Travel

A huge school of scad cruises over the house reef, just off the jetty of the aptly-named Coral Eye Resort
 

Over the years, I have learned to pay attention to how a place wakes up. Some places announce themselves loudly with color and drama, but Bangka Island is different. As we walk the beach before breakfast, the morning arrives quietly—slipping in almost unnoticed, as if the island prefers to reveal itself only to those who are paying attention. The rhythm at Coral Eye is set by the ocean and the people who work alongside it, and it did not take us long to work out that one of the most interesting things about Coral Eye is not only what you experience underwater. More on that later.
 

An Island Shaped by Water

Bangka Island is in North Sulawesi, nestled in the rich marine biodiversity of the Coral Triangle, an envious position that delivers constant water movement and the nutrients that come with it. Beneath the surface, the island’s structure reveals itself with volcanic rock walls and ridges that concentrate the current and hold exceptional life. Soft corals proliferate in areas where the water moves fastest, while hard, reef-building corals dominate the shallows. There are almost 50 dive sites to discover, including pinnacles, sandy slopes, walls and muck. Add in lots of pygmy seahorses and a spectacular house reef, and you have more than enough to keep you occupied during your stay.
 

A giant frogfish blends in with the vibrant reef at the Batu Mandi dive site
 

A Pontohi pygmy seahorse—just half an inch long—hangs out at Areng Kambing Wall
 

While Bangka is known for big reef scenes and walls, there is great muck diving to be had, and subjects like this tiny goby are well worth bringing the macro lenses for

Color in Motion

Off the southern tip of the island, you’ll find two of Bangka Island’s most prized pinnacle dive sites: Sahaung I and Sahaung II. These twin sites sit where tides are squeezed between land and open sea. The result? Impressive water movement that brings vibrancy and life with it. It’s like dropping into the ocean’s engine room. Soft corals lean into the current to feed while sponges stack up like buttresses on the reef face. On the shallow ridges, the reef is busy as schools of sergeant majors dance and do their best to guard their eggs from hungry butterflyfish.

These two dive sites reward timing, awareness, and a willingness to let the water do the work. This is classic Bangka Island diving, where the energy is raw and alive. There’s no hunting for critters or highlights; you’re just carried through the dive as the reef does exactly what it’s meant to do.
 

A kaleidoscope of color, Sahaung I is a treat for wide-angle photographers
 

A diver explores a stunning coral and sponge-encrusted outcrop at Sahaung II

Shifting Sands

Elsewhere, the scenery shifts completely. Several sites are defined by wide expanses of sand that, at first glance, seem barren, but reward slow, deliberate diving. A cuttlefish appears beside a coral head, its color and texture changing subtly as it studies us. A pair of anemonefish darts forward, then retreats, guarding their territory with conviction. These reefs are alive with smaller movements: Halimeda ghost pipefish blend in seamlessly, shrimp cleaning gobies peer out from their burrows, and tiny cowfish find refuge in the coral rubble architecture.

In places, the sand is black and volcanic, echoing the muck diving conditions of the nearby Lembeh Strait. Here, the focus narrows to uncover small and strange species that blend seamlessly into their surroundings. Some dives feel busy from the start while others take time to reveal themselves. Either way, diving here rewards patience.
 

The Yellow Coco muck site invites macro photographers to capture an endless range of photogenic critters—like this beautiful thorny seahorse
 

Adorable cowfish share space with frogfish, cephalopods, and nudibranchs, giving macro afficionados plenty of subjects to point their lenses at

Magic in the Mangroves

Just around the corner and accessible by paddle board from the resort, dense mangroves reveal another layer of the Island’s biodiversity. Amongst their towering roots, juvenile fish, crustaceans and tiny invertebrates find shelter, using these shallow nurseries as a safe haven before moving out to the nearby reef. This ecosystem provides an ethereal place for photography and is well worth the effort in the early morning when light rays dance across the sandy floor.

Just beyond this entangled maze, seagrass meadows dominate the shallows, providing feeding grounds for species such as the dugong. Together, these interconnected habitats give Bangka Island its distinctive richness, an island where reef, sand, mangroves and seagrasses exist in unison, each playing a vital role in the health and diversity of the underwater ecosystem.
 

Sunbeams slice through the mangrove trees, creating an ethereal atmosphere: Mangroves are vital ecosystems for protecting coastlines and provide sanctuary for countless marine species

Things That Go Bump in the Night

If you are like us and enjoy photographing the weird and wonderful, you cannot go past a bonfire dive, pioneered by Filipino photographer Ram Yoro. Our dive guide Karni placed submerged lights on a shallow sandy bottom of the reef in an effort to summon life from the darkness.

