Excursion to Sangalaki
ENA new little film for lovers of manta rays ... I finally got down to editing my videos, brought back from Sangalaki ! This small Indonesian island, located off Borneo, is part of the Derawan archipelago, where I stayed for ten days last July.
Video: Sangalaki's manta rays
Mantas are easy to observe and almost guaranteed in Sangalaki! Both on the surface with fins-mask-tuba, and underwater while diving.
They are the big attraction of the area, with the turtles of Derawan and non-irritating jellyfish from Kakaban.
Excursion to Sangalaki
Well, obviously, Sangalaki is a bit the end of the world. To have the chance to observe these marvels, it is better to have some time in front of you...
The easiest way is to stay on the neighboring island of Derawan, as I did (there are many guesthouses to cheap in the village), and to organize a day trip to Sangalaki, by renting a boat.
There used to be a very chic and expensive resort on Sangalaki itself, but it is closed and abandoned.
On the island, there are only monitor lizards hiding in the bushes, and a few guards, who take your name in their register when you come ashore for a picnic, between two dives. They live in a building at the back of the resort, and take care of a small WWF conservation center for turtles, as in Derawan.
Sangalaki maps
To locate Sangalaki, some maps below. Starting with a Google Map for a global view:
Display Sangalaki on a larger map
The location of islands and dive sites, found on LombokMarine.com (attention, on this site, the information concerning the accommodations are not up to date, in particular on the resort of Sangalaki, now closed):
And this one, very precise, for the different islands of the archipelago, borrowed from the excellent site Starfish.ch :
Sangalaki on Small Bubbles of Elsewhere
Finally, on this blog, the different posts where I already talked about Sangalaki :
► Mantas and nudibranchs
► The mantas rays of Sangalaki
► Dreams of mantas
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@Guilhem: The beginning of the video shows the PMT images. Next, sub images. We came across the black ray while diving. From a little too far away, alas... It was enormous!!!! 😮
I tried to fin all the way to get closer, but you can imagine that she was going way faster than me... 😡
Snorkeling or diving for the last black stingray?! 😯 😯 😯
Nannnnnnnnnnn! really?! 😀
😉 it's so beautiful!!!
@Guilhem: I see monsieur has already tried, with his little webbed legs, to chase a manta... 😀
@Manta: As you say (sigh)... 🙄
Your video is a cut-stress.
thank you! I really needed it...
Manta rays are my friends !!
kisses
Hi Corinne,
Here is another beautiful video, what talent ... ❗
Thank you for this little moment of contemplation 🙄
That's it, you've won again, I want to see real Mantas now.
Really cool video, thanks again 😉
See you soon Corinne, 8)
Sawadee krap Corinne,
What beautiful relaxing images, moments of serenity.
Always a pleasure to visit your place of expression
cordially
Obeo
I'm not particularly fond of manta rays, but I do love the islands! Did you go to Derawan just for the diving?
Ahh yes it's so beautiful. Thank you for sharing these beautiful images and the stories that go with them. I never tire of visiting your site. Quick question: did you shoot the video of the mantas with your canon powershot A95 camera? Do you use a filter?
Good bubbles ...
@Audrey: I'm delighted that my underwater wonders have an anti-stress effect! What could be more soothing than the "flight" of mantas... To see again and again without moderation!
😉
@Alain: What's more, once you've seen mantas once, all you want to do is see them again! This video is just a glimpse. I sincerely hope you'll have the opportunity, one day, to admire these graceful giants "in real life"...
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@ Voyageurasie / Obeo: Sawatdi kaaaah! "Serenity", yes, it's a word that goes well with the manta show. It's also a pleasure for me to share these underwater emotions.
🙂
@Helene from Mauritius: I'll be back to talk about Derawan Island itself in a future post... I love islands, too. I wanted to discover this small archipelago both for the diving, knowing that there were exceptional things to admire there (turtles in Derawan, mantas in Sangalaki, jellyfish in Kakaban), but also because these islands are little-known, off the beaten track. The few traveller's reports I'd read on the subject had made my mouth water... In general, I like to combine diving with "terrestrial" discoveries.
😀
@Chianti: Yes, I'm still shooting my underwater videos with my little Powershot A95... I don't use the orange filter, so the images are very blue. I'll have to try tinkering with a filter, just to see. But I risk losing a lot of luminosity. In the meantime, I'm glad I'm still able to share my underwater discoveries. Thank you for your note, I hope you'll continue to enjoy browsing through my Petites Bulles with the same pleasure in future posts!
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I confirm, a manta it goes very very fast!
incidentally, I often see people asking questions about the equipment used. Personally, for the manta video in the other topik, I used a Sanyo HD2000 with an "Epoque" housing and no filters. Color balancing is automatic. The housing can be found for 250€ on the Internet if you look hard enough. The rendering is not too bad for something "quickly done".
The caisson has positive buoyancy, so we dangle the camera at the end of a rope and two carabiners like a small helium balloon at the funfair 😀
More mantas ...
You make a fixation my word !!
When will a blog: http://petitesmantasdailleurs.fr 😆
For your blue images, no need for red filter
On the Canon A95, there's a personalized white balance for photo and video mode. All you have to do is focus underwater on a white or, better still, gray plate. Your buddy's aluminum block also works very well, and sometimes results in some funny photos:
http://alimata.free.fr/images/Temp/LoBalancedesblancs.JPG
@Guilhem: 😉
@Alimata: Well, mantas are completely overrated, you know... 😆
Otherwise, I don't really like underwater white balance... as soon as you change depth or light conditions, it gives strange results with zarb colors... I don't think you can do white balance for video mode on the A95. I'll check again...
After the World Festival of Underwater Pictures, this makes a good transition for me. The half-turn of the fish followed by the duck (the first few seconds) is a graceful, hydrodynamic sequence!
These are beautiful pictures that remind me of my dives in the Malaysian islands ... the mantas in less ... what luck!
Don't forget to find the latest Water Seekers these days... your slug is gorgeous! And I checked personally... there's no mistake in your name! 😆
marco lepoulpe:
bah what are you doing here!!! you're deserting my blog??? ah ah ah
Corinne... meet my "often" dive buddy and "master"... he loves slugs too!!!! 😆
@marco lepoulpe: Yes, I put it at the very beginning on purpose, that graceful volte... I'm glad you liked it!
😉
@Anthony: This blog is well frequented, I see... 🙄
I can't seem to find "Chercheurs d'eau" in Rennes. I'll have to wait for the digital PDF version...
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