Question Bira, sulawesi

[arpad]

aloha, I'm heading to Sulawesi in a few weeks and trying to find info on Bira. the only diveshop that seems to be operating is "GaiaOne boutique diving" out of the Tevana House reef resort.
prices seem in line with their fancy name - 1.3mill for a 2 dive trip.
can anyone confirm other diveshops currently operating? Bira Dive Camp have crossed out the "dive" in their name.
tia
arp

 

[matts1w]

Several years ago- precovid- the guy who was running Bira Dive Camp began a strong, but short presence on Scubaboard a drummed up a bunch of interest in heading there. Sadly, as I understand it, he died in a motorcycle accident and the Bira Dive Camp lost momentum. Kind of soon after, the COVID thing began...

I do not have any answers to your questions, but I will say that Bira isn't all that hard to get to as it is a very easy, short flight from Jakarta to Makassar followed by several hours in a car. However, it is still not really on anyone's radar at all. For me, until I hear different, that tells me all I need to know.

 

[Searcaigh]

Likewise as @matts1w mentioned, it's well off the beaten track, perhaps a hidden gem, who knows until we get some feedback from experienced divers who have been there.

 

[matts1w]

I'm of the opinion in the world of the Interwebs and those trying hard to create content, a simple flight to one of the biggest cities/travel hubs in Indonesia followed by a five-hour car ride to the long weekend getaway beach for the Makassar upper middle class probably isn't an undiscovered hidden Gem.

 

[Searcaigh]

a five-hour car ride

Stuff that for a game of soldiers.

Bad enough having a three-hour drive to Tulamben.

 

[xrcjdx]

Ok I'll bite. I was in Bira a couple years before the lockdown, to get on a Bira built boat heading to Wakatobi. Unfortunately, these are paper logged dives and my paper logs are thousands of miles away, so this is from unrefreshed memory:

Unless you have a need to be in Bira for reasons other than diving, it's not worth going there and out of your way specifically to dive. If you are touring around and passing by anyway, that's another story. Send me a pm if you otherwise are/have to be in the area and I'll reach out to some friends with Bira connections who may have more information re currently functioning dive ops. If any.

 

[DownUnderwater Dan]

aloha, I'm heading to Sulawesi in a few weeks and trying to find info on Bira. the only diveshop that seems to be operating is "GaiaOne boutique diving" out of the Tevana House reef resort.
prices seem in line with their fancy name - 1.3mill for a 2 dive trip.
can anyone confirm other diveshops currently operating? Bira Dive Camp have crossed out the "dive" in their name.
tia
arp

If you have the time, then it's well worth the trip for diving. I couldn't upload any of the underwater videos that I still had, but I uploaded a pic of Liukang Island, which is a short boat ride from Bira beach. There, there's some awesome snorkeling for non-divers, and a truly beautiful little tropical paradise. It's usually a stopover in between dives for lunch and chill out.

I've visited & dived Bira maybe several times, and what you're basically guaranteed to see, are sharks. Most of the times I went wasn't even the best season to go in, which is Jul/Aug—Oct/Nov, but all the dives were great. A lot of the dives are drift dives, but mostly gentle to moderate.

Thresher, Whaleshark, Mola Mola, Grey/White/Black reef sharks, Oceanic Manta etc., these were seen by me or by others during my times spent there. But it's better to keep your expectations low

I dived with around 4 different operators, but I think 2 of them permanently closed. Bira Dive Centre/Adventure was an SSI dive centre before COVID period, and you can look at google reviews for ratings.

People visit different places for different reasons. Some people prefer the Gili Islands because of the beautiful tropical island nature, fellow expat & foreign tourists and partying, but diving mediocre. Others prefer Bali and the 3-Nusa Islands for the spectacular world-class diving. In Bira, it's definitely on the quiet side above water, but it's very clean and pristine beaches, and crystal clear waters.

Just a reminder, the nearest decompression chamber is in Makassar. If a plane or helicopter ride, not long at all, 25 minutes flight from nearby Selayar Island airport when it was functioning before COVID. But it's Indonesia and there's some remote locations, latest info I read was even Raja Ampat's decompression chamber wasn't running to standard.

Enjoy!!!