In March 2024, underwater photographer Patrick Kranenbroek was visiting Saronde Island in Sulawesi, Indonesia. Here, Anke Andree, the managing director of Blue Bay Divers at Saronde Island Resort, told him that she also owned and operated a dive liveaboard for the past 14 years: KLM Sunshine. “We want to start exploring new dive areas south of Lembeh,” she said. “Would you like to join? We’re going all the way to Bolsel.” One year later, the time had come. The Lembeh – Bolsel – Lembeh trip began, and Patrick was on board.
Colourful soft corals and sponges, North Sulawesi
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Good to Know
GETTING THERE
From Amsterdam, it is about 12 hours flying time to Singapore with Singapore Airlines. From there, you take a three-hour flight to Manado. From Manado’s international airport, Blue Bay Divers has a private driver who brings you to Bitung in the Lembeh Strait in about one hour. KLM Sunshine awaits you there.
THE LIVEABOARD
KLM Sunshine accommodates up to ten divers, though they usually limit groups to eight. There are five cabins in total—two on the upper deck and three on the lower deck. On board, you will find a cosy lounge with a camera table, sun deck and relaxation area. The crew of nine is extremely flexible and helpful in meeting your needs (food, diving, etc).
DIVING
Diving is done from the small dinghy, Pygmee, which drops you precisely above the dive site. When your dive ends, the Pygmee picks you up wherever you surface. Tanks are 12 litres (some 15-litre tanks available) and are filled with nitrox (30% oxygen). Maximum diving depth is 30 metres. On the dive deck, you will find showers and a rinse tank. Every diver gets their own crate for storing equipment. The dive package includes three dives per day. Night dives are available daily for €30 per dive.
FOOD AND BEVERAGE
Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served buffet style in the lounge. Meals include hot soup and vegetables, rice, potato dishes, meat or fish, noodles and fresh fruit. Water, coffee and tea are free. Soft drinks, wine and beer are available for a small fee and noted on a list, which you settle at the end of the trip.
SARONDE ISLAND
Besides KLM Sunshine, Blue Bay Divers also has a beautiful resort on remote Saronde Island—far away from the busier dive areas of North Sulawesi. Trips on the Sunshine combine perfectly with a stay on Saronde Island. ■
While the crew of KLM Sunshine had already explored the area south of Lembeh, many resort guests had never seen the dive sites there. I boarded the wooden liveaboard boat for a 10-day journey. The Sunshine’s German owner, Anke Andree, joined us for the trip, and there was one other diver named Breny on board.
We departed from Bitung in the Lembeh Strait and followed the route via Buyat and Boltim to Bolsel. I did not know exactly what to expect, but Anke assured me that I would not regret it. “The reefs are truly stunning and untouched,” she said. “You won’t encounter any other divers once we leave Lembeh.” The Sunshine was the only vessel sailing this route.
The soft corals of Palau Pakolor
Our first dive site was Palau Pakolor, a tiny island located five hours south of Lembeh. On the liveaboard’s whiteboard, I read that the site was a wide-angle destination. As soon as I descended, I immediately understood why. Soft corals were everywhere. Pink, red, yellow and purple. I was in heaven, loving it all! What an incredible dive spot.
While I was busy taking photos, Yustus signalled to me. He was my private guide this week, as there were two guides on board and two divers, which was perfect. Yustus had spotted two whitetip reef sharks. They stayed around for a while, but they were quite shy and kept their distance, making it impossible to photograph them properly with my fisheye lens. But when Yustus checked under several large table corals, he found a third whitetip reef shark hiding underneath. Bingo. This one stayed still, and I got enough time to photograph it.
A sea turtle and a large stingray at the end of the dive completed the experience. This was indeed fantastic, I thought, and Breny could not have been happier either.
About the liveaboard
KLM Sunshine has been sailing Indonesian waters for 14 years. Some of its routes go from Sahaung or Bitung to Saronde Island, and it often cruises around Halmahera. New this year was the Lembeh – Bolsel – Lembeh route.
The vessel hosts up to ten guests in five cabins—some on the upper deck, and some below deck. From the dive platform, we stepped into a small dinghy named Pygmee, which brought us quickly to the dive sites.
There was a cosy, compact lounge where we enjoyed breakfast, lunch and dinner. The lounge also housed a camera table with storage compartments, which I gratefully used. At the bow there was a relaxation area with bean bags, sunbeds and shade cover. On the upper deck, at the back of the boat, was a spacious seating area. On the dive platform, tanks were filled with nitrox, and there was a rinse tank for cameras and equipment.
