Raja Ampat, a district in Papua – Indonesia gives serious attention for its tourism. It has strength in the maritime and is supported by  natural richness, cultural interest, and the unique of its art.  For its 7th anniversary, the local government via tourism information center announces the Maritime Festival (Festival Bahari) on May 2 to 9, 2010. Waisai is the town chosen to carry out the festival.

In this event, some activities performed such as underwater photo contest, paddle boat race, diving, beach volley ball tournament, and cultural attraction from the local people and participants from other regency like Wakatobi.
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Raja Ampat Tourist Information Center explains that the local people will perform its traditional boat which is used to sail the ocean. Furthermore, they will show their custom to consume mangrove fruits. Many attraction that had not been performed will be shown for the first time to surprise the tourists.

Raja Ampat photo from www.gorajaampat.com

Waisai, that is about 3 hours boating from Sorong, has no accommodation for tourists yet. But, the government will provide live aboard as floating hotels to accommodate the visitors.

Raja Ampat photo from www.gorajaampat.com

Raja Ampat Maritime Festival is planned to be annual event to increase visitors. Currently,there are some festivals in Papua such as Festival Lembah Baliem in Wamena – Jayawijaya, Festival Asmat, Festival Kamoro in Timika, and Festival Danau Sentani (Sentani Lake Festival) in Jayapura.

diving photo by wonder_lick

Indonesia is an archipelago country that consists of thousand of islands which have beauty in the underwater world that are worthy to be destinations of diving holidays. From Weh Island to Mearuke, the islands have their own characteristic of the underwater world. Here are the 8 best diving place to be visited during your travel in Indonesia.

1. Weh Island, Aceh
It has 20 diving spots which are possible for night dive. Ibioh is the fishermen village that is used as the base camp for every tourists who will dive there. The spots are achievable by boat for about 30 minutes. The best place is Batee Meudoro, about one hour from Weh. Here, e may see sharks, viz, big pelagic, Scorpion fish, leaffish, lion fish, and blue spotted rays.
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2. Alor, Nusa Tenggara Timur
Diving Holidays in Alor would be great as it has 40 spots offer beautiful scenery. species that we may see are sunfish, orca (‘killer whale – dolphins that swim in group), pegasus sea moths, devil fish, mimic octopus, and the beautiful ornate sea horse.

3. Bontang, East Kalimantan
The diving is at Beras Basah, Segajah, and Selangan. The most interesting thing in Beras Basah is that its beach’s sand changes according to the season and winds, the manta rays, and turtles.
In Segajah is only seen on low tide. It is about 20 minutes from Bontang Kuala.
Selangan is a fisherman village for tourism attraction which has healthy corals.

4. Tarakan, East Kalimantan
Except those above location, East Kalimantan still has Derawan, Samama, Sangalaki, Maratua, and Panajang. The most famous place is Derawan which has magnificent coral and rare species. Species that are commonly seen are manta, scaled turtles, belimbing turtles, sea cows, and jelly fish. In addition, it has various crabs.

5. Lombok, Nusa Tenggara Barat
Lombok has three spots which are Gili Air, Gili Trawangan, and Gili Meno. Gili Air has the most complete species like sharks, eagle ray, manta rays, and turtles.

6. Sorowako, South Sulawesi
One of the most interesting diving point is Karang Tengah. Here, your holiday will be unforgettable. To go to the place we have to ‘fight’ the wave of Bone Gulf. Soft and hard corals form beautiful underwater park. In addition, we would see white tip reef sharks swim across the divers.
Another place in Sorowako is Mangkasa point to see ‘nemo’,
rainbow eyes, parrot fish, and spotted stingray fish.

7. Wakatobi, South East Sulawesi
The world’s famous point is Wakatobi which has location like coral garden, House Reef, Cornucopia, and Roma. The most recomended are Cornucopia, and Roma.
At Cornucopia we would see beautiful coral fishes, white tip sharks, eagle rays, mobula rays, and nurse sharks.
At Roma which is recognized as the world’s best diving holidays we would see fusilier, red-tooth triggerfish, banded sea snakes and many more.
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8. Bunaken, North Sulawesi
Bunaken has 70 percents of the fishes of west Pacific. The points are Black Rock, Depan Kampung, Lekuan, Tanjung Kopi, Bunaken Timur, Fukui Point, and Mandolin Point. The most recomended are Depan Kampung, Tanjung Kopi, and Mandolin Point. Those have calm wave and great view so that beginner divers may dive there.

Taka Bonerate National Park is located at South Sulawesi. It has the third largest coral atoll in the world after the Kwajifein in Marshall Islands and Suvadiva in Moldiva Islands. Size of the atoll is approximately 220,000 hectares, with coral reef scattered flat of 500 km² width. The atoll creates the best underwater view so that diving or snorkeling is a must activity to be done.

