Photo by Rantje Allen
Photo by William Tan
Photo by Rantje Allen
Photo by William Tan
Photo by Rantje Allen
The coral wall at Honeycomb was streaming with ribbons of blue and yellow in the morning light.Thousands of Blue and Yellow fusiliers (Caesio teres) enveloped divers in Gorontalo this morning. Sometimes mixed with other fusilier species, these brightly colored fish poured down the wall then circled around for another sweep mid-wall. Evidently in search of food, these fish… Continue Reading
Divers enjoying pre-season diving in Gorontalo today got a glimpse of the result of months of bad weather that prevents people from fishing. We saw a pair of large Coronation lyre-tail grouper (Variola louti) swimming together. Usually seen only singly, we hope they are a breeding pair. Not far away was a juvenile Napol.ean wrasse.… Continue Reading
In the midst of repairing Miguel’s Diving web site that was destroyed by a nasty hacker, we have also posted information and pictures for one of Gorontalo’s most distinctive dive sites: Sponge Wall. We have taken guests diving here for a couple of seasons but just found some time to create a new post. As a… Continue Reading
Fisher friends off a point where Miguel’s Diving offers some dive sites were catching large Yellowfin tuna for export early this morning. They were in the process of hauling in an 81-kilo tuna when a large shark decided it wanted breakfast. A tug of war ensued between the two fishermen and the shark. Eventually, men were able… Continue Reading
Sea pens are a special group of octocorals that live in sandy bottoms. A sea pen has a foot that keeps it anchored into the sand and an above ground rod that contains the feeding coral polyps. Many sea pens are beautifully branched, creating a shape reminiscent of a quill pen. Although most are nocturnal, some… Continue Reading
Yesterday Miguel’s Diving staff went exploring a new location. Among the wonderful marine creatures seen during the dive was a very secretive and puzzling filefish. It turned out to be the cryptic and rarely seen Black-lined filefish (Pervagor nigrolineatus). She was hiding inside a black crinoid but soon disappeared into Gorontalo’s dense coral growth. Found only in… Continue Reading
Miguel’s Diving staff took a much-needed break today. Even though dive season doesn’t start again until November, diving is still possible in a couple of protected bays. With stiff winds already blowing from early morning, we decided to try the opposite side of one bay that provided a bit more shelter. Actually, we have never… Continue Reading
For travelers flying Garuda Indonesia in August, the in-flight magazine has a four-page article on diving in Gorontalo. Singapore-based underwater photographer William Tan contributed the many pictures that appear. The article is in Indonesian.
This past weekend Gorontalo’s governor insisted on going diving. So we braved waves and stiff winds to take him where he wanted to go. Swells were breaking up to six meters up the cliff face. Because of all that turbulent water, visibility was about two meters. But he seemed more relaxed after his time underwater.… Continue Reading
Today’s dive at one of Gorontalo’s multiple pinnacle dive sites turned up a number of surprises. But the most impressive was a shy White-mouth moray (Gymnothorax meleagris). Although this species can grow over a meter in length, the one today was clearly a juvenile. Found in tropical waters, this beautiful moray is uncommon in most… Continue Reading
