Botubarani
A Village Beach Where Whale Sharks Come Within Metres Of The Shore Because Fishermen Feed Them Which Is The Attraction And The Problem In The Same Sentence · Bone Bolango, Gorontalo
AT BOTUBARANI YOU CAN SWIM WITH WHALE SHARKS TWENTY METRES FROM A VILLAGE BEACH, and the reason you can is the thing you have to decide how you feel about. LOCAL FISHERMEN FEED THEM - shrimp waste from the boats, thrown in - and the animals have learned to come. Whale sharks are the largest fish alive and normally require a boat, an ocean and luck; here they arrive at a beach because breakfast does. IT IS EXTRAORDINARY AND IT IS PROVISIONING, and provisioning is criticised by every serious marine biologist who writes about it: IT CHANGES MIGRATION, CONCENTRATES ANIMALS AROUND BOATS AND PROPELLERS, AND BUILDS AN ECONOMY ON A HABIT THAT CAN BREAK. Gorontalo has built rules around it - distances, no touching, no flash - and enforcement varies. THIS ROW WILL NOT PRETEND THAT IS SETTLED. Go, or do not go, knowing what you are looking at. They are most reliable in the morning, they are not guaranteed in any month, and the village runs the site itself - which is the strongest argument in its favour.
Botubarani, Bone Bolango, Gorontalo, Bone Bolango, Gorontalo, Indonesia
BOTUBARANI IS ABOUT THIRTY TO FORTY MINUTES BY ROAD FROM GORONTALO CITY, which has an airport with connections via Makassar and Manado. THE SITE IS RUN BY THE VILLAGE: a small entry and parking charge, boat hire by the trip, and gear rental of variable quality. THE WHALE SHARKS ARE MOST RELIABLE IN THE MORNING and their presence is SEASONAL AND NOT GUARANTEED IN ANY MONTH - the strongest months are generally reported as the earlier part of the year, but ASK BEFORE TRAVELLING. RULES EXIST: KEEP THE STATED DISTANCE, DO NOT TOUCH, DO NOT USE FLASH, DO NOT BLOCK THE ANIMAL'S PATH. ENFORCEMENT VARIES AND YOU SHOULD HOLD YOURSELF TO THEM REGARDLESS. Gorontalo also has good diving at OLELE, half an hour further along the same coast.