By Walter Mosley
I enjoyed great snorkeling at Saronde Island in Gorontalo. I stayed at Saronde Island Resort off the northern coast of Sulawesi. This was the third part of a two month solo snorkeling tour in Indonesia in the spring of 2026. I will be sharing five more reports from different areas visited on this trip. I will rate the reefs, visibility, marine life density, and boat logistics to help fellow snorkelers plan remote itineraries.
My Report About Snorkeling at Saronde Island
The Snorkeling Setup at Saronde Island Resort
I joined five morning boat trips arranged by Blue Bay Divers. These excursions were shared with two or three scuba divers, though I was usually the only snorkeler on board, accompanied by my own guide. I also snorkeled the house reef.
Water Conditions
The water clarity and quality were exceptional all around the private island and neighboring spots like Lito Bogisa, offering crisp, flawless visibility.
Snorkeling at Saronde Island House Reef
This was easily the best house reef of the three resorts I visited on this trip. The shallows featured tall, lush seagrass beds teeming with life, including multiple pufferfish species, damselfish, angelfish, wrasses, batfish, nudibranchs and cuttlefish (see video below).
On the expansive shallow sand patches, beautifully camouflaged stingrays glided past or buried themselves in the sand. Hidden among them were rockfish, stonefish, and scorpionfish interspersed with chocolate chip and cushion starfish. Here is a video of a large scorpionfish I found, and the photo below is a stonefish.
Unique Sightings
The cuttlefish I encountered appeared to be highly intelligent, putting on a masterclass in shape-shifting as they instantly altered their colors, textures, and patterns to blend seamlessly into the seabed. Watch another video I got of the cuttlefish.
I also spotted boxy, horned cowfish hovering just above the sand, alongside thriving colonies of clownfish. I successfully identified five distinct clownfish species – Ocellaris, Percula, Maroon, Clark’s, and Saddleback—living among carpet, long-tentacle, and magnificent sea anemones.
Reefs and Walls
The drop-offs feature thriving hard coral gardens packed with brilliant, radiant, foot-long colorful clams. As the reef slopes deeper, it gives way to spectacular displays of vibrant blue and purple sea fans and tube sponges.
Even in the shallows, the reef was teeming with activity. I saw dogface puffers and colorful lobsters, which you can see in the video below.
There were also crabs and peacock mantis shrimp darting through the coral framework. Check out this video I got of the mantis shrimp.
Cabbage, fire, stony, sea whip, stag horn, and branching corals are abundant in this area, along with plenty of yellow and purple sea squirts.
Travel Logistics
Getting from Berau on the island of Borneo to Saronde Island Resort was a true endurance test, requiring three separate transfers. I first flew back to Denpasar, spending the night at the Hilton Garden Inn. The next morning, I caught a flight to Gorontalo (GTO) via Makassar.
From the Gorontalo airport, it was a one-hour car ride to the coast, followed by a 30-minute private boat transfer, both arranged by the resort. Upon reaching the private island, we had a wet beach landing because a recent storm had completely destroyed the main jetty.
More Posts From My Trip
First Stop: West Bali National Park
Second Stop: Derawan Islands