Mv Damai - Indonesian liveaboard

Triton bay - Raja Ampat - Kaimana - Ternate - Tarakan - Maumere - Komodo - Molas - Banda - Ambon
Triton Bay A La Carte
“A la carte” is a revolutionary concept that Dive Damai introduce in the industry.

The vessel will be moving inside the Triton Bay area and our customers can join in any day they want. There are flights either from Ambon or from Sorong and the transfer from the harbour of Kaimana to the boat will be done in around 45 minutes by a fast speed boat allowing divers to tailor their trip to this new destination.

Triton Bay is bound to be the next hot spot. The diversity of colours and shape of the soft corals are a dream come true for every diver, not to forget the fish life, in general extremely healthy reefs with all kind of fish in them. The visibility tends to improve during this period of time and we will be ready to show this underwater wonder.
A few characteristics are particular to this part of Irian Jaya:
There is no much fishing, and as a result the amount of fish is spectacular; Gt Rock is the perfect example; it has hundreds of grunts and red snappers hiding behind the small pinnacles. Enourmous sweet lips in a frozen image posing for you, giant trevallies and tunas are constantly patrolling and the fusiliers aggregate by the thousands.

The possibility of seeing giant groupers, the general out of proportion size of the angle fish, the mantas and the gigantic school of bat fish at the edge of the reef are the highlights of 7th heaven.

Legendary Larry Smith did his last dive trip to this area, and he became amazed with the biodiversity that it is found here, We have a lot to thank Larry, he introduce Indonesia to the rest of us, if not for him, we would not be looking for small critters and certainly Indonesia would not be as famous as it is now. A little tribute of the diving community was to name this dive site after him. Larry´s heaven honours his memory and all what he fought for. It is the dive site that broke the world record in counting different species; it has more biodiversity that any other place in the planet!!!

There is also the amazing experience of getting on the middle of fields of black coral, not seen anywhere else.

To top it off, it is home of some of the latest discoveries in the underwater world, the walking shark and a few new flashing wrasse.

For those chartering the boat we offer the possibility of combining some days of diving in Triton Bay with either Raja Ampat in the north or visiting the Agats and Asmats in the south.

Triton bay - Raja Ampat - Kaimana - Ternate - Tarakan - Maumere - Komodo - Molas - Banda - Ambon
Sorong - Kaimana 14 Nights
A way to dive the highlights of the north and south of Raja Ampat as well as Triton bay.

Arrival to Sorong and departure

Direct into the good fun with an early dive in Kri Corner, outstanding diving, concentrations of big fish, jacks and trevalies, white tips in the depths, let us not forget the shallow hard coral garden, one of the best we have ever seen, because of the corals and the life, out of this world. Sardine reef has everything but sardines, schooling fusiliers, snappers, grunts, bumpheads, encounters with turtles, wobbies and if you like to stay an admire a reef, some of the pinnacles are perfect for that. We will spend our first night in Batanta on our firs try for the picturesque dragonet.

we start the day with a superb manta dive near Airborei, a cleaning station on top of which shyless mantas hang. We move to Gam .Here we dive the reefs of Yanggelo, the entrance of a channel where barracudas patrol in the search of food. . The corner offers a spectacular slope-wall, with fantastic fans, hard corals and incredible fish life.

Penemu. Another fishy day, 2 fantastic reefs, Barracuda Point and Melissa´s Garden are home to thousand of fish, with a bit of current they will all go, one looking for plankton others looking for bigger food, the whole chain concentrated in a small area, in the shallows healthy hard corals and giant clams. The walls in Penemu are also impressive, many colours decorating it, and a huge school of bat fish in the sand at the bottom.

