This is an authorized translation in English of a post in French by @marc-allaria: SULAWESIE - Stop#7 - Reportage: Plonger sous sa maison...!

^{As my primary language is not English, there are probably some mistakes in my translation.}

Remember that the person who speaks here is NOT me, Vincent Celier (@vcelier), but Marc Allaria (@marc-allaria), a French guy.

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SELAYAR - Part 1

Tiger cowrie

* * * * *

I leave Bira in the right tempo. Not too early because the place is pretty and relaxing, it would have been a shame to deprive me of it, and not too late because to tell the truth, I see here some impulses towards tourist companies that I do not want to redo in my life. The status of traveler suits me very well. So far curiosity has been the binder of my meetings with the villagers, I do not want interest to take its place.

* * * * *

Direction [Selayar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selayar_Islands) and its isolation. But after a few hours of sailing, I decide that Selayar will have to wait a bit. I find on my way an island displaying sumptuous cliffs flowing vertically on the fringing reef. More than 100m deep in the display of my electronics and I'm only 50m from the edge ... The place seems promising for diving, but the anchorage seems to me inaccessible. Finally I find a collapse on the reef with a sand tongue 4 or 5m deep. I drop my anchor, the wind gently pushes Aurora towards the falling and immobilizes above the blue. I am 10m from the reef, I dropped anchor 5m deep, and my depth meter indicates 60m deep! The dream! The conditions are unique and the weather seems stable for the next few days. Only thunderstorms remain to be watched to avoid the dangerous consequences of a reversal.

The next day, my impatience makes me wake up at dawn to prepare the diving equipment. The compressor is running, the diving equipment is ready, the batteries are charging, the safety block is in position, it is 7AM, I'm ready to do something that I've never done since I left there is already 2 years old. I will do what divers call a straight jump! Banal, yes, but a jump right from the Aurora bridge to dive 60m + directly under the sailboat!! It's already less commonplace, at least for me!

I jump with an empty safety jacket, plunge instantly and find myself in an instant along a wall of 60m with the hull of my boat in shadow on the surface. Happiness must not be very far! The diving is beautiful, but it is not the most important. I could dwell on the plumbs, the depth, the few curious sharks, surprising macros, but I prefer to insist on the happiness I felt and the luxury of knowing I am diving under my house.

Crinoid plan decoration

I spend a few days without moving 100m. Morning dive, landing under the hull, working photos, relaxing nights thinking that under my pillow a few meters away the sharks I have seen during the day must be swimming...

And then the weather report looks threatening for Aurora, which should not turn in the other direction. I leave the anchorage with regret, but crazy with happiness, and finally sail towards Selayar ...

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01: DISCOVER THE PHILIPPINES: Funny situations ...! at sea..., by @marc-allaria
02: DISCOVER THE PHILIPPINES: The fishing file ...!, by @marc-allaria
03: DISCOVER THE PHILIPPINES: The Cagayan Islands, by @marc-allaria
04: DISCOVER THE PHILIPPINES: Seaweed...!, by @marc-allaria
05: DISCOVER THE PHILIPPINES: The Bacuit Archipelago, by @marc-allaria
06: BORNEO: Kudat and the technical stop, by @marc-allaria
07: BORNEO: Kinabatangan River, by @marc-allaria
08: BORNEO: Maratua, part 1, by @marc-allaria
09: BORNEO: Big Fish School, by @marc-allaria
10: BORNEO: Diving in Maratua ...!, by @marc-allaria
11: BORNEO: The jellyfish lake ...!, by @marc-allaria
12: SULAWESI: Sewia...!, by @marc-allaria
13: SULAWESI: Story of a dive at Pasoso Island...!, by @marc-allaria
14: SULAWESI: Tanjun Kai...!, by @marc-allaria
15: SULAWESI: Kopoposang...!, by @marc-allaria
16: SULAWESI: PA-RA-SI-TE...!, by @marc-allaria
17: SULAWESI: BIRA...!, by @marc-allaria