Feel the sensation when the body surf in the collection of small to giant-sized reefs that grow in sandy seabed, coral walls along tens of meters, agile movements ditingkahi diverse coral and marine fish with body shape and color of an enchanting.

Panorama that can easily be found in this maritime country. With a length of 95 181 kilometers of the coast or the second longest in the world, humble paradise with a variety of reef fish on the surface (pelagic) and bottom (demersal), cave, up the mountain under the sea.

Waters of Bunaken Island, North Sulawesi, is a small example of the nirvana that. Divers can be passed with exotic fish, such as Napoleon wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus), and a giant green turtle (Chelonia mydas). On the Beach Hukurila in Ambon, Maluku, and North Coast Wasage in Buton Island, Southeast Sulawesi, fans will be served by adrenaline challenge the view underwater caves.

Mangehetang Island in the southwest, Sangihe, North Sulawesi, divers can see underwater mountain in waters shallow enough to the point of a mountain crater at a depth of eight meters.

“Almost innumerable dive sites in the country. The potential is so vast and each point offering spectacular diving underwater unique and different, “said Steven, who joined the club divers Professional Association of Diving Instructor (PADI).

Diving lovers club

Diving tours in the country is evolving since the early 1980s. Special interest also led to the birth lovers dive clubs, dive training centers, and tourist resort with services diving operators offer dive objects violently.

With the emergence of diving tourism objects, the interest of society to recognize this growing sport. The growing interest of the community was reflected in the exhibition at least Indonesia and the Extreme Deep Indonesia 2010 in Jakarta on March 12 to 14, 2010. With the entrance fee of Rp 20,000 per person, from morning until night thousands of visitors from inside and outside the country crowded the booth shops selling scuba gear and travel agents.

Submarine service providers utilize the momentum of the exhibition to offer a natural beauty that is ready “exploited”. A number of leaflets, DVDs, and books on tourist resorts and dive objects distributed free to visitors.

If countries in mainland Europe is able to stimulate tourists to exotic artifisialnya building, not an overstatement that dive operators and service excellence marine tourist resort raised in this equatorial country to tourists.

Biodiversity of fish resources in Indonesian waters is very high, reaching 37 percent of all fish species in the world. An estimated 2000 species of fish and 700 species of a total of 2000 species of sponges that live in coral reef ecosystems in Southeast Asia.

More than a third species of whales and dolphins, as well as six of the seven sea turtle species that live in the world can be found in Indonesian waters. This exotic places Indonesia as one of the world’s best dive sites.

Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries released, coral cover in Indonesian waters range from 51 020 square kilometers. Coral reefs are still in good condition and very well estimated around 30 percent, or an area of 15 306 square kilometers.

According to the Marine Eco Tourism Development Consultant Cipto Aji Gunawan, with a coral reef distribution is uneven, the coral reef areas that have the potential to be a tourist submarine is estimated that only around 30 per cent or 4592 square kilometers.

However, each square kilometer object capable of generating revenue dives estimated 600 000 U.S. dollars per year. With these assumptions, Cipto said, the potential velocity of money every year from tourist submarines could reach 2.75 billion dollars per year. The number is approaching half the total income of tourism of Indonesia in 2009 amounted to 6.3 billion U.S. dollars.

With the calculations that, there’s no doubt that the management of diving tourism can be counted on to boost tourism. In fact, Indonesia ranks only fourth in Southeast Asia in tourist arrivals (tourists) in 2008. Singapore occupied the first rank with an average of 15 million foreign tourists per year, ranking second and third occupied by Malaysia with 10 million foreign tourists per year and Thailand’s 10 million foreign tourists per year.

The question is, how serious efforts to manage dive tourism in Indonesia?

Compared with neighboring countries such as Thailand and Malaysia, the development of diving tourism in the country is still lagging. Year 2006, for example, the number of tourists diving in Indonesia just 30,000 people at the time ranged diving tourists in Thailand had reached 250 373 people in Malaysia and as many as 44 480 people.

Behind it, among other things, triggered by the lack of accessibility to attractions. Comparing with the Caribbean Islands, each square kilometer diving attractions in the country able to reap revenues of 3 million dollars per year because of the ease of access and adequate infrastructure.

Director Buton Resort and Dive Center John Fletcher argues, the natural beauty of the sea is very attractive for investment. He calculates there are at least 72 point dive in the waters of Buton Island is now managed by the private sector.

“The potential that still needs to be polished with a natural ease of transportation access in order to attract more tourists,” said a British man, who previously worked as a consultant and researcher of marine conservation of Indonesia’s forests.

Diving tourism development not only bring in tourists, but also can be relied upon as an economic cog local residents. Unfortunately, not many dive tourism industry in the country which are managed by community-based. Most of the tourist submarine business is currently managed by foreign investors and often without involving the local population.

In Lombok, eg, tourist submarine business is almost entirely controlled by foreign investors. Foreign entrepreneurs penetrated even to cultivate business in the tourist submarine remote locations.

The lack of involvement of local people in cultivating the potential of marine tourism is often trigger conflicts between communities and entrepreneurs. The conflict was more pointed when diving tourism continues to bring in money, while residents and local fishermen still drowning in poverty.

Dean of the Faculty of Human Ecology, Bogor Agricultural University Arif Satria argued, problems that often arose in the development of nautical tourism is a conflict between employers and local fishermen. Conflict often leads to feud with businessman to fight citizen.

Dive tourism industry to benefit the local economy, the government in determining the firmness needed zoning marine tourism areas that do not collide with an area of livelihoods of local fishermen.