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The topography of the area is very unique and interesting, where the atoll consists of group of islands, reef islands and coral averaging a broad and deep, forming islands with considerable amounts. Among the islands reef, there are narrow straits that are deep and steep. While on the surface of coral, there are many small pools that are deep and surrounded by coral reefs. At lowest tide, clearly visible the dry land interspersed with puddles that formed small pools.

Plants located in coastal areas dominated by the coconut (Cocos nucifera), sea pandanus (Pandanus sp.), Sea pine (Casuarina equisetifolia), and ketapan (Terminalia catappa).

Coral reefs are already identified as many as 261 species from 17 families including Pocillopora, Montipora danae, palifera Acropora, Porites cylindrica, Pavona clavus, Fungia concinna, and others. Most coral species have been formed atoll reefs (barrier reef) and reef edge (fringing reef).

There are approximately 295 species of reef fish and many kinds of consumption fishes such as grouper (Epinephelus spp.), Skipjack (Katsuwonus spp.), Napoleon wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus), and baronang (Siganus sp.).

A total of 244 types of mollusks including lola (Trochus niloticus), goat’s head shell (Cassis cornuta), triton (Charonia tritonis), batulaga (Turbo spp.), Clam shell (Tridacna squamosa), pearl oysters (Pinctada spp.), And the hollow nautilus (Nautilus pompillius).

The types of turtles were recorded, including hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), green turtle (Chelonia mydas), and the cracked turtle (Dermochelys coriacea).

The best year to visit: April to June and October to December each year. All that can be done at 15 islands in the Taka Bonerate National Park are diving, snorkeling, and other marine tourism.

Diving at Takabonerate photo by ben_wayan

How to reach the location:
Use bus from Makassar to Bulukumba (153 km) with five hours travel time, and then to the port by ferry Pamatata Selayar about two hours, which continued into the Benteng around 1.5 hours. From the Benteng to the nearby island of Rajuni Kecil using wooden ship about five hours.

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Wakatobi National Park has potential marine natural resources that are both valuable and unique species, with stunning underwater panorama. This amazing place is worth to visit among travel destinations in Indonesia. The location is precisely at Banda Sea, Southeast Sulawesi (Celebes).

When doing scuba diving we’ll see that the sea bottom is flat and slope, but there are some areas that steeply sloping. Water depth varies, the deepest reaches 1044 meters with a sandy and rocky bottom.

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This national park has 25 clusters of coral reefs spreading around the atoll along 600 km. It consists of more than 112 species from 13 families of corals including Acropora formosa, A. Hyacinthus, Psammocora profundasafla, Pavona cactus, Leptoseris yabei, Fungia molucensis, Lobophyllia robusta, Merulina ampliata, Platygyra versifora, Euphyllia glabrescens, Tubastraea frondes, Stylophora pistillata, Sarcophyton throchelliophorum, and Sinularia spp. The collection has made it as a place for research and beautiful recreational diving.

Clown Fish at Wakatobi photo by Neurolyse

Wakatobi National Park owns fish species richness as many as 93 species. The locals use fishes for consumption and sell them as ornamental fishes such as spotted argus (Cephalopholus argus), takhasang (naso unicornis), pogo-pogo (Balistoides viridescens), napoleon (Cheilinus undulatus), red fish (Lutjanus biguttatus ), baronang (Siganus guttatus), Amphiprion melanopus, Chaetodon specullum, Chelmon rostratus, Heniochus acuminatus, Lutjanus monostigma, Caesio caerularea, and many more.

In addition, there are several types of sea birds such as brown geese (Sula leucogaster plotus), cerek melayu (Charadrius peronii), raja udang erasia (Alcedo atthis); also there are three common types of sea turtles that land on the islands like Eretmochelys imbricata, Caretta caretta, and Lepidochelys olivacea.

Indigenous peoples who live around the park or the ocean called Bajau tribe. The tribe still have traditional boating culture. Seeing their lives everyday is interesting and unique, especially when diving into the sea without scuba diving equipment to spear the fish.

Hoga Island (Resort Kaledupa), Island Binongko (Resort Binongko) and Resort Tamia are travel destinations with attracting nature to visit, especially for recreational diving, snorkeling, marine tourism, swimming, camping, and cultural tourism. Those Islands are belong to Indonesia.

The best year to visit: April to June and October to December each year.

