Into the Unknown – scuba diving new sites in Bolsel, Sulawesi

There are not many unknown scuba diving spots left to dive, but Todd and Bic Aki heard of a new location in a rarely visited region of Sulawesi and headed off to explore Bolaang Mongondow Selatan – Bolsel, for short

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Words and photographs by Todd Aki

With the internet and Wi-Fi being ubiquitous, finding an unknown dive location is very rare. The world has become small. Cell phones with GPS coordinates have made it impossible to keep dive sites a secret. I often hear rumours of new dive areas but typically, after doing research, they rarely pan out. So, when I heard several accounts of awesome diving in a place called Bolsel, I was intrigued but sceptical.

A friend of a friend of a friend gave me a contact for a local who could organise a dive trip in the area. It was a big leap of faith, as this person did not have a company or website. We just communicated through WhatsApp. My wife and I decided to take the gamble and had several backup plans if things were to fall through.

Bolsel is short for Bolaang Mongondow Selatan and is in the regency of North Sulawesi in Indonesia. The area has no dive resorts or tourism infrastructure. Getting there is difficult. After flying into Gorontalo, it was agreed that our guide/trip organiser would meet us at the airport and we would drive for approximately five hours, with a boat, tanks and compressor in tow.

We would be doing a dive safari, travelling along the coastline and diving in different areas. Details were sparse on where we would be staying and where we would be diving. High risk. High reward.

After retrieving our luggage and exiting the airport, we were relieved that our contact, Agung, was indeed a real person. He had organised the whole trip, including the dive boat and equipment, lodging, food and transportation and the diving itinerary. He was a one-man show who did everything.

In what would be par for the course, plans had changed, and our boat, tanks and compressor would not be travelling with us. Instead, we would be using a boat and equipment based in Bolsel.

The journey to Bolsel was very picturesque as it followed the coastline, which was lined with fields of rice, clove plants and coconut groves. The road was bumpy and never straight. It was either up or down, or left or right.

We arrived at our first homestay in the late afternoon. My wife Bic went to check the room and immediately came back out, asking Agung where the shower was. Agung and the homestay owner both started laughing. All they had was a big bucket and a ladle.

To say the room was rustic would be an understatement; it had no flushing toilet, no toilet paper, no bath towels and the bed had no sheets or blankets. Let the adventures begin!

The next day we were excited to start diving. But it would not be that straightforward. Breakfast was late. Our car needed air in the tyres. The car ride to meet the boat was a long, hot, 30 minutes. When we finally arrived at the meeting spot, the boat was nowhere to be seen.

Forty-five minutes later, the boat finally showed up. We could not believe we were actually going to get into the water. We did three dives that day and unfortunately they were just average. Things did not bode well.

We decided to cut our losses and move to our next homestay, which was two hours away. What a difference! Although still very rustic, this homestay was gorgeous. With only two bungalows, it was very private. We were right on a beautiful white-sand beach, 15 metres from the shoreline.

Most importantly, the diving was awesome. This was paradise found, with excellent diving and no other divers to be seen. Our team included Agung, a driver, a boat captain and his helper. We explored along the coastline, either with our boat picking us up from our homestay, or driving by car and meeting up with the boat at the dive site.

What made this experience unique was that not only were there no other divers around, but there were no other tourists of any kind. During our entire time in Bolsel, the only people we saw were local villagers.

Never before had we been in an area so isolated from the outside world, with no English spoken, no tourist Instagram spots or Tripadvisor places to see. People here live off the ocean and land. Supermarkets, hospitals, and stores were a five- to six-hour drive away.

Isolation does not always equate to great diving. Luckily though, in Bolsel, this was the case. Our favourite site was Sakaw, which translates loosely to addict, meaning divers get addicted to this site.

Bik, a non-photographer, generally does not like to repeat dive sites, but on our last full day of diving, we dived Sakaw three times in a row, each time the area showing us something different. Sakaw has vast fields of hard coral, reef fish galore, and a section simply chock full of multicoloured soft coral.

It was frustrating trying to take pictures there, as my wife would excitedly point out a beautiful area for me to photograph, and before I could dial in my settings, I would feel a tug on my fins and turn to see her frantically motioning to me that she found a better spot.

For a more high-voltage site, Soputa did not disappoint. Yes, it had beautiful hard and soft corals, but the main attraction was a plateau with strong current. After using a reef hook to stabilise ourselves, we were able to watch the show unfolding 360 degrees around us.

Behind us was a school of barracudas playing in the current. In front of us, down deep, was a large school of surgeonfish. Zigzagging back and forth was a marauding school of trevallies, causing the tiny reef fish to dart in unison into the reef during the attacks. Our necks were getting a good workout, as we constantly switched our focus of attention.

I asked Agung before a dive about marine protection in the area. Most regions I have been to that are marine protected areas have become so as dive resorts try to conserve their sites. But with no organised diving in the region, that’s not the case in Bolsel.

Agung did reassure me there was no dynamite or cyanide fishing in the area, and I did not see any signs of it. Yet on one dive, we did hear three loud, unmistakable dynamite explosions, but they must have occurred far from us.

We did see a few reef sharks but no large pelagic fish. However, we were diving shallower sites and I bet there are sites where you can have pelagic encounters – but they have yet to be discovered!

More great reads from our magazine

• Taking the Lead – the women of Indonesia’s Coral Catch
• Jenny Stock’s guide to getting creative with your underwater photography
• Mexico’s Tren Maya is destroying Yucatán’s cenotes
• Nitrogen Narcosis – beware the rapture of the deep
• The ride of your life! Scootering with Maldives grey reef sharks

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