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East Sumba Hospitality

Are you looking for an unusual calm, relaxing and uniquely new place unaltered by the forces of globalization and enjoy a rewarding fishing trip? Let me take you to an island in east Indonesia called Sumba, and to a particular location of this island called east of Sumba. How do you get there? There are two flights to Sumba from the island of Bali: one with “Lion Air” and the second one with “Merpati Airline”. The Lion Air has newer Airplanes but the check-in will take at least 45 minutes due to the long queue. All Lion Air flights are using the same single check-in stand, so even if you are 2 hours earlier you will still need to wait about 45 minutes; a worse scenario may occur when other passengers for special reasons have first priority.

The flight and service are good and it takes about 90 minutes to arrive at Sumba; the pilot will announce it once you see Sumba from your window. It is a good time to pull out your camera and take beautiful pictures of the amazing landscape of Sumba. The first impression once you have landed is of being back in the 80s; almost everything at the Airport reminds you of old days except for the computers for check in and the ACs in the boarding lounge. Food is not available at the airport during lunch time, the only restaurants are in Wangaipu –the largest town and capital of East Sumba; “Padang” restaurants and small “nasi bungkus” (wrapped rice meal) stands can be found by the road.

My trip to East Sumba was mainly for attending the funeral of my friend father David Wylie who passed away 6 Month ago. It took a two and a half hours drive to David’s residence. The trip to this location is pleasant and interesting; one can see the amazing landscape, horses, cows and one of Sumba Kings Residence and many other interesting rural scenes. When I arrived at David’s residence, I could feel the positive energy of the place, I felt being at home and these feelings remained with me during the entire few days of my stay. I happened to arrive at the sunset time and all my friends gathered by the beach witnessing this spectacular scene in the evening! They welcomed me with a cold beer, which was really refreshing and it helped me to relax. Not long after that, dinner was ready; the food was delicious and consisted of fish caught by Arvid and Hamish Wylie (son of the deceased), fresh salad, rice, vegetables and chili named by Hamish “dynamite” because it was extremely spicy; even Arvid -who is used to most of the hot chilies of Indonesia, was blown away by this small powerful Sumba chili!

We all had to contribute to a common task: “catch fish or you will starve”! However, the pressure was on me because Arvid and Hamish have proven already the day before of the fantastic catch that we enjoyed at dinner at my arrival. The challenge was still greater because, they requested lobsters, squid and of course good fish! I do not like to fish under pressure because I cannot relax and it affects negatively my concentration. We spent four days fishing and here is how it went.

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Day 1

We swam from the shore and cut through a channel. The visibility was 5-10 meters depending on where you headed to; the amount of rabbit fish and their sizes shocked me. Not only rabbit fish was abundant but also sweetlips, one can easily be mistaken with a mangrove jack, but the only way to differentiate them is by their movements. I was warned to be aware of big GTs, African pompanos and snappers. So I was very selective and patience with pulling the trigger even when I was tempted by how big and close the Rabbit fishes were! I have not shot anything during my first two hours; but after a while, I decided to take any worthwhile game in front of me. Most of them were rabbit fishes but I also spotted a nice scribbled Snapper, which I followed it to a big rock and it disappeared but I was then rewarded with a nice lobster. Then I went back to find the scribbled snapper and it was gone; however, I didn’t wasted my dive because a big rabbit fish passed right in front of me and I took my second fish of the day. I swam further away from the channel and saw an ideal terrain for GT patrol or any pelagic fish. It did not take too long and a nice 5-8 kg green jobfish swam towards me. I dived down and waited but the jobfish didn’t come close enough and my gun was not designed for long shots. I waited for it to come back and this time it was getting closer but still I wasn’t confidence enough; besides that, I thought I could always come back to find it next time or try one more dive; then the jobfish never came back. On the way back I saw another lobster and rabbit fish and I called it a day because visibility was getting worse.

I spent the rest of the day relaxing by the beach with my friends and watching the sunset. At dinner, Lativa (Hamish’s mother) cooked an amazing lobster and fish pasta for dinner. Then, we were a privileged to witness for the first time a typical traditional savu dance. It was particularly touching the last dance, when one of the dancers chanted a song about David Wylie, which sounded exactly like the singing of Native American!

