Dive Bunaken

The high season has just passed by in a blink of an eye. It has been very good and especially we have had the best weather of the last 5 years. The sky was always blue and the sea nice and flat.

A bit of rain has started now, anyway, the days are still beautiful.

Does less divers  mean less work? Not really.

As matter of fact during this period some of the staff will have the chance to take their well deserved holiday, they will take turns as the operation keep being busy doing maintenance.

Here at Eco Divers we like the things to be done properly and like every year we are fully maintaining all our boats, engines, dive equipments etc..........

We have decided this year to give a full training to all of our captains in Engine maintenance. A chief mechanic from Evinrude Jakarta has been so kind to come over to teach our staff how to fully open and close all our engines. With this 15 days training our captains will have the chance once again to gain more experience in engine handling and once more ensure that our guests will be under total safety when scuba diving or snorkeling with us. 

All Eco Divers dive team wish to say good bye to all our friends from South Africa that just left today.

We all have had a wonderful time with excellent people, a special thanks goes to Emil (group leader) for getting together the very nice group and to Stuart (Simply Bookings) for organizing their diving Holiday with us.

We all look forward seeing you next July.

I was in the Lembeh Straight, and my goal was finding a mimic octopus when, by pure luck ,I bumped into this little "fella" . Initially It was all dark and very well camouflaging with the surrounding  environment, for then turning into such as beautiful colors as you can see in the picture. He was not minding about me and It posed for few shoots before I took off to look for my priority target.

It is extraordinary how The Lembeh Straight can have so many particulars and fascinating subjects.

There it is what I was looking for..................a beautiful Hary Frog Fish!

Once again, Melky and I , this time with the help of Donny, went to look for the Hary frog.

Our destination was the Lembeh Strait. We Left in the morning about 7:30 by Car, got to Bitung Harbour and boarded on Abang Boat and by 9:00 we were in Air Bajo diving site looking for Mimic octopus that unfortunately we have not founded, however, we have seen two giant frog fish side by side, a small worthy frogfish, two Flamboyant cuttlefish, a huge Ornate Ghost pipe fish.  For the second Dive we have moved to Jahir 2 spot were we have heard from our friends from KBR that there was a nice Hary Frog, went down to the spot, searched for about 15 min and then founded. Good Job Melky!! We have taken Video and picture of it. It has been very exciting.

Once the dive was over we went to take a lunch at NAD dive Resort where our friends Managers Mike and Simon have kindly invited us. A great way of ending an excellent day.

  That's right, I have not seen yet an hary frog fish! I have been working and diving in Manado for almost 5 years and yet the little hary remains a quest for me.............it might have been due to circumstances or luck, I do not really know.

Honestly I have not been diving in Lembeh that much and unfortunately it happened to me few times to go back to the same spot without this critter.........but then............Big news...............along  the Coast of Manado has been "discovered" a divesite very good for critters such as: Hary frog fish, flamboyant cuttlefish, mimic octopus, harlequin shrimps......wow you name it!!!

 The high season has kicked in, therefore I was very busy running the operation here and did not have the time to go and have a look at this divesite, anyway,...................................

Finally, I have got the time, I wake up in the morning with that sense of adventure and that taste of last minute organization and decided to go for it .

 Melky and Hany joined me, I prepared my camera very quickly and we have loaded the equipment in the car and there we go..........

We arrive at the spot, we park the car on the side of the road (very much Manado Style), we suit up and go in from the shore. Beside the 1.5m breaking wave at the edge of the reef everything looks good. We overcome the waves and we descent for the dive. Sandy button dive but I would not call it muck dive. The visibility is pretty good . Right at the beggining three robust ghost pipefish, after that more and more ghost pipefish. We stay shallow, 6m max, because it is the "Hary" that we want to see........40 min into the dive still no sign of the Frog fish, by then I lost contact with Melky........Bang, bang, bang, bang, ding ding ding. I hear a stick hitting on a tank.......It must be Melky I tell myself, I start to swim harder and look for him.......there he is, he defenetly looks like he found it, yeah he did but............................

You cannot believe!!!......................... He could find a BOLD "hary" frogfish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Afterwards when we have come back to Kima Bajo, we could verify that this is an Hary Frogfish, while diving Melky was taking a video of it and we could notice the tiger stripes on its side.

As conclusion Melky and I we have deiced to discribe this as a new behaviour:

"The Low Season Shaving Time Behaviour" ;-)

Look at the picture

Congratulations to Pascal and Ralf Cabos (son and father)  as they have successfully completed  their PADI Openwater Diver Course with us here at Kima Bajo under  the direct supervision of our Master Scuba Diver Trainer  Melky Runtulalo.

All Eco Divers Team gives you a big  welcome into this new  extraordinary World.

The Bunaken Marine Park is home of quite few families of Dolphins. As a matter of fact the species living here are Bottlenose , Spinners and common dolphins. Sometimes even pilot whales appear within the boundaries of the marine park. It is quite difficult but not impossible to see them while diving or snorkeling but very easy to spot them while boat riding to the diving sites. In the video you can watch by clicking on it, I was lucky to see this group of bottlenose dolphins passing by while diving underwater. Great Experience :-).

On October 10, Barb Jones from California completed her 2,000 logged dive while diving with Eco Divers's dive guide Adi at dive site Fukui in Bunaken Marine Park.  Barb together with her husband Dr. Alan  are our very good friends helping us with dive shows, PR and visiting us every year.

"All team is always very happy to meet you, and once again Jim, Cary, Kim, Miho and I would like to thank you both for the fantastic job and help you are giving us". 

Barb is a PADI Divemaster with dive experience in the Caribbean, Pacific and Indian Ocean's.

We were very happy to have , here at Eco Divers Kima Bajo, the first ever group from India diving with us. We had an excellent week with all of them and their leader and Instructor Neet Shah who could certify new divers. Congratulations to all new divers and also to the new Advanced divers. A special thanks goes to Flying Mantas dive club in Mumbay to have organized the trip and to the little Ana that with her sweetnes made all of us very happy every day!!

All Eco Divers Team wish you all the best and we look forward to see you back here soon .