playing with the whale sharks of Dompu

Sumbawa the island offers a lot for the hardy tourists, if people can get over the distance and the inconvenience in getting there. But nature in its unspoilt glory can offer lots of rewards. Think of surfing, volcano trekking and traditional horse racing. Now, let me add, playing with whale sharks.


boats in Pulao Bajo
Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/3200s, f/5.6, 160mm, ISO 400


The place is Pulau Bajo, one of the numerous islands dotting the northern central coast of Dompu. Vegetation, much less agriculture, is scarce in the island. It is just like a big outcrop of dusty brown sand and boulder crags. Nothing much is green there during summer except for the tracts of mangrove at its coast. What it does have are three villages and where there are people, the introduction of seaweed mariculture was not difficult. Of late, the island has done significant progress in seaweed farm development hence the visit.


Pulao Bajo women seaweed farmers
Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/320s, f/5.6, 255mm, ISO 100


So there we were in a boat, checking out the seaweed growth, when suddenly we were stalked by some big fish. It was large, at least 25 feet long, and it has a dorsal fin that stuck out like that of a shark.


the profile of the “big fish” in Pulau Bajo, Dompu, Sumbawa Island
Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/800s, f/5.6, 300mm, ISO 100


Instinctively, we got alarmed. The boat driver, a resident of the island, said something in the local Mbojo (Bima) language. Lost in translation, the lady in our group got panicky as the giant fish ringed our boat in concentric circles, getting closer and closer. The driver was smiling so I took this as a good sign. It obviously was not his first encounter. Finally, the fish made a pass under our boat. Beneath us, it looked dark and looming. Our outrigger boat was only 8 feet long and the “monster” was three times bigger. We clearly were overmatched.


the approaching giant
Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/400s, f/4.5, 75mm, ISO 100


Playing with us, it went away for awhile but came back suddenly. It approached the boat purposely. When it was 10 feet away from us, it opened its mouth and everybody yelped. Then it became obvious to me. This was a whale shark. Its huge mouth was flat, round, probably about 3 feet wide and was in front of its head. In contrast, sharks have mouths at the underside of their head. The sharp scary teeth which make the shark’s jaw famous were missing. Whale sharks are filter feeders which eat planktons for food. We could see distinctive white spots covering its thick gray shiny body. But it was so big that its presence overwhelmed us.


the gaping mouth of the whale shark
Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/800s, f/4.5, 135mm, ISO 100


With all the excitement, I still tried to take photographs of this wonderful creature. Too bad I could not get a higher elevation point to take a long shot. An underwater picture would have been nice but that was no option either. My photos clearly could not do justice.

We quizzed the driver and he said that they are fairly common in the island. People mostly leave them alone although others said that the meat can be palatable. He assured us that the locals consider them mostly as friends and leave them generally unharmed. Whale sharks are obviously extremely social and would toy with any boat in their search for company.

Clearly, in this tiny island in Dompu sits an untapped attraction. Ecotourism could not be any better than guaranteed close encounters with these gentle giants. I would be hard-pressed in describing the experience. Amazing becomes an understatement.


the Pulao Bajo seaweed farms, Dompu, Sumbawa Island, Nusa Tenggara Barat, Indonesia
Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/1600s, f/5.6, 55mm, ISO 100

getting there

From Bima, Dompu is about 2.5 hours by private car, about 3.5 hours if by public bus. Turn north at Manggelewa district and ask directions for the small local dock for the islet of Pulau Bajo. The island can be covered in 1.5 hours. Boat rental varies from 15 to 30USD.

the horse races of Bima, part 1

In an island as remote as Sumbawa, life is simple by demand and by nature. Despite the inescapable reach of communication networks and the media, the pace is drastically slower than the popular Indonesian cities like Bali. Neighbors know each other and children play freely everywhere- the river, the hills and the road. Domesticated animals appear to be without reins, with goats, cattle and horses wandering into homes, market places and the highway.


the Pemakaman Kesultanan Bima (the Sultans graves) is a popular sunrise promenade with a view of the rolling hills of Bima
Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/50s, f/4.5, 80mm, ISO 100, +1EV


Disinteresting is a term that is sometimes easily and cruelly attributed to the island. The Dutch considered Sumbawa as low in the priority chain and shelved expansion plans until the early 20th century. Certainly, Dutch influence is not as marked as in the western islands of Java and Sumatra. Strangely, even the official website of the Indonesian embassy in Manila was blunt in categorizing the 7 hour bus ride of Sumbawa from end to end as as “relatively boring”, probably in the context of the famous islands sandwiching Sumbawa- Lombok and the komodo dragon-infested islets of Flores.


Red onions, like the ones seen harvested in Bima above, are a major vegetable crop of Sumbawa. In Bali, bawang merah Sumbawa is considered the premium variety, second only to the imported Philippine red onions.
Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/2000s, f/5,6, 160mm, ISO 100, -1/3EV


Unsurprisingly, people would be hard-pressed to cite major draws for tourists to visit Sumbawa. Surfing, the ready answer for most, beckons only the more hardened of visitors as curls are really out of the way of other enticements like organized shopping or vigorous nightlife strips. Perhaps another major Sumbawa attraction would be the national park island of Moyo. It has the highly exclusive Amanwana but even the five star Aman chain advertises the 20-tent resort as a gem of the eastern Indonesian isles, hardly identifying it as a Sumbawa destination. Given the generally low traffic, other luxury accommodations are practically non-existent.


In Pulau Bajo, Dompu, seaweed farms are located in the waters that are the breeding ground of spotted whale sharks. A giant whale played with our boat, repeatedly crossing in front of us and dipping below our boat.
Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/1000s, f/4.5, 75mm, ISO 100


Sumbawa is a red dustbowl during summer, especially in the rugged almost bald mountains which comprise more than 80% of its land area of more than 15,000 square kilometers. The valleys however are fertile and take a verdant turn during rainy season. The island is long, extending about 280 kilometers from east to west. Majority of the coastline is rocky but there are stretches of sandy beaches as well.


The palace of the former sultan of Bima is a point of interest in Bima.
Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/500s, f/3.5, 18mm, ISO 100


An island this wide predisposes itself to a diverse culture and indeed, Sumbawa is divided into two main ethnic divide: the Tua Samawa (Orang Sumbawa) and Dou Mbojo (Orang Bima). In language, culture and geography, the Samawas and the Mbojos are distinct and are former rival sultanates separated by the usual west-east divide. The Samawas populate most of Sumbawa BESAR and Bima and Sumbawa Barat, while the Mbojos are the natives of Bima and the eastern central municipality of Dompu.


The horse race of native Bima horses held every Sunday at a dedicated arena in Panda, Bima, is a popular past time among Bima menfolk. Jockeys are children, from 9 to 12 years old.
Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/640s, f/5.0, 18mm, ISO 100


Having found myself in a road trip to Sumbawa Barat and Sumbawa Besar in August, I was able to complete the intra-island visit in October when I covered Bima and Dompu. As far as the flight schedules from Bali dictate, I could not go to Bima without staying overnight. I got there Saturday noon and left at about the same time Sunday. In between I was able to finish my seaweed tours of duty in Dompu (with our boat getting played on by a whale shark in the process), visited the Mbojo sultanate palace and graveyards and as an added bonus, witnessed a traditional horse race featuring native Bima horses driven by children (!) jockeys.

in part 2: the Pacuan Kuda (horse race)