Neill Island
From the book "Straight to the South", part 3 "Visiting a sea cow", episode 22.
24-27.03.2018 |
The transition between the Havelock and the Neill Islands by the sea ferry "Makruzz" took an hour and a half, the time flew by - we were "attacked" by friendly Indian tourists. Acquaintances, talking, photo shooting…
Neill Island
From the book "Straight to the South", part 3 "Visiting a sea cow", episode 23.
25-27.03.2018 |
The Neill and Havelock Islands are separated by a strait with a width of over 4 km, sometimes manta ray come there, but we were not lucky to meet them. But when diving on the dive site "Junction"(11°52'7.50"N 93° 1'3.40"E) we immediately saw a large Napoleon fish. Then there were groupers and sweetlips, fan corals gorgonians covered with sea lilies, titan triggerfish and blue-dotted stingray, boxer shrimps, scorpionfish... The water is clear, visibility is about 20-30 meters - we'd dived with pleasure.
Our dive-guide Dharmesh
From the book "Straight to the South", part 3 "Visiting a sea cow", episode 17.
18.03.2018 |
Andamans and Nicobars are the meeting place of Eurasia with India and Australia. Meridional elongated chain of fragments of land was appeared at the junction of the global lithospheric plates, separating the two basins – the Bay of Bengal in the West and the Andaman sea in the East. The result of lapping three platforms to each other - tectonic scales, partially or completely melted, they are a crystal base for the local islands. The process began only 38 million years ago (compared to the age of the Earth - more than 4.5 billion years - it is like yesterday) and still lasts. There are frequent earthquakes there, carrying with them the devastating tsunami waves, and there are active volcanoes sticking out of the sea, spewing lava nozzles, on the Eastern flank of the island system. It is restless, in general.
In my article about Sri Lanka, I wrote that the first settlers there were immigrants from Africa, who migrated to the East in ancient times. On the Andamans, this theory is confirmed: initially the islands were inhabited by ancient African colonizers of Asia. They are called "negrito", spanish for "little blacks", it is a generalized designation of people Negresco type of the Melanesian race, Asian and Australian pygmies. It is believed that they have a unique innate ability to biolocation - they can to determine where any animal locates at a considerable distance, like a radar. Their growth below 150 cm, the skin is very dark.
Black little men have been known since the Roman Empire, but they had a bad reputation. Marco Polo, for example, called them cannibals with a dog face. However, researchers of the early XX century left the following records: "This is a loyal and gentle married couples, they are not cannibals, they do not hide in earthen burrows, like rabbits, they do not roast pigs in tree hollows. They believe that Peluga lives in the sky - an invisible creature that lives in a stone house. This deity has created everything except evil spirits, whose power cannot be resisted."
The fate of the four tribes known in the Anamans is sad: they lived at the level of the stone age, they suffered from viruses brought by foreigners, to which they had no immunity, were exterminated by English colonizers, they died in the waves of a giant tsunami, but continued to persist in preserving their world, resolutely and aggressively protecting it from aliens.
The shelf of Havelock island
From the book "Straight to the South", part 3 "Visiting a sea cow", episode 18.
19-24.03.2018 |
Disappointment #2: there are no beaches on Havelock Island. At least in the Northern part of it. Well, they are and even are numbered - there is no water there. It appears at the shore only at the moments of tides, to catch it is not always possible, often you have to admire the small puddles with clumsy corals sticking out on the surface. To walk on them without shoes is impossible, to get to some place where you can swim - the problem.
Radhanagar Beach (beach #7)
From the book "Straight to the South", part 3 "Visiting a sea cow", episode 20.
23.03.2018 | 11°59'2.46"N 92°57'10.58"E |
I have already said that the Islands of the Andaman archipelago are mostly protected, but they have allowed tourism to develop on Havlok Island. We had no time to observe the island in details - we spent the most of the time under water, but we considered mandatory to visit the beach #7. This is almost the best sandy beach on the Andaman, where you can swim without the risk of getting hurt on the coral, even at low tide. The road there crosses the island from North to South, among the villages and fields, it is getting worse as we approach a small pass. The way takes about 40 minutes, our tuk-tuk puffs and presses hard to the side, passing the counters... And here is the descent, a little more shaking and we are on the beach.
