Our Blog - Sulawesi Diving with Miguel's Diving in Gorontalo, Indonesia's hidden paradise

Photo by Rantje Allen
Photo by William Tan
Photo by Rantje Allen
Photo by William Tan
Photo by Rantje Allen

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Flower urchin trembles with danger

Posted on September 13, 2023 by Miguel's Diving • 0 Comments

Flower urchin looks like a lovely ball of trembling flowers. However, those flowers contain highly toxic venom. This sea urchin’s maximum diameter is about 15 centimeters. It lives in areas of sand and rubble along coral reefs. It also inhabits areas of sea grass.

Beauty to Avoid

Although commonly known as the Flower urchin, the scientific name of this echinoderm is Toxopneustes pileolus. The genus name Toxopneustes means “poison breath.” And “skullcap” is the meaning of pileolus, the species name. These names underscore the creature’s deadly possibilities.

Its toxins can cause a number of symptoms. These include breathing problems, muscular paralysis, and numbness. Such effects can render the victim disoriented. The combination can result in accidental drowning. Initial contact gives the victim an extremely painful shock. Then numbness and spasms start to travel through the body from the point of contact. Happily, accidental contact with this sea urchin is extremely rare.

Deceptive Flowers

Various projections cover a Flower urchin’s exposed surface. The most noticeable are the flower-like pedicellariae. These colorful appendages are actually jaws. Each jaw has three prongs. Moreover, the flower-like jaws have sensors that detect contact or proximity movement to the sea urchin. Any touch will trigger the jaws to contract. Then the jaws inject venom. To make matters worse, once the jaws are triggered, they can easily break free from the sea urchin. That means they stay embedded and will continually inject venom for several hours.

The flowers of this sea urchin can appear a pinkish or yellowish white. There will be a single lavender dot in the middle. These false flowers typically cover the short spines of the urchin.

On the underside of the Flower urchin are double rows of tubular feet. These emerge along the ten segments of the urchin’s shell. In the center is the creature’s mouth, which contains five plates. These plates function as teeth that crunch food. Sea urchins forage along the bottom on algae, bryozoans and detritus. With the mouth facing the substrate, the anus faces the water column and any curious passing diver.

Flower Urchin Piled with Debris

To observe a Flower urchin, divers must keep a safe distance. Careful observation of the surface of this creature shows thin, translucent, and waving appendages that are longer that the trembling flowers of the urchin. These appendages are tubular feet that end in three claws. These are used to clear the urchin’s surface of debris.

However, the urchin also uses these tubular feet to move debris from the substrate onto its top and sides. Scientists call this covering or heaping behavior. The tubular feet keep debris in place. The function or purpose of this behavior remains a mystery. Because divers think that a small heap of debris is simply rubble, most flower urchins remain unnoticed.

In the rare instances when we see a Flower urchin, our dive masters will warn guests first and then carefully show the beautiful creature. Afterwards, the dive master will use his stick to move debris on top of the urchin. This helps the urchin but also prevents accidental contact by anyone else passing by.

To dive with such caring dive masters, please make your trip reservations directly with Miguel’s Diving.

Beach Clean Up 2023

Posted on August 28, 2023 by Miguel's Diving • 0 Comments

Beach Clean Up 2023 took place on this year’s International Whale Shark Day. That date was the twenty-seventh of August. The provincial government organized the event at Botubarani Village in Bone Bolango Regency. The location is about twenty minutes from the center of Gorontalo City.

Local Diving Community in Action

In additional to trash removal along the coastline, the government sponsored underwater activities. Over forty local divers participated. Miguel’s Diving staff of five dive masters composed one of the teams. Each team received a couple of used, large rice sacks to collect trash found underwater.

In addition, each team received broken corals found at adjacent sites along with ties. Team members tied the coral to a row of bicycles that have been part of an artificial reef. These bicycles sit in a sandy area between coral pinnacles.

