Diver UK – July 2019

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I don’t think it resides there, but was

perhaps picked up from red algae as the

nudibranch brushed past.

Passengers on echinoderms also extend

to featherstars or crinoids. Their

commensal

shrimps and

squat

lobsters are usually well camouflaged to

match the bristly fronds of their hosts, but

occasionally we find one out of sync, such

as a yellow shrimp on a black crinoid, or

a black-and-white-striped squat lobster

parked at an angle, so that the stripes are

not lined up with the markings on its

black-and-white crinoid host.

The various warty nudibranchs are

common, so not that exciting, but how

about one working its way along the nose

of a lurking crocodilefish?

W

HILE MY INTERESTat Sali Bay is in

the macro, we do see other stuff:

healthy reefs with litter a rarity and a good

selection of reef fish, moray eels, lionfish,

triggerfish, snapper, sweetlips, bumphead

parrotfish, shoals of trevally, amberjack,

sharks, eagle rays and turtles.

It’s just that macro is where the dives

here really grab me. Finding the next

critter is exciting.

Unsurprisingly, my week finishes

having seen no divers other than those at

the resort, no other day dive-boats, no

liveaboards and barely any boats at all,

except for the little wooden runabouts the

villagers use like mopeds.

Near-virgin diving at its best.

nudibranch is as cool as emperor shrimps

get. The tiny purple blob of a passenger on

the dusky white side of dark margin

glossodoris is at the extreme.

I have to zoom in on an already close

photograph to 1:1 pixels before I can

distinguish the legs and carapace of a

purple creepy-crawly I can’t identify.

FACTFILE

GETTING THEREJohn Liddiard

flew with KLM via Schiphol to

Jakarta, then Lion Air and Wings Air to

Manado and on to Labuha. Transfer to Sali

Bay is then 30 minutes by bus and 60

minutes by speedboat.

DIVING & ACCOMMODATIONSali Bay

Resort, salibayresort.com

WHEN TO GOOctober through to May are

the best – stronger winds and choppy seas

are most likely in July and August.

MONEYIndonesian rupiah

PRICESA 10-nights, 16-dive package with

full board at Sali Bay including flights and

transfers costs from £3345pp with Dive

Worldwide. An overnight stopover might

be required, diveworldwide.com

VISITOR INFORMATIONindonesia.travel

CRITTER DIVER

Above, clockwise from

top left: Crinoid shrimp;

crinoid squat lobster; seastar

shrimp; Emperor shrimp on a

crested Nembrotha

nudibranch; barrel sponges;

ornate ghost pipefish.

divErNEt.com