ArizonaSusana
Registered
Trip Report Gangga Island Resort
October 5-15, 2011
Pictures can be viewed at http://www.picasaweb.google.com. Search best of Gangga 2011 and that will be the only album that comes up. Photos are by Reid McBride.
My dive-buddy husband and I have been diving for 11 years and have nearly 800 dives. Weve been to most Caribbean locations and several in Asia/Micronesia: Palau (twice), Yap, Truk Lagoon, Thailand, and Philippines (twice). But we had never been to Indonesia. We worked with Ken at Ultimate Dive Travel to figure out a good place for an October 2011 trip. He suggested Gangga Island Resort and like many Americans, we had not heard of it. I did some research and came up with good reports so we booked. What a GREAT decision!
Gangga is a small island 55 hectares (about 136 acres) off the north coast of Sulawesi. There are two small villages and the resort (5 hectares or 12 acres) on the island and no motorized vehicles other than boats. Gangga Island Resort and Spa (GIR) (Gangga Island Resort & Spa, Manado - A luxury resort for divers and non-divers) is incredibly beautiful everything a tropical island should be without the bugs (really, we saw very few bugs during our 10 night stay). There are fifteen bungalows, all with ocean views. Each bungalow has two units with porches that are angled away from each other for privacy. Each unit also has a covered thatched platform at the nearby beach. The units are large enough for divers with all their stuff to feel comfortable. I really liked the drying rack on each porch. We had dry swim suits. There is 24-hour electricity and AC. A television in the room with BBC news and some other channels allows you to keep up with the real world. There is Wi-Fi in the lobby area as well as a computer with Internet access available for guest use. Electricity is 220. We took our own adapters but the resort has adapters if you need them. Take transformers if your electrical appliances dont have them built in. Shampoo, Conditioner, Shower Gel, Hand Soap, and hairdryer are provided.
The resort is more well-known in Europe than in the USA. Other guests during our stay were from England, Australia, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Canada, France, and one other couple from the US. Of course I was embarrassed that I speak only English, while the European guests could generally speak English plus one or two other languages. Communication from the dive guides was in English and chitchat on the boat was generally in English as well so we always knew what was going on. I hope this report convinces other Americans to give Gangga Island Resort a try.
One of the reasons we went to Gangga was the biodiversity and the diving diversity. My husband does not like muck diving; I wanted to go to Lembeh. Gangga is situated so that you can take a three-dive trip to Lembeh. He agreed that one day of Lembeh diving was ok. We enjoyed the muck diving, but even I would not want to do a whole week of it. As reported elsewhere, Lembeh has a problem with trash. There was a lot of it plastic bottles, plastic bags, chip packages, etc. We did not see much trash on the dive sites near Gangga, Bangka, or the other neighboring islands. The sites located on Sulawesi had a bit more. It is also possible to do a three-dive trip to Bunaken from GIR. We did not do that on this trip. Logistics didnt work out and as several guests said that they thought the diving around Gangga was as good as, if not better, than Bunaken, we werent overly eager to make the trip.
Many of the dives that we did in the Gangga Island vicinity were a combination of muck diving, albeit in whitish sand rather than black sand, and reef. We were able to enjoy the strange creatures and beautiful corals. In addition to some truly outstanding soft corals, we loved the huge Elkhorn coral at Lihaga (a small island very near the resort), and the largest lettuce leaf coral we have seen outside of Ulong Channel in Palau. Every dive was special, but we particularly enjoyed Muka Kampung (translation means in front of the village which is where the site is located). We dove around coral heads in beautiful white sand, schools of fish were everywhere, and the sunlight dancing on the water in the shallower areas was amazing.
Our typical day at Gangga was arise at 6 a.m.; put on a swimsuit and cover-up; go to the very nice breakfast buffet (eggs, omelets, pancakes cooked to order, wonderful breakfast breads, cheeses, yogurt, cereals, fruit); then down to the dive boat for the 8 a.m. morning dives; 20-30 minute ride to the dive site; 60 minute (or longer) dive; 60 minute surface interval on the boat with fruit, tea, and coffee; 60 minute (or longer) dive; back to the resort; put on a dry swimsuit/cover-up for lunch (salad bar every day plus choice of appetizer, soup, pasta, entrée (often fish), and dessert); quick nap; back to the boat at 3:30 for the afternoon dive; boat ride; 60 minute plus dive; back to the resort; clean up for dinner; wander down to the lounge area; enjoy a glass of wine; chat with other guests; eat dinner; read a bit; fall asleep. Dinner was always wonderful choice of appetizer, first course, entrée, and dessert. Fruit was always one of the dessert choices fresh pineapple, mango, watermelon, and/or papaya. The meals were western with Indonesian touches. The fish, particularly the tenggiri (Spanish mackerel, I discovered when we returned home), was excellent.
