Whale shark picture of the week
June 26, 2010 Leave a comment
one of the whale sharks playing peek-a-boo at the fishing platforms near Ahe.
Mike and his Big Pet whale shark
June 12, 2010 3 Comments
At first it looked as if the whale shark was going to have Mike as a small morning snack but it turned out they 
became really good friends. We had the privilege of witnessing something very special on a two hour meet and greet with some very friendly whale sharks in Cenderawasih Bay Papua where we stayed in the 
Ahe dive resort. All is going really well on this scubasigns project and we receive more and more guests that like us are amazed with the whale sharks and their behaviour.
Note… at the Ahe Dive Resort we follow a strict no touch, chase or in any other way harm a whale shark policy .. so far the divers/snorklers comply but the whale sharks just won’t listen.
Training days at Ahe dive resort
May 2, 2010 Leave a comment
Thanks to the training of Rutger, Annet & Maurice our staff learned a lot the last weeks.
Rutger Annet & Maurice kicked of with an open water training to staff that did not yet have their certificate.
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Congratulations to Stephen Raraawi, Jeksi Manuaron, Polyo Sawaki, Risal Manuaron and Rido Manuaron. All staff on Ahe now have a diving certificate. Even when our staff is not part of the dive team, we still encourage them to dive for their hobby and get to know their unique environment.Next all staff received a training on dangerous marine life and the first emergency respons if problems occur! Everybody loved this / very interesting!!
Robert Sawaki, Enos Sawaki & Lupiaga Rouw received their advanced training. They will follow further training on rescue and divemaster and will be prepared to strenghten our current dive team.
Then there was a unique training given by Rutger to the dive team, our captians and head of diving materials Yulian. Rutger learned them everything about servicing and repairing their dive gear and that of the visiting tourists if need be. Big big thanks go out to Eddy van Vliet of Scuba Support in Loosdrecht, Rob
Dekker of Dive Post in Zoetermeer and Richard Wagenaar! They donated a huge amount of special tools that we need to do the service and repairs.. stuff like that is like gold for us in Papua (not available!!) thanks ever so much!
Our staff loves to learn and will never forget the truly unique experience Rutger, Annet and Maurice gave them!
Ahe whale sharks sucking on fish nets
April 23, 2010 3 Comments
When diving with the whale sharks at Ahe, you don’t just see one swimming by but they stay at the same location for hours. Sometimes we encounter a few (2-3) but if you are lucky it is teaming with whale sharks.. record stands at 10 individuals during one dive. The reason for them staying at one spot is because they like to suck on the nets of the soft net fishing boats. These boats go out fishing at night using bright lights to attract the bigger fish. They use smaller fish to attract even more. The smaller fish are kept in a big net under the boat and the whale
sharks swim up to these nets and start sucking on them. We don’t yet know why. .is it because they can suck the small fish through the maze, is it because the plankton concentration is higher? We have yet got to find out. Here are some pictures of the whale sharks in action…. Ps.. we have found out that the two days after full moon we don’t encounter whale sharks / reason is very simple, because then there is another big ‘light’ in the sky and the boats don’t go out fishing using their lamps. The days after full moon also the visibility gets worse (see the difference in water color in the pictures). Normally we do get up to 50 meters!! We have now set up a partnership with various organisations to find out more about the behaviour of these magnificent animals. Mike and I will stay on one of these fishing boats for a couple of days to see if we can find out more and the dive team will start a whale shark identifying project to see if we can understand how large the whale shark population is and if some of them have been seen in other parts of the world before. More will follow in the course of June. What is also very interesting to see is their behaviour when we are diving with them. It is a policy around the world that snorkling with whale sharks is prefered 
above diving because the whale sharks are afraid of the bubbles. We see that around here it is completely different. They swim into the bubbles on purpose because they somehow like the feeling, they will even try to ‘gulp’ the bubbles with their mouths. The whale sharks come up to you very close as long as you stay very calm and relaxed and don’t chase them as some torpedo. We see that when we don’t interfere with their behaviour and keep our cool they
come up to us. They check us out to around one meter in front of us and then gently choose direction.
New bungalows on Ahe almost ready
April 13, 2010 4 Comments
some first picks! We used only natural materials and included a private kamar mandi (bathroom) in these spacious bungalows all with view of the beautiful sea.
Island in the sun
March 9, 2010 Leave a comment
Just a nice picture of Ahe to dream away for a minute, taken by Richard Pelupessy on his dive trip to Ahe Eco Dive Resort Papua.
