Takabonerate & Selayar · Indonesia · Pinnacle · Reef
Ibel D'Orange
Whitetips, blacktips and marble rays on an atoll pinnacle
Area photo: Fakhrizal Setiawan · CC BY-SA 4.0
Ibel D'Orange is a pinnacle five minutes by boat from Tinabo Besar, the sand cay inside Taka Bonerate National Park. Entry is at 18 m and the profile runs to a maximum of 32 m over soft and hard coral, with whitetip and blacktip sharks, marble rays and schooling pelagics logged on the site. Conditions are thinly documented, so the boat briefing carries the detail.
Where it is and how deep
6.5794° S, 121.0860° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
You start deep here. The entry is at 18 m, so the descent is a drop straight onto the pinnacle rather than a swim out over shallow reef, and the working band for the rest of the dive is between that top and the 32 m maximum. Soft and hard corals cover the structure. The boat ride from Tinabo Besar takes five minutes, which puts the site well inside the national park.
Whitetip and blacktip sharks work the pinnacle, marble rays and stingrays are logged on the sand around it, and tuna and other schooling pelagics pass through the blue; bumphead parrotfish and nudibranchs account for the closer looking. Nothing beyond that is published — no operator describes a route around the structure, and no current strength is stated for the site — so treat it as a deep pinnacle dive, read the water before you drop, and plan the ascent off the top.
Marine life and season
- Reef sharks
- Tuna
- Stingrays
- Nudibranchs
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Off-season | Off-season | Fair | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Good | Off-season |
Season follows Takabonerate & Selayar: Apr–Nov is the season; the north-west monsoon makes the crossing from Makassar impractical from December to February.
Know before you go
- The profile starts at 18 m and bottoms at 32 m, so bottom time is short and the ascent is best run off the pinnacle top with a computer.
- No current strength is published for this pinnacle, so treat speed and direction as unknown until the briefing and read the water before you drop.
- Taka Bonerate is remote and there is no recompression chamber nearby, which is an argument for conservative profiles on every dive in the atoll.
Questions divers ask
How deep is Ibel D'Orange?+
Entry is at 18 m and the maximum depth is 32 m, so it is a deep pinnacle dive rather than a shallow reef. Advanced-level experience and a computer-run profile make sense.
How do you get to Ibel D'Orange?+
Five minutes by boat from Tinabo Besar island, inside Taka Bonerate National Park. The atoll itself is reached from Selayar or as a leg on a liveaboard itinerary.
Sources
- Ibel D'Orange — South Sulawesi dive site — Scubago (SSI MyDiveGuide)
In The Logbook
- Where to see reef sharks on your first divesBig animals · 14 min read
More dive sites in Takabonerate & Selayar
Wall
Limestone and white sand, a wall to 35 m, rarely any current
Reef
White sand to 15 m, no current, twenty minutes from town
Reef
Hard coral, soft coral and sea fans on a sand slope to 20 m
Wall
Gorgonians and soft coral on a limestone wall, averaging 20 m
Sand slope
Selayar's shark dive, with current that can run either way
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