Beach Clean Up 2023

Gorontalo dive pioneer and Miguel’s Diving staff Rantje was asked to address the officials overseeing the event. In his remarks, he recounted how the beach clean up 2023 was the latest in an annual series. Year by year, the amount of trash found has decreased.

Looking at the ocean surface that day, he challenged official to see any floating plastic. There was none, even though Beach Clean Up 2023 had not started. This points to the growing awareness of locals to place trash in designed bins. Clearly, no one had thrown trash into the ocean recently.

Local media interviewed Mr. Aryanto Husain, Head of Gorontalo Provincial Tourism Department. He emphasized that this event “improves the attractiveness for both international and national visitors.”

Miguel's Diving staff — Miguel’s Diving staff in action

Additional Activities

In addition to trash pick up above and below the water, Beach Clean Up 2023 included an underwater photo competition. Photos taken served as documentation of the effort. Also, children enjoyed a coloring contest.

Best of all, ladies from Botubarani village had a special area where they sold local food. One favorite is yellow rice, wrapped in a banana leaf.

This year’s event occurred in late August, at the worst of wave season here. Diving season in Gorontalo is from November to April. So, please make your dive reservations directly with Miguel’s Diving. We have been keeping the underwater world here clean for your enjoyment!

Fin whale startles crew

Posted on July 4, 2023 by Miguel's Diving • 0 Comments

Fin whale surfaced right next to one of our staff while he was fishing for yellowfin tuna. Tomini Bay where we dive is over four kilometers deep. So, large cetaceans are part of the marine environment in Gorontalo.

Surprise Encounter

Boka, one of Miguel’s Diving dive masters, headed to deep waters offshore. On his day off, he decided to fish for yellowfin tuna. Local fishermen use traditional handlines. This method is ecologically sustainable.

Suddenly, a large whale surfaced only a few meters away from his outrigger canoe. Then the whale exhaled, sending spray into the air.

Boka’s outrigger canoe measures five meters in length. He estimates the fin whale that surfaced next to him to be twelve meters. That means this particular whale was still small. Adult fin whales can reach 22 meters in length. This species is the second largest animal on planet earth, after the larger Blue whale. The cetaceans we see tend to be young. That includes whale sharks, orcas, and whales. It seems that the deep waters of Tomini Bay are a prime location for young cetaceans to grow into adults.

Fin Whale in the Southern Hemisphere

Although fin whales live in all the world’s oceans, they are mostly sighted in the southern hemisphere. When a fin whale surfaces, its dorsal fin appears right after the whale blows. The dorsal fin is quite small and points backwards. Its flukes are rarely visible. Most notable, it is large size. Also, fin whales ignore boats. This is what happened when Boka encountered one.

The fin whale used to be hunted commercially. This is now banned. As a result of over hunting, this species is considered endangered. The population of the southern hemisphere has been particularly slow to recover. Balaenoptera physalus is the scientific name.

Fin whales are filter feeders. Those in the southern hemisphere feed almost exclusively on krill. They can also eat plankton, small schooling fish, and squids. Their only known predator is the Orca or killer whale. In Gorontalo we see orca annually, usually in January and February.

Although scuba divers are not likely to see a fin whale in Gorontalo, whale shark sightings are common. So, please make your dive reservations directly with Miguel’s Diving.

DXI2023 marks Miguel’s Diving return

Posted on June 28, 2023 by Miguel's Diving • 0 Comments

DXI2023 or DEEP EXTREME 2023 marks Miguel’s Diving return to Indonesia’s prestigious diving expo. Other adventure sports are also represented there.

Joint Promotion with Tourism Department

Gorontalo Provincial Tourism Department invited Miguel’s Diving to join its booth. We are most grateful for their support. The booth location was D10. Two of Miguel’s Diving staff attended DXI2023. They were Yunis Amu and Maman Abdullah. Other dive staff remained in Gorontalo to take guests diving.

As in many previous years, DEEP EXTREME Indonesia 2023 held its exhibition at the Jakarta Convention Center. The dates were June 1 to 4. The expo combines scuba diving with extreme sports, such as rock climbing. It is now the largest expo of its kind in Southeast Asia. At DXI2023, Miguel’s Diving offered a discount dive packages exclusively to visitors to our booth.

our dive boats — Our custom-built dive boats

We also promoted our custom-built speed boats. The larger one holds a maximum of fourteen divers. It comes complete with a marine toilet. The smaller speed boat can hold eight divers, but we prefer to limit the capacity to six guests plus dive masters. Both boats provide canopies for complete coverage from the sun. We built both specifically for divers rather than renovate boats built for fishing. No one else offering diving in our area has the facilities that we have.

Friends Old & New

The Gorontalo booth for DXI2023 contained a variety of underwater photographs from Gorontalo. Gorontalo is a great place for underwater photos, whether wide angle or macro.

After taking a pause from diving since 2020, many divers wish to return to Gorontalo for our great diving. The Jakarta dive show was a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with longtime friends and to make new ones.

One visitor to our booth was our representative to parliament, Mr. Fadel Muhammad. He is Wakil Ketua MPR for the current period. He will be up for re-election in 2024.

If you could not meet us in person, please book your dive trip with us.

MIDE 2023 marks Miguel’s Diving return to Malaysia

Posted on May 31, 2023 by Miguel's Diving • 0 Comments

MIDE 2023, the Malaysia International Dive Expo, welcomed Miguel’s Diving back. This is our first reappearance at a regional dive expo since the pandemic.

Malaysia International Dive Expo MIDE 2023

The Malaysia International Dive Expo took place May 26 to 28, 2023. It is also called MIDE 2023. In the past, the event venue was Putra World Trade Centre or PWTC. However, the year the dive expo moved to Malaysia International Trade & Exhibition Centre (MITEC). The exact location was Level 2 Hall 6. The exhibition opened daily to the public at 10 a.m. It closed nightly at 7 p.m.

Miguel’s Diving @ Booth B1

MIDE 2023 marks the sixth appearance of Miguel’s Diving at this dive expo. Our booth was B1 and located at a strategic corner. The fascia board name was Miguel’s Diving Gorontalo. Our booth had a dramatic “Gorontalo: Hidden Paradise” layout. Our professional backdrops were designed by Ms. Galuh Riyadi of Jakarta. They featured underwater photo art by divers of Miguel’s Diving. These photographers come from Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore.

Since the world took a break from diving during the pandemic, the dive community longs for making contact again. What great fun is was to look for old dive buddies! We met ones from Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. Miguel’s Diving staff had a great time catching up with old friends and making many new ones.

Our promotion team included Mrs. Tan Peck Sim and her son Li Hung from Scuba Symphony. They are the owners of the largest underwater camera store in Malaysia. Peck Sim herself has dived many times in Gorontalo. Thanks to their help, we were able to distribute about 900 flyers.

Gorontalo for Malaysian Divers

Gorontalo is an excellent destination for Malaysian divers. Pristine dive destinations are often difficult to reach. Not so Gorontalo! Batik Air and Air Asia offers flights to Gorontalo via Jakarta. Also, an option from KUL may be via Makassar (UPG). The connecting flight to Gorontalo lasts about one hour ten minutes. GTO is the airport code to reach Gorontalo. The drive from our airport to accommodation is about 50 minutes.

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

To arrange your dive trip to Gorontalo, please make your dive reservations directly with Miguel’s Diving.

Yellow lace coral lives deep down

Posted on April 29, 2023 by Miguel's Diving • 0 Comments

Yellow lace coral thrives below thirty meters in Gorontalo. Its bold honey-lemon hue adds distinctive color to deep reefs where ambient light is low.

Not a Reef Building Coral

Although they have some similarities, lace corals are not fire corals. Millepora fire coral species have symbiotic algae living inside their tissues. These algae contribute nutrients and color to fire corals, as well as reef building corals.

However, lace corals are hydrocorals. Their skeleton is made of calcium and can easily break. Its tiny polyp pores are minute with diameters less than one millimeter. Lace corals have two genus, Stylaster and Distichopora. They lack symbiotic algae. This means that the distinctive colors of lace corals are part of their skeletons. Whereas other coral skeletons turn white when the colony dies, lace corals retain their coloration even after death.

