Tag Archives: gili air

Gili Island Etiquette

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Gili Island Etiquette

 

 

No bikinis on the streets

No bikinis on the streets

 

Why do you want to travel to the Gili Islands in Indonesia? Just like a lot of people you are probably want to discover tropical places and different cultures, open your mind, your heart and have fun. When travelling, it is important to blend in and respect the local populations we are visiting so that we don’t offend anyone and fully live the experience of travelling abroad.

So if you are coming to visit the tropical paradise of the Gili Islands, please note a few local dos and donts to help you have a happy stay:

Behaviour:

– In the local culture, it is very rude to point with the feet, so if you need to show something, use your hands

– When giving or receiving something, when eating or touching use your right hand. The left hand is used for other businesses…

– Remove your shoes when entering a building and wait to be invited to sit if you are a guest.

– Smiling and having fun happen naturally when on holiday. Some situations can sometimes be a little frustrating or tiring. Try and deal with these keeping a smile on, the issue will be resulted much easier. Shouting and screaming are very counterproductive and rarely brings a solution. Just keep smiling!

Dress Codes:

As most of the population on the Gili Islands and being located in Asia and mostly muslim, the dress codes here are very different than in the western world. People are modest and cover their body and sometimes their head. Of course as tourists, we are not expected to dress the same way, but we are expected to be respectful! There are signs around the islands, which keep on being ignored. So please be aware!!

– When walking around the island and in villages, tourists need to wear clothes, shorts and t-shirts are good, bikinis are not. When in doubt, put it on!

– On the beach or on a dive boat, bikini and swimwear are accepted, please do note that being topless or wearing very small and revealing bikinis or G-strings are not. So please cover your bits!

We hope that this blog with help you enjoy your holiday and the tropical paradise to the fullest. Please do get in touch on info@oceans5dive.com for any further information on etiquette or scuba diving at all levels. Happy Holiday!!

Why should we dive with Nitrox?

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Enriched Air Nitrox specialty and instructor specialty courses at Oceans 5 Dive Resort.

 

Oceans 5 offers both Enriched Air Nitrox (EANX) specialty and instructor specialty courses

 

 

 

 

What is EANX?

 

EANX or better known simply as Nitrox is a gasmix with a higher oxygen concentration compared to air. In the diving industry we say that air consists of 21% oxygen and 79% nitrogen. A Nitrox gasmix would be any mix with a concentration of oxygen higher than 21%.

 nitrox course at dive resort oceans 5

 

Why diving on EANX?

 

The time divers can spend at the bottom depends on a few variables:

The first one is gasconsumption. Unfortunately Nitrox doesn’t change anything about our breathing. The gasconsumption, compared to air, will be exactly the same, keeping environmental changes in mind.

nitrox course at dive resort oceans 5 gili air in indonesia.jpg

The second variable is nitrogen intake. Divers are limited in bottomtime depending on the amount of nitrogen in the body. By means of tables and dive computers, dives can be planned so that divers stay within the set limits of their maximum nitrogen intake.

nitrox courses in indonesia.jpg

 

Because of the higher oxygen concentration in a Nitrox mix, naturally the concentration of nitrogen is lower compared to air. A lower concentration of nitrogen means that divers take less nitrogen in during their dives, which results in the ability to plan longer bottom times while staying within limits. As divers, don’t we all want to stay as long as possible underwater? Well, here you have the number one reason why divers should dive on nitrox!

 

 

 

 

Diving during rainy season

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Dive resort Oceans 5 Gili Air and the island during rainy season
Oceans 5 caters fundivers and organises courses, including IDC’s (Instructor Development Courses), the whole year round.

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Wet season arrives roughly somewhere in November and ends start of May, with the occasional rain showers in the month after. Because of their geographic location, the Gili Islands enjoy a very comfortable micro climate. The rainclouds tend to pass over as they get drawn towards the big volcanoes on Lombok, which results in a maximum of 2h of rain on average a day.
During this time the islands turns into a lush, green place where wildlife flourishes. You hear the mating calls from our resident Tokeh Tokeh’s (big gecko’s) around sunset, baby monitor lizards playing around in swimming pools, butterflies dancing and our tropical birds feeding their newborns.

The water temperature in the ocean stays fairly constant (27-30), with a slight drop of visibility due to all the nutrients coming in when our currents shift occassionally. This brings a big behavioural change in our marine eco system. Plenty of food to go by for all the species we have around the Gili’s. You can see fry and fingerlings feeding in great numbers, which provides food for some bigger fish and the ball starts rolling. The result is divers enjoying eventful dives with a lot of action.
Our macrolife also has its share of all the riches this time of the year, which makes the islands perfect for photographers during rainy season.
And last but not least we have whalesharks, manta rays and devil rays passing by on occasion to feed on all the goodies. While there is never any guarantee to see them, rainy season is where you have the best chance of spotting them.