A rare find
At Palau Racoon in the Buyat Bay region, we descended to 28m. We were swimming across a sandy bottom into deeper waters when Yustus found a large piece of blue sponge. He signalled to me to get my camera ready, as he had spotted something.
When I looked closely, I saw a tiny creature, not even a centimetre long and maybe 2mm wide. I had absolutely no idea what it was, but it must be something special. I took a few photos until I was satisfied. When I showed the result to Yustus, he became ecstatic.
I still did not understand what made it so unique, but once back on the boat, Yustus ran straight to Anke. “We found a bumblebee shrimp!” She told me these were rarely seen and was thrilled with the photo.
Today was all about macro anyway, and Yustus also brought me to a tiny, pink and white pygmy seahorse (Hippocampus bargibanti) hidden in a large, similarly coloured gorgonian. I was delighted with the result.
The reefs around Buyat were stunning, full of soft and hard corals, and teeming with fish. There were also perfect sites for muck diving. During a night dive, I photographed a decorator crab covered so beautifully that it looked like it was celebrating Carnival.
The Mahenas of Bolsel
After six days, we reached the dive area around Bolsel. We still had not seen any other tourists. No boats here—only a few small fishing vessels from the village.
We planned to dive at Mahena Point. “Mahena” means “barracuda”, so we knew what to expect, said Yustus during the briefing. We descended slowly to 15m and followed the reef. Three minutes in, a sea turtle appeared but quickly headed to the surface.
About ten minutes into the dive, there they were: a big school of barracudas hovering at about 10m above the reef. Breny and I approached very carefully, so we would not scare them. But our worries were unnecessary. We took some photos, and eventually we managed to swim inside the circle of barracudas. They swirled around us, and I kept clicking away. What a magical moment. The next day we returned and had a similar encounter.
Between the second and third dive, we took a walk through Bolsel with the staff. It was a small coastal village, and all the local kids came out to walk with us. A little boy who did not speak any English asked an important question: Messi or Ronaldo? Even here in Bolsel, that debate lives on.
Nudibranchs
Throughout the entire trip, the number of nudibranchs was astonishing. I was amazed by their vibrant colours, which is exactly why I love to photograph them. Sometimes Yustus pointed out a black nudibranch on a dark background. Interesting, but the colourful ones stole my heart. Each evening after dinner, we would go through the ID guides together to look up the species we had found.
Back to Lembeh
From Bolsel, we would sail back to Lembeh over the next two days. The evening before departure, we enjoyed a delicious beach barbecue on a paradisiacal, sandy beach surrounded by palm trees. We ate satay, rice, vegetables, salad and fruit skewers, while the crew sang, danced and played guitar. Our dive guides, Yustus and Jenly, turned out to be musicians as well. With the campfire burning, we enjoyed every moment.
During the return journey, we still did four dives a day, including a night dive. After the fourth dive, Captain Doan sailed through most of the night. We dived again in the Buyat Bay area, and upon my request, once more at Palau Pakolor. I wanted to revisit the site of our first dive.
This turned out to be the most adventurous dive of the trip due to the strong current. We flew past the reef and simply went with the current, trusting that the Pygmee crew would pick us up—they always did. Despite the conditions, I still managed to capture some great shots.
With two dive days left, we arrived in Lembeh for some full-on muck diving. On the black sand, we found many tiny critters, including several seahorses, a mantis shrimp (my favourite) peeking out of its burrow and a small orange and white frogfish. Nearly every dive brought new nudibranchs and other macro life.
During a night dive in the Lembeh Strait, Yustus searched for the candy crab, which is expertly camouflaged in its surroundings. Despite this, he found one, and I managed to photograph the tiny creature.
Farewell
After ten diving days and 37 dives, it was time to say goodbye. What a trip it had been. Untouched reefs, abundant fish, stunning corals and even a Salvador Dalí sponge! Named for its surreal, Dalí-like patterns on its surface, this sponge species is only found between Bolsel and Gorontalo. Additionally, we saw gorgonians, fan corals, hard corals and surprisingly many soft corals. Best of all, with our guides, we had the reefs entirely to ourselves.
With ten days of amazing food and excellent support with the dive gear, our only task was to enjoy the diving. Life aboard KLM Sunshine was pure bliss. I can heartily recommend this trip to anyone. Diving on pristine reefs, with no other divers or boats around, felt as if we were all alone in the world—a world that, for one week, existed entirely underwater for me. These were memories that would last forever, and Anke more than fulfilled the promise she made to me last year. ■
More information can be found at blue-bay-divers.de.
Underwater photographer Patrick Kranenbroek is an editor for the Dutch diving magazine Duiken and frequently dives in the Oosterschelde. Visit: patrickkranenbroek.com
