The trip until is long and heavy there since the 20 flight hours not you the acquittal nobody, and change of airplanes and transfers you go a day and a half almost traveling without rest,… but it is worth the trouble. The normal thing is not to make night in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and of step know the famous Petronas towers (those of the film the Trap with Catherine Z-Jones and Is Connery), although is either bad way to make rest in Singapore.

Kuala Lumpur is an ultramodern city where civismo reigns great.

Be that as it may, thence only lack to take a flight of few hours until Flowed in the island of Sulawesi, and soon a local transfer to pantalán where to embark for Siladen, one of the islands that comprise of the marine integral reserve of Bunaken. In Indonesia 18,500 islands exist; This is the history of a experience lived in only one on them.

Pantalán for would embark in the coast of Sulawesi, to about 30 kilometers of Flowed.

I have dived in many places of the world, and the truth is that the islands of surprised me to Bunaken in many aspects: Crystalline waters, overflowing life, unique species, water to 28º centigrades diving with simple lycra, marine surroundings very preserved, steep submarines of vertigo, overflowing submarine walls of life, and a landscape of dream.

The waters of Bunaken, in the heat of marine reserve.

Different places exist in which to stay itself, and by pure chance we went to stop to the Siladen Spa. Slight happened! You feel truly in the glory.

The salt water swimming pool has an island bar in which permanecera “soaking”

with a beer after the diving.

The swimming pool of salt water to meters of the beach only surrounds the dining room outdoors, where in regime of complete pension, they will surprise with a good menu and a varied and different wonderful kitchen to you. Dinners become a pleasure more of the place.

The cabins are most comfortable. A room with bath of more than 30 meters square totally constructed with tropical wood, and some of them with views right upon the beach, in which you find your hammocks and parasol. The porch has another zone in which tumbarte to read and a rinconcito with a small table and armchairs of overwhelm. That yes, you do not forget the lotion antimosquitos, especially in the evening night. These sites… are what has.

The exit of the bungalow invites to the bath in the beach, but as you spend the day to soaking with the diving, what in the end unique that beams is tumbarte to rest.

The bed has an enormous mosquito netting and while you are going away close to have dinner it, the room service returns to you to do the room, preparing the dormitory for the night and changing the lights by diffuse centers.

The dormitory is simply… relajante!

Right in the site in which we were exactly of this beach and in front of the Bungalows it is where every year the marine turtles come to lay eggs. Therefore during one week they do not let step on the zone of the beach, although you stay yourself, because it is fundamental to give priority to the birth of the new tortuguitas.

The beach of the tortuguitas. The beach is put to burst of turtles and egg-layings, during the week that touches.

The island of Siladen is small and you do not take more than 40 minutes in giving it the return walking. The most important island of the natural reserve is to 5 miles in front of the island of Bunaken and to which we sailed every day to realize the immersions. The passage is of just a quarter of an hour or something more if the immersion point is the other side of Bunaken. In Siladen there is a pair of towns with local fishermen. Around the excursion, if you also want can serve dinner to you in a table in the beach, to little meters of the bar, against the view of Flowed volcano Tua in the island of same name and located to 10 miles of distance.

Sometimes sometimes it does not make damage, no?

The SPA offers all a collection of massages with variable therapies.

The bathroom of the Bungalow is art-deco,… and outdoors!

But we return to the diving that was the primary target of the trip. Like in the other hotels of the zone, the complex offers several boats dedicated to this activity and equipped with several motor ones CB be-embroiders of 40, that is taking skipper one by one while notes as the boat is gaining speed way to the immersion point. We did 3 daily ones, although the one that want another nocturnal one or several more from the beach… We it truth, are that we already remained well with third after eating. In almost all the immersions you find forts “drop-offs” in which literally you lose the wall downwards. They are wild of more than 300 meters, and according to they have said to me soon make a small plateau to return to itch in depth until several thousands of meters of depth. Although the visibility is very high, this you do not see it!

Following the tide the boat of very little openwork leaves the beach directly

or of the wharf located to 100 meters of distance.

Occasionally thermoclines without importance but in some current strong immersions. But that very very strong. The local monitors know them closed eyes and you entrust yourself in them, so that to the water without problems. Obvious one is immersions of drift. It would lack more when in some as for example in “mandoline point” we flew to 15 meters of depth doing about 5 knots under the water, and without blinking! Not very recommendable for “they open to water”. Funny to rage. The bad thing is that each pair emerges after 60 minutes of immersion in different and well separated sites, so that is called on to you to inflate a buoy of location and quitarte a fin to begin to move it until they locate to you from the boat.

The small life is exceptional and unique of the zone. Some species are different and unique, like the small sea horse of the left photo superior or colorful nudibranquio of the right. Are true kings of the mimicry like the fish scorpion, simply fantastic others like this species of fish lion.

But I do not want to stop counting a very special immersion, in Sashiko Point. One is a smooth descendant wall with about 30 or 40º of inclination and that is lost little by little in the limitless depths. I have to recognize that one of my favorite fish is the blue Crossbow. Their colors in the photos never will make honor to the velvety tonalities and brightness of intense pigmentation backs water, whereupon they flatter to we admired those who it. Sincerely, never I have seen a single photography of the Blue Trigger Fish that manages to show in all their splendor the intensity of its beauty. It is necessary to see it and close by. On the contrary you lose its graceful movements its diverse shades that sometimes are conjugated with the green ones in an indescribable color.

In this immersion we gave with the greater bank of never trigger sight. They were eating, rascando and mordisqueando the inclined bottom. All the bottom to lefts and rights from where the view in the depths was lost, until the same surface. I did not take in throwing numbers. About 5 either 10 units by meters squared, in a reef length of 3 or 4 kilometers, a band of not less than 100 meters in width, in the blue one also were dense groups of them. Than 10 million unit surrounding to us probably more throughout…    Uauuu, screamed extasiado through regulator. They were of so large average and many of them young fishes of not more than 10 centimeters than hid between the hollows of the chorale. Whichever beauty.

In other immersions very many great turtles. In others we found some shark white end, and several enormous ones of Napoleones like which the Sheik in the Red Sea saw itself years ago in Sharm.

At night some is of cinema taking zumito.

A trip that is due to repeat, and since you plan irte so far, would not be of trying to perhaps combine it more with an extension to Bali or more far, until Papua and New Guinea. I have heard that are incredible sites and that (it seems lie), still are completely virgin and unexplored. In fact in April 2006 a scientific expedition could discover a pile of new unknown species, some in the Philippines (to see the news), (or this other news) others in New Guinea between which a new species of kangaroo was even discovered.

The photo is removed from the summit of the island of Bunaken. The bottom the island of Manado_Tua with its now inactive volcano, and to the right is seen the island of Siladen.