Olele Marine Park

A Small Marine Park On The Tomini Gulf Holding The Salvador Dali Sponge, A Barrel Sponge Patterned Like A Surrealist Painting And Found In Very Few Places On Earth · Gorontalo, Gorontalo

Olele is a village on Gorontalo's south coast with a wall dropping away a short swim from the beach, and it is known among divers for one thing: THE SALVADOR DALI SPONGE. A giant barrel sponge, PETROSIA LIGNOSA, whose surface is scored in deep swirling folds that look uncannily like the melting shapes in a Dali painting - and IT IS FOUND IN VERY FEW PLACES ON EARTH, of which this is the most reliable. It grows metres tall and is centuries old. THE REST OF THE WALL IS GOOD TOO: sea fans, soft coral, a cave, and the clear calm water of the enclosed TOMINI GULF. GORONTALO IS A QUIET, CONSERVATIVE PROVINCE that almost no foreign visitor reaches, and Olele is an hour from the city by road with a handful of simple operators. WHALE SHARKS ARE SEEN AT BOTUBARANI NEARBY, at a provisioned aggregation where fishermen feed them, which makes the sightings reliable and is disputed by conservationists. The row says so rather than selling it.

Olele, Bone Bolango Regency, Gorontalo, Gorontalo, Gorontalo, Indonesia

OLELE IS A VILLAGE AND A BEACH with a small local entry and parking charge; the reef is entered from the shore or from a short boat hop. GORONTALO CITY IS ABOUT AN HOUR AWAY BY ROAD and has FLIGHTS from Makassar, Manado and Jakarta, plus ferries across the Tomini gulf. DIVE OPERATORS ARE FEW AND SMALL - arrange in Gorontalo city or with one of the handful of village outfits, and do not expect a walk-in market. THE WATER IS CALMEST AND CLEAREST ROUGHLY MARCH TO NOVEMBER. BOTUBARANI, where whale sharks gather, is closer to the city and is seasonal, usually around the early months of the year; THE ANIMALS THERE ARE FED BY FISHERMEN, which draws them reliably and is disputed by conservationists. Gorontalo is strongly Muslim - dress modestly away from the water.

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