An area that looked empty by day soon became busy. Tiny squid and crustaceans in their larval stages danced at the edge of the light while tiny octopuses drifting in from deeper water changed shape and texture in quick, expressive movements. A bobtail squid soon followed, tiny and luminous and rocketing upward before dropping back to the sand in a sudden burst.
 

Bonfire dives have become popular at Coral Eye. While typically not as productive as a true blackwater dive, bonfire dives still attract a plethora of weird and wonderful pelagic critters—like this larval octopus
 

Science in Plain Sight

Coral Eye doesn’t really operate like a conventional dive resort. After all, it was first a conservation and research center with diving built around it. Established in 2009 by Italian marine biologist Marco Segre Reinach, Coral Eye was conceived as a place for shared learning rather than passive observation. That foundation still defines the resort experience today, with ongoing collaborations bringing together universities, students, visiting scientists and divers to better understand and document the extraordinary biodiversity of the Coral Triangle—extending Coral Eye’s impact well beyond just Bangka’s dive sites.

Here, conversations between dive guides, researchers, management, staff, and visitors move freely, and curiosity is encouraged. The resort has a unique way of blending science into daily resort life without making it feel formal or forced.

We were joined most days on our dive boat by Giro, a young Italian marine biologist who would spend the next six months at the resort working up a research project to monitor the health of the reefs here. He welcomed our questions and his explanations were generous. We immediately got the sense that Coral Eye is a place where enjoying the ocean isn’t separate from understanding it.
 

Brilliantly colored sea fans encrust a dock piling: No surface, be it natural or man-made, goes to waste
 

A diver enjoys an amazing drift dive at the Tanjung Husi I dive site

An Island Shaped by Community and Place

It did not take long to see that people are an important aspect of the resort experience here, and you see it in the small exchanges—someone stopping by to ask how you are and if you need anything, conversations switching languages without effort, staff eager to teach useful Indonesian words to guests. It feels less like staying at a resort and more like being welcomed into a family.

As the sun goes down, guests settle into chairs with drinks in hand. Some evenings bring informal talks about the island, marine species, or research updates, or if you’re lucky like us, an invitation to the staff Christmas event! Other evenings are simply about being present.
 

A bird’s-eye view of the dock at Coral Eye, dive boats, and the the shallow reef and dropoff

Thoughtful Luxury

Joining forces with Siladen Resort and Spa in 2022, Coral Eye has recently completed a sublime yet meaningful transformation, evolving from a functional research and dive outpost into a thoughtful and luxuriously designed resort. Visitors can now choose to stay in one of 15 villas—beachfront pool villas, beach villas, and garden villas—or superior rooms, and enjoy a stunning open-air cathedral-like beach pavilion with restaurant, lounge bar, and pool area.

The new buildings have been crafted to integrate seamlessly with the surrounding environment and used local materials, techniques and artisans in their construction. A divine spa facility completes the picture. This shift has improved the guest experience without losing Coral Eye’s sense of place, and proves that a resort can feel refined while remaining grounded in community, conservation, and the rhythm of island life. The upgrades are definitely luxurious, yet feel more thoughtful than indulgent.
 

Coral Eye is nestled at the edge of the rainforest, right where it meets the beach. You can dive and relax in the lap of luxury
 

There’s nothing better than coming “home” to a lovely pool villa after a great day’s diving
 

The restaurant and social area is gorgeous and the laid-back atmosphere at the resort is part of the appeal

Beyond Diving

Back at the resort, meals are a blend of modern Indonesian and authentic Italian flair, thoughtfully and deliciously prepared by local Indonesian chefs trained by Chef Mauri from Bali’s most renowned Italian restaurant, Mauri in Seminyak. Expect house-made pasta and warm focaccia bread, fresh fish, vegetables, salads, and flavors that reflect the local region and that of Italy. You can choose to sit privately or gather around a communal table to share stories and collaborate. What stands out though isn’t just the exceptional food or the good conversation, but the atmosphere. Between guests, staff and researchers, everyone naturally and willingly contributes.

On our final morning, we return to the beach. The tide is low, the water glassy, the reef peering up at us from below the surface. Standing there, we realize what makes Coral Eye such a great place to visit. It’s not just the excellent and varied diving; it’s the sense of alignment between people and place—activity and intention. We will remember our time at Coral Eye fondly, not just because it’s luxurious, but because it felt right.
 

Coral Eye Resort’s breathtaking backyard: A classic Indonesian reef scene, replete with stunning corals, plenty of fish, and bright blue water beneath the tropical sun
 

About the Authors: Based in Melbourne, Australia, Anita Verde and Peter Marshall have a passion for the planet’s wild places, and through their images and narratives hope to inspire better appreciation and protection of the natural world. When not underwater, you’ll find them on a mountain somewhere. To see more of their work, please visit their website, www.summitstoseasphotography.com.