Divers Needed For Bira-south Sulawesi Live-aboard Trip

[David Bali]

South Sulawesi Adventure Live-aboard trip (Jan 16-20 2005)

LOOKING FOR DIVERS TO FILL THIS TRIP


BIRA
Located on the south eastern side of south sulawesi province of Indonesia, Bira is the center for traditional schooner building for hundreds of years, sailing through out south east Asian countries conducting trade.
When the raining season arrives through out the rest of Indonesia during end of October, this area is still blessed with calm seas and excellent visibility. Temperature ranges anywhere from 27-28C. Some sites nearer to Bira does have strong currents, but this also brings a lot of pelagic fish such as white tip and black tip reef sharks, grey reef shark, eagle ray, barracuda, napoleon…etc. However when you reach the eastern side of Selayar, the seas are calm, and currents mild with superb visibility.

Few sites
1) Cape Bira
Outstanding coral reef topography. It is worth diving a couple of times. A huge outcrop at 30 meters at the right time might bring you face to face with 10-20 white tip reef shark.

2) Maramasa
A rock in the middle of the sea, possibility of encountering eagle ray, sharks, and napoleon

3) Pulau Kambing
Amongst one of the best sites in Bira area, it is situated 5 nautical miles south of Bira. Currents can be quite strong at times but also you get to see a lot of pelagic.

4) Pulau Pasi
Located just in front of Selayar, it is a steep slope extending to 28 meters, with excellent coral growth and many species of reef fish

5) Lighthouse
An excellent drop off just in front of the light house in Pulau Pasi, comparable to the drop off of Pulau Kambing.

6) Pantai Kecil
Located just south of Bira’s port, this is a site perfectly suited for macro photographers; Spanish dancer, lion fishes, flat worms, squid, octopus, and all kinds of shells.

7) Selayar Island
Without a doubt, Selayar island which situated 30KM south of Bira, is one of the best sites in the world. The east side of the island which is only accessible from October till May, is especially well suited for diving. Because there are no large rivers flowing out from the island, the visibility is usually good to excellent, sometimes reaching an incredible 50M! When visiting the island each diver is expected to pay Rp 100,000, to help the local government in efforts to protect the island from destructive fishing methods.


5 days 4 nights live-aboard itinerary

1/16/05
Flights from Bali or Jakarta. Airport pick up and transfer with mini bus to Bira, approximately 3 hours. Up to 2 dives if conditions permits.

1/17/05~1/18/05
3-4 dives a day, full board.

1/19/05
On the way back to Bira, 2 dives. Overnight on board.

1/20/05
Minibus transfer to Makassar Airport, en route back to Jakarta or Bali.

Live-aboard CISKA

Year: 1999
Length: 25M
Width: 5.3M
Engine: Mitsubishi 220 HP turbo diesel
Dingy: 2
Fuel: 8000 liters
Max: 12 divers in 6 AC cabins
Cruising speed: 12 knots


Please contact us for more information ASAP as dates are fast approaching.