There are several National Parks in Indonesia. They are sort of poorly managed…but some agreement has come between the government and the local fisherman that has set boundaries where fishing can be done. The locals literally survive on the fishing industry…so making fishing totally illegal in the parks would be catastrophic for them…but whatever limits they have set seem to be working as the coral; once damaged by fish bombing and cyanide fishing; is thriving and the fish are coming back.
As we entered the park boundaries, on Palarran, a huge manta ray ray jumped out of the water giving us a great welcome. We spent the next day puttering around the numerous islands in stanky the dinghy. The snorkeling was great and the marine life was abundant.
Local boats taking tourists out to the islands are abundant
Hole in the rock
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- Windward side of the islands
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- Mangroves on the outer islands
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- White sand beaches
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- Cliffs along one of the outer islands
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- Heron on mangrove flats stalking it dinner
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- Starfish at low tide
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- Never seen these types of star fish until we arrived in Indo
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- One of the many species of bird calling this area home
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- Low tide is the perfect time to circumnavigate the beach and mangroves
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- Fossils in the cliff side
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- The back side of the islands are full of sea caves….and bats😔
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- The outlaying islands are a mix of arid rock islands and lush mangrove swamps. Thousands of birds call this sanctuary home
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- Rocky arid area that sees little water during the SE Monsoon…or dry season
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- Low tide
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- ‘nother sea cave…I love these shots
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- While I went for a hike around the island, CB flew the drone and made friends with these curious fellows…when I came back CB was in the middle of a selfie photo shoot. These guys are loggers and were blown away to find out CB used to log as well…stories were swapped…bros were made….good stuff
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- The sleepy little town of Riung is the hub for tourists visiting 17 Islands National Parks. There are an unusual amout of hostels, B&B’s and restaurants. This was our first taste of true Indonesian tourism
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- The town of Riung is basically a tidal flat surrounded by mangroves. Along the flats people live in houses built on stilts. The tide rises up below their homes 2x per day so they have built ramps to the streets. The rest of the people live in the mangroves where cool little fishing villages are built on floating platforms and shallow reefs.
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- I call this the hobbit hole…a mad made entrance into the mangroves leading to one of the fishing villages
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- Floating fishing village
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- I’m not kidding…get out of the road…har har har
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- Fishing boats in Riung
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- Local shell art
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- Local fisherman setting hand nets
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- The shades of blue out here are insane
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- This is the region of the spider boats. Huge outriggers made of beach wood are used for balancing and dragging massive nets. The stubby masts are attachment point for he hundreds of guy lines supporting the outer structure
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- Spider boats belong to a village and everone helps maintain them