Yellow Lace Coral & Deep Reefs

Divers in Gorontalo who venture down to thirty meters can easily spot Yellow lace corals on certain dive sites. These corals look like yellow fans. Sometimes, a colony has more than one fan from the single base. The branches are stout and rounded. Gorontalo’s Yellow lace corals have tips of white. They are found on vertical surfaces and tucked into small holes or crevasses.

The Yellow lace coral could be Distichopora violacea, despite not being purple. There are 34 named species of Distichopora, but many remain unnamed. They are only found in Pacific oceans, including Tomini Bay where we dive.

Tiny, Stinging Hairs

Distichopora stinging cells — Stinging hairs of Yellow lace coral

Like other Distichopora species but unlike reef building corals, our Yellow lace coral has different types of polyps. All connect via canals inside the yellow skeleton where they are imbedded. These microscopic polyps have different functions. Two types protrude from the skeleton. They are gastropores and dactylopores.

The dactylopores have fine hairs that possess stinging cells called nematocysts. They can leave stings on divers who touch or brush against them. The function of these cells is to sting plankton. The stunned plankton are then eaten by gastropores, which contain the feeding polyps.

Complex Reproduction of Lace Corals

Distichopora cf violacea — Multiple Yellow lace coral colonies

Although reproduction among reef building corals is relatively straightforward, that of lace corals is not. Lace coral polyps release medusae, which look like microscopic jellyfish. These medusae possess both male and female reproductive organs. These in turn release eggs and sperm into the ocean. A fertilized egg will develop into a larvae that swims until it reaches a hard surface. There is will attach and form a new lace coral colony.

Lace corals can also reproduce by fragmentation. For your chance to see Gorontalo’s deep water Yellow lace coral, please make your dive reservations directly with Miguel’s Diving.

Leopard sea cucumber self-mutilates

Posted on March 20, 2023 by Miguel's Diving • 0 Comments

Leopard sea cucumber is a beautiful creature of the ocean floor. However, divers should avoid touching its sensitive body.

Spotted Beauty

The Leopard sea cucumber lives in the eastern Indian and the western Pacific oceans. In the areas we dive in Gorontalo, it can only be found dependably at a single dive site. This sea cucumber lives in sandy areas, flanked by coral reef. Researchers say that it lives from three to almost forty meters deep. We usually find it between 15 and 18 meters here.

Although research claims it can grow to 60 centimeters, those in Gorontalo measure only half of that length. Divers can easily identify the Leopard cucumber. Its spotted pattern is distinctive and unmistakable. The tubular body is grey but sprinkled with random rows spots. These spots are orange and edged in brown.

Avoid Touching

Leopard sea cucumber is highly sensitive. It considers touching, grabbing, or lifting to be a threat. When threatened, it will eject white strings. These elongate in sea water. They also become sticky. Scientists consider this behavior to be defensive.

These white strings are called Cuverian tubes after the French zoologist who first studied them. They are naturally attached to the sea cucumber’s interior respiratory system. When the Leopard cucumber feels threatened, it will contract its body muscles. This contraction is so great that it tears the cucumber’s interior. The contraction forces Cuverian tubes out of its anus. In this way, it self-mutilates.

The Leopard sea cucumber can regrow its tubes. However, this takes several weeks. So, divers should avoid touching this sea cucumber. The tubes contain toxins, which can cause skin irritation in humans. Interestingly enough, researchers are using toxins from the Leopard sea cucumber in cancer research.

Leopard Sea Cucumber in Ecology

This sea cucumber has several rows of tubular feet on its underside. It moves slowly across the sandy bottom. While doing so, it ingests sand and anything the sand contains. In this way, all sea cucumbers clean the ocean floor of detritus and other waste materials.

Moreover, its own waste is beneficial to coral growth. After internal digestion, it excretes calcium carbonate and ammonia along with clean sand.

