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Karimunjawa is and island chain stretching in a northwesternly direction 83 km from Jepara. Central Java. This archipelago is a cluster of 27 island in the java sea. The reefs are a mixture of fringing, barrier, and patch with bottom depths ranging from 15 to 40 meters.

Five of these islands are domestically inhabited and together with 22 others from the four major zones; Zone I is the core sanctuary area and is out of bounds to all, Zone 2 is the wilderness area open to limited tourism, Zone 3 is the utilization area, Zone 4 is the buffer zone.

For visitor to the Park, expect a very pleasant welcome by the information staff, and an exciting range of flora and fauna to discover both above and below the water.The reefs harboring 35 types of hard corals, sponges, gorgonian, soft and red corals and an amazing 240 plus variety of fish.

A special bonus for the interpid is wreck diving at the island of Batu Kunci, Karang Kapal, Karang Ketel, and Batulawang. Best time for weather is April to November with the rainy season peaking between December and February.

Menyawakan Island has much to offer to all sorts of divers, from novice to very experienced. The islands have been declared a national marine park and are protected. We have discovered several dive sites that are in good to excellent condition. We are placing mooring buoys on those locations, in corporation with the park authorities, and intend to protect them to the best of our ability. On the upside, one should perhaps mention the overall quality of the diving, the variety between fringing reefs, atolls and wrecks, the good variety of species, some of them rare, such as for example the Crocodile fish and Leafy Scorpion fish. Whale Sharks are being spotted all year round and recently one lucky group of divers had very close encounters with them on different locations on each of their three dives during one day… Macro divers also have a lot to be amazed of in the area and everyone loves the service given by the dive center!

The Wreck of Mitra
An Indonesian Pinisi freighter, which where put up on the reef by the Captain, who tried to save the cargo. Unfortunately for him, it sank immediately. See it for yourselves. As one of our guest divers once said after an early dive there: “even Steven Spielberg could not have done it better!”

The Wreck of Biblis
One of the the few wrecks in the world, which still has it huge bronze propeller intact. This wreck has been on the ocean floor for many years, so the coral life is amazing. Several big groupers are nearly always spotted on this wreck. Possibility to penetrate for trained wreck divers.

Karang Kapal
Is a very big submerged reef, where we from time to time find new drop-off’s. This reef is so big, that there is still much to be explored. This dive site is home to very big Bump head Parrotfish, and the occasional White tip reef shark.

Taka Menyawakan
An exciting dive site, with spectacular coral cover which exceeds more than 250 different species, plentiful Bat fish and the wrecks of two ships! One of the wrecks is a Pelni ferry which sunk in the 50s. You will also see schooling Barracudas, Skipjack Tuna, Hawksbill turtles, Lobsters and Giant clams. Usually a strong current sweeps this reef, giving you an exciting ride all the way around it.

Ezdir Reef
This dive site is named after one of our frequent diver guests. It was discovered mid/late 2000. The quality and variety of corals are extremely good, so good that one group of divers did three dives on this site in one day, and it was the first site they wanted to visit when they returned to the resort again.

Hawksbill Point
Conveniently located on our own island of Menyawakan, this spot gives you the opportunity to come face to face with Hawksbill turtles and quite often Octopus too. Usually Crocodile fishes and Scorpion fishes are seen on your smooth drift back to the Resorts jetty.

The Wreck of Indonur
Dutch steam ship. Went down in 1963. A huge warehouse was on fire on the beach, it was mistaken for the lights of Semarang, and the captain went full speed up on the reef….. Come and see 6cm thick steel plates, torn apart like paper. Large riveted steam boilers. Great fish and coral life on the wreck is growing bigger and bigger each year. Excellent night dives on this wreck when you will have a chance to see Arrow crabs, Soft coral crabs and numerous other macro critters.

Torpedo Reef
One of our most remote dive sites, but well worth the boat trip since it is one of the high lights of the archipelago. The exceptionally healthy Torpedo Reef has remnants of torpedoes and grenades scattered across the ocean floor. Beside the torpedoes and the grenades, the reef has a good variety of pelagics and the blooming soft corals are nothing less than fantastic!

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