What’s Happening Free! Autumn 2008 | Volume 15, Issue 1 Tourism Information For North Sulawesi Volume 15, Issue I To Our Visitors contents Autumn 2008 Well here we are again looking back over our high season and from what diving bunaken Bunaken National Park Management: I can tell, we were all pretty busy. I New Management, New Spirit The Bunaken National Park tourist are required to pay Rp.50,000 joint patrols by villagers, ranger and hope that is a good thing but time Aussie Adventures Management Advisory each time the enter the Park – that’s police have been effective in ending Board (DPTNB) is a multi- about US$7 – or they also have the destructive fishing practices such as option to purchase a “Park Tag” for blast and cyanide fishing and other stakeholder organization, Rp150,000 (US$17) – this is an annual illegal activities such as mangrove will tell if our reefs and facilities can designed to represent as in North Sulawesi pass which gives unlimited entries to cutting and capture of endangered many as possible of the the Park till the end of that calendar wildlife like turtles and dugongs, but different groups who are year. these patrols have a huge monetary sustain the additional numbers of involved in the management Since August 1, a new broom has cost attached to them. It is hoped that been sweeping clean at the Park’s our local government will be able to In April 2007, my and use of this incredibly Secretariat. Mrs. Angelique Batuna- assist the Secretariat in seeking funding partner and I spent valuable natural resource, Charlton was appointed as interim from their own annual budget. persons visiting North Sulawesi. two fantastic weeks diving with Odyssea page 13 Divers around Northern A couple of hints to make sure that Sulawesi. Over the past couple of years we the next time you return things will have travelled to many international technology diving destinations (such as Papua New Guinea, East Timor, Solomon be even better that you experienced Islands) and the diving around A Vet’s Lembeh and Bunaken Marine Park was the best that we had encountered. It was absolute heaven this time: for anyone interested in critters and Approach to Macro some of the dives sites were like • Please pay your BUNAKEN page 3 ENTRANCE FEE of Rp. 150,000 live-aboard • Please don’t wear gloves when you are diving Ocean Rover A newcomer to North Sulawesi waters, the Ocean Rover, a purpose built luxury live-aboard is a brand new boat operated by one of the • Maintain good buoyancy, if you’re This summer Manfred & Claudia Hochleitner returned to KBR for their 10th most experienced teams in the business. Sedona Manado HPH 3/8/07 4:48 PM Page 5 visit. They both run a thriving vets clinic in CViennaM Y CM AustriaMY CY CMY Kas well as doing a taking photos, watch your position lot of work with Gorillas in Rwanda. Built in Phuket and launched in August 2000, she commenced opera- Their work is not only confined to ani- pictures was quite a big hit. with them an endoscope to test out tions in December 2000 and pas- mals. Manfred and Claudia have also The last 2 years has seen them both on our house reef. Endoscopes are relative to the coral and try not to sengers confirm she is everything we set up and help finance a much need- leave their photo cameras at home normally used to look inside the in- hoped she would be. ed orphanage in Rwanda. Their coffee and embark on a series of underwa- ternal organs of animals and humans book, Underwater Universe, featuring ter film projects for German Television all of their underwater photography ...continued to page 17 come into contact with it Ocean Rover was designed for and on their latest visit they brought comfortable and safe offshore diving. Her thick steel hull is 100ft/30m long and 24ft/8m wide. She is powered by three Hino V10 420 Hp diesel engines, • Please take your batteries home driving three propellers for extra page 15 safety. Her cruising speed is 10 knots and the top speed 12,5, allowing us to visit many far-flung dive sites in with you one single cruise. Ocean Rover takes a maximum of sixteen passengers in eight cabins gorontalo • Hang your towels up so you can which are all located on the main and Eating Your Way upper deck. Six cabins feature and have large double beds with single The huge dive-deck has several camera tables and rinse tanks. Care has been upper berths and large panoramic taken to ensure that photographers have safe places to put down their expen- sive cameras just before and after the dive. Ocean Rover’s unique feature is the through use them for more than one day windows. The two forward cabins feature wide upper and lower berths “Whale-deck”, the