Manta Point - Fly me to the moon
“Ok, everyone, there are around 10 minutes and we will arrive at our next dive site: Karang Makassar. Karang means coral, and Makassar is the capital city of Sulawesi, Indonesia. The story has it that the fishing men from Makassar discovered this place and the dive site is named after them later. If I say its another name “Manta Point”, you will know what you’re gonna see.”
Water temperature 28 degree, gear in, mask on, jump into the blue water, stay around 10 meters depth, and all we need to do is to follow the current. “Ding Ding Ding”, first Manta, “Ding Ding Ding”, second Manta, “Ding Ding Ding”, third, four, five, six…
During that dive, we saw around 12 mantas, and there is even one Melanistic (Manta with black belly)…This amazing scene made me cry. The excitement can’t be explained, and it just comes with all my emotions. The local dive guides said there would be more in numbers, while during the mating season, we could even see the mantas jumping out of the water, flying into the sky. Anyway, I’m so happy with what comes to me, and I felt so lucky to encounter them in all those unexpected corners in the blue. I’m so touched by that moment when the Manta group is playing around us. They are so gentle, like the whale shark, and they are very curious too by coming so close above our head, even in front of our eyes. Sometimes, they play magic and we never know where they come from. Sometimes, they can be very fast and we can’t trace their way home. But, maybe we are at their home. And that is my first dive in Manta Point in Komodo, and that day is one of my best dive day ever.
Of course, during the next two months of my DMT, I met them every dive in Manta Point, yes, every dive there. Those mantas are not just in Manta Point, but they can be in Batu Bolong, Mawan, Shotgun, Tatawa Besar, etc. One lucky day, I saw them three times in three different dive sites of Komodo. I am so lucky and I know I have fallen in love with this Ocean, with Komodo.
Every dive site in Komodo has its distinguished characteristics: Batu Bolong is a live aquarium; Crystal Rock attracts the sharks; Castle Rock live groups of fish; Waniulu is the micro’s heaven; Tatawa Besar owns the nicest coral; Shotgun offers the thrilling experience like taking a roller coaster; Siaba Besar is the home to the turtles; just name a few. But for me, my favorite dive site in Komodo is Manta Point: it’s not deep, average depth is around 10-12 meters, and it’s the only dive site that I don’t have to worry of getting lost in directions, because I am always lost in what we see. Diving in Manta Point always reminds me of one classic song [Fly me to the moon]:
Fly me to the moon
And let me play among the stars
……
You are all I long for
All I worship and adore
In other words, please be true!
In other words, I love you!