Kofiau: Dedicated to Macro, in front of the pier there is great macro, frog fish, pipe fish, mandarin and if lucky also the picturesque dragonet

Blue water mangroves: A recent hot spot. A few places in the world offer you the chance to dive under mangroves in crystal clear water, a truly unique experience. The pyjama cardinal and the archer fish are very charismatic, but there is a much more, healthy coral reef a few feet from the mangroves, and looking good onto it slat water crocs have been spotted as well as mantas, on the mainland the locals claim to have dugongs, we shall see…

Missol. Pulau Pelé will be the firs stop, and kaleidoscope reef is an amazing dive. A combination of fans, soft corals of beautiful colours, fish and dancing anchovies in the shallows will make the morning unforgettable. In Wayilbatan the passage offers another spectacular dive, in between two islands the mild currents have created a gallery of fans, of all kinds and sizes. At the entrance nice bommies with soft corals, sweet lips and turtles..great!! Pulau Boo is yet another 5 star dive, towards the south part schooling batfish, in the north a nice wall completely decorated and in the middle the 3 holes where either early in the morning or late in the afternoon the light can create many effects.

Missol: Fiabacet. The most famous site of the area, a few small rocks the, once you get in the water, will surprises even the most expert diver for its display: the soft corals are great and the forest of fans out of this world…The fish life cannot be forgotten, as plenty of trevalies, jacks and mackerel come close to look for a prey, the area is protected and already juvenile grey reefs are setting there…U must for every diver!!

Pulau Pisang. Beautiful archipelago some 30 miles south of Missol. Giant elephant ears, super healthy corals, schools of fish, mantas and turtles will be waiting for us in this remote and untouched treasure.

Air Tanjung. Incredible waterfalls, unique to take pictures, great for fun. Nice and relaxing diving near Mommon bay. A mandatory stop that will refresh our minds and bodies and get us ready for what is next…

Triton bay. This is bound to be the next hot spot. The diversity of colours and shape of the soft corals are a dream come true for every diver, not to forget the fish life, in general extremely healthy reefs with all kind of fish in them.7th heaven will be our firs stop and it will give a real touch of the area, crowded with fish, schooling grunts, giant trevalies, giant jacks, barracudas, some solitary manta, giant turtles, walking shark, giant…

There is no much fishing in the bay, and as a result the amount of fish is spectacular; Gt Rock is the perfect example; it has hundreds of grunts and red snappers hiding behind the small pinnacles. Enormous sweet lips in a frozen image posing for you while getting cleaned, giant trevallies and tunas are constantly patrolling and the fusiliers aggregate by the thousands…another must in your list

Triton bay. Legendary Larry Smith did his last dive trip to this area, and he became amazed with the biodiversity that it is found here, We have a lot to thank Larry, he introduce Indonesia to the rest of us, if not for him, we would not be looking for small critters and certainly Indonesia would not be as famous as it is now. A little tribute of the diving community was to name this dive site after him. Larry´s heaven honours his memory and all what he fought for. It is the dive site that broke the world record in counting different species; it has more biodiversity that any other place in the planet!!! The south corner is like Larry said heaven….
Pay attention: amazing is the experience of getting on the middle of fields of black coral, not seen anywhere else, but don´t get too absorved by the vieuw, you would not be the first pro in forgetting everything and loosing a camera down there!!!

Triton bay: This first dives will be dedicated to spot the new species of flasher wrasse, just beautiful. After that, in front of the bay of Lobo, where sulphur from volcanic action hits the sand we will do afternoon and night dive, the best place for critters in the area, lots of nudies, crabs etc

After the last two dives, we will proceed to go with the tenders through hundreds of tiny islands, turquoise water under us…a top side wonder, we will finish the trip with a cultural visit to the ancient paintings on the rocks.

Kaimana - Sorong 11 Nights
A way to go through the highlights of Triton Bay, north and south of Raja Ampat.

Arrival to Kaimana and departure

Triton bay.

