• Photo by Rantje Allen

  • Photo by William Tan

  • Photo by Rantje Allen

  • Photo by William Tan

  • Photo by Rantje Allen

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Monthly Archives: July 2019

MIDE 2019 features Gorontalo Marine Environments

MIDE 2019, the Malaysia International Dive Expo, featured a presentation on Gorontalo’s marine environments. Staff from Miguel’s Diving delivered this full-color session from the stage of the Indonesia Pavilion.

MIDE 2019: the Malaysia International Dive Expo

The 14th Malaysia International Dive Expo took place 3 – 5 May 2019. It is also called MIDE 2019. Malaysia’s famous Putra World Trade Centre or PWTC provided the venue. The Exhibition opened daily to the public at 10 a.m. It closed nightly at 7 p.m.

Gorontalo’s Marine Environments

On Saturday, 4 May, Miguel’s Diving accepted the invitation from Indonesia’s Ministry of Tourism to deliver a presentation about Gorontalo. We selected the topic of Gorontalo’s marine environments. Much variety in environments means much variety in diving. After introducing the team of Miguel’s Diving

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, our staff explained the nature of Gorontalo’s geography. Ancient coral uplifts form the rocky northern coastline of Tomini Bay. Moreover, the soft limestone erodes over time and forms dramatic underwater scenery. This also creates multiple environments within a short distance.

Gorontalo Marine Environments explained at MIDE 2019
Gorontalo Marine Environments explained at MIDE 2019

Gorontalo’s pristine coral walls actually form part of the continental wall of Sulawesi. On these deep walls

, our famous Salvador Dali sponges grow in surreal shapes and super sizes. Each is unique in profile. Moreover, they come in a variety of colors. A top the coral walls lies a shallow ledge, sometimes measuring only a meter wide. Different marine life live here, giving divers another type of environment to experience in the same dive.

Another characteristic of Gorontalo’s geography is submerged points. These are frequent features found along the coastline. The bay’s longshore currents hits theses points, creating a swirl of activity. Schooling pelagic fish and strange creatures of the deep ocean can be seen in these locations.

In other places in the world, having a single coral pinnacle is considered special. However, in Gorontalo, multiple pinnacles compose several dive sites. Gorontalo’s famous whale shark sightings most often occur along a row of coral pinnacles.

Caverns also occur in Gorontalo. However, none of these are underwater caves. Cave diving requires technical skills, certification and preparation. Caverns offer a safe alternative, since the way out is always clearly visible.

Muck basins alternate with other marine environments. Like all of Gorontalo’s marine environments, these are actually quite small. As a result, this means that marine life is more crowded than in locations where muck diving is found in a large area.

Gorontalo even has a couple of artificial reefs. Specifically, these are historical wrecks.

Gorontalo for Malaysian Divers

MIDE presentation
Fans of Miguel’s Diving at MIDE presentation

Gorontalo is an excellent destination for Malaysian divers. Pristine dive destinations are often difficult to reach. Not so Gorontalo! Air Asia offers daily flights from Kuala Lumper’s KLIA2 airport to Makassar (UPG) four times weekly. The connecting flight to Gorontalo (GTO) lasts about one hour ten minutes. This is the route we recommend for Kuala Lumpur based divers.  

Additionally, Gorontalo’s diving season is the opposite of most peninsular Malaysian destinations. Our season runs mid October to mid May. Officially it is November to April. Now there is no reason to cry during monsoon-lah. Come dive in Gorontalo! For many Malaysians food can be an issue. Food in Gorontalo is halal.

Even if you missed our presentation at MIDE 2019, you can still book your dive trip with us.

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