Marine Protected Areas (MPA)

15 – 22 March 2010 N12 39.856 E120 53.266 – Apo Reef Club Guenter Taus was my dive instructor for my PADI advance course many years ago. He also is part owner of Occidental Mindoro’s newest dive resort called Apo Reef Club. Michi Roos is the founder and operations manager of this resort in the […]

15 – 22 March 2010 N12 39.856 E120 53.266 – Apo Reef Club N12 39.463 E120 25.137 – Apo Reef With the expedition team complete with our writer Alya Honasan, our first Philippine journey for this leg was to Apo Reef.  We spent a few days and nights on a quaint Philippine style liveaboard named […]

8 – 28 February 2010 S0 33.344 E130 41.075 – Sorido Bay Resort All too soon, it was time to say our farewells to everyone from this lovely resort. We spent quality working time here often leaving the resort at eight in the morning and coming back, still dripping wet, at seven in the evening […]

8 – 27 February 2010 S0 33.344 E130 41.075 – Sorido Bay Resort S0 25.645 E130 33.704 – The Passage between Gam & Waigeo S0 30.920 E130 27.736 – Yambraimuk blue water mangroves While we were in North Raja Ampat, we were incredibly fortunate to have professional photographers and videographers Claudia & Leon Joubert document […]

27 February 2010 After days of grumbling about the weather, Yogi finally found his smile again. Max Ammer was bringing him along as co-pilot to his truly photogenic yellow aircraft. Conservation International needed to do regular surveys to Raja Ampat by land, sea and air. They were fortunate enough to have Max Ammer firmly situated […]

8 – 26 February If I may, I would like to lift a few bits and paragraphs written by Dr. Mark V. Erdmann, Senior Advisor Conservation International Indonesia Marine Program in his introduction of a new fantastic coffeetable book The Raja Ampat.  “Reefs on Steroids”, “The Kingdom of Coral”, “Heart of the Coral Triangle”, “The […]

8 – 25 February In 1526, Jorge de Menses, the first Portuguese governor to the Moluccan “spice islands” was swept ashore by a storm to the Bird’s Head Peninsula (West Papua) even before he reached his post. He named the country Ilhas dos Papuas (Islands of the Papuans) derived from the Malay term “orang papuwah” […]

8 – 23 February 2010 S0 34.808 E130 32.494 Manta Sandy S0 33.681 E130 32.471 Manta Slope There are very few places we know where you can find, almost guaranteed, mantas in a cleaning station. There are many cleaning stations known, yes, but few guaranteed! Depending on the number of divers underwater, i.e. if you […]

16- 30 January 2010 S2 14.666 E130 33.401 – MER Loads of divers dream of owning a resort in an island paradise in the tropics surrounded by pristine coral reefs and lots of fish. When out at sea, palm trees and sunshine seem to make our brains go funny and think within the lines of […]

25 January 2010 S2 03.462 E130 24.747 – Yellu Island What originally started as a 200 square kilometer no-take zone has now been increased to 425 sq. km. Misool Eco Resort MER take their conservation work very seriously. They have set up a UK charity called the Misool Conservation Centre to raise funds for the […]