It is large, stretching for a couple of kilometers and it is really sandy. Its official name (Radhanagar Beach) is not known to everyone, here the beaches are assigned numbers. We got here in the late afternoon. Despite its remoteness, the beach was filled with people, the vast majority of visiting tourists - Indians. Few of them risk to go far into the water, but they love to splash in shallow water and sit on the sand, especially the kids. Here is the atmosphere of a quiet family holiday, all people in a good mood and happy to touch the clear blue sea…
Neill Island - Port Blair - Delhi - Bishkek
From the book "Straight to the South", part 3 "Visiting a sea cow", episode 25.
28-30.03.2018 |
This is final story of our journey straight to the South. It tooks three days to get home.
On March 28th we woke up very early, at 3 am, because we were going to go to the South-Eastern beach of the Neill Island, it is called Sitapur Beach or just the beach #5. It is about 6 km from our hotel, a tuk-tuk requested 800 rupees for round-trip delivery and waiting. Expensive, but they have such prices, you will hardly find cheaper. Also he had to get up in the middle of the night... We drove in complete darkness.
People gather here, as well as on a sunset beach, to watch a performance organized by nature.
The Andaman sea pinnacles
From the book "Straight to the South", part 3 "Visiting a sea cow", episode 21.
20-23.03.2018 |
The best dive sites near of Havelock Island are undoubtedly the tops of small underwater volcanoes in the open Andaman sea. The current-borne spores of coral polyps are searching hills on bottom of the sea to hook, then establish their colony, grow, bloom and provide food to marine life. Even deep-sea large predators sometimes come up here to eat. Therefore, divers have a chance to see all them at once in such places.
On the boat before the dive
White House Rock dive site
From the book "Straight to the South", part 3 "Visiting a sea cow", episode 19.
21.03.2018 | 12° 1'19.40"N 92°48'2.60"E |
A long journey of 20 km by sea, we crossed by boat the strait between the chain of the main islands of the archipelago and smaller islands, such as our Havelock.
Neill Island
From the book "Straight to the South", part 3 "Visiting a sea cow", episode 24.
25-27.03.2018 |
East entrance to the strait between Havlock and Neill Islands. This place was explored by our guide Dharmesh, he considers that it is his personal finding.
Bali island is a part of the island arc that separates the inland sea and the open Indian ocean, next to it the oceanic plate dives under the continental plate, so earthquakes and volcanic eruptions is a common thing here. But natural disasters do not scare tourists from all over the world, they practically occupied this island paradise. They are attracted by the unique nature, by the sea, by the abundance of different attractions and the friendliness of local residents, and local relative cheapness plays a significant role. This is probably the most visited of the resorts in Indonesia. And it is a convenient connecting hub, the local international airport receives flights from many countries and you can fly to other islands from here by local airlines. That's why we visited Bali a few times making few days stops and we have accumulated a large number of data - travel notes, photos and videos, so we should to publish some of them. There is an interactive guide just below this paragraph, which could be interesting for people who want to go to Bali and who have already been there (sometimes it is interesting to look at familiar places by eyes of another person). You can travel around the map - by clicking on the icon you will open our article about this particular place with photos and short movies.
Or you can use the table of contents below and choose what are you interesting about. Or you can just use the arrow button "next" at the end of each page and read the book sequentially..
So, let's start the journey, we hope it will be interesting.
