Lots of rare critters, untouched coral reefs and not many other divers – Gangga island diving is a quiet haven in Indonesia with a lot to offer.
Sun over the coral, Bangka © chris@divehappy.com
Gangga island is at the north eastern tip of Sulawesi in Indonesia. It’s fairly near to two other famous Indonesian dive destinations – Lembeh Strait and Bunaken – but far enough from its famous peers to have its own distinct identity.
Big eye snapper, Bangka © chris@divehappy.com
Gangga is at the bottom of the Sangihe archipelago that stretches north from Sulawesi towards the Philippines. Nearby is Bangka island, which is the other key dive spot in this area with several dive resorts.
Most of the diving takes place around Bangka, and it’s an easy 10 to 20 minute boat ride from Gangga resort. There are several dive resorts on Gangga and Bangka islands but it still feels very quiet. We were the only boat on every dive site we visited during our week there.
Wide angle frogfish © chris@divehappy.com
The great attraction to Gangga is that there is a huge diversity of macro life here along with some very healthy reefs and big schools of fish, usually on the same dive site – so there’s a fabulous mix of wide angle and macro for photographers with the coral gardens and special small marine life.
A ribbon of yellow snapper, Bangka © chris@divehappy.com
A typical site would have a sloping reef down to about 20 metres into white sand – down in the supposedly featureless sand there are a lot of rare, small critters. Highlights from a week of diving included the super rare and super venomous blue ring octopus, flamboyant cuttlefish, a whole range of pgymy seahorses , several types of frogfish and orangutan crabs, along with cuttlefish and octopus. The macro was so good I attempted to take a couple of photos with a fisheye lens…
Spot the blue ring octopus © chris@divehappy.com
Blue ring octopus close-up © chris@divehappy.com
The reef around Gangga and Bangka is flat out gorgeous. The density and maturity of the reef in the area is apparent as you dive more and more of the sites – it’s not one nice patch at one site.
Pook and big eye snapper, Bangka © chris@divehappy.com
Besides slopes covered in huge patches of cabbage corals and bommies lumped on top of each other, there’s also encrusted mini walls which appear along the slope and then revert back into the slope. A particular highlight is the fantastic pinnacle at Busa Bora Borat which feels like an underwater skyscraper housing all kinds of life.
Cuttlefish in the coral © chris@divehappy.com
There is also plenty of schools of fish passing over the reef too, as well as the usual reef dwelling suspects. Hundreds of yellow snapper and a lot of big eye snapper hanging around, along with juvenile barracuda in the shallows – many of Gangga’s sites are ideal nurseries for schooling fish. Photography wise, wide angle can be a challenge as there’s a lot of particles in the water but that all adds to the fun.
Big eye snapper © chris@divehappy.com
Gangga Island Resort itself is picture postcard perfect – beautiful, well designed and well maintained luxury wooden bungalows, along with a large dining and reception area both built of wood nestled within a carefully tended garden that faces right onto the daily-cleaned beach. It’s very much a resort with a dive operation attached to it, which is actually a separate business. A lot of guests come to simply enjoy the resort and go on land excursions rather than to specifically dive.
Approaching Gangga Island Resort © chris@divehappy.com
You can browse photos of the bungalows and check prices at Gangga Island resort at Booking.com and Agoda.com. Other resorts on nearby Bangka island include Murex Bangka and Bastianos Bangka.
There aren’t many liveaboards operating in the region. Tambora liveaboard has a Sangihe archipelago trip which includes Bangka island on its itinerary.
Fans and reef, Bangka © chris@divehappy.com
The dive operation has a very nice big boat with three outboard engines and can hold about 10 divers plus staff and a somewhat more cramped smaller version of the same boat. There’s also an excellent large size camera room. The dive guides were very, very laid back – good at finding stuff, but not so proactive with things like current checks or briefing guests about where they would be diving ahead of time.
Glassfish and fan coral © chris@divehappy.com
Be aware there can be some very strong currents running around Bangka and Gangga, especially at full moon. Unless you specifically want to go for drift dives, be sure to request sites which are protected from the extremes of the current.
Trumpetfish in the coral © chris@divehappy.com
There are two dives in the morning, one in the afternoon, and a night dive is available too if you request it in the morning.
The morning dives are typically around Bangka island, and then the afternoon dive around Gangga to get divers in and out of the water as fast as possible. We did go over to Bangka once, maybe twice, in the afternoon.
Staghorn tables and glassfish © chris@divehappy.com
Booking Gangga Island Resort at Christmas and New Year
A couple of notes if you’re thinking of staying over Christmas and / or New Year:
- be sure to get written confirmation that you will be able to dive on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day before you make your payment. The dive staff usually take both days off so you need to make special arrangements.
- on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, the neighbouring village played super loud music until around 1 am each night. If you are a light sleeper, bring ear plugs. There was no music over New Year’s Eve.
- on Christmas Day itself the resort was almost empty – bliss! It filled up for New Year’s Eve.
- On New Year’s Eve the resort has a “compulsory gala dinner” which was added as a cost of $150 USD per person to our invoice until we asked it to be removed. Be aware of this when booking.
Fan in the sun, Bangka © chris@divehappy.com
In all, Gangga is a great resort dive destination with a mix of superb reef and rare critters. The peace and quiet on the water and at the resort (after the neighbouring village had finished partying) as well as under the water was hard to beat. As we were there in the Christmas to New Year lull no doubt it gets busier but I think Gangga and Bangka diving is still off the map a little and the vast majority of divers head to Lembeh and Bunaken instead.
Getting to Gaanga Island Resort
- The nearest airport to Gaanga island is Manado – the same as for Lembeh Strait and Bunaken. You’ll typically have to go via Jakarta or Bali. However, there are direct flights from Singapore to Manado. You can check Skyscanner for flight prices and timings.
- The resort will organise an airport transfer for you, which is about an hour’s drive and then 15 minute boat crossing. Be aware you might have to step through other boats at the jetty to get to your boat – it’s a bit of an obstacle course.
- If you need to stay near the airport before your flight out of Manado, the Novotel Manado Golf Resort and Convention Center is only 10 minutes drive from the airport and is clean and comfortable with an on-site restaurant.
- Check our page on Indonesia entry requirements for information about visas on arrival and other immigration paperwork you need to deal with.
Walking along the Gangga Island Resort jetty © chris@divehappy.com
