Garuda Indonesia Colours Magazine August 2016 | Page 147

Travel | Halmahera

Diver Simon Pridmore
observes a large school of
striped catfish swimming
along the Kumo Wall dive
site off Tobelo.
Exploring Halmahera by
live-aboard dive ship opens up
a whole new world of undersea
exploration on these rarely
dived reefs.
The Karianga Mountains
loom over the large bays near
Galela and Tobelo.

Halmahera, the largest
of the Maluku islands,
is garnering attention from
travellers, adventurers
and ocean lovers.

mosque and the dominant volcanic Mount
Gamalama. These are the two things that really
stand out here. Clove and nutmeg groves line
the sides of this still-active volcanic isle.
Landmarks include crater lake Tolire, said to be
filled with magic crocodiles. Across the strait sits
Tidore, another cone of an island, and others
stretch off in the distance.
Beautiful Jailolo Bay just north of Ternate
beckons beachgoers, snorkellers and divers.
In the spice trade days it was a powerful
sultanate. Now it is a peaceful and popular
place from which to day trip to islands such
as tiny but sandy Pastofiri. Its attractions,
especially for snorkellers, are the healthy

coral reefs of its tiny shores. It is a great place
to anchor and do a day or two’s diving. There
are more than a dozen dive sites in this bay,
many named with the acronym NHR, after
Namto Hui Roba, the West Halmahera
Regent and a keen diver, who was
instrumental in their discovery.
In a trip on both land and sea, on the way
to Tobelo we made our way to Galela for the
amazing warm-water vents dive. In the distance,
volcanic Mount Dukono belched. Gunung
Dukono is a fairly remote volcano and one
of the most active in Indonesia. Looking up
to Dukono, if it’s active, you can see the sulphur
and even ash plumes being emitted. It is known
for its frequent small explosive eruptions and,
after a while of diving in its shadow, you get
used to the seismic burps. We were told that
during the hours or days between explosions
it looks deceptively peaceful, just calmly
steaming away.
When we visited Tobelo, well known for ring
merchants who sell exquisitely polished stone
rings and jewellery (known locally as bacan
batu), we found a friendly town sitting in the
shadow of the Karianga Mountains and spread

143

5 Senses – Taste
COCONUT CRAB
One of Ternate’s specialities is
coconut crab. Cooked in fresh garlic
and slathered in chilli sauce, these
huge crabs have amazingly sweet,
almost buttery meat. They are named
after their powerful front claws and
arms, which can open up their
favourite food, coconut. This diet
turns their carapace blue and adds
coconut oil to their system, so when
cooked the meat is incredibly savoury,
and much different from sea or
mangrove crab, making them well
worth the high price tag.
Salah satu keistimewaan Ternate
adalah kepiting kelapa. Biasanya
dimasak dengan bawang putih segar
dan dilumuri saus sambal, kepiting
raksasa ini memiliki rasa daging yang
manis dan lembut. Dinamai kepiting
kelapa karena capit depannya yang kuat
dan dapat membuka buah kelapa. Pola
makan ini akan mengubah cangkang
mereka menjadi biru dan tubuh mereka
mengandung banyak minyak kelapa,
sehingga ketika dimasak, dagingnya
sangat gurih, dan jauh berbeda dari
kepiting laut atau bakau, sehingga tidak
heran jika harganya pun tinggi.