Day 2

This was the day of the funeral service for David Wylie. The kitchen expanded 10 times; they slaughtered cows, goats, pigs all night and prepared the food during all day. They needed to prepare food for an estimated 1500 to 2000 guests. One part of the group – consisting of between 30 to 40 men, was trying to finish the tombstone which weighted about 5 tons! Sumba is one of the few places in the world in which follows the custom of megalithic burials. The logistic itself was absolutely a nightmare; I spend most of the day watching and trying to suggest them how to complete it. But when you have 40 men shouting, frustrated and holding on their own ideas, it was really hard to get your voice heard; they worked from 6:00 AM to 4.30 PM to finish the tombstone.

The service started at 4:30 PM and it was very emotional; an estimated 1000 of people witnessed the ceremony, which ended by throwing half of the ashes to sea. The funeral could not have been done any better; we admired Hamish and his family who organized this amazing funeral so well! When the last guest went left, I could see the relief in Hamish’s face; it didn’t take too long until we started celebrating his achievement; we dined and drank like there is no tomorrow; dancing and singing and the night were filled with laughter.

Day 3

Everyone woke up with a big hangover the next day. I was still burping alcohol after breakfast. But the plan was to film spearfishing for Hamish’s “Adventure TV Show” for one of the local channel in Indonesia. I was struggling; none of us shot any fish. But the hangover dive was compensated by a seeing a big turtle and dugong, accompanied by a school of small golden trevally and good size cobia. My energy level was depleting very fast due to hangover and I was also scared to shot anything including the easy target of a cobia behind the dugong. I was afraid that I would miss it and hit the dugong. I decided not to shot anything and I went back with huge regret.

I felt better by noon and decided to try a different spot. We were told that there are rainbow runners, milkfish and trevally. The reef was the ideal habitat for good snappers and pelagic fishes. I was teased by a small scribbled snapper; I missed all the shots. Then I saw another one but 10 times its size. I waited patiently but it didn’t come closed enough. I finished the day with 2 rabbit fishes and one silver snapper not sure of its name. We ended the day by going to bed very early because we were tired.

Day 4

We had given up on waiting for a boat to take us to a better and more promising spots. So we decided to try our last spot one more time. I entered the reef from a small channel. I was greeted by a school of unicorn fish, then African Pompano and a two meters black tip shark. I felt like a kids in candy store, and my heart was ready to pump out my chest with excitement. I stop for 2 minute to control my heart beat then full charge through the channel. At first all the fish was spooked by my entrance; I tried to creep through the side of the channel but the fish was a little bit edgy. So I decided to ignore the spot and come back later. It paid off because a school of giant African pompano headed straight towards me and of course my first target was the first one, which usually is the biggest one; unfortunately they were too fast so I went for the more promising shot. I took the shot and the buoy start running, I grabbed the rope and followed it. Then I tried to pull it slowly and saw the shaft didn’t go through; clearly I needed to be extra gentle. I slowly pulled it up and it then started swimming so hard heading towards a big rock; my worst nightmare was about to start. I swam down and tried to get it off the rock, then not long after it tangled itself to the next wrong. I literally dive 5 times with 10-20 sec surface time. It the end I caught the fish and grabbed it by the tail and brought it up. It was a nice 8 kg African Pompano, not the biggest of the group but good enough for dinner.

I decided then to explore a new area and it paid off; the terrain was amazing. Not long after that, we saw scribbled snappers, mangrove jacks; cubera snappers and this trigged our enthusiasm! Shot after shot and the catch size was getting bigger and bigger until the point when we decided it was enough fish to last 3 days! The average size of the snapper was 3.5 kg, which amounted to a total of 45 kg of fish! We ended up a day by having a big bonfire and grilled the fish by the beach.

We headed back to Bali the next day. We’d wished we could have hired a boat and hunted the big pelagic fish.  Never mind, the size of the catch of the previous days made up for our failure to catch the pelagic fish. All in all our experience in East Sumba from every point of view was unique and rewarding. Our plans are now to go back to East Sumba as soon as we can. Although on a sad occasion of the funeral of Hamish’s father, our trip this time proved to first be of comfort to Hamish and his family and then an opportunity to appreciate their warm hospitality, opportunity to witness such a sensitive funeral service, and finally admire the local people’s respect for the integrity of their ocean and environment. 

