Mid August 2025 I stayed for a weektime at Sali Bay Resort located in the Bacan Strait, southwest of Halmahera.

My dates overlapped with another WP member diving from a liveaboard (who might jump in), we exchanged impressions of nearby dive sites almost in real time and got only subtle differences between resort-based and boat-based diving in the same region.

Alike almost all of Indonesia this year, the weather in northern Indonesia was unsteady, with grey clouds and intermittent rain squalls. Surface conditions were exceptionally calm—some days felt like on a frozen lake or ice-skating rink. Despite the flat seas, the overcast skies muted underwater light and the absence of current on most of the dives reduced overall visibility (from 10m to 25m when the current was exceptionally present).

I hired a private guide but except when a group came in, all the divers (majoritarily a european experienced crowd from Germany, Netherlands,or Italy) used the same big and comfortable boat. Up to 4 dives a day could be planned on demand.

The spots we dived alternated Lembeh style black sand dives (to my surprize) and lush coral reefs sloping down to a sandy bottom. Most sites featured abundant hard corals, though broken sections were visible in places (storm or human cause?). Incredibly large and healthy coral fields contrasted with areas of rubble, suggesting a reef in partial recovery. Soft corals were not that abundant although could be very spectacular on some specific sites in teh current.

I encountered zillions of small reef fish—anthias, damselfish, and purple queens—but virtually no medium-sized schooling species. Blacktip sharks appeared on almost every dive over reef slopes.

Problem is that the resort dive boat avoided even mild currents, despite divers’ experience levels. On one occasion we skipped a site enjoyed by snorkeling families (with kids!) because our guide assessed the flow could be too strong. Which resulted too often on boring dives where I surfaced with 80–100 bar remaining after more than an hour underwater because I prefered to stay in the shallows with the clouds of reef fish rather than finning over semi deserted hard corals. I even found myself switching to video (for the first times in my life!) for a quick and dirty try.

Exceptionally, the guides were probably not expecting it, a manageable current picked up at the house reef near Proco Bamboo Resort and litterally transformed the dive. Within fifteen minutes, corals unfurled their polyps, colors intensified, and fish activity spiked. That single drift dive was the trip’s standout.

Macro was OK, one of the black sand spots hosted lots of Halimeda GPF and two wonderpus, although not as much abundance of other critters than Lembeh or Tulamben.

I had hard times to have my guide confirming beforehand what was the specifity of the site we would be diving, in order to select the kind of lens I would kit my camera with (macro or wide angle). Except for some obvious sites, (black sand for Macro or Proco housereef for Wide ) Often the answer was "whatever you prefer" which in my mind didn't sound really promising in terms of critters to be spotted or for the expected reefscape.

Overall this area of SW Hamahera felt like a hybrid of several Indonesian spots:

• A touch of Raja Ampat’s reef structure but with fewer fish

• Alor’s terrain but with reduced visibility and less colors

• Komodo’s drift potential without its vivid coloration and no fish schools

• Lembeh’s black‐sand sites yet lacking a dense critter populations

Overall biodiversity was respectable but not as spectacular as the Indonesian marquee destinations. It really lacked the currents and the fish action.

On the other hand, swiss italian owned Sali Bay Resort excelled in every non-dive aspect:

• Spacious, air-conditioned bungalows with open air bathroom and a large terrace only 5m away from the sea

• A dedicated camera room at the jetty for gear setup

• A lively housereef with walking sharks on night dives

• Fresh, varied meals (foccacia to die for) and friendly, super efficient staff

The only downside was the divestaff’s reluctance to tackle currents—even when conditions were well within diver capabilities- and quite iffy Nitrox analyzers (after a the initialization readings for ambiant air randomly in between 17% and 26%, I simply set my computer to a minimal 28% )

Unsurprisingly, our return direct flight from Manado to Bali on Lion Air was abruptly canceled. They rebooked us on an earlier flight going through Makassar that departed four hours before our scheduled landing in Manado, despite a single-PNR booking from Labuha (the airport on Bacan) to Bali on Lion Group airlines. Did that raise an eyebrow on their side, I guess not even.

Resolving the routing via WhatsApp took my wife seven frustrating hours. So boohs to LionAir as usual.

Conclusion

Halmahera is quite a long way and tedious to get to due to unmatching flight connexions (Wings air flight Manado-Labuha flies only once/day departing early afternoon, hence not allowing a same day connexion from Singapore ).

Sali Bay Resort delivers top-notch accommodations, service, and easy access to calm, (too) friendly dives. However, the conservative current management and modest marine life—particularly the absence of schooling and intermediate fish—may leave thrill-seeking divers wanting. In this respect Halmahera didn't live up the hype it is currently getting.

I’m torn on a return visit: the resort operation earns full marks, but I’d hope for more energetic drift profiles and richer fish action next time if there is one.

Here are some shots from the reefs : all wide angle shots taken with Canon R7 / RFS 18-45 / WWL1B

Some muck or night dives shot with Canon R7 / RF100+MFO1 or EFS60 : including Halimeda GhostPipeFish and Epaulette Walking shark

And now just for fun my first videos spent on Halmahera/Sali Besar reef shallows.

(Videographers and mods don't shoot me : how do you embed a video in a post?).

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by Luko
Video removed

20 minutes ago, Luko said:

And now just for fun my first videos spent on Halmahera/Sali Besar reef shallows.

(Videographers and mods don't shoot me : how do you embed a video in a post?).

Hi Luko,

Thanks for your report and amazing photos!

I had to remove the video because as you can imagine, we don't have the storage and bandwidth for such an heavy file. Moreover each member should download all the video to watch it.

Please just upload on YouTube and share the link. The board will automagically embed it in your post.

Ciaooo