Diving interlude..... this is the first time I've used any kind of camera while diving. Since I didn't want it to be too distracting, I decided to use a GoPro in video mode. Visibility was typically around 45 to 60 feet, although sometimes less if it had rained the night before. For reference, this is a map of the area:
The large land mass to the East is the mainland of North Sulawesi, the Manado area. Our hotel was located at the white dot on the west side of the island closest to the mainland. Most of the diving in this area is focused around the island of Bunaken, which is known for being home to tons of turtles (both green sea turtles and hawksbill turtles) and also lots of macro life - which basically means small critters like sea horses, shrimp of various kinds, nudibranches, etc.
One of the green sea turtles we saw - this one was probably around 4-5 feet long.
I finally got to see a spotted eagle ray!!!! I've been dying to see these for years. At the time I was filming, I was actually focused on a turtle, but our guide started shouting (underwater) to get my attention so I wouldn't miss it. It was pretty far away but it looked to have a wingspan of maybe 8-10 feet.
One thing you may notice is at the beginning of the video - Bunaken is known for having a sheer wall that drops straight down into the abyss. Cold water from the deep, with tons of nutrients, hits the wall and rises to the surface which attracts tons of marine life. We were really happy to see that all of the coral reefs that we saw were in really great shape.
I still have to go through a ton of footage but I've got to make space on my phone first - hopefully I can do that over the weekend.