Meet our neighbours!
February 18, 2010 Leave a comment
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:
Diveguide Michael and his big friend Wim
For divers that thought they had seen it all… Ahe Papua Dive Adventure Island opens April 2010
February 12, 2010 1 Comment
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 
future 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)
So 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.
Back from Papua
November 25, 2009 6 Comments
We just got back from Ahe Island in Papua and have a lot to share with you. We were delighted to see that the local people see the need to develop more sustainable sources of income instead of fishing which currently is their sole income source. We believe that with a joint effort step by step a situation can be achieved from which both people and marine life can benefit.
Let’s start by telling you a little bit more about Ahe and the Harlem Islands.
The Harlem Island are situated in the Geelvinkbaai in Papua. Many moons ago they where ‘discovered’ by the Dutch vessel the Harlem and thus
got their name. These 7 islands are situated amongst crystal clear water and pristine reefs. Virtually no one has dived here and we are just touching first base when it comes to discover the diving possibilities of this unique place. We have dived many places around the world but even for us this is diving adventure ‘pur sang’.
Ahe is one of the smaller of the 7 islands. It measures 690 by 450 ft and if you are looking for the true bounty or Robinson experience… this is it. Ahe has a unique feeling to it and is inhabited by many special animals such as the mambruk, the goudvink (which is endemic to the islands) and the cuscus… an animal with a high cuddle factor and if I have to describe it I woul
d say it is a sort of mix between a monkey a small bear and a koala. Sea eagles have their nests on the island and every evening hundreds of fregat birds return to Ahe to sleep in its lush vegetation. Turtles visit the islands to lay their eggs and you may get lucky to see the baby turtles running into the sea. Where ever you look there is white sand and the deep kobalt blue of the calm sea. Doesn’t sound bad huh
When you set foot on the island you can get rid of your shoes or flip flops for the rest of your stay. The first thing you see are two large airplane engines that where taken
of the WWII plane wreck that sunk on top of one of Ahe’s reefs and that you can see snorkeling. On my first visit before entering the modest bungalow that was going to be my home for the week I immediately jumped into the water to check out the reef and besides the reef fish you would expect I saw bumphead parrot fish, mantis shrimp, several species of snake eels, many blue spotted rays, spade fish, a group of razor fish, a turtle and even three cockatoo waspfish….this was at just 20 meters in front of the beach!
Ahe is run by a group of enthusiastic young people from the surrounding islands. They choose not to follow the path of their parents that have been fishermen 
for many generations, but to develop small scale tourism on Ahe with a focus on the adventurous diver. Ahe at the moment offers basic accommodation that will be developed further without loosing it’s charm or harm the wonderful nature and characteristic of the island. Ahe is truly of the beaten track and has been visited by only 20 tourists this year.
There are no specific diving sites at the moment. You can literally plunge in everywhere and have a great dive on beautiful reefs. In the next 
months the group that got training by us last week will further ‘recon’ the area to map the best dive sites and spot a top 25 of things divers are keen to see. Some good dive news… one of the site offers year round guaranteed private encounters with whale sharks that literally swim up to the boat and Ahe has a residential group of dolphins.
Scubasigns is truly committed to help the people of Ahe to make their plans become reality and to let both people and marine life benefit from ecologic dive tourism. We will take the following steps:
1. Further dive training of local people to increase dive safety.
2. Set up a team of paid dive guides who will explore dive sites and clean and protect the reefs.
3. Enlarge the protected area and create no fishing zone’s… this has been achieved already for the waters directly surrounding ahe.
4. Together with knowledgeable NGO’s and the local community we will write a masterplan for the future of Ahe and the Harlem Islands.
5. Increase the knowledge of the eco system and marine life within the local community.
6. Improve the dive gear and dive facilities as well as knowledge on maintenance.
7. PR activities to put the Harlem Island on the map of exciting dive destinations.
8. Set up a protocol and ‘rules’ for diving in the Harlem Islands.
9. Appoint an island manager to locally help in the development of the island and implement the necessary action points.
Anyone with good ideas or the desire to help please let us know! If you are keen to protect marine life and want to assure that the beauty of coral reefs and marine life should be safeguarded for future generations then this is your chance to actually do something. Send us an e-mail at dave@scubasigns.com. If you would like to be one of the first divers to visit Ahe then please let us know as well and we will make sure you will have the trip of your live.
