Ahe Dive Resort officially closed

We are struck with disbelief about the recent developtments in Papua. How can a project with such a positive impact on both marine life and local economy come to a sudden end.

The reality is as sad as it gets. Ahe suffered from a forced take over by the government. At first the reason for the take over was not explained, but now it has become clear that the government needs the resort to provide MIGAS PERTAMINA, an Indonesian oil drilling company with a base.

Oil, money, politics and the usual fair share of corruption win again over nature and long term interest of the local community.

For now Ahe has lost the battle, but refuses to lose the war. Staff and all involved are determined to continue their efforts. They took all dive related materials with them from the island and are now working on a new location.

Ahe II is a necessity not only to protect marine life, but also to provide the people with a sustainable livelihood.

All interested parties are advised to visit http://budpar.papua.go.id/ or contact Pariwisata Provinsi Papua at bbkp@papua.co.id

Website for Ahe Dive Resort Papua

Our unique project in Papua now has its own website :

This one just doesn’t know when to stop sucking

yeah yeah we know… another whale shark movie ;-) .. a very cool one though

These are weekly events for our divers / but they remain some of the coolest animals in the world!

Pictures please!

Photorequest one!
All visitors to the Ahe dive resort of the last half year. Please send in all your cool pictures (above and under water) so we can use them for the new ahe website we are about to set up. Your name will obviously be mentioned!

Photorequest two!
Whale shark researcher and specialist brent stewart has tagged some of our whalesharks to see how they wonder through the bay and find out more about their behaviour / migration etc. If you have any pictures of the whale sharks with a tag on it / please send them in as well.

Kind regards

Dave van Stijn & Mike Harterink …. pictures can go to info@scubasigns.com directly or use http://www.wetransfer.com for the larger files.

 

 

 

Mola Mola at Ahe

How cool is that! / if the whale sharks were not enough.. mola mola at Ahe Dive resort. with some regularity so it seems. Our guys out (with crappy camera 😉 there will further research this new dive site and document how often and during which times the mola mola frequent this location. Apparently fishermen get them in their nets at this site all year round so about time divers take over!

Speedboat for Ahe

Diving from the traditional perahus (dug out canoe with outriggers) has its charm, but cruising in it does have some risk and takes a lot of time. Divers at the Ahe Resort can now benefit from the ‘luxury’ of  a refurbished speedboat. Thanks to our sponsors who made this possible. The traveltime to the whalesharks is now reduced with 50%!

Ahe region sharks will feature in National Geographic

Great publicity for the Ahe region……but with a slight note :

Michael Aw the photographer, despite being aware of the whale shark project in place, visited the whale sharks fully on it’s own thus not involving any of the local papuans working on the whale shark project. After his visit he started selling his own trips – again without involving the project – and even proclaimed to start up his own project…?  Several questions from our end where not answered so we don’t have a great feeling from this self proclaimed marine life saver.

Despite that.. we are obviously delighted to see even more publicity coming up for the region, but truly hope that all people that want to visit will do so in a sustainable manner and one that is beneficial to the local community! The only way we currently now of to do so is to book via Papua Eco Tourism or via the Ahe dive resort!

for the article announcement check out
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/10/whale-sharks/holland-text

 

 

New Ahe video from Antonio Part I

long and cool video of Ahe / don’t forget to wacht part II as well! – makes us want to go back pronto!

 

Wanted… someone for the coolest job in the world.

I just received an sms from arne on ahe. he is looking for a dive instructor who would be interested to contribute to our project by training some of the diveguides to the level of divemaster.

You need to speak Bahasa Indonesia (the guys/girls have limited knowledge of english) or bring someone who can translate for you.  Ideally you can come asap and be able to stay in Papua for two months.

The deal :
…Travelling to Ahe at your own cost. Housing, food, weekly trip to the whale sharks and unlimited diving is what we can give in return.

Interested? please let me know by e-mail

Dave