Today we made our third and fourth dives at Bangka Island, diving with Gangga Divers while staying at Gangga Island Resort & Spa. And we’re very impressed. This is the end of the lower-visibility season and I can’t imagine seeing the dive sites in clearer water.

 

The Bangka / Gangga area (just north of Manado/Bunaken) is known for soft corals. And more soft corals. And since they like current, … currents. Obviously Gangga Divers pays very close attention to skill levels of all divers to ensure everyone has a fun day out on the boat. Read our Essential Drift Diving Photo Tips.

 

You can’t visit Bangka without diving Sahuang (there are two dive sites). Both dive sites radiate red, orange and purple from walls, rocks and reef covered with soft corals. One of the Sahuang sites (I’ll leave it a secret for now), has a massive school of sweetlips down near 100ft, which is a joy for experienced photographers or videographers. I saw this school during one of our dives yesterday with Murex Bangka, and can’t wait to get back there on my next North Sulawesi trip.

 

Another surprise for me is how much macro shooting there is. For all the nice underwater scenery there are critters to keep a macro shooter happy for many dives. There’s so much to shoot that for my 4 Bangka dives I was dreaming of having another housing set for macro, just to try and capture the essence of the diving!

 

Anyways, here are some wide-angle photos from today’s dives at Sahuang 1 and Busa Bora. Have questions? Leave a comment below!

 

Bangka Island Underwater Photos