Indonesia: Sulawesi - July 2010
Dear English-speaking readers, this page is an automatic translation of an article originally written in French. I apologise for any strange sentences and funny mistakes that may have resulted. If you read French, click on the French flag below to access the original, correct text:
Français
Three years later my first trip to SulawesiHere I am back in this part of Indonesia that made such a strong impression on me. First step of this new journey: the small island of Bangka, in the north of Sulawesi.
Murex Bangka Beach
I just spent a week at Bangka Island. A week to dive and forget the rest of the world.
How can you not let go, in such a beautiful place?
This is the beach of Murex Bangka Resort, the day of my arrival (not to be confused with their other resort on Sulawesi itself).
When I saw the color of the water and the cute beach, I said to myself that I had chosen very well my drop-off point, for a soft acclimatization...
😀
There are a handful of simple wooden bungalows (with air-conditioning, provided that the generator deigns to start), a small diving center that houses the equipment, a compressor to fill the tanks, a large room that serves as a restaurant and, at the back, the barracks where the staff lives.
Calm and voluptuousness
There are only two other customers when I arrive, two very nice young Dutch people.
The staff is very attentive, they carry my big bag to the bungalow I was assigned, I just have to settle down and enjoy. Blissfully.
Everything was very easy to get to this point. I had organized things in advance, by exchanging e-mails with Murex.
A guy was there as expected waiting for me at the airport in Manado, with the inevitable little sign with my name on it. He put me in a pick-up truck for about an hour drive to Surabaya Beach, a black sand beach on the northern tip of Sulawesi.
The time still to load the supplies for the resort on the boat, to get me in, a half-hour crossing, and here ...
I'm glad I opted for MurexI was very happy with this trip, after various opinions gleaned here and there on divers' and travelers' forums. The dive sites around Bangka are really top (sub pictures will come in a next post), the welcome was great. And it is one of the few dive-centers of the corner (the only one?) held exclusively by Indonesians.
On Bangka itself, there are only two other resorts for the moment, to my knowledge: the Blue Bay Divers (German management) and the Mimpi Indah (where I plan to spend a week at the end of my stay, run by an Indo-Dutch couple).
We are really far from everything. The cell phone passes, but there is no internet.
In terms of entertainment and distractions, there is just one lousy TV for those who want to follow the World Cup matches. Magazines and books in Dutch, English, German in the small library. And the staff that turns into an orchestra in the evening!
🙂
I would not recommend this place for more than a few days to non-divers, who would quickly turn around on this lovely but tiny beach. There is nothing to do except diving, eating, sleeping...
In short, the perfect place to let go. I loved it!
8)
