Maratua Barracudas

[Mr.Poseidon]

Here’s MrUnderwater Video of the same schooling of barracudas back in May 2013. I think he stay in Nabucco Island resort then too.

 

[Mr.Poseidon]

How was the rest of your trip? How was you Komodo adventure?

 

[Dan]

How was the rest of your trip? How was you Komodo adventure?

The rest of the trip went as planned. Some domestic flight cancellations would have blown out our last part of the trip to dive in Bali before flying home. I couldn’t resolve them over the phone. However, I managed to resolve them at Lion Air office in Berau airport before boarding on the boat. I’ll talk about it later in my Sangalaki trip report.

Komodo adventure was an interesting one as we were there during the time when the park planned to raise the entry fee from $12 to $250. Some dive shops closed to support the protest. There were talks about boycotting the boats going out of Labuan Bajo on August 1st. However we were able to avoid that situation by leaving out of the port the night before.

Some of the world class dive sites, like Shot Gun, Golden Passage, Batu Bolong, Tatawa Besar, Tatawa Kecil, etc. still delivered what we expected. We saw lots of pelagics like sharks, mantas, trevalies, etc.

The southern Komodo, however, was a disappointment due to poor visibility (greenish water). Originally we planned to dive around Horseshoe Bay (HSB) for 2 days (6 dives). After the first morning dive in Crinoid canyon, we decided to skip the rest of HSB and cruise to Padar. Even the Komodo dragons that usually show up on the Torpedo Alley beach were absent. Later on we found out during our visit to Komodo National Park, that it was mating season. The dragons were in the bushes doing you know what.

There was a pleasant surprise on the way back from Komodo to Bali. We learned that there was a Bagan (fisherman platform) in Teluk Saleh (Saleh Bay) in Sumbawa that had some whalesharks swimming underneath the structure. We manage to find the Bagan, paid some entrance fee for the show and dove with, I counted about 5 whalesharks!

Any way, stay tune for the rest of story in my Komodo trip report later.

 

[Madacub]

Thanks Dan. Looking forward to your trip report(s).

 

[jjmochi]

How would you rank Sagalaki vs Komodo and Raja? Which boat did you go on?

 

[Dan]

Ranking those dove destinations is subjective and depends on what you are interested in seeing in those places. The reason I come back to Sangalaki was to see the schooling of Barracudas as you won’t see them in Raja or Komodo. I’m glad to see they are still there.

Some of the guests saw Great Hammerhead and Thresher Shark. My group saw Zebra (Leopard) Shark. Seeing Zebra Shark, Whaleshark, and witnessing baby turtle running to the sea are above my expectation and unique to Sangalaki.

If you take those unique events out of dive destinations and just comparing what you see in common (type of corals, fish densities, etc.) in all 3 dive destinations (Raja Ampat, Komodo and Sangalaki), I would rank Raja Amat 1st, Komodo 2nd and Sangalaki 3rd.

 

[Chube]

Hello @Dan.
I'm planning summer holidays in Indonesia and, among a million other options, I'm also considering Maratua.
I see you went in August too, so I'm asking:
- does it make sense to go there for inexperienced divers like us? (we just got our OW license)
- is the weather good in August? (I found inconsistent information around); is it constantly overcast? sunny?
- is the beach actually as idyllic as it looks? Good snorkeling too? Because we will not be diving 100% of the time
Overall.. is it worth the trip? Or you would recommend other spots in Indonesia/Malaysia where to find amazing beach + amazing diving?

I know you're not my travel agent but any information would be much appreciated
Thanks a lot
Andrea

 

[Dan]

Hello @Dan.
I'm planning summer holidays in Indonesia and, among a million other options, I'm also considering Maratua.
I see you went in August too, so I'm asking:
- does it make sense to go there for inexperienced divers like us? (we just got our OW license)
- is the weather good in August? (I found inconsistent information around); is it constantly overcast? sunny?
- is the beach actually as idyllic as it looks? Good snorkeling too? Because we will not be diving 100% of the time
Overall.. is it worth the trip? Or you would recommend other spots in Indonesia/Malaysia where to find amazing beach + amazing diving?

I know you're not my travel agent but any information would be much appreciated
Thanks a lot
Andrea

Your dive guide would determine where & when the diving would be suitable for you, based on your skill level. Most of pelagic stuff show up during tide changes and currents. The guide will teach you how to dive in such conditions.

In Maratua, especially diving in the “Channel” or “Big Fish Country”, the current could be fast during tide changes. The diving should be done during incoming (rising) tide, where big fishes coming into the channel from the blue water. You hook yourself at the edge of the channel to watch the fish parade through the channel. Once your bottom time is up, then you unhook yourself and drift to the shallow.

They would not guide you during the outgoing (receding) tide, which would drag you into the blue water if you are unable to hook yourself on the edge of the channel or when you drift out of the channel after diving the channel. The skiff pilot would have problem locating you if you drift into the blue water.

We had pretty good diving weather-wise last August, as you see in the video. White Manta goes to Maratua, Sangalaki & Kakaban from May to August, as shown in their schedule: White Manta Diving - Schedules & Rates for New White Manta so I would say you would have pretty good chance to get good diving weather during that 4-month period.

While in Maratua, besides seeing the huge (by the thousands) of schooling barracuda, you can dive / snorkel with Whalesharks in Tali Sayang, snorkeling with stingless jellyfish in Kakaban, and seeing baby turtle being released to the sea in Sangalaki, as shown in the videos, below:

 

[Dan]

There was a pleasant surprise on the way back from Komodo to Bali. We learned that there was a Bagan (fisherman platform) in Teluk Saleh (Saleh Bay) in Sumbawa that had some whalesharks swimming underneath the structure. We manage to find the Bagan, paid some entrance fee for the show and dove with, I counted about 5 whalesharks!

Here’s the video of diving with Saleh Bay Whalesharks: