Trip Report : Pasir Putih, 4 Agustus 2012

Back to PP again, after all Pasir Putih and its tourism environment has been improving over time...
The weather is fine, super fine for PP standard should I say... 2nd or 3rd time in a row during 2 months span.. looks like its a good time for diving @ PP this time around...

My partner is a proud Estonian, Silver that what he wanted to be called... :).
we arrived @ PP around 7:15 am, the traffic is quite heavy, I guess all trucking company is trying to finish their job before Idul Fitri. I was predicting we could arrived around 6:30, so it was 45minutes delay because of the traffic.

1st dive around 8am, we dove at Karang Mayit.
The visibility is 10-15m, no current, everything is great.
found a lot of Nudi branches, but since I did not bring my camera for the first dive, I could only only give report on writings :).
Tiger puffer fish, lion fishes also could be found here.

The site is decorated with fish nets, rods etc... apparent fishing activities has been occurred over the years...



2nd dive we goes back to the "ProDive" spot that I also dove 2 weeks a go.
Again the schooling yellow fin is there, big tiger puffer fish, another small yellow box puffer fish at the end of the dive, some nudi branches are present during our dive.

Here are the photos :

Big Nudi Branch (Phyllidia elegans), about 15cm lay still @ 20m

Silver with soft coral...

The schooling yellow fin fish...

Nice and dense isn't ?

Sunken anchor... this is one of the reason why a lot of
coral is destroyed around Pasir Putih.

Beautiful lion fish, expanding its wings

Small scorpion fish, about 7-10cm, hiding in the crevasse.

We have the opportunity to buy fish from the local fisherman that just arrived from the sea. I think this would be the best way to make the local aware for divers present... They were happy because their fish could be sold a little bit higher and they do not have to go to the market or sell them to any middle man which would definitely lower the price. And we are happy because we got a good and fresh product compared if we bought it in the market....
Really a good win win relationship...
We just need to have some ice (ask from the local warong / restaurant) to bring the fresh fish back home. If we use box for our dive gear it is also convenient to put the fish after wrap it with plastic bag inside the box.


We eat fresh kerapu (grouper) fish at local warong.
Silver is having a bottle of beer to highlight his beautifull day, it would be perfect if he could have a cold one he said... :).
I guess we could make exemption for the usual rule for not having alcohol during or before dive hahaha... he is an Estonian, (close to Finland and German, what should we say ? Beer is like water for them...).
And I specially ask if that one bottle of 'Bintang' Beer affected the dive after all, apparently not at all :).




3rd Dive, Pyramid point... the best place to expect for surprise in Pasir Putih :).

And yess, we found some nice surprises :).
just check out the photos....

Razor fish, old inhabitants of Pyramid point...

The couple which always highlight Pyramid point.

Silver exploring the Pyramid...

Flew over the pyramid....

Sunken TPS buoy... :).... this was happened during the storm around May - June 2012

Good news for divers, we would found some Barracuda in a month time, these are the young's...
I could spot at least 10 of them wandering around the pyramid.

Small but beautiful black lion fish...  pity she kinds of hiding and not fully exposing her self.

And the big surprise is this jelly fish, small one, perhaps just 30cm in diameter, carrying quite a number of small fishes
just flew around and give us the opportunity to capture its beauty... :).

See the small fishes ?

In colour...

Silver and his cristal ball...

That's is all... hope to see you all again in the next trip !
till then... take care and dive safely...

Dive Report : Pasir Putih, 5 Mei 2012

A nice diving !!
that's all should I say my friends :).

Semula saya menyangka dive kali ini mungkin tidak akan terlalu menyenangkan, karena seminfgu yang lalu sempet dikasih tau kalau PP lagi ancur visibilitynya... yah tetapi tetap berangkat sambil menengadahkan tangan minta dikasih clear visibility... hahaha...

Ok, Dive 1 di Pyramid (Temple / Jetty Point)...
Saya, Mbak Mamiek dan pak Frans ngobok2 sekitar pyramid. Kedalaman sekitar 5-8m saja.
Eh lah talah kepisah sama pak Frans, akibatnya saya dan mbak Mamiek yang ngeloyor menyusuri wall ke Barat sampai ke kedalaman 12-13m. Tidak terlalu ramai, ikan besar gak ketemu sama sekali, mungkin pada pergi sekolah atau lagi jajan di warung pak Sapari hahaha...

Normal 45-55 minute dive, yang pasti banyak berguna buat nambah jam terbang mbak Mamiek, ya khan Mbak ? :).

Mbak Mamiek naik Penyu di Pyramid Point Pasir Putih :).

Bersama Anemone... :).

Sip... bungkus deh... hehehehehe...

