Gone diving

The start of a week-long dive trip in North Sulawesi!

After a ridiculously early 0500 flight from Jakarta to Manado (up at 0300) on Lion Air (= no leg room, WHATSOEVER, but cheap) we are on our way to our first dive resort: Blue Bay Divers.

Blue Bay lies on the northern tip of North Sulawesi, on its own tiny island, just to east of the larger Bangka Island. There are 7 beach cabins (so max 14 people) and they have three dive boats, so never more than 6 on a boat and 4 to a guide.

We actually visited in August 2011 for 4 days and enjoyed it so much that we had to come back. They are one of a two of dive operators in a the area, so you practically have the whole coastline around Bangka Island to a explore yourself, so are always the only divers at a site. The diving is a mixture of coral walls, slopes and sandy slopes.

This will also be the second dive trip (first was in February) with my new underwater camera system (Olympus XZ-1 + Sea&Sea YS-01 strobe), so looking forward to get more accustomed to it over the coming days.

After 5 days of diving with Blue Bay, we transfer over to Lembeh for a couple of days of muck diving. : )