Sunrise from Bunaken Island

Sunrise at 05.23 and 05.28, view from Cha Cha Balcony

More Canon G9 photos

Here are more Photos taken with Canon G9, during Tuesdays dive at Molas (Manado)

Bunaken Cha Cha "New Arrival"

Here is our New Arrival at Cha Cha ....Chico  ...our new Great Dane puppy

She is 9 weeks old now and has already made good friends with our other

dogs.

My New Camera Canon G9

3 months after buying my new Canon G9, I had the first chance to try it out, these were a couple of results

Indonesia -Bunaken Bugs-

Most people that have stayed on Bunaken have had some sort of encounter
with the various bugs that live on the Island...yes we have spiders, not the
man eating type, scorpions...yes but again not the type that ambush you.
Ants, now I never knew till I arrived on Bunaken that there could be so many
ants in one area....and of so many different types, I often wonder what the
total population of ants could be in the world at any one time??...the mind
boggles.
After 9 years, you would think that we, at Cha Cha, would have seen all that
are available on Bunaken....but no, we still see new ones, every time the same
story....... new bug, you think of "new species" and " can we call it the Cha Cha
bug" but then we find that its actually quite common.......

Here is the latest that created quite a stir at Cha Cha the other morning,
its actually a "Tortoise Beetle" about 15mm long and gold...have a look.

"Thank You Junko" - Bunaken Cha Cha

It was with great sadness that we said goodbye to, most probably our most important collaborator " Junko san" in February 2008. Junko started working at Cha Cha in April 2006 together with her boyfriend (Nyoman), she had just recently acquired her Instructor license and had approx.. 200 dives total, so still rather "green" to the world of Diving, Teaching and Diving Resort Management.
Things did not work out with Nyoman and within a couple of months he left to return to Bali, luckily for us Junko decided to remain at Cha Cha and so began our two year work relationship with her.
Up to that moment I had been very protective of all my diving guests, rarely would I allow them to be guided by any body else other than me, but slowly Junko proved that I could trust her, I often explained that guiding is guiding and teaching is teaching you can have good guides and good Instructors, but the key to success was to be good at both.
Over time Junko did become that person both attentive and sharp eyed at guiding and a patient and methodical Instructor, in this way she gained respect from us at Cha Cha and also from her "Fans"...our guests.
Now that she has left, there is definitely an empty feeling in Cha Cha from time to time, though I can joke with almost anybody, the "connection" we had with Junko was very special.....a friend that we could totally trust, joke and laugh with.

So we wish Junko all the best for her future, we miss her and I hope she knows and understand that Reiko & I are always here should she ever need anything and that our "small paradise" is always her home too.

Here is a little tribute to her....our good friend.

Manado Earthquake Today click to view epicenter

The " Ring of Fire" rocks again

From the coordinates below, we can see that the epicenter was north
of Molucca Sea far more north than previous tremors, a Tsunami Warning
was issued and then cancelled 30 minutes later, no damage has been
reported and life goes on as usual in Manado.

Magnitude 6.7
Date-Time Thursday, July 26, 2007 at 05:40:18 (UTC)
Coordinated Universal Time
Thursday, July 26, 2007 at 1:40:18 PM local time at epicenter
Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location 2.800°N, 127.493°E
Depth 44.6 km (27.7 miles)
Region MOLUCCA SEA

Coelacanth Autopsy reveals pregnant fish

The Autopsy of the Coelacanth that was caught last month around Bunaken National Marine Park, surprisingly showed that in fact the fish was pregnant, hopefully the teams from Indonesia, France and Japan will be able to use the data gained, to better understand this amazing creature.
17th July Update

I have been informed by Manado University that I cannot publish any information regarding this species of fish it seems
that somebody from Japan has complained about us showing this video footage, and they have cited that they own all
the rights to it !!!

Of course we appologies profusely if we have infringed any copyrites, though we belive we have not, it is such a pitty
that those (Japanese) involved with the Coelacanth cannot work together with those that are and live on location like
us and that instead they wish to show force of strength so as to keep exclusivity to themselves.
Surely not a positive way forward, though time will tell.

Diving with Bump Head Parrot Fish

The last few days are proving to be quite something around Bunaken
Yesterdays sighting of this school of 30 Bump Head Parrit Fish is not
excepetional but the fact to film them at 18mt depth and in such clear
viz. is really a treat.
Enjoy the show.

Living Fossil "The Coelacanth" The Video

The Coelacanth commonly known as the Living Fossil Fish or in Indonesia as " Raja Laut " King of the Sea has been around since the dinosaur period, some say at least 7 milion years, not a fish that you can see diving or snorkeling but one that every now and again is caught by fishermen around Manado and Bunaken National Marine Park.

