eunike's posts with tag: castle rock
|  | May 30 - June 4, 2007
Participating into Indonesia Reef monitoring 2007 (www.indonesiareef.com) with National Geographic Indonesia, I did got blast of excitement! A lot of new experiences, new places and new-very nice friends!
8 participants and a coordinator left Jakarta in the early morning of May 30. We met in Soekarno Hatta at 5 am; Sari “hamilimabulan” the dive coordinator, Jose Richard (Ricky) and Arianne “Miss Komodo” Peligrino from Philippines, Gordan Yap from Malaysia, Mingkwan Nanagara from Thailand, Dede “Dugong” Gusmand, Ical “jayus” Arifin, Pak Mus and Kekeuw (Yunnie Kirana/Kiki from Balikpapan and Ms. bancikamera Debbie from NGI joined us later)! We had to take a flight from Jakarta to Denpasar before we got “peculiar” flight to Labuan Bajo. It was my first time to use small such a Fokker plane to fly, quite thrilling yet fun! I had more great view during the flight for its limited altitude.
Friendly greet by local parties (Putri Naga Komodo, Komodo National Park management and local government), we were welcomed with a symbolic ceremonial. Native songs and mantras with good meaning came over us since we arrived in Komodo Airport to Gardena where we had lunch. Pak Mus got Tuak (local palm-wine) whilst Ricky looked funny with given cap and a struggling chicken on his arm.
We stayed in Bajo Beach hotel and got our meal by Gardena as we were in Labuan Bajo. Labuan bajo was a vital city of new developing Manggarai Barat province; it had a port-bay where I saw many quite big boat/ phinisi parked. The view was good. If you look at to the bay, you’ll see some small isles emerging up from the sea made a unique silhouette while the sun set down. In the night we got some short briefing by Putri Naga Komodo about the reef monitoring program.
The next 3 days we stayed on Johanes III, our liveaboard by CN Dive. Pak Condo, the captain and dive master set our dive well and carefully. We had to mind on tide chart and current, which in Komodo could reach to 8 knots.
Day I - dive I: Papagaran Coral rehabilitation
It was much damaged area for over fishing and bombing, but since 1998 (if I’m not mistaken) TNK (Taman Nasional Komodo) rehabilitated this area by putting mount rocks as coral substratum from some area in Labuan Bajo. It was great effort with impressive result. The coral grows well, 80-90% substratum was already covered by healthy coral and being a home for vary fishes (butterfly fishes, angelfishes, parrots, trigger fishes, groupers, etc). it was also dive check with only 13,4 m deep.
Day I - dive II: Pantai Merah/ Pink Beach
Very strong current that made us fly without wings. Bad visibility and bringing my UW cam with new strobe *phuwh! many things to take care!* made me nervous. I tried to hold well my stuff while hanging on to my stick. Many times the current pushed me back and back again. Big current for big fishes, I saw some bumpheads, giant travellies, schooling of big tunas, fusiliers, sting ray, etc.
Day II - dive III: Crystal Rock
This was such a lovely site! Amazing point with very clear visibility and no current, I‘d should got my best UW photograph here, but the camera’s batteries already dropped :p *hiks!hiks!* (it would get more tragic since the next dive my camera started not working). With max depth on 26 m, I saw excellent stunning coral (specially colorful soft coral) with clouds of fishes in vary types swam over; from schooling of jacks, schooling of big sweet lips, puffers, damselfishes, groupers, triggers, parrots, gobies, angelfish, butterflies, surgeonfish, many more.. to the rare napoleon wrasse!
Day II - dive IV: Golden Gate
Yess!! My camera didn’t work and I couldn’t take underwater pictures! In this site I saw some lionfishes, bumphead fishes, sweet lips, grouper and more while the current pushed me into a space which was like a tunnel with wall covered by colorful corals.