This is bound to be the next hot spot. The diversity of colours and shape of the soft corals are a dream come true for every diver, not to forget the fish life, in general extremely healthy reefs with all kind of fish in them.7th heaven will be our firs stop and it will give a real touch of the area, crowded with fis, schooling grunts, giant trevalies, giant jacks, barracudas, some solitary manta, giant turtles, walking shark, giant…

There is no much fishing in the bay, and as a result the amount of fish is spectacular; Gt Rock is the perfect example; it has hundreds of grunts and red snappers hiding behind the small pinnacles. Enourmous sweet lips in a frozen image posing for you while getting cleaned, giant trevallies and tunas are constantly patrolling and the fusiliers aggregate by the thousands…another must in your list

 Legendary Larry Smith did his last dive trip to this area, and he became amazed with the biodiversity that it is found here, We have a lot to thank Larry, he introduce Indonesia to the rest of us, if not for him, we would not be looking for small critters and certainly Indonesia would not be as famous as it is now. A little tribute of the diving community was to name this dive site after him. Larry´s heaven honours his memory and all what he fought for. It is the dive site that broke the world record in counting different species; it has more biodiversity that any other place in the planet!!! The south corner is like Larry said heaven….
Pay attention: amazing is the experience of getting on the middle of fields of black coral, not seen anywhere else, but do not get too amazed, you would not be the first pro in forgetting…and loosing a camera down there!!!

The last dives will be dedicated to spot the new species of flasher wrasse, just beautiful. We will proceed to go with the tenders through hundreds of tiny islands, turquoise water under us…a top side wonder, we will complete the area with a cultural visit to the ancient paintings on the rocks

Air Tanjung. Incredible waterfalls, unique to take pictures, great for fun. Nice and relaxing diving near Mommon bay. A mandatory stop that will refresh our minds and bodies and get us ready for what is next…

Pulau Pisang. Beautiful archipelago some 30 miles south of Missol. Giant elephant ears, super healthy corals, schools of fish, mantas and turtles will be waiting for us in this remote and untouched treasure.

Days 7 and 8

Missol

 Fiabacet. The most famous site of the area, a few small rocks the, once you get in the water, will suprises even the mostg expert diver for its display: the soft corals are great and the forest of fans out of this world…The fish life cannot be forgotten, as plenty of trevalies, jacks and mackerel come close to look for a prey, the area is protected and already juvenile grey reefs are setting there

 In Wayilbatan the passage offers another spectacular dive, in between two islands the mild currents have created a gallery of fans, of all kinds and sizes. At the entrance nice bommies with soft corals, sweet lips and turtles..great!! Pulau Boo is yet another 5 star dive, towards the south part schooling batfish, in the north a nice wall compeltly decorated and in the middle the 3 holes where either early in the morning or late in the afternoon the light can create many effects.

Missol. Pulau pelé will be the next stop, and kaleidoscope reef is an amazing dive. A combination of fans, soft corals of beautiful colours, fish and dancing anchovies in the shallows will make the morning unforgettable.Otside the main island small pinnacles offer some of the most incredible underwater formations of the trip.

Blue water mangroves: A recent hot spot. A few places in the world offer you the chance to dive under mangroves in crystal clear water, a truly unique experience. The pyjama cardinal and the archer fish are very charismatic, but there is much more, healthy coral reefs a few feet from the mangroves, and looking good onto it slat water crocs have been spotted as well as mantas, on the mainland the locals claim to have dugongs, we shall see…

We must say that after an attack by a salt water crocodile, the diving in the area has been stppoed for a while. we need to keep up with reports about the situation.

Day 11

We finish the trip with a superb manta dive near Airborei, a cleaning station on top of which shyless mantas hang. We move to Kri to do the last dive among schooling jacks and barracudas, and looking for wobbiegong and white tip sharks

Arrival and transfer to the airport

* 12 nights or 14 night trips will add nights in the north of Raja Ampat. As the area still isunder exploration, some of the spots might be altered and new ones added to offer our customers new and exciting dives.

Triton bay - Raja Ampat - Kaimana - Ternate - Tarakan - Maumere - Komodo - Molas - Banda - Ambon
Ternate - Bitung 11 Nights
An exploratory trip from the heart of the Moluccas to the North of Sulawesi.

