Last Day at Sponge Wall

The winds have shifted to the east, bringing rough seas to the Gorontalo side of Tomini Bay. Miguel’s Diving staff has been out to sea these last few days mapping and measuring a dive site. We rode meter-and-a-half swells heading out but had to go slowly on the way back. A couple of times huge waves doused the boat crew, allowing us to dive without leaving the boat! ;-) This is only the beginning of east wind weather, which closes diving in Gorontalo until the winds shift back to the west. Dive season in Gorontalo runs November to April.

Our last day of diving (in the ocean) today was great. Visibility was 30 meters and water temperatures remain 30 degrees Celsius. We finished mapping and measuring Sponge Wall, an alternate dive site we use depending on the weather. It is covered with sponges and gorgonian fans. The huge trumpet-shaped sponge in this photo is our distinctive Salvador Dali sponge (Petrosia lignosa), photographed at this dive site in March.