Bali Diver
Contributor
Not long back from another wonderful 5 weeks in Indonesia,after spending time in Bali seeing friends and diving i was off to Ahe Island in the remote area of Cenderwasih bay.Ahe Island being one of 9 islands of the Harlem Islands.As i have dived all over Indonesia,this area and it's total remoteness and the project what is happening on Ahe Island,run by Papua's who not so along ago who just lived in the villages and now involved and with the local community and marine park rangers in protecting this area for future generations and where Whalesharks in high numbers are resident's in this remote area and where dreams can be had to spend so much time with them and be on a robin and crusoe type of island with basic but comfortable surrounding and with few divers and in a area not much known about and surrounded only by locals. WHAT WOULD I FIND ! My expectations were modest one's
What i found was the most beautiful little island i have ever been on with a lovely white beach with the jetty running off the middle of the beach,where the sounds day and night were so delightful and interesting wildlife,including the adorable Cuscus and bird life,sea eagle's above the island and hundreds of frigate birds hovering the island towards sunset with beautiful colors in the sky.At the other side of the island was another pretty beach and you could also find somewhere on the island which made you feel only you were there.At night relaxing on the jetty looking back at the island was delightful with stars in the sky and the only sounds were those of the waves and the night creatures and fish at the surface around the jetty
The staff were so friendly and innocent and nothing was too much to make thing more enjoyable for you.The Bungalow's were basic but very nice and very spacious and kept clean every day.Food was good mix. and enyoyable and fresh fruit and it was nice how staff would collect fresh coconuts.Electricity was restricted but never found this a problem and plenty of clean water to wash with and plenty of drinking water
The dive area was spacious and had what was needed.The compressor was in very good condition and tanks were fine.The house reef was very interesting and has a resident shoal of at least 2 thousand snappers in 1m of water and the two travallys visiting now and again under the jetty were many Batfish,shoals of jacks.goatfish,drummers and emperors,shading from the sun,lionfish,rays.puffers all in 3m of water,to the right of jetty reef start and a sanded area with many Gobies and shrimps.left side of jetty is sanded area which slopes down to around 23m and a coral reef,just over to the left the reef starts again in the shallow circling the whole island with very pretty coral gardens,with reef either sloping down or wall area,turtles always hanging out and plenty of reef fish even found a mandarin fish during the day.One point at the island THE CAVE is situated at around 22m on a nice slope/wall area with nice soft corals.Barrel sponges.Gorgonians and bushy black coral.The cave is more of a small swimthrough and nice photo opportunity at the exit with fans and fish passing by or a diver.Back to house reef area on the sanded area in front of dive area which is left of jetty in the shallows are some anemones with nice shrimps and crabs and also saw two sea snakes and seahorse around as indeed over the right side in sea grass found a seahorse also found were devilfish,pipefish blennies on coral whips,sand divers,various razerfish and crocodile fish.Nightdive around jetty area was ok plenty of shrimps.plenty of various crabs which was interesting including hermit,many spanish dancers and little crocodlile fish and plenty of lionfish out hunting.Indeed my conclusion was not only on a beautiful little island but a very interesting house reef area and lovely coral gardens surrounding the island with plenty to keep you interested and happy with.
3 boat dives a day and house reef whenever you want,they have traditional boats which are no problem to dive with and now have a new speed boat which is good for the resort now that they have one and guests,yes you will come across motor problems which is not a problem they soon fix it and just remember where you are in a remote area,what the problem is with motors is due to being in this remote area,there is no where and i mean no where locally where you can get engines serviced,not even in Nabire on the mainland,so like everyone in this remote area DIY is the way to go in fixing motors,so it's worth remembering that and how clever they have become in fixing motors.Usual 8.30am/11am/3.30pm are boat dives where they return to Island after each dive. but unlike many other places and what make Ahe Island special is they are always willing to do anything to make things more enjoyable for you and especially if not too many guests so times can be flexable and even stop off on a isolated beach/Island on the way back or visit to the village on Mambour Island or even doing 2 tank morning dive and visiting a isolated beach inbetween dives with drinks and snacks all at no extra cost.It's all about your attitude and remembering this project has come a long way and they are learning all the time and improving all the time in all area's and nothing is too much to them to make things more enjoyable for you and a smile goes a long way in this part of the world and they are always willing to learn from our experiences and sharing them together.