This time of the year brings changes, and these changes are welcome every year! Its amazing how a bit of water can change both the look of the island, and everything and everyone that lives on and around the islands.
Come and experience a green lush paradise where diving will stun you. Sign up for a course if you’re not a diver yet, book fundives with our amazing local guides who will take you on a tour in their underwater backyard or sign up for your IDC if you would like to teach people how to dive in places like Gili Air.

For more information visit our websites:
http://www.oceans5dive.com
http://www.indonesia-idc.com

 

Facts about Whalesharks

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The gentle giants of our oceans and seas has got to be whale sharks.

The biggest ever whale shark reached an enormous 13 meters in length, and these amazing creatures are not only the biggest sharks we have in the whole world, they are biggest fish of any kind.

The reputed maximum length of the fearsome great white shark only reached 7 meters, a dwarf in comparison.

Not unlike humans, whale sharks have a lifespan of 70 years on average, and they spend their days gently swimming about in the warm and tropical oceans of the world, mouth open to filter feed from the plankton and microscopic organisms that float in our ocean’s waters.

Whale sharks are unperturbed by human activity, and even allow divers to hitch a ride.

Their teeth are the size of match heads, and while no doubt their jaws could be powerful, they have never shown any aggression towards humans. Their teeth play no role in eating, as plankton does not need to be chewed.

Scientists are still learning about this amazing creature.

In 1996, a pregnant whale shark that was caught was found to be carrying 300 pups (the correct terminology for shark babies), and newly born pups measure up to 0.5 meters long.

Not much is known yet about gestation length, but it is believed that female whale sharks do not reach sexual maturity until they are 30 years old. This is the age they have to be before they can mate and reproduce.

Originating 60 million years ago, the whale shark has evolved little in that time. They, or their ancestors, must have been compatriots of the feared megalodon shark.

Whale sharks are to be found in numbers in the warmer oceans of the world and they are largely pelagic, meaning they are ocean going and prefer the deep waters of the open oceans. They tend to travel alone.

Several times a year they congregate together in certain spots (known as aggregating) where plankton is plentiful.

Those areas where whale shark aggregation occurs are all within a 30° north or south latitude from the equator.

So great a loss in numbers have they suffered, that whale sharks are now listed as vulnerable in the IUCN red list of endangered species.

Measures have been started to be put in place by some countries, to protect the whale shark from annihilation.

The Philippines, India and Taiwan have all banned the fishing, selling, importing and exporting of whale sharks for commercial purposes.

However, the law does not seem to be effective because the hunting and killing of whale sharks still goes on today, especially in Taiwan and the Philippines.

Smallest fish in the world

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Scientists have discovered a fish living in forest swamps on the Indonesian island of Sumatra that is only 7.9mm long.

The species of fish belongs to the carp family and is called Paedocypris progenetica . It is the world’s smallest vertebrate or backboned animal.

Living in acid

The tiny, see-through Paedocypris fish have the appearance of larvae and have a reduced head skeleton, which leaves the brain unprotected by bone.

They live in dark tea-coloured waters with an acidity of pH3, which is at least 100 times more acidic than rainwater.

‘This is one of the strangest fish that I’ve seen in my whole career’, said Ralf Britz, zoologist at the Natural History Museum.

‘It’s tiny, it lives in acid and it has these bizarre grasping fins. I hope we’ll have time to find out more about them before their habitat disappears completely.’

Threatened swamps

The swamps were once thought to harbour very few animals, but recent research has revealed that they are highly diverse and home to many species that occur nowhere else.

In 1997 the peat swamps were damaged by large forest fires and they are still threatened by logging, urbanisation and agriculture. Several populations of Paedocypris have already been lost.

Fish discovery

The new fish was discovered by fish experts Maurice Kottelat (from Switzerland) and Tan Heok Hui from the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research in Singapore. They were working with their colleagues from Indonesia and with Kai-Erik Witte from the Max Planck Institute in Germany. Ralf Britz, at the Natural History Museum , helped analyse its skeleton and the complex structure of the pelvic fin.

Previous smallest

The previous record for smallest vertebrate was held by an 8mm species of Indo Pacific goby. The UK’s smallest fish is the marine Guillet’s goby, Lebetus guilleti , reaching 24mm in length.

