Michael McFadyen's Scuba Diving Web Site
Home · Contact Me · Sydney Reef Dive Sites · Sydney Shipwrecks · NSW Dive Sites · Australian Dive Sites · Overseas Dive Sites · Dive Accidents and Incidents · My Yachting Adventures · 4WD Trips · Weather · Search 12 December 2024 18:57
Navigation
Home

General
About Me
My Diving
FAQ
Downloads
Web Links - Dive Clubs
St George Scuba Club
Some of my Best Photos
Contact Me

Dive Sites
Sydney Reef Dive Sites
Sydney Shipwrecks
Sydney Dive Visibility, Swell and Temps
Kelly Talking on ABC Sydney about Shipwrecks
NSW Dive Sites
Sydney Shipwreck Summary
NSW Shipwreck GPS/Marks
Australian Dive Sites
Overseas Dive Sites
Aircraft I have Dived
Old Bottles
Free Shipwreck Books

Dive Related Equipment
Shearwater Predator and Heinrichs Weikamp OSTC 2N
Uwatec Aladin Dive Computers
Apollo AV1 Underwater Scooter
Bauer Compressor
DIY Oxygen Stick - Nitrox
GoPro HD Hero Video Camera
My Camera Setup
Purchase of New Dive Boat
My Dive Boat - Mak Cat
My Old Dive Boat - Le Scat
My Dive Gear
GPS and Diving
Make Your Own Car Tank Rack

Marine Life
Rarer Sydney Marine Life
Bare Island Pygmy Pipe Horses
Bare Island Sea Horses
Bare Island Nudibranchs
Bare Island Marine Life
Encounter with Southern Right Whale and Calf

Other Dive Info
How Weather Affects Diving in Sydney
Visibility and Wave Averages in Sydney
Waves and Diving
Diving Weather and Sea Conditions
Tide Tables
Dive Accidents and Incidents
Dive Book Reviews
Site Map
Noel Hitchins 1951-2005
Lloyd Bridges - Mike Nelson in Sea Hunt
My Yachting Adventures
Below is a list of links to the main pages about my yacht, Catlypso and My Yachting Adventures:
  • Purchase of Catlypso
  • Details about Catlypso
  • Cleaning/Repairing Catlypso
  • My Yachting Adventures.
  • Login
    Username

    Password



    Forgotten your password?
    Request a new one here.
    Michael's 4WD Trips
    Click here for a list of my Four Wheel Drive and Camping Trips.
    Home Brewing
    Click here for an article about Home Brewing.
    Sydney Dive Site Hints
    "There are two dive sites at Middle Ground, both are fantastic"
    Tatawa Besar, Indonesia
    Michael McFadyen's Scuba Diving - Tatawa Besar, Indonesia

    In September 2012 Kelly and I did a week long liveaboard dive trip in Indonesia which went from Bali to Komodo and back. We went on the MV Mermaid II. Click here to read about the boat. This is one of the dive sites we did on the trip. The trip heads north-east from Benoa Harbour on Bali out north of Lombok and then north of the other islands to Komodo Island and then down the eastern side of Komodo to the southernmost point of Komodo. For all dives on this trip we used 31% Nitrox, so bear this in mind when considering the bottom times we did.

    Tatawa Besar is one of a largee number of small islands or rocks located at the northern end of Linta Strait which is between Komodo Island and Pulau Rinja. This site is off the eastern side of the island. An approximate GPS mark for the dive spot is 8Âș 30' 39.1"S 119Âș 38' 46.4"E (using WGS84 as the datum). The site is towards the shore from the GPS mark.

    Satellite Photo
    A satellite photo from Google Earth that shows
    the location of the dive site to left of arrow

    GPS is at the tip of arrow

    The actual site is located off the eastern side of Tatawa Besar. The dive is done as a current dive, starting at the appropriate end. We started at the north-eastern corner off the island and drifted south.

    Dive Site Map
    A map of the dive site - north is at the right of the map
    Used courtesy of Mermaid Cruises

    As with virtually all dive sites that you do when on MV Mermaid II, you use the RIB (rigid inflatable boat) to get to the start of the dive (and also to get back to the boat). The RIB will drop you close to the island.

    Once in the water, we dropped to 10 and then gradually descended to about 25 metres over the next four minutes. The current was about half a knot so very easy to stop and photograph something or even swim against it for a short distance.

    As soon as we hit the bottom we saw a turtle. It was very placid and allowed us to get some nice video and photos. The site consists of a gentle slope of sand with small bommies of coral. It gets to about 30 metres.

    Soft coralsBarrel sponge
    Soft corals Barrel sponge
    Harlequin sweetlipsDiagonal-banded sweetlips
    Harlequin sweetlipsDiagonal-banded sweetlips

    This site has lots of small gorgonias (including some very nice white ones) and barrel sponges as well as other sponges and very colourful soft corals. There were large numbers of titan triggerfish, I counted at least six very large ones. I would not want to do this dive when it was nesting season, it would be hell trying to avoid their nasty aggressiveness.

    There were also five clown triggerfish, what I believe is the most beautiful fish in the ocean. I think this may have been the most I have ever seen on one dive. There were also very large red bass, much bigger than the ones I have seen on the Great Barrier Reef.

    Titan triggerfishTurtle
    Titan triggerfishTurtle
    TurtleTurtle
    Close up of the turtleThe turtle goes for a swim

    As we drifted we gradually ascended from 25 metres. There were some schools of sweetlips and snapper and short-fined bannerfish. As mentioned, we saw lots of turtles and some of these were free swimming. They were easy to get photographs and video as they slowly swam along.

    After 45 minutes we were at about six metres and spent the next 15 minutes doing a safety stop along the shallows. In the shallows we saw mantis shrimps as well as clownfish. We also saw some anemones barrelled up with clown anemonefish (Nemo) in them. They are so cute, no wonder they made a movie about one.

    NemoClown triggerfish
    Clown anemonefish (Nemo)Clown triggerfish

    This site had all the normal smaller tropical fish, but there were not as many nudibranchs as we have seen at other dive sites on this trip.

    This was an excellent and easy dive. The visibility was 30 metres and the water temperature was about 27ÂșC.

    Click here to return to the list of sites we did on our MV Mermaid II trip.

    Copyright © Michael McFadyen 1990 to 2024
    Non-commercial use of an article or photograph is permitted with appropriate URL reference to this site.
    Dive shops, dive operators, publications and government departments cannot use anything without first seeking and receiving approval from Michael McFadyen.
    This web site has been wholly thought up, designed, constructed and funded for almost 30 years by Michael McFadyen without any help from the Australian Dive Industry.
    Website created 1996!