TRAVELSPECIAL
Beginning a safety stop from the reef top. Note: the diver’ s buoyancy is good, he is clear of the reef
Although rightly famous for its walls, Sophie and I experienced a range of sites most within 10- 15 minutes boat ride from the Oasis jetty:
Abang Point: A sloping coral reef starting at 5m and running to 25 / 30m with mixed boulder and branching corals, together with soft coral clusters, sponges and small overhangs with pockets where some of the rarer species hide.
Alban: A good warm up dive, a gentle drift with a maximum depth of 30m, suitable for all experience levels with healthy hard corals and soft coral turtles, schools of fusiliers, anthias and butterflyfish as well as macro in rubble and coral heads.
Bango: A calm drift dive along a sheer wall dropping thousands of metres, featuring sponges and turtles with a safety stop at a 5m sheltered stunning coral garden.
Bunaken Timur: A typical Bunaken dramatic reef wall, rising from a depth of 40m to 5m with large schools of fish in the shallows. There are blue spotted rays and nudibranchs on open sandy slopes near the top of the reef.
Engine Point: A small sandy slope with coral patches, rubble, and pinnacles, the site is named after an old boat engine that once sat on the seabed. A small amount of wreckage still remains. At 22m with little current, it’ s good for macro with plenty of subjects.
Fukui Point: A shallow gently sloping dive reef with a depth of between 15 and 30m with hard coral formations, garden eels, and
an abundance of reef fish. Fukui is one of Bunaken’ s most biodiverse dive sites with a mix of macro and big reef life. Excellent for wide angle photography.
Lekuan I, II, III: Popularly held to be the best diving at the resort, this long dramatic wall system is a short boat ride from the jetty. It features dramatic drop-offs, vibrant hard and soft corals, abundant turtles and schooling fish and the occasional reef shark cruising at depth below open circuit diver reach.
Negiri: Featuring a steep vertical drop-off the main wall has depth of 10 to 30m with ledges and small overhangs together with gentle to moderate currents making it a classic drift. It has dense hard-coral formations, sponges, sea fans, and whip corals.
The amazing colours of a reef squid at night
A leaf scorpionfish, grumpy but adorable
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