Peter and Arvid Spearfishing Sumba

Kampuh playground march 21 2013

The location is only good a couple times a year. Our target fish the scribbled snapper. The water, weather, swell, tide , current were perfect for our playground to be filled with scribbled snapper. We started diving around 8 in the morning. The water visibility was perfect. I felt like a kid in a candy store. The last time i was here was 2-3 years ago, it took both me and antok some time to find the location of the cave , hole, trench and rocky terrain where the kampuh are usually found. The first kampuh i saw, i shot too low and it ripped off, then i see antok not too far heading toward me with a kampuh in his spear, telling me more kampuh on the other side. In total we saw more than enough kampuh to fill the cool box. Some are hard to shoot, some you need to go inside the cave to catch, some you just have to hold your breath and be patient. It was a lot of fun chasing them.

Antok's friend Matteo, is an expat from italy who has a few eye catching trohpy fish in his belt. His first fish was a blue trevally. He films his dives on his gopro camera. He shot a few kampuh, and a nice mangrove jack.

Like every trip, either enk or antok pull a surprise. I was holding on to the jukung while doing a number 2. Then all of a sudden i hear a loud shout, the captain said antok caught a big fish. We quickly went to fetch antok. He shot a 15 kg grouper (flowery cod) I guess it must have been my breakfast/chum that attracted the fish's attention.

After filling up the coolbox with fish almost to the top, we wanted to try another spot 15 min away on the boat. When we dove there, It was quite sad to see what affect the 5 star hotel had on the reef infront of it. It was covered with silk and there was a flow of water coming from the hotel. Not only did the hotel look like #!%! from the ocean but they should take some responsibility, because first they take advantage of the beautiful view, so in return take care of the reef!!!! Without the nice view no big profit!!! So give some back to nature you big 5 star hotel!!!! Also u can afford to build a long peer, so plant some coral back!!!

We saw some mangrove jack and scribbled snapper, a lot of sweetlip. We shot some and called it a day after seeing a big disappointment to reef ecosystem ruined by the big 5 star hotel..

To add to the highlight of the amazing day in the ocean we saw a huge healthy dugong, very playful, and a big sea turtle, some reef shark, and a lot of big grouper, spanish mackerel (unfortunately i had a fish in my spear when it passed through behind a school of queenfish) a big school of small amberjack circling around me. Could not have asked for a better day in the ocean.

Eenk solo session at south east bali 15 jan 2013

 Eenk was one the luckiest to be living 2 minute away from the ocean and don't forget his work is also under the sea. So he took advantage of the nice day and dive at 2pm on Monday afternoon.

Visibility was 5-6 meter, it was also high tide. 2 hour diving he was quiet busy selecting the best fish for his new wife at home.

First fish of his choice was our favorite fish from around Bali 4 kg scribbled snapper.  Then he started  ignoring his usual target the unicorn fish. The waiting for the potential good fish pays off 3 kg trevally was perfectly align in front of his gun. Few minute before he call it a day queen-fish pass by.

Eenk Eenk have  enough fish to please his wife tonite and we know who will get lucky by his wife tonite...

South bali 6 dec 2012 " eenk sea turtle hero"

We start diving around 8 in the morning, water visibility was not good. No mackerel, no gt, or even barracuda anto favorite target. The boys manage to shoot local favorite fish unicorn fish, Gold-saddle rabbitfish and octopus.

Second spot visibility was excellent but no scribbled snapper or emperor. There was plenty of sweetlips close to but is not my cup of tea. I end up swimming with whitetip to have some enterteiment. Again the boys shoot local favorite ela ela, batfish, unicorn fish and sweetlips.

Third spot the water visibility was getting worse, i manage to see one scribbled snapper who swam away as soon as he see me diving down, anto amd eenk experience the same thing. There was few trevally but kept its distance. Anto end up with few rabbitfish.