Day 1 - Departure from Ternate

Day 2 - Exploratory Ternate Bay

Day3 - Exploratory Halmahera north

Day 4 - Eploratory Halmahera north

Day 5 - Exploratory Halmahera north

Day 6 - Exploratory Mayu

Day 7 - Exploratory Tifore

Day 8 - Exploratory Gangga

Day 9 - Bunaken national Park

Day 10 - Bunaken national

Day 11 - Exploratory Bangka

Day 12 - Arrival to Bitung and transfer to the airport

Triton bay - Raja Ampat - Kaimana - Ternate - Tarakan - Maumere - Komodo - Molas - Banda - Ambon
Tarakan - Tarakan 11 Nights
Day 1 Tarakan:

Embarking and departure. Sunset cruising to arrive to the destination early in the morning.

Day 2 and 3 Sangalaki:

2 full days to enjoy diving with the super famous mantas of Sanagalaki. They come in very shallow waters, which will give us plenty of bottom time. Leopard sharks, and turtles area expected as well.

Day 4 and 5 Maratua:

The walls of Maratua are legendary and provides home to one of the biggest school of barracuda in South East Asia. The entrance of the 2 channel of the island are full with life when the current is flowing, and apart from the barracudas, we will we looking for some grey reefs, jacks, mackerel and eagle rays among the fusiliers and bait fish. When the current is not the desires, we can automatic change and still enjoy terrific diving; the walls give shelter to a grand variety of small crustaceous, pygmies or nudies.

Day 6 Kakaban:*

The magic of the Jelly fish lake inside: 4 species of non poison jellies are in their hundreds, 5 species of gobies, sponges and invertebrates complete this underwater wonder. UNIQUE!!!

Day 7 , 8 and 9 Muara:*

A few miles south of the regular dive sites, a whole new area opens for us. We will spend 3 days exploring this truly remote area…ready for the surprises!!!

Day 10 and 11 Derawan:

The best critter dives in the area. Leaf fish, frog fish, pygmies, small cuttle fish, ghost pipe fish, ornate and robust, flamboyant etc. The rubble in the slopes are the perfect environment for this kind of diving!! Fabulous!!

Day 12 Arrival at Tarakan and departure.

PLEASE NOTE THAT FOR THOSE TRIPS ARRIVING IN BALIKPAPAN WE WILL SPEND ONE MORE DAY IN KAKABAN AND ONE DAY BETWEEN MUARA AND BALIKPAPAN AROUND BIRAHBIRAHAN

Triton bay - Raja Ampat - Kaimana - Ternate - Tarakan - Maumere - Komodo - Molas - Banda - Ambon
Maumere - Maumere 11nights
Day 1: arrival at Maumere, Dive underneath Maumere Pier, great for Macro. Lots of Nudies, mantis, crabs, school of resident juvenile bat fish, late in the afternoon mandarin and picturesque dragonets. Night dive at Wodong, sandy bottom with some coral formation, we will be in the search of mimic octopus!!

Day 2: Papagarang: A very nice slope with some nice hard and soft corals. Very abundant fish life, among them juvenile and blue ribbon eel, leaf fish or soft coral crabs, in Pula Babi we will be diving the wall, great fish life: bumphead parrots, green and hawksbill turtles and around here is one of the few places we have spotted a whale shark??

Day 3: Serbete: The south west side offers a lovely wall, combining “big stuff” like yellow fin tuna or rainbow runners with a numerous variety of nudies and soft coral crabs. Adonara ofeers us some spectacular diving, its slopes give shelter to amazing concentration of glass fish and their eaters: frog fish, leaf fish or stone fish among them. Lovely macro life and great bummies

Day 4: Pulau Soangi: a small island outside the Adonara strait, the reefs are a mixed between slope and walls, hard coral, soft coral and rock formation. Lots of fish habitat its waters and here there are big chances of close encounters with white tips or nurse sharks.
 These waters are part of the migration route of some species of whales, especially sperm whales and in Lamalera traditional hunting whales is their mean of living. Protected by the Unesco, this style of life has preserved to more modern system and it is entirely orientated to provide food to its people; a mixed feeling of sadness for the whale and excitement about the remote possibility of seeing how the use traditional ways of whale hunting. The rock formation at the entrance of the bay offers an interesting dive, decorator and boxer crabs, lobsters,  and other crustaceous will be coming at night

