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 September 22Sep 22 by Luko
Video removed

Hi Luko

We stayed for 10 nights at SaliBay last year.
Like you I can say Sali Bay Resort : Service very good
Underwater hummm ok but ... a lot of but.. We had a lot of garbage... you didn't mentionned that... good for you.

On our side we had some dives with current... and one with a very veryy strong current who appared more or less instantanly. The guide managed the situation well and after that we stopped the dive (we was not as far from the end) The current was to strong to have fun, and was descending After this experience I understand why the guide are carrefull in case of current.

The visibility was bad, no very bad in the afternoon.

I wrote a report (in french) here CR : Voyage plongée au Sulawesi du Nord et Halmahera du 24/05 au 16/06/2024 - Compte-rendus de voyages - Plongeur.com - Le site de la plongée sous marine

Like you i'm not sure to go back again I've meet Lisa in september 2024 in Germany and in January 2025 in Paris during diving show. She said the weather was rainy (bad ?) during 2024.
You had not so good condition underwater why go back in this condition. ? Thanks for the confirmation that our experience was not as rare.

Halmahera is for me over rated.

Thank you for your report and some nice photos

Excellent pictures Luko, you've captured the essence of Halmahera! We were passing on liveaboard mid July this year and can confirm everything and above from your report as for that place. The only thing I'd add are the humphead parrotfishes, this one from Pokal island next to Sali Bay.

Other than that you were spot on with diving and weather conditions. Mostly grey above water and vis so so there. But no wonder - you were staying in middle of river!

Imagine the sheer volume of water passing through the strait with unpredictable tide schedule combined with the effect of islands blocking that straight and you easily change your opinion on guides not letting you go when they deemed currents too strong :-)

It's not as much about the divers skills but rather about the unpredictability and sheer strength of these currents. On one dive in there a current hit us so strong it almost ripped my A1 rig out of my hands. I bet your R7 setup is not smaller :-) Can't really take pictures in that :-)

On another dive our group was split in half with one part making a circle finishing where we started - all the while in big current - and the other half ended a quarter mile down the road... Funny for us but not so much for the dive operations :-)

For me Halmahera trip (we started Lembeh, moved across and also explored islands near Halmahera, was terrific. The corrals were so rich I found myself taking one picture after another just to look at the previews on my monitor! I honestly think the best way to enjoy Halmahera for non-photographers is to have like 15K lumen floodlight and enjoy the colours this way :-)

True, shoal fish can be seen only at middle of the Molucca sea at Gureda island - Pula Tifore

but we've also encountered sardines at that Pokal place

I think the hype - if there is any - is that it is so remote and so new for many people. And also perhaps fun in some currents situation. And I think it is well deserved due to combination of colours and variability of marine life - I will skip my macro life pictures as I do not want to hijack this excellent report thread :-)

38 minutes ago, RomiK said:

The only thing I'd add are the humphead parrotfishes, this one from Pokal island next to Sali Bay.

I saw the group an afternoon I was alone with a guide visibilty was bad, and current was there. But good moment

41 minutes ago, RomiK said:

It's not as much about the divers skills but rather about the unpredictability and sheer strength of these currents.

Exact.. I had "some problems" with my R5... was not easy.

Other point if you are lucky....very very lucky you can see blue whale

I saw video form 2023 and also one from 2025.

We wasn't lucky enough in 2024 ;)

For those wanting to show some more pictures from Halmahera / Sali Bay
Sali Bay 2024 | Flickr underwater and over Halmahera 2024 Aérien | Flickr

5 hours ago, CaolIla said:

For those wanting to show some more pictures from Halmahera / Sali Bay
Sali Bay 2024 | Flickr underwater and over Halmahera 2024 Aérien | Flickr

Yep, from the marine life composition through corrals - we did dive the same location! 😄 Nice pictures!

Thank you for this very interesting report Luko (and, of course, also Caolla and RomiK). Very helpful, since I am planning a stay in April 2026 in Sali Bay (great forum here)...

