Diving is a very fun sport activity. This activity is not only good for health, but also to calm the mind and inner satisfaction. Borrowing the words of wisdom of a senior diver from Florida, Arthur Hamilton, who said, “You have not seen the world if you have never been diving in the ocean floor.”

Indonesia, this beloved country, is the perfect place for diving. Calculate course, in the Bunaken island nation that lies between two continents and oceans there are more than 17,000 islands of the tip of Sumatra to Papua. Surrounded by a border between the Andaman sea, Singapore, South China Sea, Malaysia and the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and the Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean and Australia. Sea and Ocean! Imagine how Bunaken unlimited sea water to dive!

Exotic dive locations in Indonesia are so many and varied. Starting from the Thousand Islands, Ujung Kulon, Karimun Java, Borneo, Bali and Sumbawa, Komodo, Wakatobi, Bangka, Banda and Flores, Bintan, Makassar, Bunaken, until Raja Ampat in Irian Jaya.

Bunaken

Bunaken Island, located in North Sulawesi, aircraft can be reached directly from Jakarta for 3 hours and 10 minutes. For approximately 15-40 minutes from the outskirts of the city of Manado, North Sulawesi provincial capital by boat motors, past Mount Manado Tua, you can see first hand Bunaken Island which is right next to the island of Siladen. Bunaken Island has a famous national park in the world and an area of ??more than 75,000 acres, divided by 3 percent land and 97 percent of the oceans, including the Bunaken Marine Park.

One of the UK travel magazine in an article titled “World Top 10 Best Dives Destination” crowned Bunaken Marine Park as one of the best diving destinations in the world. The award was not excessive because the Bunaken Marine Park that was inaugurated in 1991 is surrounded by five islands within Bunaken, namely the island of Manado Tua, Bunaken Island, Island Siladen, Mantehage Island, here are some kids his island, and island Naen the total number has 29 point dive (dive spot) is fantastic!

Bunakan: What makes Bunaken special?

Bunaken Island is one of the islands that have marine biodiversity or biodiversity in the world. Bunaken Marine Park itself is a protected marine park because there are a variety of plants and animals are protected for the benefit of fisheries and maritime affairs, and of course tourism.

There are fifty-eight species of coral and 2,000 species of fish in the Bunaken Marine Park. Among fish Gusumi Horse (Hippocampus), OCI White (Seriola rivoliana), Yellow Tail Lolosi (Lutjanus kasmira), grouper (Epinephelus spilotoceps hypselosoma), Ila Gasi (Scolopsis bilineatus), types of mollusks like giant clams (Tridacna gigas), Head of the Goat (Cassis cornuta), hollow nautilus (Nautilus pompillius), and much more. In addition, many rare sea animals that can be found at Bunaken, such as coelacanths, dugongs, whales, dolphins, and turtles.

No time off-seasons, alias anytime can dive in Bunaken. Although according to my own experience, the best time for diving in Bunaken is in May and June. At times like that you will be greeted by a sea water is crystal clear and warm (air temperature 26 degrees Celsius-31 degrees Celsius). Sea water is calm almost no waves and currents, with a visibility of 20 meters-35 meters, allowing me to see clearly the charm of coral reefs and colorful fish with a depth of only 5 meters! The depth of the dive at Bunaken between 5 meters and 40 meters.

Diving in Bunaken is a special journey. See the sights underwater experience quite a lot. We will see and feel how the dive at the site ramps rich coral reefs, fish species such as the “fish Nemo” (clown fish), fish school, and the entourage of colorful fish passing by.

At depths greater than 18 meters, you will feel the experience of diving in the sea cliff (wall diving), as if we are “flying” in the depths of the ocean cliff (drop-off) that seems bottomless. Occasionally be met with a giant turtle that is said to have lived nearly 100 years, manta rays (manta, sting and eagle rays), snapper, grouper, barracuda, napoleon, angel fish, blow fish, blue ribbon eels, lobster, until the sharks!

For the under water photographers in the sure will not be disappointed with the chances of drawing a very spectacular and exciting to be immortalized images of captivating photographs. A friend who works as a professional photographer, Hanny Kandou who also happened to be dive-master to perpetuate our diving at a depth of 20 meters under the sea with the photo equipment is quite complicated. However, the photo is getting very dramatic. Ria berpotret fun in the sea, can forget the anxiety and fear.

Learning to dive in Bunaken

I still remember the first time diving. At that time I was on vacation in Bunaken with a friend of mine, Agnes. Because can not dive, I had to content himself with snorkeling; sport recreational floating on the surface of the water that comes masks and frog legs I have done in recent years.