Dive boats never had more than 9 divers and there was a dive guide for every 2-4 divers, depending on the size of your group. While we usually like to have a shore dive available, it was not a problem that there wasnt one. In fact with the afternoon boat dive, we would have been hard-pressed to work in another dive. In our nine days of diving we made 26 dives, the shortest dive was our first at 52 minutes and our longest was 68 minutes. We spent 27.5 hours underwater! Water temperature was 82°; one dive was cooler at 81° and a couple were warmer at 84°. Visibility varied from 60-70 feet down to 20-25 feet for the muck dives. Deepest dive was 100 feet and shallowest was 53 feet. Exit and entry to/from the boats was easy and the crew were very helpful with gear. Boats offered plenty of shade and towels, water, tea, coffee, and other treats. While we had one dive with crazy currents that kept switching from one direction to the other on a wall (Aerbanua Satu) that faces the Pacific Ocean off Talise Island, currents were not generally a problem. Weather was great; we had rain, clouds, and some wind two mornings, but did not have rough water.
We were assigned a dive guide who was with us for the entire trip. Our guide was Karni. Not only did he provide excellent dive briefings, find the most amazing creatures, and help me back on the boat, he also took care of our gear. Rinsing it each evening and on the last day, putting it out to dry, and delivering it to our bungalow in the evening. Dive gear is stored in a secure gear room near the dive shop. Also in the dive shop are some creature id books and an amazing camera room. Again, the area is secure, there is a large sink for rinsing cameras, each work space has outlets for charging batteries, and under the work area is a cabinet that can be locked.
For Caribbean divers in Asian waters all the fish and creatures are different. Some of the more unusual we saw: mimic octopus, at least 30 different kinds of flatworms and nudibranchs, pygmy seahorse, ornate ghost pipefish, bent stick pipefish, mantis shrimp, painted spiny lobster, cuttlefish, flamboyant cuttlefish, ribbon eel, spanner crab, a variety of tiny crabs, scorpion fish of all sorts, robust ghost pipefish, barramundi, electric fileclam, crocodile flathead, frogfish, dragonets, and more. My two favorite sightings were the juvenile many-spotted sweet lips, they are so funny with their frenetic movements; and the stargazer snake eel with his dead flounder right outside his hole in the sand.
We did not take any day trips, there just wasnt time with so much to see underwater. Guests who did reported that they really enjoyed seeing more of Sulawesi than we saw on our drive from the airport.
Getting to Gangga Island takes a lot of time for us about 40 hours from door to door. We flew from Phoenix to Los Angeles, Los Angeles to Tokyo, Tokyo to Singapore (where we had a long layover and spent 6 hours in the transit hotel didnt even have to go through immigration), and Singapore to Manado. Then a very interesting ride through rural areas and small towns to the coast where we were picked up by one of the resorts boats for a 20-30 minute ride to Gangga Island. Check-in was smooth with sandwiches, fruit, and fresh coconut water served as we were given an orientation to the resort.
On the way home, we opted to spend two nights (one full day) in Singapore. We rode the Singapore Flyer (Worlds Largest Giant Observation Wheel Ferris wheel with enclosed cars that each hold up to 30 people) and took a harbor tour on the Cheng Ho Chinese Junk. We saw very little litter, drivers obeyed all traffic rules, and people were courteous (even on very crowded streets). We went to East Coast Park Sunday evening - lots of families were cooking out, kids were playing, people were riding bikes, skateboarding, roller skating, running, pushing baby strollers, etc. There were special tracks for biking, etc., walking, and running. People were so polite - going the right direction, staying on the path. Wow! This park is about 12 miles long and runs along the bay. There are places to rent bikes, skateboards, etc. Also restaurants, picnic tables, lots of grass, wooded areas - all with excellent sidewalks and grilling pits. We also visited several shopping malls; some were very high end - only the best international brands; others were like flea markets indoors. The prices for electronics and designer clothes were high compared to the US. There was so much more to do, I hope we get a chance to spend some time in Singapore again.
October 5-15, 2011
Pictures can be viewed at http://www.picasaweb.google.com. Search best of Gangga 2011 and that will be the only album that comes up. Photos are by Reid McBride.
My dive-buddy husband and I have been diving for 11 years and have nearly 800 dives. Weve been to most Caribbean locations and several in Asia/Micronesia: Palau (twice), Yap, Truk Lagoon, Thailand, and Philippines (twice). But we had never been to Indonesia. We worked with Ken at Ultimate Dive Travel to figure out a good place for an October 2011 trip. He suggested Gangga Island Resort and like many Americans, we had not heard of it. I did some research and came up with good reports so we booked. What a GREAT decision!
Gangga is a small island 55 hectares (about 136 acres) off the north coast of Sulawesi. There are two small villages and the resort (5 hectares or 12 acres) on the island and no motorized vehicles other than boats. Gangga Island Resort and Spa (GIR) (Gangga Island Resort & Spa, Manado - A luxury resort for divers and non-divers) is incredibly beautiful everything a tropical island should be without the bugs (really, we saw very few bugs during our 10 night stay). There are fifteen bungalows, all with ocean views. Each bungalow has two units with porches that are angled away from each other for privacy. Each unit also has a covered thatched platform at the nearby beach. The units are large enough for divers with all their stuff to feel comfortable. I really liked the drying rack on each porch. We had dry swim suits. There is 24-hour electricity and AC. A television in the room with BBC news and some other channels allows you to keep up with the real world. There is Wi-Fi in the lobby area as well as a computer with Internet access available for guest use. Electricity is 220. We took our own adapters but the resort has adapters if you need them. Take transformers if your electrical appliances dont have them built in. Shampoo, Conditioner, Shower Gel, Hand Soap, and hairdryer are provided.
The resort is more well-known in Europe than in the USA. Other guests during our stay were from England, Australia, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Canada, France, and one other couple from the US. Of course I was embarrassed that I speak only English, while the European guests could generally speak English plus one or two other languages. Communication from the dive guides was in English and chitchat on the boat was generally in English as well so we always knew what was going on. I hope this report convinces other Americans to give Gangga Island Resort a try.
One of the reasons we went to Gangga was the biodiversity and the diving diversity. My husband does not like muck diving; I wanted to go to Lembeh. Gangga is situated so that you can take a three-dive trip to Lembeh. He agreed that one day of Lembeh diving was ok. We enjoyed the muck diving, but even I would not want to do a whole week of it. As reported elsewhere, Lembeh has a problem with trash. There was a lot of it plastic bottles, plastic bags, chip packages, etc. We did not see much trash on the dive sites near Gangga, Bangka, or the other neighboring islands. The sites located on Sulawesi had a bit more. It is also possible to do a three-dive trip to Bunaken from GIR. We did not do that on this trip. Logistics didnt work out and as several guests said that they thought the diving around Gangga was as good as, if not better, than Bunaken, we werent overly eager to make the trip.
Many of the dives that we did in the Gangga Island vicinity were a combination of muck diving, albeit in whitish sand rather than black sand, and reef. We were able to enjoy the strange creatures and beautiful corals. In addition to some truly outstanding soft corals, we loved the huge Elkhorn coral at Lihaga (a small island very near the resort), and the largest lettuce leaf coral we have seen outside of Ulong Channel in Palau. Every dive was special, but we particularly enjoyed Muka Kampung (translation means in front of the village which is where the site is located). We dove around coral heads in beautiful white sand, schools of fish were everywhere, and the sunlight dancing on the water in the shallower areas was amazing.
Our typical day at Gangga was arise at 6 a.m.; put on a swimsuit and cover-up; go to the very nice breakfast buffet (eggs, omelets, pancakes cooked to order, wonderful breakfast breads, cheeses, yogurt, cereals, fruit); then down to the dive boat for the 8 a.m. morning dives; 20-30 minute ride to the dive site; 60 minute (or longer) dive; 60 minute surface interval on the boat with fruit, tea, and coffee; 60 minute (or longer) dive; back to the resort; put on a dry swimsuit/cover-up for lunch (salad bar every day plus choice of appetizer, soup, pasta, entrée (often fish), and dessert); quick nap; back to the boat at 3:30 for the afternoon dive; boat ride; 60 minute plus dive; back to the resort; clean up for dinner; wander down to the lounge area; enjoy a glass of wine; chat with other guests; eat dinner; read a bit; fall asleep. Dinner was always wonderful choice of appetizer, first course, entrée, and dessert. Fruit was always one of the dessert choices fresh pineapple, mango, watermelon, and/or papaya. The meals were western with Indonesian touches. The fish, particularly the tenggiri (Spanish mackerel, I discovered when we returned home), was excellent.
