Michael, the human stingray magnet, stung for the 5th time by a stingray… a record?

One of the local Dive guides on Ahe Michael Wabes was unfortunate enough to step on a stingray. Not for the first time…. for the 5th time. There are a lot of stingrays of varying sorts around Ahe, but none of us or the other divers ever got stung. Michael appears to be a magnet to these animals. The pain inflicted is of the category … ‘ really ouch ”’  in the first hour to hour and a half after the sting / it went straight through the shoe of his fin by the way. Fortunate enough the medical post at Mambor (15 minutes by boat) offered quick assistence so Michael was back on his feet and diving again within a day. Want to know how to best treat a stingray sting? visit this link.

Meet our neighbours!

One of the big attractions in the Ahe Dive resort are the residential whale sharks. They are always there / 365 days a year. So if you want a private session with our big neighbours, please let us know and we will welcome you on our island! On the picture you can see one of the bigger Whale Sharks we call Wim together with Diveguide Michael. We named him Wim after Mr. Drs Wim CH Rumbino (minister of tourism & culture Papua Province). His continuos help means a lot to the development of Ahe!

Click on the picture to see a full size view:

Whale shark, Ahe divers, Harlem Islands, Papua

Diveguide Michael and his big friend Wim

For divers that thought they had seen it all… Ahe Papua Dive Adventure Island opens April 2010

Ahe is fully owned by the local community and is developed with the help of the government and kind donations from people & organizations that want to preserve the beauty of these waters for sunset from Ahe papua resortfuture generations. The people of the Harlem Islands (of which Ahe is part) are committed to make this work and believe that eco dive tourism will generate a more sustainable income from their ‘living treasure’ than practices such as shark finning and dynamite fishing. Everyone visiting Ahe as a dive tourist will prove them right.

Your visit to the island is a big support and we can assure you we will do everything possible to give you an unforgettable holiday. Don’t expect any luxury. TV’s, airco’s, swimming pools and that kind of stuff isn’t available on Ahe (nor will be). If however warm and friendly people, pristine diving, encounters with whale sharks, dolphins, sharks, rays, turtles and living Robinson style is your cup of tea and you are an experienced diver… then don’t hesitate.

The accomodation (private wooden bungalows) is basic and in traditional Papuan style. They are clean and (speaking from experience) sleep very well.  The food is good and all diving facilities are in excellent condition. Staff is still being trained on the several tasks of running a dive resort. At this stage we welcome experienced divers that are also keen on helping them in their efforts to learn more about what is required to service tourists. Skills and knowledge on resort management, eco system, diving, dive gear etc.. are all much appreciated!

So how do you get there?
You will need to find your way to the city of Nabire. Nabire can be reached with a short flight from Biak. Biak can be reached from Makassar. Garuda Indonesia services flights straight from Jakarta with a short stop in Makassar to Biak, so does Merpati. From Nabire it is 45 minutes in a traditional boat to Ahe Island. The flight from Biak to Nabire can not be booked via the internet or regular travel agents / we are more than happy to arrange this locally for you.
Costs… Jakarta – Biak (roundtrip around 400 euro) Biak-Nabire (roundtrip around 150 euro)

Michael from scubasignsSo what are you waiting for??
Explore the surrounding waters together with the dive team, drink fresh coconut during your surface interval, enjoy the beautiful surroundings, and watch the sun go down as hundreds of frigate birds return to the island.  Unwinding adventure! Want to come? Please send me an e-mail at dave@scubasigns.com I will answer all your questions and have your trip fully arranged.

Dive stories from Ahe

It has been a while since our last post… even in paradise a lot of work has to be done :-)   The dive team has found many new unique dive locations with beautiful corals and reef fish and are encountering sharks, rays, tuna, dolphins, barracuda turtles etc. on a daily basis. We can also confirm that the spot for whale sharks is definitely something special. They are always there! On average there are three and sometimes more. So if you have dreams of some private time with whale sharks and don’t want to be surrounded by 20 other divers…. this is the place to be.

whale shark ahe papua

One of the curious Whale sharks

We will work closely together with the village close to the whale shark site. Some of the whale sharks are very used to people and they will bump against the local fishing boats and sometimes ruin their nets.. the villagers are fed up with this and have tried to catch two of them last week. Luckily unsuccessfully, but the whale sharks did suffer some injuries. The village will be asked to join in on our project and we will start a program to protect the local whale shark population (there is no sign of migration, they like it there!). Next week Dave will visit the village to talk with the kapale desa and try to accomplish a situation that is good news for both fisherman and whale sharks.

The local government is being very co-operative with our efforts on Ahe. In the course of this month we will receive two new boats to replace the current traditional boat (prauw). This way we can offer our guests more comfort.. and most importantly… save on fuel!. The boats will be used as well to support in regional marine protection activities

All staff on the island is working very hard to get things ready for the first group of divers that will visit Ahe at the end of March. Among the 10 divers that will have the joy of seeing the island and surrounding pristine dive waters are Rene Lipmann (editor in Chief of Duiken Magazine – Holland’s top dive magazine) and Arjan Gunnink (director of eigen wijze duikreizen – the leading dive holiday organization in the Netherlands). Everyone on the Island is thrilled by the interest in our project and very motivated to give visitors coming to Ahe a once in a lifetime experience. As part of the adventure package that we want to offer our guest, we will also visit a traditional tribe in the mountains that would like to welcome some of the first tourists visiting there. Are you also interested to come and visit us!? Please send me an e-mail at dave@scubasigns.com

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