Diving

Fact Sheet about diving in South-Sulawesi

he most important facts like dive conditions and climate, a list of dive operators (for places where there are more than 10 dive centers I have listed dive centers not anymore), dive safety (addresses of the hyperbaric chambers), and how to get to South-Sulawesi on one page and ready to print.

On this page: diving facts about Makassar - Bira and Selayar - Takabonerate - Tukangbesi
Look at my website about dive sites in Selayar and Bira, wrecks in Makassar, Takabonerate - Tukangbesi, Wakatobi
Click here to look at underwater photos taken in Central- and South Sulawesi
Indonesian dive terms


How to get to Sulawesi, Indonesia

Maps of Indonesia: Collection of maps / Overview map Indonesia (keyword Indonesia)
Maps of Sulawesi: Sulawesi overview map / Google maps
Article about Sulawesi: www.indonesiaphoto.com

Sulawesi on world map

Sulawesi (Indonesia)

   

Sulawesi has two larger cities, Ujung Pandang (Makassar) and Manado with international airports. International Airlines Offices in Jakarta - Offices of Domestic Airlines in Indonesia

  • Manado in the north: Best connections are from Singapore directly with Silkair
  • Makassar (Ujung Pandang in the south): From Singapore, Denpasar, Manado or Jakarta daily direct flights

   

small map of Southeast Asia with Sulawesi marked


Makassar

Maps: / Pulau Kapoposang (Blog) / Spermonde archipelago (Michael Bode)

How to get to Makassar (Ujung Pandang)

There are daily direct flights to Makassar from Singapore, Jakarta, Manado and Denpasar

Dive operators in Makassar

Amatoa Dive Center / Makassar Diving Center

Weather averages in Makassar (Ujung Pandang) - weather map Indonesia

weather now in Makassar

JAN

FEB

MAR

APR

MAY

JUN

JUL

AUG

SEP

OCT

NOV

DEC

Best time to travel            
Highest temperatures (°C) 28 28 29 30 31 30 30 31 31 31 30 28
Lowest temperatures (°C) 24 23 23 23 24 23 22 23 23 24 24 23
Daily hours of sunshine 4 4 6 6 8 7 8 10 10 7 6 5
Rainy days 20 19 19 16 11 10 5 2 3 12 17 21
Precipitation (mm) 587 578 416 212 142 82 55 31 39 136 307 476
Humidity (%) 86 86 84 84 80 79 75 66 63 73 82 85
Water temperatures (°C) 29 28 29 30 30 29 29 28 28 29 30 29

Bira and Selayar

How to get to Bira and Selayar

About 4 hours by car from Makassar to Bira. The dive operator fetches the guests from Bira (2 1/2 h by boat). There is ferry that connects Bira harbor with the island Selayar.

Dive operators and liveaboards to Bira and Selayar

Bira is a small town at the southern tip of western Sulawesi. There are several beach cottages where you can stay. Fresh water for showers etc. is not plentifully since it has to be brought to Bira by truck.

Takabonerate

How to get to Takabonerate

Access to the Takabonerate group is from Bira, a small town at the far southern tip of Sulawesi. There is a ferry to Pamatate on Pulau Selayar. Some liveaboards also visit the islands.

Dive operators to Takabonerate


Tukangbesi

How to get to the Tukangbesi islands

Reached by charter flights from Bali ( 3 hours) or from Makassar (Ujung Pandang) to Tomia (also written Tomea). Also from Makassar to Kendari by plane and then by chartered boat to Tolondano then on to Tomia.

Dive operators on the Tukangbesi islands

Dive conditions in Tukangbesi

Best time of the year is late March to November with air temperatures around 30°C and water temperatures 25 - 29°C. Supposedly you can encounter pilot whales (November to April), dolphins, sharks and rays, a variety of big fish (tunas, barracudas) but also many small and rare animals.

Weather averages in Bau-Bau (on the mainland!) - weather map Indonesia

 

JAN

FEB

MAR

APR

MAY

JUN

JUL

AUG

SEP

OCT

NOV

DEC

Best time to travel      
Highest temperatures (°C) 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 32 33 33 32 31
Lowest temperatures (°C) 24 24 24 24 24 23 23 22 22 23 24 25
Daily hours of sunshine 5 5 7 5 7 6 7 9 9 8 7 5
Rainy days 21 17 16 22 15 18 7 2 3 7 18 20
Precipitation (mm) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Humidity (%) 84 82 81 83 80 81 75 69 67 73 80 81
Water temperatures (°C) 29 29 29 30 30 29 28 27 27 29 30 30

How to get to Pasarwajo / Bau-Bau (Buton Island)

Pasarwajo can be reached by ferry from Baubau or Kendari. I don't know how to get to Batuata except by liveaboard and probably by local fisherboats.

