Maratua Island, Indonesia, is known for its marine life including green turtles, sharks, manta rays and many different species of fish.
One dive site in particular – known as Channel 1 – is famous for its schooling barracuda.
When videographer and dive guide Nicholas Voo Ka Cheng from Malaysia visited this spectacular site in May 2026, he proved that patience is a virtue. At first, there were no barracuda to be seen.
“Just when I was about to get frustrated, my divemaster Ryan [rushed] to the front,” he says. Confused, he followed.
The pair swam headlong into mild current for around five minutes until “this huge school of barracuda” appeared before them.
Then something incredible happened. “Just when I was about the leave, the barracudas started to swim in a form of tornado,” he says.
He shared his hypnotic video on Instagram. Against the cobalt sea, a swirling cyclone of fish stretches for several metres up towards the surface.
“Not a school of fish,” writes one user in the comments, “a masterpiece in motion.”
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Image and video credit: Nicholas Voo Ka Cheng (@nic_voo)
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