Day II - dive V: night dive @ Gililawa Darat
My first time to see the Spanish dancer! Wow! That’s the biggest nudibranch I’d ever seen! About 25 cm, pink-peach colored body, the biggest nudi in her family. If she moved up in the water she would looks like dancing. Also saw some moray eel, lionfishes, banded cleaner shrimps, yellow shrimp, sleeping puffer and parrotfishes to the cute-unique circle of life-juvenile sweetlip! This juvenile sweetlip would make dramatic transformation in color pattern as she grows into adult. Brightly colored juvenile swims by wiggling wildly so as to resemble an inedible nudibrach or sea worm then begin to take an adult appearance after she grow larger and become less vulnerable to predators. It was 66 minutes dive in 12 m deep; I still had much air in my tank. But my torch was already dead!
Day III - dive VI: Castle Rock/ Taka Toko Toko
Negative entry as we descended for strong waves in the surface. It was one of my best dive experiences. Great scene of grand pelagic site! The corals, mostly hard corals, made a shape like a castle; tall and wide multi-layers reef dropped you a shadow also dramatic ray of lights. The top of the rock, which is approximately 3 to 4m deep, also offers shelter from the current; I met some white tip sharks, schooling of surgeons, travelies, fusilier, batfishes, mackerels, big groupers, tunas, sweetlips to a moray eel in safety stop.
Day III - dive VII: Taka Mataram
Wow! Finally I met the elegant manta rays! Not just 1-2 but more than 10!! Swimming quite near I felt like dancing with the mantas.
Not just under the sea, the lands were another excellence of this trip (and actually the ones that I can share to you in pictures). During liveaboard, I got a chance to visit kampung Komodo, kampung Rinca and Loh Liang, the entrance gate for Komodo watching. Seeing by my own eyes the endemic Komodo dragon, enjoying exotic panoramas of east Indonesia, mingling the local people, especially the kids, perfected the great dives I got. Those really made me want to come back not just once.
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Summary:
(it was a special program with special budget from NGI, I’ll just share the regular price that I know)
Flight Jakarta – Denpasar
Garuda airlines: 550-750,000 IDR. but better to take Air Asia for cheaper price.
Flight Denpasar – Labuan Bajo
1 hour 20 minutes with Transnusa (0361-75442/031-5467505, www.transnusa.co.id)
Y class: 761,000 IDR
L class: 651,000 IDR
M class: 541,000 IDR
Limited baggage for 20 kg only.
Labuan Bajo – Denpasar
Idem (note: not just your baggage, your self and hands-carry stuffs will be calculated in Komodo airport).
Car Rental in Labuan Bajo
500,000 IDR includes driver and fuel (belom ditawar)
National Park conservation support
1-3 days 75,000 IDR
4-8 days 125,000 IDR
9-15 days 175,00 IDR
>16 days 225,000 IDR
Komodo admission
2,000 IDR
Manggarai Barat retribution
10,000 IDR
Gardena Hotel and resto
100-120,000 IDR/ room/ day/ 2 person + breakfast
170,000 IDR/ room/ day/ 4 person + breakfast
Bajo Beach Hotel
80,000 IDR/ room/ day/ twin bed + breakfast
Laundry’s available and quite cheap.
Mutiara Hotel
50,000 IDR/room/ day/ 2 person
Dive in Komodo
Liveaboards:
CN Dive (affordable price plz just contact Mr. Condo)
(0385) 41159 Fax: (0385) 41379
www.cndive.com
Land Based Dive Operators:
CNDive (0385) 41159 Fax: (0385) 41379
Reefseekers (0385) 41443 Email: dive@reefseekers.net
Bajo Dive Club (0385) 41343 Email: bajodiveclub@hotmail.com
Oceanic Diving (0385) 41426 Email: oceanic_diving@yahoo.com
Puri Komodo (021) 3145154 Email: info@purikomodo.com
More information
Komodo National Park
Balai Taman Nasional Komodo
Labuanbajo, Flores NTT Indonesia
Tel: +62 358 41004, 41005
Fax: +62 385 41006
E-mail : tnkomodo@indosat.net.id
www.komodonationalpark.org
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