Wundi Cave

If you’re a solo traveller in Biak and wish to dive, you’ll have to be very lucky or very rich. Try to come with some friends otherwise will cost you! There aren’t many travellers or divers around so if you don’t team up with them, you’ll end up shelling a bomb for a private trip. Eg. IDR6.5m for 6 dives over two days.

I made contact with three places and one out of three managed to do something for me.  Their details are at the end of this post.

Through one of the places, specifically Biak Dive Resort, I was lucky enough to join up with others to make an affordable dive. Otherwise I would have had to pay for the boat all by myself.

Actually the other people weren’t every day people but dive journalists and photographers. They’re very experienced divers and take amazing pictures for magazines. At least one of them has published her own book. They were in Biak courtesy of the island’s tourism promotion body.

Also coming to the island were some 50 travel agents. They were taken out in the Search-and-Rescue craft to roughly the same area as us where they were given the chance to snorkel. It would have been a bad day for anyone to go missing in the waters around Biak as the SAR boat was “busy” 😉

The dive site for my one and only dive in Biak was Wundi Cave.

• It started with a plunge from the diveboat into a chasm, then we continued into somewhat of a crevasse or alley.  From there, we rose and exited through a hole.
• Next was a wall with plenty of coral including some remarkable fan coral.
• While there were enough fish, it was really the seascape that was more stunning than the life.
• Visbility was good but not great.  But I think it gave a better atmosphere of the abyss.

After the dive, we parked somewhere, hopped off and waded in the water to go see some old bible in the village. It was quite an effort wading through the water which was full of rocks, broken coral and yet-to-be-broken coral.

There were some local kids playing in the water buck-naked (a scene which is quite common). They also had fish and octopus amongst their catch. Soon after, we all gave up and turned back.

We then waited on the boat “for coconuts”. I thought it was a joke. But truly, some Papuans turned up in canoes which were barely wider than one’s ass but stabilised with a one-sided outrigger. They gave us coconuts in exchange for some food.

Our Papuan boatmen know them, I guess.  They were happy to oblige with little rides on their canoes and posed for photos. I kick myself for leaving the camera and phone in the room. I thought we were ducking out for a 1h dive but little did I realise it was a 9-to-5 affair involving stops which saw us mingling with locals in such picturesque settings. I will rely on my dive buddies for pictures.

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Biak Dive Resort

Biak Dive Resort managed to team me up with some local dive journalists/photographers who were very nice. Mr Yudith (Mob +62 813 3059 9930) the owner and divemaster is an affable guy and speaks English.

He dispenses with the paperwork; no forms to sign. He does do a good pre-dive briefing and all the dive gear is in near new and in tip-top condition.

For the single dive that I did, we went to Wundi Cave which was quite far away from town. The group jumped and descended into a chasm, then swam through the lowest of three holes leading into a crevasse. At the dead-end, we ascended and came out through the higher hole. We then made our way along a wall along (on our right side).

The visibility wasn’t that good but it added an eeriness to the feel of the abyss when it came to the crevasse and the wall. There was the usual small stuff to see, along with lots of hard coral on the wall plus a few micro stuff.

It was a great day for me as I hadn’t experienced a cave in my dives before. It wasn’t technically a cave I don’t think, so I was allowed to do it with no special training.

Biak Padiving

Erick Farwas (Mob +62 813 4436 6385) is the only dive outfit listed in the current edition of the Lonely Planet. He was helpful but had no other guests at the time of my visit, which meant that he couldn’t offer me an affordable solution.

I’m not sure if he speaks English.

Coolio

I saw Coolio (+62 852 4496 0506) taking a group out from the harbour when I was having my breakfast on my patio. I quickly ran out to speak to him about joining him the next day. He quoted a price of about IDR1.2m for 2 dives. When I realised that the French group wasn’t too welcoming about having me join them (along with having to do my travel permit), I decided not to go.

Also, I had hoped to dive the wreck of the Catalina flying boat. That wasn’t on the cards for them.

I’m not sure if he speaks English.