Marine life

27th – 31st December

The day starts with a slight problem. The guest house we are leaving only takes cash, and we had only been able to get a million Rupiah (about £60) each from the cash point. Luckily our hosts accept just about any currency, and between the four of us we pay them in a mix of sterling, rupiah, Singapore dollars and Malayasian ringits. The bill sorted, we are taken to the jetty, where a boat waits to take us over to our next hotel on Bunaken Island, just 20 minutes away.
The entrance to Living Colours is hidden in the mangrove and we only see the narrow clearing when we are a few metres away. As we drift through the shallows under the mangrove trees we can see a small sandy beach, the dive shop and “the Safety Stop”, the obligatory bar. Our thatched cabins are up a steep hill, approached by 50 extremely steep steps but they have a lovely view over the mangrove to the sea, the mainland and surrounding islands. It is enchanting. We spend the rest of the morning chilling on our cabin’s terrace - the hammock is particularly relaxing. After lunch we make our first dive here, which is similar to yesterday, drifting along a coral wall in a strongish current, viewing the marinescape as if passengers on a train.

There are many similarities between Living Colours and our liveaboard experience. Everyone is here to dive or snorkel, and there are 4 dives a day on offer. There is a similar mix of nationalities, it is owned by a welcoming Finnish couple, Mia and Jako. And we have access to some of the best diving in the world. But life here is so much more relaxing – they even arrange massages. I’m happy doing two dives each of the following mornings, and taking the afternoon off. And I finally do a night dive. Despite being given the weediest torch in the world, I find I love the reef at night. There are not too many fish around, apart from those you see hiding in the nooks and crannies in the coral wall. But creatures that masquerade as corals and stones during the day, at night turn into pre-historic looking creatures. Stonefish, hermit crabs, horseshoe crabs and my favourite, a large cream sponge crab all come out to play, along with lobster and hundreds of small shrimp whose eyes light up the coral when a torch is played on them. We surface to a full moon shining on the water. It’s quite magical.

Two of our day dives are also outstanding. Some of the walls are covered in a patchwork of colourful soft coral flowers, as if someone has planned an intricate garden. There are rays, octopus, turtles, lion fish, barracuda, tuna, GTs, wrasse and one or two shark in the distance, plus too many colourful reef fish to name. The turtles here are huge.and very clean – they all seem to have a pair of cleaner fish travelling with them at all times. But some of the most interesting sightings are tiny. The ghost pipe fish, that blends in with twigs of coral as cleverly as a stick insect on a tree. The black and green newdibranch (pictured), that looks like a caterpillar, but on closer inspection has a face, snout and tiny hand-like fins.

Our first few days in Indonesia are almost unbearably hot and humid, but the weather finally breaks one night with torrential thunderstorms. The following day is also overcast with intermittent rain – not that it matters when you are diving – and we are grateful for some cooler weather. That afternoon we walk into the local village. Just like the mainland, life here goes on much as it has done for centuries. One and two man boats are taken out each day to catch a tuna to feed the family, not to sell at market. People run shops and bars in their homes, and chalk the names of the goods on sale on the wall outside. Some of the houses are made of concrete, many are wooden shacks. The most substantial building by far is the enormous church. The second largest building is the mosque. There are no cars, but walking along the track to the village we are passed by several small motorbikes. But boats are still the main form of transport, and we bump into the Living Colours boat on the jetty and hitch a timely lift back, as it is bringing our masseuses over from the mainland.
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We are up early on New Year’s Eve and on the boat at 6am in search of dolphins. And so are the tuna fishermen as the two go together. All the boats are flying kites, which looks colourful but has a practical purpose as the line is baited and drops into the water to attract the tuna. We don’t see anyone catch a fish. But we do see two large dolphin pods – with 30 or more visible at the surface and I guess many more below. They tease us by swimming at a distance, then gradually come closer, then dance away again to give us a spectacular display jumping out of the water.

The boat moves on for our final two dives – and having started early, we are back on the beach by 10.30am. We’d planned to go back to bed, so we can stay awake until midnight. But, having waved goodbye to KM, who is back to KL to spend New Year with his family, Robin, Tim and I have to get down to the serious business of sorting out our travel plans for the rest of the trip. Not easy in Indonesia. Luckily the lovely owners of Living Colours let us use their phone. But by the end of the day we are still not sure if we are going to Bali or Yogyakarta tomorrow. Where ever we end up, I’m sure it will be awesome..

We celebrated New Year on the beach with the house band – two guitars and a home-made drum kit - which turned into an acoustic karaoke, with all the guests taking turns singing or strumming along. Beats cold, rainy London any day.

Wishing everyone a fantastic 2010, and many more travels.