Liveaboard Diving in Gorontalo
What to Expect On a Gorontalo Liveaboard
Liveaboards to Gorontalo are able to reach a great many number of sites that are totally inaccessible by day boat. Located on the Northern Sulawesi arm, known as the Minahasa Peninsula, your Gorontalo liveaboard will deliver some spectacular Indonesia diving.
The region was originally formed by volcanic activity, with some volcanoes in Minahasa still active to this day. Thousands of surrounding hectares have been given the status of a Marine National Park, resulting in absolutely pristine conditions in an area that has one of the highest recorded species count on the planet. While sailing on your Gorontalo liveaboard, it is not uncommon to be surrounded by the incredibly elegant bottlenose dolphin, which follows the vessel seemingly effortlessly. They can sometimes even join you during safety stops.
As well as liveaboard diving, Gorontalo is able to offer many historical sites of interest. The Old Town, Taruna Remaja Square, is very popular with locals, displaying various ancient buildings with beautifully preserved carvings. Scattered throughout the region are forts, built by Portuguese sailors, including Otanaha Fortress in Gorontalo that was built in 1522.
Liveaboard diving from Gorontalo
The sheltered nature of the waters that surround this area is very conducive to a high diversity of species and makes liveaboard diving in Gorontalo ideal. The general calmness allows what would normally be considered a deep water species, to be present even on shallow dive sites. Many species are in fact endemic to the region, such as the orange-backed wrasse, sling-jaw wrasse, and Colemanís shrimp (which was only recently discovered and identified as a new species). This provides a fantastic opportunity for divers seeking to cross off certain species from their bucket list, as they might only be found here!
Naturally, there are many sites to choose from on your Gonotalo cruise, and it is normal for several dives to be exploratory dives. However, some of the known sites include Honeycomb, a spectacular wall dive with colourful sponges and pink hydroids. The difficult to spot sailfin goby can also be found here, as well as an impressive 4 of the 7 species of sea turtle.
There are several wrecks here, and certainly a great deal of wrecks have yet to be discovered. One particular wreck, a 165 foot (50 m) Japanese cargo ship crashed into a reef following a fire breakout in the engine compartment. An attempt was made to run the ship aground to save the cargo, but the shallow reef scuppered the ship and all her cargo was lost. Despite this, the hull remains in fairly good condition, albeit upside down, lying at a depth between 85 and 154 feet (26 to 47 m). The wreck is now home to many crustaceans, dotted in between the sea fans and whips that cover the hull. Very big starfish are common here, as are large shoals of bright blue and orange anthias.
Getting To Gorontalo
Reaching Gorontalo is relatively straightforward compared to other liveaboard destinations in Indonesia. The most common way to reach Gorontalo is to catch a flight that connects via Singapore. Singapore offers many flights every day to many of Indonesiaís most isolated regions. From here, a flight to Sam Ratulangi Manado International Airport should be caught, and finally a one hour flight to Jalaluddin Airport in Gorontalo.