Dive boats never had more than 9 divers and there was a dive guide for every 2-4 divers, depending on the size of your group. While we usually like to have a shore dive available, it was not a problem that there wasnt one. In fact with the afternoon boat dive, we would have been hard-pressed to work in another dive. In our nine days of diving we made 26 dives, the shortest dive was our first at 52 minutes and our longest was 68 minutes. We spent 27.5 hours underwater! Water temperature was 82°; one dive was cooler at 81° and a couple were warmer at 84°. Visibility varied from 60-70 feet down to 20-25 feet for the muck dives. Deepest dive was 100 feet and shallowest was 53 feet. Exit and entry to/from the boats was easy and the crew were very helpful with gear. Boats offered plenty of shade and towels, water, tea, coffee, and other treats. While we had one dive with crazy currents that kept switching from one direction to the other on a wall (Aerbanua Satu) that faces the Pacific Ocean off Talise Island, currents were not generally a problem. Weather was great; we had rain, clouds, and some wind two mornings, but did not have rough water.
We were assigned a dive guide who was with us for the entire trip. Our guide was Karni. Not only did he provide excellent dive briefings, find the most amazing creatures, and help me back on the boat, he also took care of our gear. Rinsing it each evening and on the last day, putting it out to dry, and delivering it to our bungalow in the evening. Dive gear is stored in a secure gear room near the dive shop. Also in the dive shop are some creature id books and an amazing camera room. Again, the area is secure, there is a large sink for rinsing cameras, each work space has outlets for charging batteries, and under the work area is a cabinet that can be locked.
For Caribbean divers in Asian waters all the fish and creatures are different. Some of the more unusual we saw: mimic octopus, at least 30 different kinds of flatworms and nudibranchs, pygmy seahorse, ornate ghost pipefish, bent stick pipefish, mantis shrimp, painted spiny lobster, cuttlefish, flamboyant cuttlefish, ribbon eel, spanner crab, a variety of tiny crabs, scorpion fish of all sorts, robust ghost pipefish, barramundi, electric fileclam, crocodile flathead, frogfish, dragonets, and more. My two favorite sightings were the juvenile many-spotted sweet lips, they are so funny with their frenetic movements; and the stargazer snake eel with his dead flounder right outside his hole in the sand.
We did not take any day trips, there just wasnt time with so much to see underwater. Guests who did reported that they really enjoyed seeing more of Sulawesi than we saw on our drive from the airport.
Getting to Gangga Island takes a lot of time for us about 40 hours from door to door. We flew from Phoenix to Los Angeles, Los Angeles to Tokyo, Tokyo to Singapore (where we had a long layover and spent 6 hours in the transit hotel didnt even have to go through immigration), and Singapore to Manado. Then a very interesting ride through rural areas and small towns to the coast where we were picked up by one of the resorts boats for a 20-30 minute ride to Gangga Island. Check-in was smooth with sandwiches, fruit, and fresh coconut water served as we were given an orientation to the resort.
On the way home, we opted to spend two nights (one full day) in Singapore. We rode the Singapore Flyer (Worlds Largest Giant Observation Wheel Ferris wheel with enclosed cars that each hold up to 30 people) and took a harbor tour on the Cheng Ho Chinese Junk. We saw very little litter, drivers obeyed all traffic rules, and people were courteous (even on very crowded streets). We went to East Coast Park Sunday evening - lots of families were cooking out, kids were playing, people were riding bikes, skateboarding, roller skating, running, pushing baby strollers, etc. There were special tracks for biking, etc., walking, and running. People were so polite - going the right direction, staying on the path. Wow! This park is about 12 miles long and runs along the bay. There are places to rent bikes, skateboards, etc. Also restaurants, picnic tables, lots of grass, wooded areas - all with excellent sidewalks and grilling pits. We also visited several shopping malls; some were very high end - only the best international brands; others were like flea markets indoors. The prices for electronics and designer clothes were high compared to the US. There was so much more to do, I hope we get a chance to spend some time in Singapore again.