Manado - North Sulawesi Earthquake

So how about we get "real" about the earthquake that happened here last night.
Yes it was strong, yes we all shook about a fair deal and some folk got a bit
worried, but this worry stems from the ridiculous information that we recieve
from incompetent media or shall we just call it "gossip" that is then printed and
broadcast by people that have absolutely no clue to what they are talking about
at the very least or just need to make a "headline" at any cost.
More than one media broadcast last night the imminent arrival of a Tsunami to
Manado!!! on what bassis did they divulge this information ? what information
did they have to make such a statement? what right do they have to scare
monger people into a frenzy and panic ? to the point that the Governor
of North Sulawesi had to make a public statement this morning that there
was no danger of a Tsunami, based on information received from Japanese
Tsunami warning system.
Lets stay a moment with the Tsunami scenario and the logic that should go
with it and lets ask the question, where was the epicenter of the earthquake?
North East Sulawesi, now Im not sure what maps the local media uses,
but on all the maps I have looked at Manado is on the oposite side of Sulawesi
Island from the Earthquake, so for a destructive Tsunami to arrive to Manado
it would have to do one of two things
1) Travel North, then at Bitung it would have to take a sharp left and then
travel South, then around Bunaken Island it would have to turn a sharp left
again to enter Manado bay......why do I think this is a little far fetched.
2) Travel West from its epicenter and hit Bitung, travel inland over many
mountain ranges to then arrive at Manado.....from the mountains!!!! again far fetched.
Yes ok, I will admit we did get a bit more wave action for about an hour last
night but nothing more than we would get at this time of the year and month
with a High tide of 2.47 and some strong NE winds, nothing more or less than normal.
So to those that have the honor and responsability of divulging information,
please get your facts right, we live in an age "information" pls look this up in a
dictionary and I think that you will see that " bullshit" is not one of its meanings.

Scuba Diving Holiday Promotion

Bunaken Cha Cha Nature Resort

Early 2007 Promotion -25%

Valid until 28th February 2007


• Valid for all “Diving Package” bookings, confirmed and paid for by 28th Feb. 2007.
• Valid for bookings made throughout 2007 as long as booking is confirmed and paid for in full by 28th Feb.2007
• No Refund available on this promotion, in case of cancellation up to 7 days before date of arrival, booking may be rescheduled to other date within 2007, though Seasonal adjustment to price may be necessary.
• Only 2 Superior cottages and 1 Standard cottage are included in this promotion for any one period, and thus “first come, first served” policy applies.
• Promotion is valid for Accommodation/Full Board - Diving
• Promotion is NOT valid for Transfers - Equipment rental - Drinks or any other amenity used at the Resort and not included in the booking and/or paid for at the Resort.

Sun Rise at Bunaken Cha Cha

Amazing Sun Rise at Bunaken Cha Cha Nature Resort

Moray eel

One of my better photos while Scuba Diving

Manado/ Bunaken - Cuttlefish

An interesting photo of a cuttlefish feeding on a shrimp

Manado/ Bunaken - Eagle Ray

Even though the weather has not been so good the last few days
with rain and waves, it seems that it hasn't effected what we can see underswater while scuba diving.
Eagle Ray at 20 mts depth in front of Cha Cha

Manado/ Bunaken - Happy New Year 2007

Its been a busy time at Cha Cha with Xmas and New Year celebrations.
A big thanks to all our guests for making 2006 memorable and giving us theconviction to
make 2007 even better.
And cos good things come to great people, our friendly Dugong paid us a visit outside Cha Cha
for 5 straight days and many of our guests had the luck to seehim/her, this photo taken by Reiko.

Bunaken Cha Cha Nature Resort Xmas Special

Xmas and New Year Promotion
Valid from 15 Dec 06 - 10 Jan 07
Limited Availability

Superior Cottage
4 Days/ 3 nights
Airport Transfers incl.
Full Board (3 meals)
Non Diver US$ 350.00
Diver US$ 550.00

Standard Cottage
4 Days / 3 nights
Airport Transfers incl.
Full Board (3meals)
Non Diver US$ 225.00
Diver US$ 450.00

Prices based on double sharing incl of taxes
Diving Package incl. 2 boat dives per day (6 dives)

Bunaken Cha Cha Nature Resort

Even though almost mid December, it seems that the weather is still holding up well. The "rainy season" this year has still to show its face, it seems that we are in the middle of an El Nino, so maybe this answers the question..why?
The last "real" rain we had was in the begining of August and since then it has been only a matter of eveing showers, just barely enough to help the Cha Cha garden not die altogether, luckily these small showers have lowered the possibility of fires on bunaken and thus we are no longer on "red alert" like last month, but dont worry our "red alert" system works well and our staff is always on the look out for any smoke as a sign of a possible problem.
The dry weather has made life difficult for the villagers on the islands, especially Bunaken, with its limited natural water supply, both humans and live-stock suffer even though a government grant did fund a water project, but what a mess, US$25k to dig a hole in the ground, find water and within 1 month the water was contaminated with salt water, the contractor made a tidy profit by giving the villagers something they could have got directly from the beach......salt water !!

Manado/ Bunaken -- "Cha Cha Frog Fish"

We have been away for a few weeks, but here is some exciting news...a Cha Cha colour Frog Fish, yes all will know that Cha Cha's colours are orange and blue, where did we find it...well thats a secret but I will let you into a clever thing I picked up some weeks ago.....use google earth and use the different colour variations of the sea in the image to tell you how deep the area is.
Ouch maybe I have said toooo much here, but it works, we have found underwater pinnacle with it and other info that has helped us in our quest for new dive sites.
Anyway back to "Froggy", found him/her at about 7mt deep, in rubble area, perched on this small sponge, never moved for more than 3 consecutive days....whats he/she waiting for?? who knows maybe a partner? but hey, who cares.