Tomini Bay and Olele Beach (Gorontalo)

TOMINI BAY AND OLELE BEACH IN GORONTALO : Pieces of Paradise on the Equator
By: Asri Jul Megita

Hello everyone! How are you? What's your plan for this holiday? The place which is hot or cold? If you do not yet have a destination for vacation this time, you can go to Indonesia! Do you know Indonesia? Of course, Indonesia is a country that has a wide range of tourist destination which is no less beautiful than others. The destination for vacation in Indonesia is not only in Bali. There are many other interesting places are very beautiful. I recommended you to go to Gorontalo.

There are just so many things that make Gorontalo perfect for holiday, the beauty of its nature, the culture and not forget to mention, the friendly people. General information about Gorontalo, stated at North Sulawesi. Mountains, hills, shore line are the main characteristic of Gorontalo and it makes the island perfect for marine tourism. most of diving site take you just a few minute from town. Diving in Gorontalo mean diving within the richness of biodiversity, health and unique coral and reefs.

Lots of beautiful places could be found here. Tomini Bay, for instance, is famous for under water habitat and undefined creatures. There is several number of unsettled small islands. Tomini Bay is a heaven for divers, because the geographic position of Tomini Bay itself, which is crossed by the equator line, has naturally presented various kinds of sea creature inside. 
Desa Olele or Olele Village is well known as the wild diving spot among world class diver. Olele beach is a gate to underwater paradise. The amazing beauty of underwater life on this area has been recognize and proofed by the enthusiasm of the divers who come to Olele beach. The divers called Olele as Traffic Jam dive spot.
In Tomini Bay and Olele Beach, you can find some or maybe the most amazing underwater creatures such as :
- Giant Reef (Petrosia Sp.)
- School of Gobi Fish (Bryaninops erythrops)
- Salvador Dali reef (Petrosia lignose)
- Kipas Laut Biru (Acanthogorgia Sp.)
- Anemon Koralimorf (Discosoma Sp.)
- Nemo
- Ikan Behang (plectorhinchus chaetodonoides)
- Blenni (Escenius Caeruluventris)
- Cardinal Fish
- Not forget to mention that Gorontalo is the kingdom of Nudibrancia
- Seahorses and pigmy seahorses

Then to get there, you can go by plane. But you must transit at Soekarno Hatta airport then continue to Jallaludin airport in Gorontalo. You can also go by ship, then you arrived at Anggrek harbor. For the ticket, if you choose plane you must pay about 500.000 IDR - 750.000 IDR for Low Cost Carriage (LCC) plane. Then for ship, you need 150.000 IDR, but it takes a week. So I think It will be good to choose plane. Next, you have to ouse a minibus to get to the town.

Surely, it's impossible to you to just spend a day in there. Obviously, you need unless two days at night. So there are some resort that you can consider to choose. If you choose to stay at the town, you can choose the resort near the diving area. The cost of the resort is about 400.000 IDR - 500.000 IDR per person per night. It's so cheap, right?
Don't worry about the food and facilities. They will serve you with all facilities, and for the food they will serve our breakfast, lunch, and dinner. For the menu, you can try to choose traditional food package like Perkedel Ikan Nike (Nike Fish) and Pepes Ikan Nike.

Then, for the activity you can do ; sail with fisherman, fishing, snorkeling and diving. But to do fishing, snorkeling and diving, you need a stuff which like fishing rod for fishing and snorkel for snorkeling. The best diving season from November to April. You can experienced the encounter with dolphin (torsiops truncates) around Ferbruary to April.

Besides those activity, you can also go to see the Ayuhulalo waterfall, Boalemo Beach, Bolibuo Beach, and visit to Bajos Tribe Village which strong with the culture of Gorontalo. If you want to dive you need to rent a car or a bike to reach the spot. Most of the resort will give you a bike or a car to get to the spot as part of the service. 

Then for the last, it is about the souvenir. You can buy Kerawang, a traditional cloth materials which made by hand (man cloth and women cloth all ages) as a souvenir. Although Kerawang mada by hand but it doesn't look like a hand made at all. Its a must to buy and make sure its on your own list. You can also buy Ornaments of intricate carved wood are common in all the district.

So it's all about Tomini Bay and Olele Beach in Gorontalo, Indonesia. The place that is very beautiful and the place that are rarely visited by many people. Thus, the scenery is very beautiful, clean, like in heaven. Make sure you go to this place and make your holiday like unforgettable moment in your life :)

For further information, here are the contact person for one of travel agent in there :
Miguel's Diving Gorontalo
Address : Office at Gorontalo Oasis Hotel (Jl. Agus Salim No. 29)
Phone : +62 852 4004 7027
E-mail : info@miguelsdiving.com
Web : http://www.miguelsdiving.com/