The last dive we move back to the first spot and the visibility was terrible. I stop diving the boys kept going. No one shot anything but eenk manage to come back with nylon string, plastic, diaper, squid bait, hooks, rope , seaweed and small clams. We are all clueless why he brought back to the boat. He explain all that came from  50cm wide turtle tangled with all that. The front arm was heavily infected and almost came off. Judging from the looks of all the item, it looks like it has been on turtle for months. He explain that the turtle was able to use the arm to swim again but very slow.

Sadly in bali the local consider seaturtle meat as a delicacy. Balinese still used turtle for offering in certain ceremony and the meat are serve daily at ketewel, sanur and serangan island. Usually is serve as sate and lawar. The sea turtle are harvested from the wild around bali and neighbouring islands.

Everyone can save turtle like eenk eenk, by supporting seaturtle organization. Please support them and save more turtles..

http://www.baliseaturtle.org/

Extreme south-western tip of java 17-21 september

The title of this blog say it all. The jungle in the national park is hardly penetrable, is dark and mysterious. Inside the pristine forest , are left hidden from the human the shy endangered Javanese rhino, the allusive leopard, the famous javan Banteng and many other wildlife. It took us 5 hour to reach the boat from Jakarta, another 4-5 hour boat ride until we found a spot to sleep. First day only caught barracuda for lunch  while trolling . The wind was quiet strong during the afternoon and the bay was quiet murky with 1-2 meter visibility. Not many interesting fish on the first day. Trevally was under size and no grouper or snapper. Unfortunately, we only have small Rabbitfish for dinner and chicken from the supermarket..

Second day we move to another spot. The visibility is better 4-6 meter but still nothing worth of pulling the trigger. After lunch we move to new location. The current was stronger and looks more promising.  First dive i saw nothing until i was in the area with the strongest current shot a 4kg blue trevally. Then 1.5 kg snapper and saw 2 mangrove jack but i was hesitate to pull the trigger due to rock formation behind it. Try to find it again but it was kept it distant, then  bluefin trevally came with school of 6 and waited for the biggest one to shot.

unfortunately due to the south wind and big swell we have to pass this spot

Second day transit spearfishing spot

Enteirtment on the way to resting spot for the second night

Second day resting spot greeted by the wild indonesian boar

The last day of the trip i woke early in the morning and i hear people screaming over excitment of catching 500 gram to 1 kg squid. Saw i geared up and head staright to the water. i was to late but there was a school of milkfish. I shot atleast 3 milkfish and the manage to fight and rip the body off the spear. it was a nice decent 1-2 kg size.. The last fish i saw was the african pompano which i miss point blank. I guess i was over excited about having sashimi. after all the dissapoitment i was lucky enough to manage to secure one decent size mullet.

after lunch we went back to the same spot from yesterday and hoping to catch some mangrove jack and more trevally. Not sure what second spot my nose was bothering me so much that i only lasted 1 hour. I manage to catch octopus and a snapper. It wasnt as good as the day before.

Arvid stayed longer and start shooting every species of snapper in the area. He shot Scribbled snapper, Mangrove jack, Red snapper and grouper.

Ivan holding my catch on the last day

Arvid catch on the last day, almost every species of snapper in the area

The crew

South bali 18 August 2012

Boys: 4kg scribbled snapper,  4.5 kg Green Jobfish, Trevallies, Queen fish, Sweet lip, and Peter: Malboro lights.

The boat was a nightmare, there was expose fiberglass all over the boat that need proper finishing. We all suffered from fiberglass rash and ridiculous itchiness during the whole boat ride. Second problem, its too windy and huge swells of course as usual Arvid already reminded me but way too stubborn as usual, and on top of that the boat that we uses are boat for flat water and it rocks like a cradle causing us motion sickness. For the first time in the years of our spearfishing, surfing boat trip etc, Arvid vomited in the water chumming school of fish with his regurgitated nasi bungkus. Jim Kiernan vomited at the first spot too, I was feeling sick moving from the first spot to the second spot. I couldn't focus or have the energy to dive at the second spot, the others were fine but annoyed with the boat instability and underpowered.


