Diving with Barracuda in Bunaken
If you are really lucky you might see a Great Barracuda which can be 1 – 1.7m in length. These are very impressive fish and make you heart beat a little faster when you are up close. They are nothing to be afraid of though! Barracuda are known to be quite aggressive fish while they are hunting but when we see them during the day time they are usually resting. They sometimes follow snorkelers or divers because they think you are a large predator and by tagging along with you they might be able to scavenge the scraps when you feed. At night time the barracuda in Bunaken might use your light to their advantage to catch the fish stunned momentarily by your torch beam.
If we get some current on the dive site, this is when you are more likely to see bigger species of barracuda in Bunaken and also other large species like Tuna, Bump Head Parrot Fish, Giant Trevally, Wahoo, Napoleon Wrasse and Sharks. If you are lucky you might see some Yellow Tail Barracuda or Great Barracuda. On one of our dive sites we see a huge Great Barracuda quite often, it hangs out in the very shallow water on top of the reef. There are often some other larger fish like Giant Trevally resting nearby as well. They have found a good spot to have a break before hunting for dinner again.
Fish that are often confused or mistaken with Barracuda in Bunaken are the Cornet Fish and Crocodile Needle Fish. Arthur completed his PADI Advanced Open Water Course this week and one of the adventure dives he chose was the Fish Identification Dive. We saw some smaller Barracuda as well as Needle Fish and Cornet Fish. It is good to get more familiar with fish families so you can determine what fish you are looking at underwater and the PADI Fish Identification adventure dive or the PADI Fish Identification Specialty both teach you a lot about fish.
Conny and Bastien have been busy this week as Conny was finishing up her Divemaster Internship, they saw a couple of big Barracuda on Bastien’s last dive in Bunaken. There was quite a strong current so there was more big stuff to see. Denis left us this week but he didn’t get enough diving in Bunaken so will be back before he ticks it off his list. Sebastian bought a camera with him and took some great photos, on our dives we saw some Robust Ghost Pipefish and Pontohi Pygmy Seahorse which can be tricky ones to photograph and get your camera settings correct.
Would you like to join us at Two Fish Divers Bunaken Resort? Our island home is a great place to kick back and absorb the island vibes while enjoying amazing diving – and barracuda in Bunaken! For more information about diving and staying with us, or taking your next level of PADI COurse or a Divemaster Internship, fill in the form below and we will get right back to you!