Hi there, just back from Sangalaki on Sat nite, here is a brief dive report & link to my pix gallery.
http://sg.homeunix.com/jovin/Dive-pixs
Sangalaki Island Trip Report Aug04
Getting there:
Everything went smoothly except for the 3-4 hrs delay, waiting for boat transfer from Berau to Sangalaki. Arrived at island around 7pm, missed the check-out dive being offered. Resort owner very briefly WELCOME us & blamed the minor screw-up on the Spore group who departed that day but after reading the guest book, we knew the truth. NO offer of apologies or any compensated extra dive mentioned .DISGUSTED!! :hanged:
Accommodation:
Basic but nice & clean (daily housekeeping), with hot SALT water shower.
Food: Not to my liking.
Each meal consists of one meat (mainly beef), one vegetable/salad & fruits ONLY. NO fish, hardly any seafood- where are the fishermen?? There was even a day when we ran out of egg & bread for breakfast, had to do with just fried maggi noodles. Most luxurious meal was a treat from our very kind Spore friends, Edwin & Niki, who brought us Fried Chicken from Berau after their departure..YUMMY!! Definitely an area for improvement.
Diving/ Sea Condition:
Manta rays are sighted almost every dive (mainly on the surface) but the best part was the opportunity to snorkel with them, sometimes 8-10 absolutely AWESOME. Also, sighted some really nice nudibranchs, cuttlefishes, lionfishes etc. Snorkelling in Kakaban jellyfish with thousands of non-stinging jellyfishes was simply amazing.
During low tide, weve got to walk 100-200m to the boat from the resort (vice versa)- very tiring but good exercise .building up some leg muscles..hee..hee. Pity the boatman & DM they took the same route with extra load (our equipments & tanks). Usually, it was very windy & huge surface surf encountered, as high as 1m .definitely not for the faint hearted. The diving was pretty challenging as well, water temperature at 26-27°C, most of the time with mild to medium current, difficult to concentrate to take pixs. I dived in my rashies & board shorts so it was extremely cold for me, but thanks to my wind-breaker buddy, Mike, who never fails to shelter me from the cold wind after dive. Making our way to the jellyfish lake was very exciting & strenuous, braving the waves, fell, knocked & scratched by corals/barnacles so many bruises on my legs & hands.
A little advice for my rashies & board shorts diving kakis: bring along a skinsuit at least
Maybe, due to our bad luck, mother nature is against us or whatsoever, all was calm on the final day on the island.
Staff:
Very friendly, helpful & accommodating. Love them all.
Safety:
Although there is a decompression chamber on the island but the only person (resort owner) who was trained to operate it was not on the island most of the time, he left for town on the 2nd day we arrived...no sight of him since!! Also, was told that the only communication to the mainland, i.e telephone line (via satellite, I think) was not working. Luckily for us, NO emergency!!
Overall, Ive REALLY enjoyed the 10 days break from work. Special thanks to the wonderful friends that has made this a memorable trip for me: Kelvin, Frances, Mike, Robert, Cheng How, Eng Chuan, Susan, Bill, Bruce, Edwin, Niki, Gianluigi, Gabriele, Thomas, the Italian couple, Putu, Rivi & all the amazing locals on the island .till then, lets continue to blow more happy bubbles
http://sg.homeunix.com/jovin/Dive-pixs
Sangalaki Island Trip Report Aug04
Getting there:
Everything went smoothly except for the 3-4 hrs delay, waiting for boat transfer from Berau to Sangalaki. Arrived at island around 7pm, missed the check-out dive being offered. Resort owner very briefly WELCOME us & blamed the minor screw-up on the Spore group who departed that day but after reading the guest book, we knew the truth. NO offer of apologies or any compensated extra dive mentioned .DISGUSTED!! :hanged:
Accommodation:
Basic but nice & clean (daily housekeeping), with hot SALT water shower.
Food: Not to my liking.
Each meal consists of one meat (mainly beef), one vegetable/salad & fruits ONLY. NO fish, hardly any seafood- where are the fishermen?? There was even a day when we ran out of egg & bread for breakfast, had to do with just fried maggi noodles. Most luxurious meal was a treat from our very kind Spore friends, Edwin & Niki, who brought us Fried Chicken from Berau after their departure..YUMMY!! Definitely an area for improvement.
Diving/ Sea Condition:
Manta rays are sighted almost every dive (mainly on the surface) but the best part was the opportunity to snorkel with them, sometimes 8-10 absolutely AWESOME. Also, sighted some really nice nudibranchs, cuttlefishes, lionfishes etc. Snorkelling in Kakaban jellyfish with thousands of non-stinging jellyfishes was simply amazing.
During low tide, weve got to walk 100-200m to the boat from the resort (vice versa)- very tiring but good exercise .building up some leg muscles..hee..hee. Pity the boatman & DM they took the same route with extra load (our equipments & tanks). Usually, it was very windy & huge surface surf encountered, as high as 1m .definitely not for the faint hearted. The diving was pretty challenging as well, water temperature at 26-27°C, most of the time with mild to medium current, difficult to concentrate to take pixs. I dived in my rashies & board shorts so it was extremely cold for me, but thanks to my wind-breaker buddy, Mike, who never fails to shelter me from the cold wind after dive. Making our way to the jellyfish lake was very exciting & strenuous, braving the waves, fell, knocked & scratched by corals/barnacles so many bruises on my legs & hands.
A little advice for my rashies & board shorts diving kakis: bring along a skinsuit at least
Maybe, due to our bad luck, mother nature is against us or whatsoever, all was calm on the final day on the island.
Staff:
Very friendly, helpful & accommodating. Love them all.
Safety:
Although there is a decompression chamber on the island but the only person (resort owner) who was trained to operate it was not on the island most of the time, he left for town on the 2nd day we arrived...no sight of him since!! Also, was told that the only communication to the mainland, i.e telephone line (via satellite, I think) was not working. Luckily for us, NO emergency!!
Overall, Ive REALLY enjoyed the 10 days break from work. Special thanks to the wonderful friends that has made this a memorable trip for me: Kelvin, Frances, Mike, Robert, Cheng How, Eng Chuan, Susan, Bill, Bruce, Edwin, Niki, Gianluigi, Gabriele, Thomas, the Italian couple, Putu, Rivi & all the amazing locals on the island .till then, lets continue to blow more happy bubbles