Day 5 and 6: Biangaban: One of the best macro-muck dives in Indonesia!!! A combination of black sand and some hard coral reef, its bottom is famous for its critters: blue fin lion fish, juvenile, blue and yellow ribbon eels, coleman shrimp, zebra crabs, different kind of frog fish, rinophias… all we can imagine can be seen there. Here is when the policy of unlimited diving plays a major role, you could be diving there forever!!!!

Day 7: Pulau Pura: Some of the most friendly people of Indonesia live in this small island, always ready with a smile and free diving close to us with their “out of coconut and glass” home made goggles. Fantastic diving around the island, the impressive “clown alley” where for miles we can dive among hundreds of anemonies, the mandarin fish dive near the village, the walls at both sides of it, where incredible fish life aggregates together with great macro are examples of it. Near the school of the village there are chances of encounters with fox sharks, only diveable with slag tide, due to the down currents,  this wall is a truly spectacular dive, plenty of fish and pelagic action!!

Day 8: Alor kecil: The signature dive of the area is “Karl´dream”. An underwater seamountain only diveable under certain conditions, the presence of the currents bring uncountable fish life and the excitment of pelagians, on the other hand, we need to be caution with the currentn and time the dive perfectly. But the dream it is a reality and it is one of the top dives in the country: big schools of snapper, banner fish, millions of fish and around them, giant trevalliers, tunas, some sharks...amaizing. Let our team programm those dives in the best interest of the trip, according to the tides and keep your eyes open...the show is down there!!!! The night dive close to the Pertamina Pier is fantastic with lots of “mucky” friendly critters easy to be spotted.

Day 9:North Pantar: Beautiful coral bummies on the slope give way little by little to a dramatic wall. Lots of crinoids with shrimps and cling fish and numerous nudiebranchs can be seen on the slope.
Sponges with hary squat lobsters, orangutan crabs and pygmeys are to be expected on the wall.

Day 10: Lamalera island: Near Ili Ape Vulcano there are a series of u nderwater seamountains not to be mished by any diver. A very complete dive area, large ammount of reef fish mixed with schools of surgeons, bumphead parrots and turtles. If you are interested in macro, there are many different species of nudies and often the ornate and robust goshts pipe fish are found as well.  Delighful place!!

Day 11: Pasir Pangang: we will finish the trip diving the east wall. There is a nice cave, where often white tips like to lay down. The wall has got some of the biggest sponges of the area and nice fans and soft corals, a very nice way to finish an exciting trip

 
Triton bay - Raja Ampat - Kaimana - Ternate - Tarakan - Maumere - Komodo - Molas - Banda - Ambon
Dragons & Molas

Mola-molas, or ocean sunfish, visit the reefs of Bali only for a few months every year. The rest of the time they have a pelagic existence in the open sea. We depart at the end of their season and shouyld be able to glimpse the molas. They like deep dropoffs and upwellings and can be found anywhere from 40 to 130 feet. The come in to get cleaned by bannerfish and angelfish as well as assorted wrasses.
Komodo will be at its peak in the north with excellent visibility and the famous critters arriving in big numbers. Dive will be done in the region from Sangeang and Rinca - read the Komodo diving blog
The Komodo National Park has been a huge success and is one of the best model programs the country has to offer in terms of preservation and conservation. This is why we believe Komodo park diving is still at the top of the diving scale in Indonesia. The state of the hard corals in the north is outstanding, the fish numbers have increased and the critter life has been abundant.
To top it off, regular encounter with pelagic creatures like mantas and even sharks is on the rise.