West
• Pemuteran, Kubuku hotel• Menjangan - Deer island
• Menjangan, dive site Eel Garden
• Menjangan, dive site Pos II
• Menjangan, dive site Anchor Wreck
• Menjangan, dive site Dream Wall
• Menjangan, dive site Cave Point
• The West of the island, Gilimanuk, dive site Secret Bay
• Bali. Banjar Hot Springs
Central part
• The Batur volcano – Gunung Batur• Ubud – town of craftsmen
• Monkey forest
• Tegenungan waterfall
• The temple complex Batuan - Batuan Temple
• Bali Zoo
North-East
• Tulamben – USAT Liberty Wreck• Banyuning – Japanese Wreck
• Amed, Amed Beach Resort
• Amed, dive site Bobo (Pyramids)
• Amed, dive site Batu Belah
• Lampuan temple (Seraya volcano)
South-East
• The legend of Bali - beaches of Kuta• On the edge of the ocean: Uluwatu temple complex
• Dinner with a sunset view: Jimbaran beach
East
• Padang, dive site Blue lagoon• The muddy waters of Padang: the dive site Jepun Point
• To escape the bustle: Candidasa village
• Shark in the hole: divesite Gili Biaha
• Sea of corals: Gili Tepekong
• Against the tide: Gili Mimpang
• Who lives under the pier: the sea port Tanah Ampo
Nusa Penida
• Along the flow: dive site Ped• Couldn't catch the sun: dive site Toyapakeh
• Mola mola: the venue - Crystal Bay
• Meeting with sea devils: Manta Point Baru
episode 1 > |
From the book "Bali Island", part 5 "East", episode 30.
8°31'30.58"S 115°34'34.98"E
Три крохотных островка рядом с Типиконгом, октябрь 2016 года. Годом раньше наши гиды встречали здесь рыбу-луну – мола-мола, но в этом году вода осенью была необычно тёплой, что гигантской рыбе не по нраву, она предпочитает прохладу.
Мы ныряли тут лишь один раз, весь дайв боролись с сильным течением. Не фотографировали, есть лишь видео. Персонажи в нём все известные, представлять никого не надо. Давайте понаблюдаем за ними: There are three tiny islands near Tepekong, October 2016. The year before our guides met here moon fish – Mola-Mola, but in this year the water was unusually warm that the giant fishes does not like, they prefer the coolness.
We dived here only once, the whole dive we were struggling with strong current. No photos, we got only video.All the characters in the movie are well known, it is not necessary to discribe anyone. Let's watch them:
From the book "Bali Island", part 3 "North-East", episode 18.
8°20'2.96"S 115°38'34.44"E
Northeast of Bali, Amed village. We stayed here in January 2016, a few days in a small dive hotel, cosy and welcoming. Unlike other places in Bali, it was possible to swim in the sea not only in pool, because there is no crazy waves as on the southern beaches of the island and there was pebble ground from beach to the sea, not rough corals as in the East. The water was warm and clean, it was quiet and peaceful place, no crowds of tourists and the surroundings were beautiful, especially early in the morning – splendor! :-)
From the book "Bali Island", part 3 "North-East", episode 20.
8°18'54.83"S 115°37'31.49"E
The North coast of Bali, the place is near of Amed village, a small bay with a dive hotel on the beach. The bay is private property: if you come from the sea by diving boat, you will be given a ticket, which must be paid later, otherwise it will be a violation of the local laws. You have to pay because the place is popular, there are rare scorpionfish (Rhinopias aphanes), frog-fish and all sorts of other unusual sea creatures. We were unlucky about such scorpionfish, but we've seen someone. The first place, of course, was for scorpionfish – there is their Kingdom here..
Lionfish Parapterois heterura
- Bali. Amed, dive site Bobo (Pyramids)
- Bali. Bali Zoo
- Bali. Banjar Hot Springs
- Bali. Banyuning – Japanese Wreck
- Bali. Dinner with a sunset view: Jimbaran beach
- Bali. Lampuan temple (Seraya volcano)
- Bali. Menjangan - Deer island
- Bali. Menjangan, dive site Anchor Wreck
- Bali. Menjangan, dive site Cave Point
- Bali. Menjangan, dive site Dream Wall