What is unique about diving Gorontalo?

Not far from famous Sulawesi diving locations, such as Bunaken Marine Park, Lembeh Straits and the distant Togian Islands, is a hidden paradise . . .

Dramatic underwater landscapes

Gorontalo lies along the northern coastline of Tomini Bay in northern Sulawesi Island, Indonesia. Towering limestone cliffs plunge directly into the sea where a narrow coral reef rims the coastline. Within a few meters of the shore is the continental wall of Sulawesi. Diving here is world-class.

The first wall falls to about 30 meters where a short slope or shelf is visible. Below this is another vertical drop to 120 meters before the wall falls again. Tomini Bay itself is over 4,000 meters deep. Since deep ocean water comes right to shore, pelagic marine life passes near the wall. This includes schooling trevally, whales, whale sharks, resident pods of ghostly Risso’s dolphin and strange nearly transparent pelagic tunicates.

Because this coastline of Gorontalo is limestone from ancient reefs, the wall is highly eroded by natural forces. This makes for some of the most fascinating underwater landscapes found anywhere. As you will see, the wall itself is full of holes, fissures and caverns. Pinnacles and muck basins are common. Long shore currents hit submerged points along the wall, attracting schools of fish.

Endemic marine life

Lying within the Coral Triangle, northern Sulawesi boasts the highest marine biodiversity on the planet. This area contains well over 500 species of stony, reef-building corals – over ten times the number found in the entire Caribbean Ocean.

We guarantee you will see surreal Salvador Dali sponges, a strange morphology of Petrosia lignosa only found in Gorontalo. The delightful Blue belly blenny (Escenius caeruliventris 2004) is considered endemic to Gorontalo’s Tomini Bay and we know the few places where it lives. The list of new, undescribed or endemic species of marine life found in Gorontalo grows yearly. Many are found in our underwater photo book Gorontalo: Hidden Paradise (2006).

Those diving Sulawesi and looking for a new location will be pleased with the diving here. Let Gorontalo’s pioneer dive operator show you the marine life and locations we have discovered since opening diving here in 2003.

Varied dive sites

With our extensive knowledge of Gorontalo waters, we can offer you a variety of Sulawesi diving environments. These include pristine coral walls, caverns, muck, multiple pinnacles, shallow coral gardens, submerged points and wrecks. We have discovered over 30 dive sites, such as:

What does Miguel’s Diving offer?

Our business model is based on ecological sustainability and community development. We train Gorontalo fishermen as dive staff and you benefit from their local knowledge. Sailing and diving Gorontalo waters requires experience of the area’s micro environments.

Gorontalo weather patterns are unique to other Sulawesi diving locations. So, we prefer to pick you up for diving about 0730. On a three dive day, we typically return to the dock by about 1600. On those days we provide a local rice lunch. Please let us know about any food issues. Also, please ask us about arranging a check-out dive on the afternoon you arrive.

During the regular dive season, which lasts from November to April, we take you to our private dock where two custom-built speed boats await. We reach the first cluster of dive sites within 15 minutes. The farthest we travel is about one hour from the dock. Olele Village Marine Park, which we helped the local community to create, is about 40 minutes away.

Please contact us about the possibililty of diving during off season.

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