Can it be that the traveling time was not perfect and bad visibility and other shortcomings from there (I read that optimum time for Halmahera is October to April)?

I have mixed feelings now after reading, but taken together Sali Bay still looks o.k. (?) ...

(Are there suggestions for similar, but "better", diving experience in April?)

Thanks, Wolfgang

Edited Wednesday at 04:05 PM2 days by Architeuthis

12 minutes ago, Architeuthis said:

Sali Bay still looks o.k. (?) ...

Sali Bay Resort is absolutly ok .. The team the location the boats the service ... the pool (ok I was only one time in it...and after 5 min max it was raining...) restaurant very good

It was low season for me 4 or 5 customer (inc my wife and me) at the end we was 3

Lisa the manager say us it was a bad year... a lot rain. We wasn't lucky it can happen with the weather.

@Architeuthis feel free to MP in german if you want more information.

On 10/15/2025 at 6:04 PM, Architeuthis said:

Can it be that the traveling time was not perfect and bad visibility and other shortcomings from there (I read that optimum time for Halmahera is October to April)?

I have mixed feelings now after reading, but taken together Sali Bay still looks o.k. (?) ...

(Are there suggestions for similar, but "better", diving experience in April?)

Weather issue, yes maybe the season was not optimal, that said this year was terrible all over Indonesia. in North Sulawesi it was raining at the same time and Bali was dramatically flooded in dry season. The guests I met when I arrived were all starting to get into depression after a week of rainy days.

I have absolutely nothing whatsoever to complain about the resort itself, Salibay is top notch for accoms, well maintained, the staff is amazingly friendly and efficient. The only thing I could argue about is the reluctance of the dive team to dive into the current, even though some clients were asking for it. That was my main a surprise, as I often talk with a friend journalist diver whom we try to share the updates or new openings in Indonesia, she was the first to tell me about Salibay resort, that was before COVID 7 years ago on their opening. From her report, I expected raging currents difficult to handle with a camera (funnily enough I dived with her same guide 7 years after her visit, which btw says a lot about the staff being happy with the management) but I never experienced this kind of dives and was quite disappointed overall. When finally i asked her whether it was worth the hassle, she said .... well... ya know... errh... that's up to you, man... ya know... In a nutshell not her favorite place to dive.

I am quite a seasoned diver in Indonesia, my first trip was 25 years ago, these 15 past years I dived Indonesia twice or three times a year. For some reason I never had THAT unresistible attraction into diving Halmahera that drives you crazy when planning your next holidays, and that leaves you wanting the time to run faster until you get there : was it for the first hand reports (my journalist friend's conclusion) or photos I had seen, so far it didn't push the red hot "diving emergency button" (unlike Triton Bay for instance, that I unsucessfully -for various reasons- tried to book for years and finally have my week confirmed and very much expected for next year) .

TBH I didn't expect much from Halmahera, in some ways it lived up to my absence of expectations. One of WP member who was on a liveaboard at the same time (Paolo) told me he had a similar experience of a quite disappointing area, lacking action, colorful corals or exciting fish schooling.

Coral bottom and medium sized fish don't lie, visibility won't conceal everything, take Raja Ampat even in 10m viz you can still see lush colors of the ciorals and the fµ*$!&g huge biomass of fish !!!

There are probably uncharted "new frontiers" in diving Indonesia (I suspect there might be some hidden gems in the Seram sea in between Maluku and Papua) however some of the new areas in Indonesia that opened more recently feel more or less like shots the dark with a less exciting level of diving than what was expected. I suspect in a way that's what is happening for this side of Halmahera (Weda on the other side was supposed to be exceptional but now wasted with mining), it was not a prime dive area for Indonesia but since there are a lot of divers wanting to see something else, it becomes attractive in terms of market opportunities : suddenly 4 resorts opened in a 10 nautical miles radius within 3-4 years while the place was completely devoid of dive ops, although liveaboards used to ply these waters for a longer time.