Dive operators in the area

In Bau-Bau (on Buton island, southeast of mainland Sulawesi or northwest of Tukangbesi) there is a dive operator who also offers dives to Tukangbesi: Wasage Dive Club. There are no dive operators in Pasarwajo. Muna Tourism Services offer dive tours on Muna island


General information about South Sulawesi

Although southern Sulawesi is relatively easily reached by air or boat, its dive sites are not very well known. There are only a few diveoperators and it is difficult to reach some of the remote areas such as Selayar and Takabonerate. Southeast Sulawesi is not very known to travellers, some places are hard to get to, others quite expensive or very remote. The only airport is Kendari, but there are several harbors (Baubau, Pasarwajo) which can be reached by boat.

Click here for a look at the Makassar Strait Forum or Sulawesi information with information about south Sulawesi.

Weather in Indonesia: In general Indonesia has two yearly seasons of monsoon winds - the southeast monsoon (dry) and the northwest monsoon (rain). The dry season usually runs from May through September and the rainy season from November through March. Exception are the Moluccas (Maluku) where seasons are reversed. Map with weather in Indonesia


Dive conditions in Southern Sulawesi


Dive safety

Phone DAN (Divers Alert Network) outside Australia +61-8-8212 9242

Hyperbaric chambers (or recompression chamber) in Sulawesi:

Manado: At the Malalayang Hospital (chamber for 3 to 4 persons) Phone: 0812-4302970 / Dr Glen Hawkins HP +61 407700701 / Dr Sosiawati HP 0812 467 2923 / Dr Hanry Takasenseran HP 0813 4000 0840

Makassar: Rumah Sakit Umum Wahidin Sudirohusodo. Contact person: Pak Daniel Address: Jl. Perintis Kemerdekaan Km. 11, Tamalanrea Kampus UNHAS Indonesia TEL:++ 62 - 0411 (584677) , 584675 . Said to be for 3 to 4 persons.

Kalimantan: Rumah Sakit Pertamina Balikpapan, Jl Jendral Sudirman Nr 1, email: aspb@rspb.co.id, Tel:+62542 734020, 734020, 734024. Contact person: Dr Lukman Hatta, Sp.PD, Sp.KL (Internist).
The Borneo Divers have the only professional recompression chamber located on Sipadan island (Borneo - Malaysia)

Singapore: The Singapore Naval Underwater Medicine Centre. Phone +65-6758 1733 (24-hours Emergency Hotline) / +65-6796 4197 (appointments)
Hyperbaric Medical Services, 1 Orchard Boulevard #08-05, Camden Medical, Centre, Singapore 248649, Phone: +65-6732 8552
Hyperbaric Medicine Centre, 11 Jalan Tan Tock Seng, Tan Tock Seng, Hospital, Basement 1, Singapore 308433, Phone: +65-6355 9021/2
www.hyperbaric-singapore.com / Medical Director: Dr Wong Ted Min

For more information about hyperbaric chambers look at the Indonesia page or the dive safety page.


More Information about scuba diving in south-east Asia

Description of dive sites

Asia: Burma / Thailand
Indonesia: Bali (east, north, south) / Nusa Tenggara (Lombok, Komodo, Flores, Alor) / Sulawesi (Bunaken, Manado, Bangka, Tukangbesi islands, Makassar and Selayar, Lembeh strait, Siau and Sangihe islands, Palu, Togian and Banggai islands) / Kalimantan
Malaysia: East coast (Perhentians, Redang) / Overview Borneo / Sabah and Sarawak / Lankayan / Mabul and Sipadan
Philippines: Visayas (Negros, Cebu, Bohol, Leyte, Siquijor) / Sangat and Palawan (Tubbataha Reef)
Galapagos islands: center Galapagos, north Galapagos, southeast Galapagos, west Galapagos

Fact sheets

Bali - Borneo and Kalimantan - Burma and Thailand - Galapagos - Malaysia(east coast) - Manado, Lembeh and Siau islands - Nusa Tenggara (Lombok, Sumbawa, Komodo, Flores, Alor) - Moluccas (Ambon, Banda, Halmahera) - Palawan (Sangat, Tubbataha) - Sulawesi - Sulawesi central - Visayas (Bohol, Cebu, Negros, Siquijor)

Tauchplätze

Indonesien allgemein - Bali - Bali Nord - Bali Ost - Bali Süd - Bunaken - Bangka - Manado- Lembeh

Informations-Seiten

Bali - Bunaken, Manado, Lembeh, Siau

This page www.starfish.ch/dive/info/Sulawesi-info.html . Copyright Teresa Zubi (write to me).
I am not responsible for the contents of any sites linked to this website or any other off-site pages. Link to them at your own risk.