Manado's first diver faces fragility of the island's reefs

Text and photos by Hanka Kawecka-Lee [10 pts ML]

MANADO, North Sulawesi (JP): While his gentle exterior hides a tough sense of purpose, the lively, sun-tanned Dr. Hanny Batuna carries a commanding air.

His authority is obvious when leading guests on dives into the depths of the ocean around northern Sulawesi. On land, he disclaims his leadership, and refers to his wife, the manager of the Murex Diving Center, as The Boss.

Hanny was the first person in Manado to learn how to scuba- dive, with an aqualung.

"Ever since my father bought me a mask and snorkel when I was small", Hanny, now over 55, recalled, "I have had a deep love of the enchanted underwater world of Manado". He grew particularly fond of the reefs between the half-submerged volcano Manado Tua and the island of Nain, known since 1991 as the Bunaken National Park.

The only marked break in Hanny's frequent visits to the reef occurred in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when he furthered his medical education in the United States.

But even then, in spite of the demands of his work, he did not forget his first love. He took a diving course in the United States, and returned to Manado as both a fully qualified Doctor of Communicable Diseases, and a certified diver.

During his absence, some of his best friends, pearl divers, had died while trying to use the new deep water gear without proper training. Saddened and challenged, Hanny decided to become Manado's first teacher of deep sea diving.

As the word spread, many of his town friends and relatives, and friends of friends with an interest in the sea, started to visit the simple homestay the doctor had erected on the coast.

As the number of his guests, and the length of their stay, increased, his visitors began to insist on paying for their keep.

And that is how the first diving center in the up-and-coming tourist resort of Manado came into existence.

There were occasional business ups and downs, but the magic underwater world of Bunaken has never let Hanny down.

"On the contrary, says Hanny, eyes twinkling with enthusiasm, "my beloved reef and others nearby proved richer, more extensive, more exiting than I ever suspected".

All colors and shapes of fishes, corals, anemones and sponges can be seen just below the calm surface of the waters of Bunaken. Their ceaseless activity continues day and night, rain and shine, to the never-ending delight of Hanny and his visitors.

The Batunas' diving center is set in a coconut grove facing the islands of the national park, refreshed by constant sea breezes.

Run by Inetke, Hanny's charming wife, it is an informal establishment and a very special one to those who have had the privilege of staying there. It consists of simple Minahasan cottages, a club house, and the home of Inetke and Hanny: its doors are always open to friends and guests.

The latest addition to this unique establishment is the Serenade, a live-aboard diving yacht, with accommodation for up to twelve divers, sonar, and a host of other features that will make diving with Hanny even better.

Murex is not only a paradise for divers. Recently, a group of foreign oceanographers, assigned for a few months to Manado University, have made it their home.

So has the Singapore-born Australian, Michael Aw, whose recent book on the riches of Bunaken was largely researched and photographed out of Murex.

The presence of so many diving enthusiasts inspires heated discussion on the pressing subject of Bunaken reef's future, particularly in the context of the intensifying tourist development of the region.

Manado, one of six officially-promoted tourist centers in Indonesia, is growing fast. With a just-opened Silk Air route from Singapore, twice-weekly Bouraq flights from the southern Philippines, improved services connecting Manado to Jakarta and Bali, and other flights scheduled or planned from Taiwan and Japan, coupled with the large hotels now under construction, the number of tourists is expected to boom.

Damage

As other tourist attractions in the area are not outstanding, the world-class reef will have to carry most of the burden of the fast-growing tourist industry.

It is diving and snorkeling that attracts most people to Manado, and it is these same sports that are already damaging the reef.

With the number of tourists still negligible, Hanny and his friends already comment on the broken corals, and the absence of certain species of fish, once abundant.

Snorkeling and diving take place from boats, and it is the process of mooring these boats and of taking up the anchors that does the damage: anchors are dropped onto and torn up from living corals every time the boats are moored, inevitably killing the fragile organisms.

A fleet of boats, often with no more than a couple of tourists aboard, drop anchor several times a day in some of the more favored locations.

Lately, several mooring buoys have been installed in the park but, according to local sources, the project has not been a success.

These, and other problems connected with the spread of human waste and garbage, and plans to develop tourist facilities on the islands right inside the fragile reef, are facing the local governments and national park authorities right now.

It is their planning and quick action, which must be undertaken before the tourist boom hits Bunaken with its full force, that will determine the long-term future of the reef and of the whole tourist industry in Manado.

All of these problems are of the greatest interest to Hanny and owners of the other diving centers in the area. Although outwardly optimistic about Manado's future, Hanny's expression belies concern.

Maybe it is a personal responsibility that weighs more heavily on him than the others. After all, he helped start the tourist ball rolling in Manado, when he first learned how to dive...

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