HEAVENLY CORAL REEFS in PULO CINTA

So I went back again to Pulo Cinta, a breath taking above seawater villas, with stunning view everyday (you can see my blogpost about Pulo Cinta here).

Ready to dip in the water!

Pulo Cinta from above, photo by M. Ikhsan

Float in this beautiful sea before we dip in

Pulo Cinta tidak hanya cantik dari atas (the aerial photos are just super stunning), ataupun di atas permukaan laut saat matahari bersinar cerah. The coral reefs around this island is super healthy.
 

Pulo Cinta is not only beautiful from above (the aerial photos are just super stunning), or above the water's surface when the sun is shining brightly. The coral reefs around this island are super healthy.

Area snorkeling favorit kami hanya berjarak sekitar 5 menit saja naik boat, dari unit villa pun kita dapat berenang ke banyak lokasi untuk snorkeling namun mesti mengitari sisi yang lebih dalam karena banyak koral di area dangkal agar tidak mengenai koral saat berenang.

Our favorite snorkeling area is only about 5 minutes away by boat, from villas we were able to swim to a lot of locations for snorkeling but we should swim around the outer deep side which since many corals are in shallow areas, so that won't touch the corals while swimming.

The wall

Gugusan karang yang cantik ini berada di area dangkal sekitar 2 hingga 5 meter saja sehingga sangat menyenangkan untuk mengitari dan menikmati warna-warni karang yang padat ini. Dari area dangkal langsung terdapat wall (kontur yang langsung menurun, dalam, sehingga tampak seperti dinding) yang dari atas terlihat berwarna biru tua.

These beautiful coral clusters are located in the shallow area of about 2 to 5 meters so it is fun to go around and enjoy the colorful corals of this dense. From the shallow area there is already a wall (contour straight downhill, in, so it looked like a wall) that from the top looks dark blue.

Kami bermain-main di area dangkal dan perbatasan wall, kadang menyelam turun di area wall yang dihiasi karang-karang indah. Ini juga trip pertama saya menggunakan monofin (I've learn a few times in the pool before and been wanting to learn using monofin since long time ago), so we took several photos here, hope you like it :)

We play in the shallow area and the border wall, sometimes diving down in the area of wall decorated with beautiful coral reefs. This is also my first trip using a monofin (I've learn a few times in the pool before and been wanting to learn using monofin since long time ago), so we took several photos here, hope you like it :)

@marischkaprue - wishes she can breathe underwater

Photos by Ferry Rusli

NOTES

PULO CINTA

Boalemo, Gorontalo
Sulawesi, Indonesia

GETTING THERE

From Jakarta to Gorontalo (Terdapat banyak penerbangan menuju Gorontalo dengan short transit time di Makassar, harga tiket Jakarta - Gorontalo saat normal season sekitar Rp. 1,6 juta - Rp. 2,5 juta PP), untuk harga tiket dari kota lain dapat dicek di website berbagai maskapai yang ada.
From Gorontalo: 2 jam naik mobil dari Bandara Jalaluddin di Gorontalo, dilanjutkan dengan naik boat (15 menit) dari Pantai Bolihutuo menuju Pulo Cinta.

From Jakarta to Gorontalo (There are many flights to Gorontalo with short transit time in Makassar, ticket prices Jakarta - Gorontalo during normal season around Rp. 1.6 million - Rp. 2.5 million PP), for a ticket from another city can be checked on the website there are a variety of airlines.

From Gorontalo: 2 hours by car from Gorontalo Jalaluddin Airport, followed by a boat ride (15 minutes) from the Bolihutuo Beach towards Pulo Cinta.

 

RATES

Check out this blogpost toknow full information about the rates & facilities in Pulo Cinta

TO KNOW WHEN SNORKELING

Jangan menginjak karang, upayakan posisi badan lurus (horizontal) saat di area dangkal yang memungkinkan kita tidak sengaja mengenai koral

Do not step on corals, try having straight body position (horizontal) while in the shallow areas since it possibly makes us accidentally touch on corals

Jika tidak bisa berenang, gunakan life vest, for safety reasons of course

If you cannot swim, use a life vest, for safety reasons of course

Untuk mendapatkan foto underwater, again, jangan memegang karang untuk menahan posisi badan di air, cukup berenang turun (hanya bisa sebentar pun tidak masalah), gunakan mode timelapse (dengan setting kamera mengambil foto setiap detik, sehingga kita tinggal memilih foto yang bagus), kebiasaan memegang karang untuk menahan posisi di bawah air juga akan membuat kita tidak belajar untuk turun dengan baik, dan akhirnya berenangnya juga ga semakin baik, rugi kan :)

To get the underwater photos, again, do not hold the coral reefs to hold the position of the body in the water, simply swim down (if you can only do it in several minutes, it is not a problem), use timelapse mode (by setting the camera takes photos every second, so we could just choose a nice photo) the habit of holding on to the coral to hold an underwater position will also make us learn not to go down well, and lastly your swimming skill is also not getting better, such a loss :)

Jangan iseng memegang binatang laut atau koral, banyak bintang laut dan koral yang beracun (atau membuat gatal seminggu lebih, gak mau kan garuk-garuk sepanjang trip atau bahkan masuk rumah sakit?)

Do not idly holding marine animals or coral, lots of starfish and coral are toxic (or makes you itchy or allergic for about a week, you do not want the scratching during trip or even go to the hospital, right?)  
 
Just calm, and enjoy!

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