Everytime I guide tourists for some snorkeling trips in New Guinea of Indonesia, I always ask them to make underwater picture of the tropical fish which they can find at sea. I also asked the same thing to Marko and Rita Laakonen while they were snorkeling with me in Manem islet. From the underwater pictures which they made, two of them are added in this post. Before uploading them to this blog, I tried to identify the tropical fish that are shown in the photographs. The first picture, I think, is the cromish and damsel whereas the second picture is the humphead bannerfish. There are thousands of spesies of reef fish in tropical waters. To identify them is not an easy thing to do. One needs a book for that task. With a book entitled
Reef Fish identification Tropical Pacific, the identification process of the fish will be much easier to be done. Rita and Marko were really happy when they saw the fish and pristine coral reef that covers the shallow waters of the islet.
For snorkeling in this tiny islet, tourists need to fly from Manokwari to Numfor island. After that, they need to take a boat to Manem. It took around 1 hour boat ride from Numfor island to reach the coral reef area. The snorkeling picture which you see in this post was shot only by a pocket camera that has been protected by waterproof casing manufactured by Dicapac. The marine biodiversity is very high in this islet. The trip to Manem is possible if the weather is good. This tiny islet is quite isolated if I compare it with the reef area in Manokwari bay. If after snorkeling in the coral reef you become interested in learning about this precious marine environment, I suggest that you read a book entitled:
Life in the Sea - The Coral Reef which is written by Palm Walker and Elaine Wood. The book is suitable for anyone whose knowledge about coral reef is very basic.
There are no diving or snorkeling shops both in Manokwari and Numfor. If you want to go snorkeling in Numfor, please, bring your own snorkeling set. Watercasing for your pocket camera can be ordered from Amazon.com. Please, check dicapac.com for the type of waterhousing that is suitable for your digital camera. With the waterproof case, you can turn your conventional digital camera into a waterproof camera.
If you want to buy a real waterproof camera, I suggest that you buy a Panasonic DMC-FT3 Lumix. It is now my favorite device for taking pictures of fish, and coral reef while snorkeling in this tropical paradise.
I started using it at sea on 17 August 2011 when I guided 2 Dutch tourists on a snorkeling trip along the shores of Arfak mountains and Arfai beach. The snorkeling site near Arfak mountains is a new destination that I am now promoting for my eco-tourism program. It is a 30-minute boat ride from our boat station that is located in Arfak beach. If you are interested in snorkeling in this new location, you can read my blog post: New Snorkeling Location in Manokwari bay. Don't forget to contact me if you want to come to Manokwari via my email peace4wp@gmail.com.
by Charles Roring
Also read:
Papua Snorkeling
Snorkeling in Mansinam island