That time visibility under the sea quite clear. Approximately 5 meters from the surface of the water, I could see Agnes, who was diving with Hanny. Agnes freely play with the fish Nemo comes just like my snorkeling equipment! Agnes looks to buddy-breathing with a breathing technique, which is borrowed regulator or a respirator from Hanny. It was delicious to him, do not bother carrying a heavy air tube, he was diving without a load.

From there, I was interested to try diving. My desperation made me accept the challenge of Hanny that only equip me a crash course for 15 minutes. I was taught three important things: first, how to breathe using the regulator. Breathing through the mouth, in a way so as not biting off the plastic regulator.

Secondly, there are two buttons that are connected in BC (buoyancy control, a kind of air-filled vest) that need attention. Inflating and deflating button button. Inflating the button to fill air into the BC so that the body becomes so light that the body will float up to the surface water, while deflating button is used to deflate the air in BC so that the body becomes heavy and slowly the body will “sink” into the water.

The last thing that was taught sign language. Because in the water we can not talk, then the only way to communicate is with sign language, which cues the thumb and forefinger forming the letter “O” means “in the circumstances we are okay, good; then using a hand gesture that moved horizontally to the left and to the right, which means “we are in a state is not good; nervousness, panic, dizziness, etc.”; and a third signal that is “RCTI okay” which moved up and down, which means “I want to ride!”

So I always smiled when he saw two private television ad with a thumbs-up in the water that states “RCTI okay”, which means the diver sign language is “RCTI want to ride!”

Armed with these three short of knowledge, I ventured to direct a dive! An unforgettable experience when I see the coral reefs and hundreds of fish at a depth of four feet made me almost forget to breathe! If you remember that experience, I feel very stupid because a year later I took a dive course and dive instructor I teach classes with one question, namely “What are the consequences of diving?” with the answer to a landslide that is, “Dead!” I should not do the dive with only a crash course in that time! Whew!

Sport scuba diving or underwater breathing apparatus sets contained a fairly dangerous sport indeed. However, if we know how to dive is good and true, then this event is very exciting. Official institutions in Indonesia there is Sports Center Diving Indonesia (POSSI), the Confederation Mondiale des Activities Subaquatiques (CMAS) Italian Professional Association Diving Instructors (PADI), Scuba Diving International, and several other diving agencies.

I take a dive course for five days (two days of theory and practice three days) to obtain an open water dive certificate from the National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI). I was taught the basic knowledge and technical diving. I also learned about scuba gear, dive knowledge, self-rescue efforts and how to practice safe and comfortable diving, is equally important is learning how to be a diver who is responsible for the environment.

In Bunaken Marine Park, are still seen some rubbish on the surface of the water. It’s a normal thing when diving I often pick up trash cans or plastic beverage stuck on the reef and took him to the ship. Activities prohibited by local governments and Nature Conservation in Bunaken is fishing, felling trees and damaging marine ecosystems with a fine of up to Rp 2 million and a maximum of 10 years in prison. Hopefully this can be the official rules obeyed by locals, especially for the visitors.

Within two days of theory, I was taught about the schedule of dives, depth and dive time, like the example at a depth of 21 meters with a time of immersion for 40 minutes, decompression stop, or when we have to stop some time when we’re finished diving and rising to the surface water, techniques and other serious diving. The course ends with a dive theory exams that must be met before proceeding to practice.

Within three days of practice that was held in the pool, I was trained how to breathe in water using a regulator and also put up his own diving equipment properly. Yummy in Indonesia, divers are pampered with a dive-master is ready to help pair the scuba gear to us so that divers stay down and dive.

On the second day, at the bottom of the lake, I was taught a technique cleansing mask, buddy-breathing as did Agnes with her dive buddy, and reassemble the diving equipment that accidentally released at a depth of eight meters. Well actually a little scared, but luckily I managed to do it with good practice. The third day is the practice of diving on the high seas, including how to jump from the ship, how to overcome panic, and how to dive with the current flow and self rescue techniques in the water. Exciting is not it?

Another important thing to note is that we should be in good health such as free asthma, heart disease, epilepsy, and diabetes, as well as mentally healthy, and throw away a sense of panic and thoughts of all sorts. Can not swim? Do not worry. If you think you can not dive because they could not swim, you are mistaken. Instead if you can “sink”, then you can dive! Let the limit of slowly rising sea water through your mask and your body slowly sinking from the surface of the sea, and still breathe normally! Furthermore, a lifetime of wonderful experiences await you!

Diving can provide the most incredible feeling I’ve ever felt and that I will relive forever. Ready to try? Let’s plunge into the sea and see the beauty of the natural world under the sea!