lower section of the dive deck which slopes down to the Gorontalo and have dual portholes. All cabins waterline allowing for optimum ease of diving operations. Many visitors travel through Gorontalo on the way to the Togean Islands or have private bathrooms, individually controlled air-conditioning and lots The spacious salon offers a comfortable dining and sitting arrangement, fully spend days exploring Gorontalo’s fantastic marine environment. But visitors • Don’t throw rubbish into the sea or soon discover that one of their favorite activities here is, well, eating. All the onto the ground – put it in a bin page 6 ingredients are fresh. Local prices are extremely reasonable. Composite • Don’t drink from plastic bottles - manado use a water dispenser Culinary Experiences • Tell your dive operator about any in environmental destruction you’ve Manado When you land in Manado you will notice churches. You will also note witnessed; ask them to report it to that every stretch of road has quite a few ‘Restaurant’ signs as well. At any budget you can always find a place to sit down and fill your the authorities empty stomach. Talking about food in Manado, “people in the know”, remember Woku Blanga, a dish with a special blend of various spices and page 19 Tinutuan a mixture of soft rice, corn • Eat only sustainable ish species and vegetables. Other Manadonese food such as Bakar Rica, Tinorangsak, Pangi, Sayur paku or other dishes cooked in bam- • Only dive with environmentally boo are usually found in Minahasan restaurants. Extra ordinary meals such as RW (dog), Paniki (bat) and Kawok vilage responsible dive operators, such (forest rat) can also can spice up your culinary experience if you are brave. Manado, differing from its neighboring seafood restaurants, it offers a warm To fulfill the growing needs of visitors friendly ambiance architecturally as well, as service with a smile. Sitting in a as NSWA and locals alike for new culinary expe- cozy wooden gazebo with a traditional palm leaf roof combined with a stun- riences in Manado, about a year ago, ning view of Manado Bay, you can enjoy your food and surroundings with your Sweet Basil Thai Restaurant emerged friends or family. in a suburb of Manado, Kalasey, about Pulutan Pottery 9 Km from downtown. It’s the first You can choose your meal from the menu or just sit back and let Sweet Basil So enjoy and by helping us with authentic Thai food restaurant in provide you with their package that costs, Rp. 258,500 for 4 people. If you need Village Repositioned or… these few small ideas, you will be page 9 I remember about ten years ago, I first went to the doing your part to make sure that village of Pulutan in the Minahasan Highlands. North Sulawesi is great destination light to return to, the next time you are looking for a safe, clean and beautiful vacation spot in SE Asia. Sampai Jumpa Lagi (see you again) Sepang, Selangor– The leading and largest low-cost carrier in Asia, AirAsia is set to commence its inaugural flight with three direct weekly flights to Manado on 12th September 2008. Jointly, Manado is the low-cost carri- er’s 15th destination and AirAsia is the first international airline to service the route from Kuala Lumpur. Presently, Best regards, AirAsia is the leading airline which champions the air connectivity from Kuala Lumpur to an extensive route Jeremy H Barnes page 11 page 21 Editor: What’s Happening www.manadosafaris.com Special thanks to [email protected] Sekretariat WOC & WWF Tel: (+ 62431) 857637 for their support of this tourism publication. Design & Layout: Josaphat S ([email protected]) Cover Photo Mobile: +6281340087925 Cover shot of Manado Printed by: Percetakan Ofset Manado Tua was taken by Jan Tel. +62 (0) 431 862475, 852003 Ebbing, with a Canon 500 in May 2007 at the jetty of Thalassa North Sulawesi Tourism Information Dive Center What’s Happening diving Aussie Adventures in North Sulawesi In April 2007, my partner and I spent two fantastic weeks diving with Odyssea Divers around Northern Sulawesi. Over the past couple of years we have travelled to many international diving destinations (such as Papua New Guinea, East Timor, Solomon Islands) and the diving around Lembeh and Bunaken Marine Park was the best that we had encountered. It was absolute heaven for anyone interested in critters and some of the dives sites were like visiting a zoo underwater! Volume 15, Issue 1 Autumn 2008 3 On our return to Australia, we made our dive buddies incredibly jealous with our pics of the beautiful coral reefs around Bunaken and the weird critters of Lembeh Strait and after some relentless pestering we decided to organise a group trip.