Home for a Fish

Pearl fish live inside of some Leopard sea cucumbers. The fish’s scientific name is Carapus mourlani. It enters and exits the cucumber via the anus, usually tail first. A scientific study in Indonesia of Bohadschia argus, the official name for the Leopard sea cucumber, found fifteen pearl fish living inside a single cucumber!

Sometimes an Emperor shrimp will be living on the sea cucumber’s surface.

For your chance to see this beautiful creature in Gorontalo, please make your dive reservations directly with Miguel’s Diving.

Arothron caeruleopunctatus pufferfish hiding in plain sight

Posted on February 21, 2023 by Miguel's Diving • 0 Comments

Arothron caeruleopunctatus is a large pufferfish that hid in plain sight until a Japanese researcher named it in 1994.

Not the Other Blue-spotted Puffer

Scientific names are always best to identify marine life. Although the name of the large puffer Arothron caeruleopunctatus means “blue-spotted,” another small pufferfish is often called the Blue-spotted puffer. That fish is a small toby named Canthigaster solandri. It has various blue spots and a colorful body. An internet search for a blue spotted puffer will produce photos for C. solandri, not A. caeruleopunctatus.

Arothron caeruleopunctatus can measure to 80 centimeters in length. That makes this species one of the largest pufferfishes worldwide. Divers giving it a casual glance would find it uninteresting. Its body is primarily dull with hues of gray and dark blue. Ventrally, it is often white. Dorsally, it can have a yellow, irregular blotch. The fish’s scientific name comes from the numerous blue to white spots found on its body. These are round to rice shaped. Also, concentric lines circle the fish’s eyes.

Unnoticed until 1994

Divers assumed that this oval-shaped fish was one of the other large puffers that live in Indo-Pacific waters. However, in 1994, Dr. Keiichi Matsuura published his finding of this pufferfish that had been hiding is plain sight. Dr. Matsuura is curator emeritus at the zoology department of the Museum of Nature and Science in Tsukuba, Japan.

In addition to Arothron caeruleopunctatus, he has discovered and named other pufferfishes. These include Arothron multilineatus (2016) from Ryukyu Islands, Japan, and Chelonodontops alvheimi (2018) from Myanmar. Also, he named a new Fugu puffer, Takifugu flavipterus (2017) from Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, and Far East Russia. Another pufferfish he named is Canthigaster aziz (2020) from the northern Red Sea off Saudi Arabia.

Arothron caeruleopunctatus in Gorontalo

Divers can see this Blue-spotted puffer occasionally along Gorontalo’s coral reefs and deep walls. Like other large pufferfishes, it is quite shy around divers. Careful approach can reward a patient diver with a clear view of the blue-spotted pattern of this fish. It lives from two meters to below safe diving limits.

A close look reveals that its skin lacks scales. Also, its dorsal and anal fins are small. These are located towards the back of its body and are symmetrical. Moreover, it lacks a pelvic fin. Its short snout has two pairs of nostrils. It feeds on invertebrates that live on the substrate. To feed, it uses its four strong teeth. This pufferfish is active during the day.

For your chance to see Arothron caeruleopunctatus in Gorontalo, please make your dive reservations directly with Miguel’s Diving.

Thylacodes grandis captures plankton in its net

Posted on January 30, 2023 by Miguel's Diving • 0 Comments

Thylacodes grandis, or the Grand Worm Sail, uses mucous like a net to capture plankton. Its beautiful batik-patterned head is unmistakable.

Grand Worm Snails in the Reef

Worm snails are a family of marine molluscs. They live in long tubes rather than the usual coiled chambers of other snails. Worm snail tubes are irregular. Grand worm snails in Gorontalo measure about seven to ten centimeters in height. A worm snail will grow its tube from a hard substrate on the reef. Sometimes, a Grand worm snail will live separated from other marine life. More often, it will grow up among various corals with only its head above. Since these worm snails are long lived, hard corals can grow on the tubes.