The boat ride to the first spot took us 2 hours due to the wind and swell, on the way there the captain spotted a big shark, i soon to realize it was a fat shark judging from the stomach size and length it was a 3 meter Tiger Shark , the captain confirmed it with the spots on the shark. It kept all the guys quiet and i am sure little bit scared.
When we reached the first spot Cody B Young our spearo from Kauai was the last to enter the water and saw 3 huge Manta Rays,  The last time i saw a Manta Ray i swam with them for 2 minute until they took off The width was bigger then my outrigger, and when i went back up to the boat the manta ray flew out of the water for at least 1-1.5 meter off the water surface. I guess is manta ray way to say goodbye.

Despite the promising huge reef formations and caves at the first spot we didn't see much, visibility was poor the swell is too strong we cannot stay still to get a good shot, everyone had difficulty spotting a fish and shooting one, So we move to a new spot.

On the way to the second spot we saw a school of Dolphin, hunting for small school of bait fish behind the reef. Well guess what, like the local superstition the Dolphin brought us luck at the second spot, at the second spot the visibility was the same but it got worst in less then a hour; I gave up and rested. After getting enough sun to warm up the body and fighting the motion sickness, i tried popping but no luck, not long after i saw female Dugong with its calve taking a breath and dive in, 10 minutes later they surface again pretty close to the boat. It has been 2.5 years since we last saw a Dugong. Around 4 years ago at same area, i  have the privilege to have swam with a family of dugong (Manatees) The calve was very friendly, it swam with me few time accompanied by both parent taking turn watching the baby.
Antok is very familiar with this spot and he went straight to all the best location. He spotted 3 scribbled snapper and shot a 4 kg one. Then he shot 2 parrot fish around 1.5 kg each. He also shot a trevally and it got away because the spear tip close.

Third spot was the highlight of the day. The water was clear, and teaming with fish, all 5 of us nonstop taking turn diving, I hear gun goes off nonstop it was a war zone.
We saw lots of different species of trevally, queenfish, grouper, big school of surgeon fish and many other reef fish. Me and arvid pair up taking turn dive down and informing what we saw below. Antok went furthest and saw big giant trevally, but he only manage to shoot  2 trevally. Eenk again become the star of the trip he shot a 4.5 kg green jobfish. Me and arvid was diving the same spot atleast 4 time and didnt see the jobfish. I guess it was eenk faith to have the honor to shot the trophy fish. Arvid shot 2 Queenfish. We were excited to go back to the boat to takes us to the drifting starting point again as at this time all the fish were out hunting against the current as it was almost five o'clock and the tide was going out, to our disappointment the captain have to give us the bad news during the best time of the day due to petrol situation, we only have just enough to go back.

The end of the day it all payoff all the hardship we went through, sighting of bad and good omen led to a good day of spearfishing at south of the island of the Gods.

The Spearos

Top Ten Fish to hunt In Bali

The fish are found around Bali water, they are rated according to the best dining experiences, Rarity, and difficulty of hunting them.




 1. Longface Emperor " ikan moncong"
Only been spotted by me and Arvid 5 time since the last 6 years. Found in sandy coastal areas, lagoons, and reef slopes. Juveniles are found in shallow sandy areas. Often occurs in large schools. Adults deep along coastal slopes and drop-offs, usually solitary. Arvid was the only one who manage to shot it. It was 5-7 kg Emperor.

Rating: Rare 5/5 Edibility 5 Star Difficulty 5/5

2. Jobfish "Kempar Pati"
There is three place we ever saw jobfish,  west java, East Java and Flores. South Bali used to have healthy population but we never see them again. The Green Jobfish is a shallow-water snapper and, often found on coral reefs.

Rating: Rare 5/5 Edibility 5 Star Difficulty 5/5 

3. Maori Seaperch aka scribbled Snapper "Kampuh"
It can be found everywhere in Bali. There are some spot that have over 5kg size and some area are below 1kg.
 Rating: Rare 4/5 Edibility 5 Star Difficulty 4/5

4. Coral trout " kerapu sunu"
Are found mostly East Bali and some area in North Bali. Coral trout are a warm water reef dweller with smaller fish inhabiting coral reefs and the larger fish found off deeper reefs around 10 - 20m in depth. Prefers areas where the reef drops off and has plenty of current.

