Diving Indonesia Periplus Adventure Guid. David Pickell

Nudibranchs and flatworms—unusual and colorful— are abundant, and we counted at least three dozen species, all competing for the prize in the "small-is beautiful" category.

      We saw Tridacna clams—with their hallucinogenic patterns and colors—in the 25-60 centimeter range. Anemones and their spunky clownfish guests (at least three species) enliven most locations. We encountered two species of jellyfish—a large pinkish one, and a smaller-belled, cream-colored one with long, graceful tentacles. Both pulsated beautifully. A fine group of fishes—big, medium and small— also riveted our attention. Hard corals are abundant, in many areas in surprisingly good shape.

      Night dives are particularly rewarding here, in fact the variety of life is excellent. Sea urchins of several species, including a couple of exuberantly colorful ones, teach careful underwater movements. Gaudy shrimp and crabs come out of their lairs to scavenge; some bright red, and others imaginatively camouflaged.

AT A GLANCE
Bintan
Reef type:	Shallow fringing reefs
Access:	15 min-1 hr by boat, depending on location
Visibility:	Poor, 3-7 meters
Current:	Almost none
Coral:	In places, quite good
Fish:	Good varieties and numbers
Highlights:	Nudibranchs by day; crustaceans by night

      Exploring Bintan

      An old Mexican saying goes: "So far from God, but so close to the United States" and divers thinking about Bintan could well be forgiven for giving this their own spin: "So far from eastern Indonesia (scuba heaven), but so close to Singapore (lousy diving)." But being close to Singapore gives distinct advantages to Bintan (we're not sure about Mexico): funds for infrastructure, including resort development, and developing professionally run diving programs.

      One of these resorts, the Mana-Mana Beach Club, a water sports complex, offers—among many other aquatic activities— scuba diving under the professional supervision of a well-qualified, personable instructor, Jonathan Ho.

      Just before the October 1994 opening of the Mana-Mana resort, Jon conducted a last-minute survey of dive sites around north Bintan. We dove off the Singapore-based power cruiser and dive live-aboard, the Seri Delima, owned and operated by Capt. Tan.