Surface interval sejenak, makan sateee !!! pastinya sip punya sate pasir putih...
Oh ya, kabar baru, ini baru kabar ! hehehe... sate pasir putih ternyata UKURANNYA BERUBAH !!
Dari semula sebesar lalat (hence the name 'sate laler'), sekarang udah berukuran normal seperti sate2 yang biasanya hahaha... harga di 10.000, ketika ditanyain kenapa kok harga naik, ukuran naik, kata yang jual : 'supaya gampang ngitungnya' hahaha... ini pasti gara-gara pak satriyo yang suka makan sate gak pakai sate ! (piring, lontong dan bumbu sate nya saja, sate nya gak mau !!).

Jadinya penjual sate kesulitan ngitung jumlah piring hehehe...
Atau ya inflasi aja, si penjual sate atau paguyuban penjual sate kompak naikin size dan price hahaha...
eniwei... rasa tetep yahuudd... betul2 ngangenin ini sate pasir putih hiehiehiehie...

Dive 2 di Batu Lawang...
Visibility ancur... dibawah 15m, visibility 1-2m, diatas 10m visibility masih di 3-5m.
Nggak banyak yang bisa dilihat disini, beberapa nudi branch, lion fish, ikan-ikannya kosong...

Not a memorable one, but as a diver surely in our diving experience we'll face this condition I guess ? :).
Eh... lah talah, kok kebetulan lagi, kami berdua terpisah lagi dari Pak Frans... :D.
Dan seperti dive yang lalu beliau juga naik lebih dulu dari kami berdua.

Dwelling anemone, seperti bunga di tengah-tengah lumpur hahaha...

Surface Interval kami makan siang di pondok diver milik Rauf hahahaha... ya semoga laris deh, ketemu diver2 lain dari Surabaya yang hobi nembak... hmm... sudah 2 kali ketemu mereka disini :).

Ketemu Pak Satriyo dan Choirul yang nyempet2in dive 2 kali sebelum langsung balik Surabaya :).
Saking cintanya sama Pasir Putih hehehehe....








Dive 3 di Pyramid point...
Now this is a good one !! memang Pyramid point selalu menjadi pusat 'kejutan' bagi diver hahaha...
Betul betul kejutan !, soalnya kadang bisa kosong melompong, gak ketemu apapun, tapi kadang juga memberikan exitement2 yang menyenangkan sekali.
Ini pertama kali saya bisa memfoto Baracuda loner dalam jarak kurang dari 1m dan dia tidak lari hahaha...
Kelihatannya sedang mengambil ancang2 untuk tidur... mengingat jam waktu itu sekitar 15:30.

Site ini ternyata juga memiliki area eel garden yang cukup luas di kedalaman 8-10m.
Di jam yang tepat juga bisa menjadi site untuk drift !! hahaha... nice one, dan yang pertama kali mencoba adalah Pak Frans dengan pasangan barunya, Deni hahaha...
Kembali lagi lah talah... kok Pak Frans menghilang lagi ya hahahaha... aduh jadi selama 3 kali dives kita cuman nyemplung bareng doang, tapi gak pernah betul-betul 'diving' bersama hiehiehiehiehie...

Anyway.. anyhow... after all the story being told and chit chat here and there... (quite a number of strory actually !! :D). here are the photos for your plesure ladies and gentlements... :D.

Great Barracuda @pyramid point, (Sphyraena barracuda)

Dan ini buktinya kalau memang si Barracuda ngendon di Pyramid hahaha... foto diatas memang diambil di Pasir Putih !

Porcelain Crab (Neopetrolisthes maculata)

Porcelain Crabs playing on carpet anemone

Some facts about Neopetrolisthes Porcelain crab :
* Neopetrolisthes sebenarnya bukan crab (kepiting) melainkan lobster, seperti squat lobster yang pelan-pelan berubah menjadi crab.
* Porcelain crab biasanya hidup berpasangan di tentacle anemone. Mereka hidub bersimbiosis dengan hostnya, sang anemone karpet, dimana mereka mendapatkan perlindungan dan hostnya mendapatkan makanan yang 'dikumpulkan' oleh kepakan 'bulu'nya. (this feathery, hair like or bristles like structures is called setae). Porcelain crab makan dengan memfilter / menyaring makanannya dengan bulu-bulu tersebut.
Setiap kali mereka merasa terganggu mereka akan masuk kebawah anemone karpet dan berlindung disitu.
* Neopetrolisthes bermusuhan dengan anemone fish yang juga tinggal di host yang sama (anemone karpet), mereka dapat memukulkan tangan / capitnya (claws called : cellas) ke anemone fish yang berenang terlalu dekat dengan mereka. Sebaliknya Anemone fish juga berusaha mengusir neopetrolisthes dari sarang mereka :).
Kagak pernah akur ya...
* Neopetrolisthes punya kemampuan unik untuk mempertahankan diri dengan cara melepaskan lengan atau bagian tubuhnya yang tertangkap atau tersangkut. Bagian tubuh yang dilepaskan tersebut masih mampu bergerak-gerak sehingga menipu sang pemangsa, memberikan kesempatan si neopetrolisthes untuk lari bersembunyi. Mirip cicak hehehe...


