Gorantalo, Sulawesi Diving?

[MW_Scuba]

Having done Bunaken, Lembeh, Komodo, Raja, Amed, Nusa Penida & Gilis, I'm thinking about checking out Gorantalo in Sulawesi in February.

Has anyone been there for the diving? Impressions? I've heard good things about Miguel's Diving.

 

[JonnieB]

Apparently not

 

[Wisnu]

Did 3 times, but the last one was in 2014, all with Miguel diving. Yunis, our dive guide was amazing - as a model for WA as well as pointing the macro stuff.

 

[paolobl65]

did 1 time in April 2018 with Miguel diving
here is my photos ( if you like to see )

Gorontalo WIDE - April 2018

Explore this photo album by Paolo Isgro on Flickr!

www.flickr.com

pro and cons of this destination :

pro :
very nice wide angle opportunity with the Salvador Dali sponges
out of the common path so not so many divers ( I did not encounter any other boat )
Yunis is a super model ( if you like to take photos )
nice coral and reef life and sometimes outstanding visibility

cons :
accomodation ( Grand Q hotel ) so so
at 4:00 AM very loud muslim prayer ( ear plugs was not enough for me ) lasting 45 minutes
a lot of plastic and trash in the water
to go out for dinner you need to speak Bahasa Indonesia
stay on board for 3 dives a day ( from h 8:00 to h 16:00 ) was not so confortable

All in all I was happy to dive there anyway 1 time is enough for me .

hope this help

 

[chillyinCanada]

Having done Bunaken, Lembeh, Komodo, Raja, Amed, Nusa Penida & Gilis, I'm thinking about checking out Gorantalo in Sulawesi in February.

Has anyone been there for the diving? Impressions? I've heard good things about Miguel's Diving.

Have you tried Bangka, North Sulawesi?

 

[billt4sf]

Hello Chilly. What's the best time of year to go to Banga and which resort is best for short boat trips?

 

[Luko]

What's the best time of year to go to Banga

If we can accept the fact that Bangka is not a chemical fruit cocktail , Best time to drink dive Bangka would be March to May and September October. June to August is do able too but likely to have wind, hence more waves.

Best resorts fo the location : Murex/Bastianos/Coral eye, as they will cover both sides of the island. Murex is probably nearest to the barycenter of the dive sites. More luxurious of the three : Coral Eye.
Forget Gangga island resort too far away from the best coral dives (south and eastern sides of Bangka)

 

[chillyinCanada]

I've only been there in the winter months and was pleased enough.

If it's even better other times if the year then yippee!

I've only ever stayed with Murex but Bastianos didn't yet have a Bangka resort when I first started going there. Now they do and it has a pool which Murex does not.

I don't know enough about Coral Eye to comment.

 

[Pesty]

Is there a reason you chose Gorontalo instead of the Togean Islands, which are further and harder to reach? I have heard good things about that. I would be interested in any information on that. Also the north Maluku sites such as Halmahera.
Bangka also has Nomads on the east coast. I just came back from there. It has some good dives and a low-key but chilled dive centre, very much set amongst the mangroves and jungle.

 

[Luko]

I've only been there in the winter months and was pleased enough.

Been once in feb in Bangka, it was just the end of an (awfully) rainy and windy season, I was quite worried for the rest of the stay when the owner told me it had been raining everyday for the previous month, I was lucky the rain stopped the day after.
FWIW I also went on a trip to Lembeh in feb on another year, it was depressing raining everyday. Hence my experience with early months of the year in N/Sulawesi was not very conclusive weatherwise.

Amihan (ie. Northeast monsoon) prevails from december to feb, since Bangka strait is oriented exactly that direction looking straight to the Philippines sea with no protection, apart from my own experience I'm not so sure these months would be the most recommended (it's also the wettest months in N/Sulawesi).