In this chain of Islands no dive site is too far away,30 mins being the most and lovely scenery all around and there is resident shoals of Dolphins in the the area and most days you will see them.Water temp is around a lovely 30c.There is an abundance of reefs in the direct proximity of Ahe, both shallow reefs and drop offs. The number of large sponges and gorgonians, soft corals and hard corals is most impressive in many areas,so many barrel sponges in most area's,mangrove and sea grass area's to explore and small caves and overhangs and lots of pretty coral gardens.Viz can be low or great at times this is because the rainfall from the mountains and rivers runninng into the bay at times,there was plenty of fish.not a lot of big schooling fish but with over 2 thousand snappers around Ahe jetty and over 3 thousand around Mambour jetty that was so spectacular in is this department.Also with it difficult to know the tides around this area that can make a big differents but saying that you would go along the reefs and really hit some hotspots with loads of action going on hundreds of fusiliers ect and other shoals of fish.Much to my delight i saw eagle rays and Barracuda shoals.plenty of turtles and maybe due to viz at times some black tip sharks.Many pigmy to be found here and various colours,rays and crocodile fish.Big Lobsters,stonefish.leafish,morays galore
Wonderland was a very nice wall dive and Cracks also but there is so much to explore here,would of like to of spent more time in the mangroves and seagrass area and there is a lagoon only diveable at fulll tide where many Nudibranch were found.Mambour village jetty i enjoyed very much and dived it a few dives and come to conclusion a very good macro site in and around the jetty,with lot's to be found and above over 3 thousand snappers cruising around and so wonderful to watch.
This is what is also interesting to visit this area as there is lot's to explore and in other area's also and something you can do and be arranged for you or drawing reef maps.this is what you can also be involved with when visiting the resort and helping them in this area and far into the national parks lots of unexplored area's are waiting with stunning results for sure and lots of big life,this is only the start.
Now for dreams to come true the only place in the world where you can spend so much time with whale sharks and for sure my dreams come true around 2 hours from Ahe around the fishing platforms these creatures have realised that these platform mean food,sucking on the nets of full fish or fish being thrown by the fisherman.It was so wonderful spend so much time underwater with these wonderful creature in shallow depths and seeing at all angles and coming straight towards you and stationary sucking on the nets i felt very humble sharing time with them,they are not shy and love divers bubbles i noticed how they would cruise up to the bubbles and bend to allow them to run along their stomach.amazing,We always had 3 0r 4 and a total dream come true when i saw a baby one.only just over 3m WOW and the biggest just under 8m.It was great when you arrived by boat and saw them at surface and also standing on the platforms seeing them sucking on the nets.What a truly wonderful magical experience and know every part of a whale shark now and the memory will live with me forever.
A whaleshark visit is included with your weeks package and if for any reason they are not there then you will return again for free.also you can pay and do a extra trip also and they are planning to do 2 tank dive's if you wanted to do additional trip.Don't worry there will always be whale sharks in this area,there are so many in this area and othere area's around the national park.infact there is so much more Ahe resort are to explore further away from Ahe and this is the only land based island in the area and will be for along time to come due to the logistic's and local Papuan village rules
Mr. Arne Pijnakker from Holland is the man behind this project,helping the Papuans with this project and with the help of scuba signs (Ahe Dive Resort Papua « Scubasigns Foundation follow the archives how it all happened as i did) and jobs for all Papuans,in fact village rules will only allow Papuans to work on the island.The logistic's here are hard no internet.Ame has to travel most days to Nabire on the mainland to receive internet and sometimes working very slow and i could see how much hard work it takes to make it possible for us to visit this beautiful remote area,fresh food and drinking water is also brought over daily.A website is being made and should be up and running by the end of the year.Marine park and local village permits are needed to dive the area and all other area's and hard work to obtain.But after a lot of work Ame is in good position to obtain permits in all areas.The resort has come along way even over the last months and english is not spoken too well.But i did not find that a problem also the moment there is a guide from Manado who speaks english and soon someone is coming for 2 months to teach english and the papuan guides i found to be good at what they are doing and that's what also good about coming here as we can pass our experience onto them.But things here work Papuan ways and by village rules,this is what people miss,there have been some who have come to Ahe to work to help manage things but they bring there way's and are not thinking Papuans ways and how they think or do things so Ame does have a lot of work on his shoulders but work he enjoys,
This is another reason i liked this place so much,unlike most places money and profit is not what they are after.money generated by us all coming is put back into improving things on the island for the Papuans,more equipment,a new boat for guests,more rooms for staff to sleep.more training and the local villages etc... etc ... and the fact that the Papuans are so happy to see us and happy to share our friendship and think nothing of making things more enjoyable for the guests.
Coming here we can all make a differents by helping to protect the area and further afield and the marine life and whale sharks and local communities and this project and have the freedom to express ourselfs in way we feel and dive exploration where nobody has dived or little is known and stay on a Robin and crusoe style island and enjoying nature at it's best with only a handful of divers and surrounded by only locals and enjoying diving in a remote area and of course can't forget the whalesharks.