Grand worm snails live in all Gorontalo’s coral dive sites. However, divers can easily overlook them. Most distinctive about this species is its lack of a cap. Also known as an operculum, the cap shuts the tube from the top, thus protecting the worm snail inside. Because it lacks this cap, the Grand worm snail’s head is exposed for divers to see. It has a distinctive maze of white to golden lines over a dark background. This background can be black to deep maroon. It resembles batik. Also apparent are the creature’s fleshy horns. When a diver approaches, the Grand worm snail will duck its head down into its tube.

Fishing with Mucous

Worm snails gather food by producing mucous steams. Their gills create a slight current. This current sends plankton, that floats in the water column, into its sticky mucous. A careful diver can watch as the Grand worm snail rotates its head and draws its mucous net into its mouth.

An easy way to search for worm snails in Gorontalo is simply to look for the mucous strands floating above the reef. The most common worm snail here is Dendropoma maxima. It grows from inside massive coral heads, often in groups. Since this species has a dark cap, divers can easily distinguish it from Thylacodes grandis. Grand worm snails in Gorontalo typically live below fifteen meters.

Thylacodes grandis and other names

Some older resources give the scientific name as Serpulorbis grandis. This is not an accepted name. Vermetus grandis is another unaccepted name associated with the Grand worm snail. Taxonomic work done in 2005 and 2006 has yet to be harmonized. However, there are over forty confirmed species in the Thylocodes genus. These include two new species, one in 2017 and another in 2018. The most beautiful and photogenic worm snail in Gorontalo is indeed Thylacodes grandis.

To see a Grand worm snail in action, please make your dive reservations directly with Miguel’s Diving.

Twenty-year anniversary T-shirt

Posted on December 15, 2022 by Miguel's Diving • 0 Comments

Twenty-year anniversary souvenir T-shirts are now available for purchase. Miguel’s Diving opened in 2003. So, we celebrate our twentieth dive season in style.

The Early Years

After surveying the Gorontalo area for about two years, we decided to open diving. The dive sites we discovered were spectacular. Mr. Rantje, our pioneer staff, tells the story of his first dive from the shore. At the end of the dive, he encountered a pod of False killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens). Large cetaceans remain part of the marine environment in Gorontalo. Last month in December 2022, staff spotted a male orca (Orcinus orca) surfacing twice while divers were below.

Twenty-year anniversary — 2022 dive staff in new T-shirts

In the early years, Gorontalo lagged in development. It had recently become a separate province from North Sulawesi. That happened on 5 December 2000. Only an occasional flight from Manado was available by prop plane. Limited internet required dial-up. Cell phone towers were not yet built. Neither were any star-rated facilities. Surprisingly, the bentor had yet to be invented!

Big Steps along the Way

In 2006 with funding from Gorontalo’s first Indonesian governor, Bapak Fadel Muhammad, Miguel’s Diving published the coffee table book Gorontalo: Hidden Paradise. There was also an Indonesian version called Gorontalo: Surga yang Tersembunyi. At that time, the dive center ordered its first custom-built speed boat.

In 2009, the company purchased the last remaining empty land on the Bone River. This location would provide a safe location to dock our boats. Also, it provided direct access to the ocean. During the following years, we would build the first floor of the dive center and a private dock. In 2012, a second-floor apartment was added. Miguel’s Diving added its large, second speed boat in the same year.

tshirt — Back of 20th anniversary t-shirt

Over time, Miguel’s Diving staff helped establish the Olele Village Marine Reserve. It opened in 2007. Local government and villagers worked together to safeguard the wonderful dive sites there.

Twenty-year Anniversary

The fall of 2022 marks Miguel’s Diving twentieth dive season. Dive season in Gorontalo is from November to April. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, we are still operating. Our great staff have maintained all our facilities. In fact, they renovated both speed boats for our twentieth season. Also, in celebration of our twenty-year anniversary, we have new souvenir T-shirts. These can be purchased directly at the dive center.

To celebrate our twentieth season, please make your reservations to dive with us at Miguel’s Diving.