Wolfgang I don't know what's your experience with Indonesia, as we say YMMV but I would state Halmahera is a second choice if you' haven't yet dived the Indonesian "classics".

In my book I have still Raja, Komodo & Alor as topmost destinations in Indonesia. Hopefully Triton will get into this "GOAT" list.

Maybe I would have put central Maluku including Ambon/Banda/Lease islands at the "Could Have Been Legendary" level, however too difficult to go, many dive ops have failed and bankrupted there.

A level below those dive destinations, I would put Bali even though the array of diving is quite incredible from frequent Rhinopias to Mola mola, because I feel like staying at home now without the holiday abraid excitement (more than 20 trips to Bali and counting every year), N/Sulawesi which is for me a "tamer" and too westernized destination, and for very different reasons it's probably the level where Halmahera belongs for me.

Back to your question, Wolfgang. I have no idea how everything changes for Halmahera in April. (and pretty much sure I will NOT modify my trip to Triton Bay to tell you whether it's better at that time. 😄 )

Of course, if you have all those questions you'd like to know the answer but you're afraid to ask, PM me . ;)

Edited Thursday at 09:26 PM1 day by Luko

We could start another topic with a list of the most common dive destinations in Indonesia and later we could add a poll 😄

7 hours ago, Luko said:

The only thing I could argue about is the reluctance of the dive team to dive into the current, even though some clients were asking for it. That was my main a surprise, as I often talk with a friend journalist diver whom we try to share the updates or new openings in Indonesia, she was the first to tell me about Salibay resort, that was before COVID 7 years ago on their opening. From her report, I expected raging currents difficult to handle with a camera (funnily enough I dived with her same guide 7 years after her visit, which btw says a lot about the staff being happy with the management) but I never experienced this kind of dives and was quite disappointed overal

I've allready write that we had on one dive a current... hummm I understand why they avoid to dive in the current.

I flight offen with the drône starting from the Sali Bay... the current was visible at the surface. For sure it is not funny to be in the water in this place.

I say again that Halamera can probably be a good place for diving when the condition are ok... but the weather is the weather.
Our last trip in Lembeh in june was ok... but the weather and the condition wasn't as good as the times before... and at the end the feeling is not as good as expected.

On the other side it is not impossible that you, like I are a little jaded from having seen so many beautiful places the last years.

My wife would said : On est devenu des "vieux cons" she is probably not completly wrong.

Edited yesterday at 05:44 AM1 day by CaolIla

I found this Dive Halmahera North Maluku with Proco Island Bambu Resort
and that is what it is possible to see if you are lucky.....

Sali bay is like you say @Luko

7 hours ago, Luko said:

I have absolutely nothing whatsoever to complain about the resort itself, Salibay is top notch for accoms, well maintained, the staff is amazingly friendly and efficient

But if I go a second time in Halmahera It will be not impossible that I 'll try an other resort (one is really not in my budget) but the 2 other why not. They are different with perhaps an other diving philosophie

2 hours ago, CaolIla said:

I've allready write that we had on one dive a current... hummm I understand why they avoid to dive in the current.

I flight offen with the drône starting from the Sali Bay... the current was visible at the surface. For sure it is not funny to be in the water in this place.

Sure, Komodo and Alor are also places where the currents get nasty sometimes.

However I have seldom noticed any current on/off switch that transforms it from "Zilch" to "Let's start to panic" within a sec. Most of the time you see it coming, turn away or -at the most- end the dive, etc. (for the record the only current I was really surprised with was during an earthquake in Nusa Penida/Bali. Real on/off button, even had the "Reverse" and "Tornado" positions. Scary.)

Best proof is when we started to dive Proco Bambu house reef, there was a mild to sporty current in the end, however the site itself was beautiful, suddenly it revealed colors we didn't have on any other sites. I would understand liveaboards being cautious with spots they dive twice a year, not as much for a 7 years old operation on site diving their sites everyday (same experience in Alor were LoB can go completely wrong while land ops dive these sites on relatively good and safe conditions a couple of hours earlier or later ).