Other creatures we found on sands...

Black finned Sand-Eel - Ophichtus melanochir

Dan cukup surprise menemukan black finned sand eel di Pasir Putih :)....
kedalaman sekitar 8m berada di tengah garden eel.



See you on the next dive !! :). Please check my blog frequently.

Dive Report : Lestarikan Laut Kita, Pasir Putih - Situbondo, 3-4 Maret 2012

Kali ini A2DC bersama dengan pt Suparma tbk mengadakan fun dive dan bersih-bersih pantai dan laut.
Lumayan pesertanya 16 divers dan dibagi menjadi 3 group.

Report lebih lengkap bisa dibaca di blog A2DC, sedangkan yang saya taruh disini seperti biasa adalah koleksi pribadi dan photo-photo terbaik yang saya dapatkan di trip ini.

Enjoy them all :).





Pasir putih, mungkin terdengar asing di telinga divers, dan mungkin dipandang sebagai lokasi yang 'kurang menarik' karena koralnya banyak yang hancur, karena visibility yang selalu dibawah 10m, karena hewan2nya yang 'itu-itu saja'. Namun Pasir putih sebenarnya bisa sangat menarik di mata seorang underwater photografer.

We have a very very pleasant experience during our trip at Pasir Putih...
check out the photos below....


1st Dive : Karang Mayit

Small Eel...  :)

B/W picture of jelly fish 

B/W picture of jelly fish

surprisingly quite a lot of jelly fish we found throughout Pasir Putih these days...
different kind of jelly fish... just scroll down to find out what kind of jelly fish we found...

Crown of Thorn... (Acanthaster planci) at 5m found during safety stop.
Dare to touch ? :D.

Penuh duri hiii... hehehehe..... Crown of Thorn... (Acanthaster planci)

Hewan ini baru pertama kali saya lihat, punya 10 tangan yang
bergantian 'membawa makanan' ke mulut nya yang terletak ditengah... amazingg....

Other group found these beautifull lionfish during their safety stop...
picture belongs to Pak Satriyo Mahendrawan.

2nd Dive, Batu Lawang

Dancing Lion Fish....

Ketemu Lion fish yang sedang makan di atas koral... Richard yang pertama kali menemukan :).

Pak Ketua A2DC sempat berfoto bersama lion fish ini, silahkan check blog A2DC.

Front view.... :D.

A bottom dwell fish, no ID, I just like the shape of it :).

Nudi...

Phyllidiopsis pipeki nudi branch

Same species but red coloured :).

I did spot this nudi at piramid point.

3rd Dive, Piramid,

just about 100m from the dermaga (bridge) of Pasir Putih, is the Piramid, mostly sand bottom, but quite rich for macro creatures.

Flat fish, about 40cm in diameter, I am glad to found this rare fish here at Pasir Putih.
Look at her two eyes that both located at the same side.
Then I found another one, but much smaller, only 5cm in diameter

Goby with shrimp, a lot of these species at the piramid spot.

Goby with its host shrimp.... :). this is the first time I could photograph this simbiosis mutualism pair...

fantasize with it my friend :).
Property of Satriyo Mahendrawan.

dirty jelly fish... :) found at the piramid.

Nice looking bottom dwelling anemone

File fish... found at the piramid....

property of Satriyo Mahendrawan

4th dive, Nite Dive @ Piramid

Even more interesting... as expected, the sand of Pasir Putih hides a lot of interesting live animals...

Rajungan... tidur di atas pasir....

Small eel, comes out from her dent....

We found 2 or 3 hermit crabs at the sandy bottom west to piramid.

The same hermit crab, but photographed from the side, highlighting the anemone that grows on her :D.

Near the end of the dive, we found a good colony of carpet anemone with its fishes, crabs and shrimps !
check out the photos below :).

Porcelain Crab (Neopetrolisthes maculata)
You should see 2 crabs and 3 shrimps !! :D.

Porcelain Crab (Neopetrolisthes maculata)
Does it have a tongue or what ?

She uses her arms that has some sort of fan

to bring plankton into her mouth...

Porcelain Crab (Neopetrolisthes maculata) with anemone fishes...

The highlight for the night is a jelly fish with long tentacles...
She was just digesting 2 fishes and.....
(I just realize it when editing this picture) there is another small fish, alive, on the outside, following the jelly fish everywhere.
Now... my friend... could you locate the small fish ? :D.

The same jelly fish viewed from different angle, the tentacles were 2 meters long !!

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