaboard
Current 15–50+ meters
Reef type Light, but swifter further east
Highlights Excellent variety and numbers
Visibility Walls, black sand slopes, pinnacles, submerged reefs
Coral Excellent. Large variety of reef fish and muck critters
Fish Secluded dive spots; good pelagic action
Often passed over because divers are more anxious to arrive in Komodo, the islands east of Bali are blessed with some world-class dives. Variety is the spice of life here, and liveaboards can now offer anything from black sand dives to vertiginous walls covered in hard and soft corals.
The Gili Islands off Lombok’s west coast are a favorite destination for young sun-seeking and party-going backpackers because of the picturesque white sand beaches and non-demanding diving. The main island of Gili Trawangan offers numerous dive schools that coexist amongst the islands many bars and late night hangouts. Although coral rings the three islands, the diving isn’t outstanding as the ravages of fish bombing and El Niño have taken their toll. Still, there is some worthwhile diving on the deeper reefs and quite an assortment of fish life that is ideal for less experienced divers and for those who want pleasant, easy dives. The gentle slopes, which are swept by mild currents, feature an assortment of reef fish, occasionally including trevally, sharks, turtles and the more common angelfish and triggerfish.
The green sea turtle is the second largest species of sea turtle. It survives mainly on a diet of sea grasses, sea weed and algae.
Moyo Island gives divers their first taste of what can be expected in Komodo. Two submerged reefs off the island’s west coast are swarmed by schools of fish, sharks and other pelagics. Though bombs have previously damaged the reef tops in some areas, the steep slopes of both reefs, which plummet to depths in excess of 80 meters, have survived and support a healthy variety of angelfish, baitfish and groupers. The smaller reef to the north is rich in nudibranchs and exotic critterss. Hairy ornate ghost pipefish have been spotted in the mossy shallows. Satonda, a smaller island to the east, provides another delightful half day of diving. Painter’s Pleasure, a healthy shallow reef slope, is decorated in gorgonian fans of all sizes and coral whips, and is home to twin spot gobies, gaudy nudibranchs and dozens of mushroom corals, with the attendant pearly white pipefish. The sand patch, also in front of the main beach, has stargazers, pipefish, leaf scorpionfish and bobtail squid for a very enjoyable night dive.
The Komodo National Park in Nusa Tenggara was established in 1980 and was declared a World Heritage Site and a Man and Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1986.
The Amanwana-operated Moyo Island Resort offers luxury accommodation and diving on Moyo Island. For those wanting to explore further afield, then a live-aboard trip may be the best solution.
For a day diversion, bring some sturdy sandals and hike the short trail that leads to the crater’s marine lake. And for a truly memorable show, sit back at dusk and watch as thousands of bats emerge from the island’s southern trees and fly to the mainland in search of food.
If Komodo is Indonesia’s tastiest dive spot, then Sangeang Island is the flavor of the day. Because guests clamored to reachKomodo, liveaboards would push on, ignoring this lush volcanic island for the adrenaline diving at Banta, two hours to the east. In 1999, on one of his famous hunches, guide Larry Smith directed his boat to the island’s southernmost point and jumped in.
At the western edge of a small beach that serves as an itinerant fishing village lies an excellent muck diving site. The currents at Mentjeng Wall can be tricky due to its exposed position, but there are spots to take shelter and visibility can be good.
Healthy sponges and soft corals around Moyo Island.
The wall, which bottoms out at 15–20 meters, is covered in crinoids, sponges and sea whips, some of which host colonial anemone, and while there are ghost pipefish, frogfish and saron shrimp tucked away in the crevices, the real action is at the base of the wall, where anything from boxer crabs to robust ghost pipefish make their home amongst an array of nudibranchs.
Around the corner two more rich invertebrate sites round out the diving in the south. Tikno’s Reef and Black Magic are so good, some operators with the right group might avoid Banta in order to spend a full day at Sangeang.
At the mouth of the long bay that leads into Bima in Sumbawa, lie two sites that, although worlds apart, continue to excite ardent divers. Diversity on the east side has two separate walls, one that drops to 20 meters and the other to 30 meters. Though it is unprotected during the months of December to March, visibility is quite good year round, and the ribbon eels, frogfish and good reef fish make it a splendid checkout dive for trips departing from Bima. Copycat Copycat on the other side of the channel is the quintessential muck dive, with visibility hovering at 5–7 meters. The small patch reef at 5 meters is covered in toon shells and spiny seahorses. The vast featureless sand below the reef is punctuated by sporadic debris that provides homes to frogfish, pipefish and marble eyed morays. The real highlight and the main reason to dive here is the promise of the elusive mimic octopus in the surrounding desert.
Diving off southern Sumba is primarily by liveaboard