And if for any supernatural but sensible reasons we were doomed to only dive the tame places of the area, then I 'd still state that it might be not worth diving. After all isn't diving (and shooting images) our main purpose ( Or what am I doing in this "good housekeeping" board? Where can I find a good recipe for the strawberry jam ?).

2 hours ago, CaolIla said:

On the other side it is not impossible that you, like I are a little jaded from having seen so many beautiful places the last years.

My wife would said : On est devenu des "vieux cons" she is probably not completly wrong.

That's also how my inside voice is questioning me. The answer is perhaps. "On est toujours le (vieux) con d'un autre"

On the other hand you may call that experience as well. I might be wrong, the experience of repeating dive places teaches you to focus on the overall rather than the jetsams and flotsams, one trip maybe not as good as another at the same place weatherwise, visibility wise, fish wise, etc having said that you learn to see the core features or the potential without all the external conditions. I recently read posts in another board where first visitors were complaining that Raja wasn't worth diving anymore because the place had a bleaching episode at the start of the year. In my book they obviously missed a few points focusing their attention on the finger rather than the moon it was pointing at (FWIW I dived R4 this year as I did last year and the year before, etc. I think that Raja is fantastic OVERALL despite everything).

Personally I didn't fully click on the Halmahera "overalls", from a landbased resort that is to say.

Talking about "old people", our favorite motto becomes "Life is too short to [insert whatever action/dive site/wine producer which didn't match for you]". If age doesn't matter you can add on top " Wallet is too small to...".

As stated above, I think shooting UW images is our main goal. Typically I try to organize my trips with UW photography in mind, let aside some constraints (non-diving wife meaning no LoB, comfortable accoms as we had our share of mandis in our younger times). I am questioning on this trip about what was really worth shooting? Then if that was just about putting my head underwater, what's that fuss about carrying 60 kgs of equipment mainly geared towards shooting fish and their underwater neighborhood, waking up at night checking that the battery charger was doing its job despite the random power shutdowns, stressing on which lens/port I should kit up for the next dive and whether the alarm system is still green?

All in all, I think not everything is equal, and talking about my own UW shooting and likings I am not sure Halmahera is the place to fit me (That was also a valid statement for at least two friends I know, even though I don't need an external validation for what is more personally suited for me.) .

3 hours ago, CaolIla said:

I found this Dive Halmahera North Maluku with Proco Island Bambu Resort
and that is what it is possible to see if you are lucky.....

A member on this board stayed a couple of times there and liked it very much, as I understand.

The housereef that I dived (with some current) was probably the most spectacular dive of the trip.

For the blue whales, you'll have very good chances to spot them in Alor in October, where they are regularly seen (even on the housereef of a dive resort!)

Edited yesterday at 08:53 AM1 day by Luko

41 minutes ago, Luko said:

A member on this board stayed a couple of times there and liked it very much, as I understand.

The housereef that I dived (with some current) was probably the most spectacular dive of the trip.

We also dove in front of the Proco..
A big coral wall..... completly white... was not good

Same location, other time/weather/period ... a completly other feeling. As I can remember I thinking that it was a good idea not to come at the Proco... the place (underwater) was not nice.

44 minutes ago, Luko said:

For the blue whales, you'll have very good chances to spot them in Alor in October, where they are regularly seen (even on the housereef of a dive resort!)

Thanks you for the info.

37 minutes ago, CaolIla said:

A big coral wall..... completly white... was not good

I don't think that was the same place : most of the pix I uploaded above in my first post with gorgonians and soft corals are from Proco Bambu.

A year would not explain that coral growth. Besides that no coral wall, more of a slope completly COVERED with corals.

The other member who's been twice to Proco also confirmed he thought the housereef was spectacular.

Edited 23 hours ago23 hr by Luko