 Rating: Rare 3/5 Edibility 5 Star Difficulty 3/5

5. Mangrove Jack "Ikan jarang gigi"
They are found in North Bali, West bali and south Bali.  They are attracted to snaggy areas of submerged trees and mangrove roots along the edges of estuaries, rivers and tidal creeks. Mature fish move out to offshore reefs.

 Rating: Rare 2/5 Edibility 4 Star Difficulty 3/5

6. Tripletail "Kakap hitam"
Found on most FAD in Bali. Tripletails prefer the mouths of rivers, passes and bays opening into the Gulf displaying some indifference to salinity. They congregate around ship-wrecks, buoys, boats, beacons, pilings, jetties and floating objects.Very easy to hunt and good eating to impress the ladies

 Rating: Rare 3/5 Edibility 4 Star Difficulty 1/5

7. Golden Trevally or GT "Jakal"
Found all around Bali, good fighting fish and good steaks.  They are found near reefs and rocky outcrops as well as coastal estuary systems. A schooling fish, often making migratory runs up and down the coast

 Rating: Rare 3/5 Edibility 3 Star Difficulty 2/5

8. Dolphinfish "Tumpek"
Found in north bali and east Bali. Good for the bbq and steak.

 Rating: Rare 3/5 Edibility 3 Star Difficulty 2/5

9. Reef Cod "Kerapu"
They are found on most of Bali healthy corals, or dropoff. Amazing taste when is prepare steam, with soy sauce, ginger and garlic sauce

 Rating: Rare 3/5 Edibility 4 Star Difficulty 3/5

10. Dogtooth Tuna
Dogtooth tuna frequent reef environments, with smaller fish being more commonly found near shallow reef areas and larger ones haunting deep reef drop off areas, sea-mounts and steep underwater walls. Dogtooth are generally solitary but sometime you can find them in school of 6 or less. They swim 10-100 meter deep(temperature ranging between 20-28 degree Celsius) for 15 kg up size , and you will be shocked to know where you can find the juvenile size in Bali, but  i will keep it as a secret, lets wait until they mature and fat enough!

Rating: Rare 5/5 Edibility 2 Star Difficulty 4/5

"Kampuh" Maori Seaperch

"Kampuh" known in english as scribbled snapper (Lutjanus rivulatus). This my local favorite fish, perfect for the grill, fillet , steam and baked in the oven.

Scribbled Snapper is best found behind the reef, where there are a lot of  ridges(underwater valley) with sand bed in the bottom. Also they are found in areas with a lot of volcanic rock formations or big corals. The water condition should be perfect visibility, Warm water(usually March-April) and during low tide. You can find a lot of the juvenile in the shallow areas behind the reef most of the year especially during the water is cold. For the bigger sizes, they are best found 10-20 metes down between the sand bed between the ridges.

Tips
1. They are very conscious around spear fisherman in Bali because is highly price fish for the locals hunters. Always make sure they don't detect your presence and it will make it easier to hunt them. If they are aware of you, then be ready to hold your breath for 1-5 minutes. Like most reef fish, the ambush tactic works best!

2.Another trick you can do is try to stir the sand and it will make them curious and approach you closer.

3. Flashlight are useful if you have the patient to check all their hiding spots.

4. IMPORTANT: When you shot one they give a strong fight. Try your best to make sure is a kill shot if not secure the fish ASAP or else you will need to to chase them and pull them out from the holes.

7/3/2009 first time at the scribbled snapper terittory

Rent a boat with Mr. Ketut at kedongan beach. We took a two-five minute boat trip to the spot there was school of fish eating frenzy. right away i jump and a shot a Blue trevally l. After the first shot, i was surrounded with hundred of them and  i wish I had another gun because the biggest one from the school swim 1 meter next to me.

remaining of the day was good, shot Flowery cod and scribbled snapper. The visibilty was poor during the day but toward the afternoon was better. thats when the scribbled snapper start coming out..

2/4/2009 "Kampuh Home"

It was clear day, full of scribbled snapper , Peacock rockcod, rabbit fish. It was a great of spearfishing enjoy the visibility. U can see the amazing small underwater canyon all over airport reef. many white tips sharks. Me , arvid and pak sate was chasing scribled snapper all over the place. they dont stop coming and tease you. If we weren't to excited we would have taken additional 20kg of scribble snapper. One of the best moment in Airport reef...