Goodbye and Bon Voyage to Sabine!

In January we said goodbye and bon voyage to our wonderful Sabine Templeton, who has led the Misool Dive Team with tremendous enthusiasm, curiosity and spirit for more than 6 years. Over these years we’ve had so many unforgettable adventures together, and Misool truly wouldn’t be half as good without Sabine’s contributions. We wish her all the best for her new life in Australia, and hopefully it won’t be too long before she visits our little island again.

While we’re very sad to see Sabine go, we are thrilled to welcome Carlo Calderaro and Shawna Briant to The Big Misool Family. Hailing from Italy and Canada respectively, the pair bring a wealth of professional expertise with them, most recently aboard The Damai liveaboard cruising Komodo, Alor, Ambon, Cenderwasih, Triton Bay, Raja Ampat, and many others in between. We look forward to many adventures ahead!

Shawna’s role at Misool
As Resident Manager, I work directly with guests here at the resort, ensuring they have a positive and memorable experience. This includes liaising with our Reservations Team, preparing our Island Team for incoming guests, helping to coordinate the day-to-day operations and activities of the resort, offering presentations in the evenings, and working with the Transport/Logistics Team both here at the resort and in Sorong.

How do you feel about being castaways on a remote island?
It seems like a natural progression. For the past 10 years, I’ve been moving from larger islands to smaller islands to boats, and now to this beautifully secluded paradise. It was the next step, and I can’t think of a more majestical place to be ‘stranded’.

Carlo’s Role at Misool
As the Recreation Manager I work to ensure that every guest leaves Misool having had a unique and enriching experience. I schedule and coordinate the diving and snorkelling operations, and also organise other activities like Reef Restoration, guided SUP and kayak tours, lagoon exploration, scooter dives and much more. I offer evening presentations about marine life as well as developing and leading unique marine conservation experiences for our guests.

When did you start diving?
When I was 11 years old. During a holiday in the Red Sea I asked my Dad if I could try scuba diving. He was not thrilled at the beginning, but I managed to persuade him. Funny fact, I still call my first dive instructor Rambo. He had long curly hair and used to wear a headband in and out of the water. During one of our dives he used his dive knife (in my mind the exact copy of the Rambo knife) to free some reef fishes from an illegal trap placed on the reef. I thought that was sooooo cool! I had to be a diver.

Misool Dining at Home

If you’ve visited us in the past half year, you will likely be aware and possibly be in ownership of The Misool Cookbook. This tome of tastiness is the work of Marit Miners, with Ida Royati and photography by Sabine Templeton.

Not just a recipe book, it is also a love letter to Indonesia and the country’s distinctive cuisine. As you would expect, it’s plant-based and gives inspiration for new flavours while providing invaluable information regarding specialist ingredients, flavour balancing and swaps to make if you cannot find something in your local market. The introductory chapters also tell a bit of Misool’s origin story, and how our conservation ethos shapes our restaurant’s menu.

We didn’t want to let that minor distribution hiccup to get in the way of enjoying Misool dining in your own home, so we’re sharing five of our top recipes.

We recently had a chance to chat to Gug, underwater photographer and owner of the Lauderdale-by-the-Sea Gallery in Florida. Gug and his wife Suzanne visited Misool in October 2022 to run two back-to-back photography workshops. Here’s a bit more on why Gug came out of ‘retirement‘ especially for Misool.

Part of Gug’s reasoning is the number of fish and diversity of species. “In Misool you can find the most fish per coral head. And there is no such thing as a photo with less than 1000 fish in it.” (Editor’s note: this is not verified by science…but it’s probably true.) Gug mentions the ‘Finding Nemo Effect’ that is prevalent, particularly among newer divers: that is to say that divers and snorkellers are seeking reefs like the ‘Drop Off’, a fictional location in the animated film. Pristine and often unattainable in today’s world, except, Gug says, in Misool.

As part of their business, Gug and Suzanne have conducted workshops for between 1000-1200 students over the years. As our guests found, it wasn’t just divers who were able to benefit from their extensive experience and knowledge. The nightly lectures covered a broad range of topics such as how to film coconut crabs at night and star photography on South Beach. Underpinning all of the lectures is the idea that you don’t need fancy gear: the best camera for the job is the one you already have. “We aim to encourage a realisation of what is possible and, more importantly, why you are taking photos in the first place.“

Gug’s dedication to nature is rewarded by breath-taking images and stories. One of his highlights of any Misool trip is the North Lagoon and its ubiquitous Green turtles.

“Of all the Green turtles who munch on the grasses in the shallow lagoon at Misool Resort, this one is my favourite, in part because of her oblivious temperament, but mostly because of her unique coppery – almost orangeish colouration.

Thank you, Gug and Suzanne, for sharing your passion, knowledge and experience with our guests. We hope to cook up some more magic together in the future.