For many they will love it here and for others maybe Wakotobi would be better for you and for me i will be back i was touched by so many things here and there is lots here to explore and find and maybe see a baby whaleshark again
if not his big brothers or mum and dad will do
What i found was the most beautiful little island i have ever been on with a lovely white beach with the jetty running off the middle of the beach,where the sounds day and night were so delightful and interesting wildlife,including the adorable Cuscus and bird life,sea eagle's above the island and hundreds of frigate birds hovering the island towards sunset with beautiful colors in the sky.At the other side of the island was another pretty beach and you could also find somewhere on the island which made you feel only you were there.At night relaxing on the jetty looking back at the island was delightful with stars in the sky and the only sounds were those of the waves and the night creatures and fish at the surface around the jetty
The staff were so friendly and innocent and nothing was too much to make thing more enjoyable for you.The Bungalow's were basic but very nice and very spacious and kept clean every day.Food was good mix. and enyoyable and fresh fruit and it was nice how staff would collect fresh coconuts.Electricity was restricted but never found this a problem and plenty of clean water to wash with and plenty of drinking water
The dive area was spacious and had what was needed.The compressor was in very good condition and tanks were fine.The house reef was very interesting and has a resident shoal of at least 2 thousand snappers in 1m of water and the two travallys visiting now and again under the jetty were many Batfish,shoals of jacks.goatfish,drummers and emperors,shading from the sun,lionfish,rays.puffers all in 3m of water,to the right of jetty reef start and a sanded area with many Gobies and shrimps.left side of jetty is sanded area which slopes down to around 23m and a coral reef,just over to the left the reef starts again in the shallow circling the whole island with very pretty coral gardens,with reef either sloping down or wall area,turtles always hanging out and plenty of reef fish even found a mandarin fish during the day.One point at the island THE CAVE is situated at around 22m on a nice slope/wall area with nice soft corals.Barrel sponges.Gorgonians and bushy black coral.The cave is more of a small swimthrough and nice photo opportunity at the exit with fans and fish passing by or a diver.Back to house reef area on the sanded area in front of dive area which is left of jetty in the shallows are some anemones with nice shrimps and crabs and also saw two sea snakes and seahorse around as indeed over the right side in sea grass found a seahorse also found were devilfish,pipefish blennies on coral whips,sand divers,various razerfish and crocodile fish.Nightdive around jetty area was ok plenty of shrimps.plenty of various crabs which was interesting including hermit,many spanish dancers and little crocodlile fish and plenty of lionfish out hunting.Indeed my conclusion was not only on a beautiful little island but a very interesting house reef area and lovely coral gardens surrounding the island with plenty to keep you interested and happy with.
3 boat dives a day and house reef whenever you want,they have traditional boats which are no problem to dive with and now have a new speed boat which is good for the resort now that they have one and guests,yes you will come across motor problems which is not a problem they soon fix it and just remember where you are in a remote area,what the problem is with motors is due to being in this remote area,there is no where and i mean no where locally where you can get engines serviced,not even in Nabire on the mainland,so like everyone in this remote area DIY is the way to go in fixing motors,so it's worth remembering that and how clever they have become in fixing motors.Usual 8.30am/11am/3.30pm are boat dives where they return to Island after each dive. but unlike many other places and what make Ahe Island special is they are always willing to do anything to make things more enjoyable for you and especially if not too many guests so times can be flexable and even stop off on a isolated beach/Island on the way back or visit to the village on Mambour Island or even doing 2 tank morning dive and visiting a isolated beach inbetween dives with drinks and snacks all at no extra cost.It's all about your attitude and remembering this project has come a long way and they are learning all the time and improving all the time in all area's and nothing is too much to them to make things more enjoyable for you and a smile goes a long way in this part of the world and they are always willing to learn from our experiences and sharing them together.