Snorkeling at Wakatobi photo by wa2n_twin

How to reach the location:
From Kendari to Bau Bau using regular speedboat twice daily with a five-hour long trip or 12 hours trip with a timber boat. From Bau-bau to Lasalimu ride four-wheeled vehicle for two hours, then using speedboat to Wanci for an hour or using timber boat for 2.5 hours. Wanci is the first gate into the Wakatobi National Park area.
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Bunaken offers fantastic underwater world where scuba diving is best done on the spots around the island. Places that give wonderful view are at Batu Lohang at Manado Tua Island, Ron’s Point, Sachiko and Lekuan at the Bunaken, and Siladen Island. Read more to see the diving in Bunaken video.


Scuba diving in Bunaken video by Bubblevision

Batu Lohang
We can find an amazing view of coral on Batu Lohang. Collection of hard corals to form small hills are very beautiful. These location is included in the Bunaken National Park.
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It is recorded there are 13 genera of corals living in waters of Bunaken National Park, dominated by the edge of coral reef species and coral reef barrier, but Derawan may has bigger collection. The most interesting is the vertical cliffs as far as 25-50 meters.

Ron’s Point, Sachiko and Lekuan
Different view is found at Ron’s Point, Sachiko and Lekuan where more living fishes are swimming across our eyes. Here we may find green turtles, sharks and a host of smaller marine life.

Approximately 91 species of fish found in the waters of Bunaken National Park, including fish gusumi horse (Hippocampus horse), white oci (Seriola rivoliana), yellow tail lolosi (Lutjanus Kasmira), goropa (Pseudanthias Ephinephelus spilotoceps hypselosoma), Ila gasi (Scolopsis bilineatus) , and others. Types of mollusks like giant clam (Tridacna gigas), goat head (Cassis cornuta), nautilus (Nautilus pompillius), and tunikates / ascidian.

Bunaken snorkeling photo by imey0106

Siladen
Siladen is the place that many divers won’t get bored. Colorful corals, fishes and mollusks are at the best appearance to see. Don’t worry, there are many places to rent the diving equipment, and they provide professional diving guides.

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Indonesia is an archipelago country with beautiful under water view, it is the diving paradise of the world. A place that is newly developed namely Derawan Island is a diving spot among other diving vacation places. This island is located at Berau Regency, East Kalimantan (Borneo).

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There is not direct flight to Derawan yet. The flight is made from Jakarta to Balikpapan. From Balikpapan, take smaller plane tu Tanjung Redep, the capital of Berau. From here, travelers should take speed boat that will take about an hour to get to Derawan. During the trip, we will see ‘bagan tancap’, a stage on the sea made from bamboo, that are used by fisherman to capture fishes.

The Best Diving Spot

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Underwater view is the reason why people dive to the deep of the sea. Fortunately, Derawan and its neighbor Islands give the best of it. For the distinct experience, people is willing to travel to this place. Regarding with biological species, Derawan is the second richest after Raja Ampat at Papua. Narrow sea allows us to enjoy its bottom by snorkel. Snorkeling is fun, about 100 meters from the shore we’ll see magnificent views. the equipment can be rented for about Rp. 50,000 (US$5) per day.

When diving here, we’ll see many species of fishes. Researches note there are 347 species of coral fishes; 222 species of mollusk ; 27 species of crustacea; 183 species of corals; green turtle (Chelonia mydas), Eretmochelys imbricata,  dugong fish (Dugong dugori) and many more. The diving equipment can be rented for just Rp. 400,000 (US$40) per day.

Diving
The main attraction on Karimunjawa Islands is the show of the beautiful underwater world. The underwater world has 274 colorful fish species and 133 interesting genera of aquatic fauna. It just becomes a new alternative of diving in Indonesia. Although all islands have beautiful view, but Tengah and Sintok islands are the most attractive.

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Dive Wreck
At Kemojan Island, the divers can fulfill their diving holidays by observing a ship wreck, Indonoor, a Dutch coal carrier ship drowned on 1947. The dive wreck is giving a new experience which may not be found anywhere else. It’s just the perfect house of fishes like Butterfly fish and Napoleon and also the perfect habitat for corals. Since the local fishermen believe the place is eerie, fishes at the wreck are bigger than those at the other location.

Snorkeling and other
Due to good water visibility, snorkeling is also possible to work on. For those who have no courage to dive, snorkeling is the best solution. Besides snorkeling, visitors may also watch shark and sea turtles in a pool at Menjangan Island.

How to get there?
To get to Karimunjawa, ther are two possibilities. The first is by plane from Ahmad Yani Airport Semarang to Dewa Daru Airport Karimunjawa, this will take less than one hour. The second is by ship from Tanjung Muria Jepara. The speed boat will take you about 4 hours while the economy ferry will take about 6 hours.

Where to stay?
Don’t be afraid, there are so many homestays and hotels, just choose the cheap or expensive one.