I took a diving trip recently to Pulau Sinyaru or AKA Bob Island located off Padang in West Sumatera. To get to Bob Island you need to fly to Padang and Bob will meet you personally with his trusted van. We then head off to his "Special" jetty, with a short stop to get some snacking fix for our stay on the island.
The official name of the island is Pulau Sinyaru, and since there is only one resort operator managed by Bob, hence Bob Island. The island is only about 7 ha in size and takes about 15 minutes to walk around it, so it's not very big.
The boat ride from Padang takes about 45 minutes to an hour depending on weather conditions. Unfortunately for me, of all the time to visit, it was Full Moon (ie high tides and strong currents) plus the once in a 5 - 7 year southern wind conditions. So in some ways it's double whammy...
Ctenoides ales aka Electric Clam
Good weather greeted us at the island after a bumpy ride. The jetty is a simple wooden structure walkway, nothing fancy but for the faint hearted it might pose a bit of challenge.
Welcome to Bob Island
There are not many buildings on the island, one dining cum reception cum chilling area, one chalet consisting of 4 rooms (accommodates 18 people) with a huge patio area, a dive centre and some staff accommodation.
The rooms are quite simple and comes with a huge semi outdoor bathroom. There is a room with 3 bunk beds accommodating 6 people while the other 3 rooms can accommodate 4 people each. All rooms come with hot and cold shower, air conditioning, and some shelves for your storage.
The huge semi uncovered bathroom (left) and the 3 bunk bedroom.
DAY 1 DIVING
After all our allocation of rooms, we got our gear out to hand over to the staff, and eager to do our first dive, a Check Dive at the house reef, right in front of the resort. This is to familiarise ourselves with the surroundings and our gear.
DAY 2 DIVING
On the 2nd day, I managed to do only 2 dives, at Manta No Point and Coral Gardens. The first dive site used to be a cleaning station for Manta Rays a few years ago but has since declined in sightings. The second dive site is an amazing display of soft corals, just like a garden. Water temperature was moderate with some occasional thermocline.
DAY 3 DIVING
The third day we went to Falling Down Island and Bob Island Back Site. Originally, we were supposed to dive at a marine park but unfortunately the sea was quite choppy, and the sea swell showed some white caps.
One of the interesting sights about these places is you can get to see Electric Clams, an interesting clam that displays electric like flashes. Managed to capture some interesting nudibranchs as well.
Overall, Bob Island is an interesting dive destination and it's not expensive to visit. Importantly, you get to see different marine life and it's diversity.
On my return trip to mainland, I decided to stay an additional day in Padang to look-see the town. A rather average size town with some interesting cultural places.
The Grand Mosque
Nasi Padang and Bakso Mee
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