In this chain of Islands no dive site is too far away,30 mins being the most and lovely scenery all around and there is resident shoals of Dolphins in the the area and most days you will see them.Water temp is around a lovely 30c.There is an abundance of reefs in the direct proximity of Ahe, both shallow reefs and drop offs. The number of large sponges and gorgonians, soft corals and hard corals is most impressive in many areas,so many barrel sponges in most area's,mangrove and sea grass area's to explore and small caves and overhangs and lots of pretty coral gardens.Viz can be low or great at times this is because the rainfall from the mountains and rivers runninng into the bay at times,there was plenty of fish.not a lot of big schooling fish but with over 2 thousand snappers around Ahe jetty and over 3 thousand around Mambour jetty that was so spectacular in is this department.Also with it difficult to know the tides around this area that can make a big differents but saying that you would go along the reefs and really hit some hotspots with loads of action going on hundreds of fusiliers ect and other shoals of fish.Much to my delight i saw eagle rays and Barracuda shoals.plenty of turtles and maybe due to viz at times some black tip sharks.Many pigmy to be found here and various colours,rays and crocodile fish.Big Lobsters,stonefish.leafish,morays galore
Wonderland was a very nice wall dive and Cracks also but there is so much to explore here,would of like to of spent more time in the mangroves and seagrass area and there is a lagoon only diveable at fulll tide where many Nudibranch were found.Mambour village jetty i enjoyed very much and dived it a few dives and come to conclusion a very good macro site in and around the jetty,with lot's to be found and above over 3 thousand snappers cruising around and so wonderful to watch.
This is what is also interesting to visit this area as there is lot's to explore and in other area's also and something you can do and be arranged for you or drawing reef maps.this is what you can also be involved with when visiting the resort and helping them in this area and far into the national parks lots of unexplored area's are waiting with stunning results for sure and lots of big life,this is only the start.
Now for dreams to come true the only place in the world where you can spend so much time with whale sharks and for sure my dreams come true around 2 hours from Ahe around the fishing platforms these creatures have realised that these platform mean food,sucking on the nets of full fish or fish being thrown by the fisherman.It was so wonderful spend so much time underwater with these wonderful creature in shallow depths and seeing at all angles and coming straight towards you and stationary sucking on the nets i felt very humble sharing time with them,they are not shy and love divers bubbles i noticed how they would cruise up to the bubbles and bend to allow them to run along their stomach.amazing,We always had 3 0r 4 and a total dream come true when i saw a baby one.only just over 3m WOW and the biggest just under 8m.It was great when you arrived by boat and saw them at surface and also standing on the platforms seeing them sucking on the nets.What a truly wonderful magical experience and know every part of a whale shark now and the memory will live with me forever.
A whaleshark visit is included with your weeks package and if for any reason they are not there then you will return again for free.also you can pay and do a extra trip also and they are planning to do 2 tank dive's if you wanted to do additional trip.Don't worry there will always be whale sharks in this area,there are so many in this area and othere area's around the national park.infact there is so much more Ahe resort are to explore further away from Ahe and this is the only land based island in the area and will be for along time to come due to the logistic's and local Papuan village rules
Mr. Arne Pijnakker from Holland is the man behind this project,helping the Papuans with this project and with the help of scuba signs (Ahe Dive Resort Papua « Scubasigns Foundation follow the archives how it all happened as i did) and jobs for all Papuans,in fact village rules will only allow Papuans to work on the island.The logistic's here are hard no internet.Ame has to travel most days to Nabire on the mainland to receive internet and sometimes working very slow and i could see how much hard work it takes to make it possible for us to visit this beautiful remote area,fresh food and drinking water is also brought over daily.A website is being made and should be up and running by the end of the year.Marine park and local village permits are needed to dive the area and all other area's and hard work to obtain.But after a lot of work Ame is in good position to obtain permits in all areas.The resort has come along way even over the last months and english is not spoken too well.But i did not find that a problem also the moment there is a guide from Manado who speaks english and soon someone is coming for 2 months to teach english and the papuan guides i found to be good at what they are doing and that's what also good about coming here as we can pass our experience onto them.But things here work Papuan ways and by village rules,this is what people miss,there have been some who have come to Ahe to work to help manage things but they bring there way's and are not thinking Papuans ways and how they think or do things so Ame does have a lot of work on his shoulders but work he enjoys,
This is another reason i liked this place so much,unlike most places money and profit is not what they are after.money generated by us all coming is put back into improving things on the island for the Papuans,more equipment,a new boat for guests,more rooms for staff to sleep.more training and the local villages etc... etc ... and the fact that the Papuans are so happy to see us and happy to share our friendship and think nothing of making things more enjoyable for the guests.
Coming here we can all make a differents by helping to protect the area and further afield and the marine life and whale sharks and local communities and this project and have the freedom to express ourselfs in way we feel and dive exploration where nobody has dived or little is known and stay on a Robin and crusoe style island and enjoying nature at it's best with only a handful of divers and surrounded by only locals and enjoying diving in a remote area and of course can't forget the whalesharks.
For many they will love it here and for others maybe Wakotobi would be better for you and for me i will be back i was touched by so many things here and there is lots here to explore and find and maybe see a baby whaleshark again
if not his big brothers or mum and dad will do
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