Facts about Fusiliers

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Fusilier
These streamlined blue and yellow fish are found around coral reefs where they feed on zooplankton.

Statistics
They are approximately 40cm in length.

Physical Description
This silvery-blue fish has a fusiform, streamlined body, long dorsal fin and a forked tail. Some species have yellow or pink markings. All have small eyes and a tiny, distensible mouth. Closely related to snappers.

Distribution
They are found in Indian and West Pacific oceans. Around the Gili Islands you will find them at Sharkpoint, Halik, Soraya, Deep Turbo etc.

Habitat
They inhabit coastal areas, mainly near coral reefs.

Diet
Unlike their predatory relatives, the snappers, fusiliers are plantivores. They form large, mid-water feeding schools.

Behaviour
These schooling fish are often found around cleaning stations or along reef slopes. At night they shelter within the reef.

Reef Clean Ups around the Gili Islands

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a href=”http://www.oceans5dive.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/P1000666.jpg”>

Another amazing underwater beach clean-up at Oceans 5 Dive resort Gili Air.
Every Wednesday, the Oceans 5 team mobilizes to clean Gili air’s harbor.
We include our lovely divers into the experience and give them the possibility to do something for the ocean.
Our ocean needs us!

Take action!

Every day tons of our daily life trash makes its way to the ocean.

Facts about Garden Eels

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Garden Eel (Heteroconger hassi)

Every diver usually remembers their first garden eel encounter. You are swimming near the edge of the reef, over the sandy bottom like Hans Reef Gili Air, Gili Islands, and you see a grassy area at the limit of your vision. As you move closer to the grass, it begins to shrink and eventually disappear! It turns out it is not vegetation at all, but garden eels! These animals use their rigid tail-tip to dig a burrow in the sand. They exude lots of mucus from the skin that helps cement the sand grains together so the burrow walls become stable. If danger approaches, they withdraw into their burrows, but when the potential threat disappears, the garden eels reappear.

They stretch out from their refuges to snag zooplankton (tiny animals like animal larvae, tiny crustaceans and eggs of various reef animals) that are pushed past in the current.

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Facts about Unicorn Tangs

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Interesting Facts About Unicorn Tangs

Unicorn tangs or Naso unicornis are members of the family Acanthuridae commonly refer to as surgeonfish. There are 80 species in 6 different genera in this family. All have one distinguishing characteristic. They have sharp blades at the base of their tails (caudal peduncle) on both sides of their bodies that are used in self-defense. Seventeen of the 80 species are unicornfish. Here we will be elaborating on the unicorn tang. They are endemic to the Indo-Pacific from Indonesia and Christmas Island westward to the Andaman Sea, south to the eastern coast of Africa and east to the Hawaiian Islands. When you are diving around the Gili Islands you will find the everywhere.

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Facts about Black Marlins

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Black marlin (recently reclassified as Istiompax indica, after formerly being known as Makaira indica) are considered by many authorities to be amongst the world’s premiere game fish. They certainly have size on their side, with the all tackle world record black marlin weighing in at 1560lb (707.6kg) taken by Alfred Glassell way back in 1953 off Cabo Blanco, Peru. Experienced skippers have reported seeing, and sometimes becoming connected to, black marlin that were probably even larger than Glassell’s catch, perhaps even approaching the size of some of the biggest blue marlin (Makaira nigricans). The latter have been caught on rod and reel up to 819 kg and are known to grow to at least 900 kg and possibly over a tonne, based on commercial catches of fish over this size.

Genetic evidence suggests that black marlin are more closely related to striped/white marlin than blue marlin, the latter being more closely related to sailfish. Compared to other marlin, black marlin are more solidly built with a relatively short bill and a lower, rounded dorsal fin. Black marlin can also be easily distinguished from other marlins as they are the only marlin that have rigid pectoral fins that cannot be folded flat against the body.

This oceanic pelagic species is distributed throughout the tropical Indian and Pacific Oceans and is found in surface waters above the thermocline at temperatures from 15 to 30°C. A few days ago 6 Black Marlins were spotted between Gili Meno and Gili Air, Lombok, Indonesia. Black marlin migrate huge distances and relatively small tagged fish have been recaptured after travelling over 8000 km. Occasionally they will enter temperate waters, and small numbers sometimes stray into the Atlantic Ocean by way of the Cape of Good Hope, although the existence of Atlantic breeding stocks is unlikely. Despite their oceanic environment, large back marlin can sometimes be encountered very close to land, particularly near offshore islands and coral reefs, while juveniles commonly range closer inshore and can even be caught by landbased game anglers at specific locations when conditions are right.

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