| Bunaken
in the northern Celebes island has been well known
with its beauties of underwater life as has became
as paradise for all the dive lovers. Bali-Travel-Online.com brings you the next paradise to
discover the area closed by right at the border
between Banda Sea to the south, and Molluca Sea to
the north. Banggai islands, qualified by the
naturalist Alfred Wallace as the "Mother of
all living coral reefs", has numerous large
reefs that support a very rich marine life.
Many
of the dives are on off shore reefs with vertical
drop-offs down to several hundred meters. Those
fantastic walls present overhangs and cavities,
the deeper parts (during the dive, 15-40 meters)
are covered with black coral and gorgonian fans,
inhabited by tunas, schools of trevallies,
batfishes, turtles, napoleon wrasses, groupers,
snappers, and a few reef sharks
Going
up, the wall coverage shifts to hard and soft
corals associated with a high density of the all
range of reef fishes such as Bannerfishes,
butterfly fishes, damselfishes, anthias sp,
dartfishes, dotty backs, and the dives ends with a
safety stop in the middle of a gigantic aquarium.
Some
diving sites with stronger currents offer more
pelagic fishes such as sharks, tunas, schools of
giant trevallies; one submerged pinnacle (top at
-22mt) has an incredible density of big size
fishes.
Biodiversity
is extremely high; fringing reefs of inner islands
offer all the range of the Sulawesi creatures:
Anglerfishes, ribbon eels, Blue- ring octopus, bob
tail squid, Leaf sorpionfish, Ghost pipefish, and
of course the endemic ornamental Banggai Cardinal
Fish that can be observed in sheltered shallow
waters. The
best season to dive there is October to May;
Banggai Islands are well protected from the
northwesterly winds that affect other areas during
January and February.
Togian
Islands:
The
cruises are located in the Togian Islands, inside
the large Tomini Bay, from May to October. The
Togians include 3 main volcanic islands close
together, and another one apart that erupted last
in 1984.
It is the only place in the world where barrier
reefs, atolls, and fringing reefs are found
together. Due to the absence of swell in the bay,
the diversity and quality of coral development is
really unique.
They offer many different kinds of high quality
dive sites. Close to Walea strait, due to the
strong currents, we usually see some pelagic
species including hammerhead sharks and manta rays
sometimes.
Around
the volcanic island of Una-Una, sponges and
gorgonians fans, forming veritable fields, are
probably among the biggest in the world,
associated with an incredible density of fishes
including schools of bumphead parrotfishes. Other
sites include drop offs, canyons, pinnacles, swim
through, and overhangs, all offering a great
variety of spectacular underwater sceneries. There
is also a special spot for pelagic life with
schools of barracudas, giant trevallies, grey reef
sharks and white tip sharks. You will also visit
an intact plane wreck B24 from the 2nd World War,
laying on the bottom at eighteen meters depth and
inhabited by hundreds of jack fishes and many
other creatures.
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