Rinca and Horseshoe Bay can be cooler than northern sites so we have free (FOC) new 5mm wetsuits for our guests.

embarkment in Laboanbajo, departure to Tatawa already in the Komodo national Park : Tatawa Kecil. It has different undersea topography than what we will have been experiencing and also the great chance of seeing mantas. Batu Balong is a small island in the middle of a currenty area that attracts plenty of sharks and provides excellent visibilty. The drift in Tatawa Besar is a classic in Komodo. The site is covered with orange soft corals, schooling batfish and a beautiful shallow hard coral garden.

early in the morning for a walk to see the famous dragons. Very close to the station we find Pantai Merah, a nice, small and very fishy reef with plenty of life. Look for painted frogfish and lots of nudies. We then move the boat a few miles to Padar to dive W reef, a submerged reef made out of 3 mini sae mountains.
Great for nudies!!!

Horseshoe Bay in Rinca, the home to the famous Cannibal Rock, Yellow Wall and Torpedo Alley.
Waters will be colder than before and the visibility a bit less, but there is such an abundance of all kind of life that divers are too busy looking at the reef to notice. All kind of critters can be spotted here including giant frogfish and rhinopias, whitetip reef sharks and turtles, resident unique nudies and a blue octopus.
Yellow Wall, as its name indicates, is covered with soft corals. The unique lady bug, the sea apple, the fire urchins with Coleman shrimps and zebra crabs are particularly easy to spot in this area. Torpedo alley is another of the legendary night dives in Indonesia, apart from the rays there are frogfish, sea pens, numerous crabs and Bobbitt worms

Langkoi:Mantas, mantas and mantas and sometimes MolaMola as well. We will have many opprtunties to cavort with mantas here.

Gilli Lawa Laut: This has the biggest
concentration of life in Komodo. Schools of surgeonfish, barracudas, jacks, passing sharks, sweetlips, Napoleon fish and sea turtles are common. Lately we have had dolphins fishing right in front of us. Unbelievable dives!!! Worth the whole trip!!

Gili Lawa Laut and the passages in Gilli Lawa Darat:
This is another day of adrenaline and incredible fish life!!!

Banta: We will be targeting one of the most beautiful reefs in Indonesia: GPS. Expect good, manageble currents that bring in pelagic action.
We can see grey reef sharks, barracudas, green and hawksbill turtles and the rare oceanic trigger fish. On the northwest corner Stairway to Heaven is a very healthy wall full of varied action. Mantas may pass by. K2 and Star Wars are nice alternatives as less demanding dives. They have nice reef with low current and big cuttlefish, leaf fish, Pegasus  sea moths and green turtles.
It´s a Small World is one of the best night dives of the trip. Ther is potential to see everything from hunting lionfish to bobbit worms, stonefish, stargazers and bobtail squid.

Sangeang: The Volcanic slopes give way to a black sand bottom. At Bubble Reef one can experience the sensation of warm gases percolating through the sand. The mixture of coral reef and black sand is fascinating and all divers like to search for leaf fish, blue and juvenile ribbon eels and big schools of snappers.The dive site Black magic has some nice black coral formation on the sand and there is a chance to see ornate ghost pipefish and tozeuma shrimps. Both night dives, either there or in Bontho are fantastic. One almost sure bet is seeing the outstanding boxer crab.

Moyo and Satonda. Moyo has absolutely great macro dive including the wonderpuss octopus as its most notable inhabitant. Satonda has a nice reef that is quite colorful. There's also a white sand slope where we can find some bommies with plenty to see like stonefish, pipefish, inimicus and pygmy seahorses among them. The island also has a marine lake and a colony of thousands of flying foxes that appear at night for an eerie show.

Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Penida. Mola search. The Molas will be found in can be found anywhere from 40 to 130 feet. The come in to get cleaned by bannerfish and angelfish as well as assorted wrasses.. The low impact size of our dive groups enhances our chances of multiple mola encounters. Molas can reach sizes of 4 tons and be over 15 feet tall.

Arrival at Benoa harbour in Bali.

Molas & Dragons

Mola-molas, or ocean sunfish, visit the reefs of Bali only for a few months every year. The rest of the time they have a pelagic existence in the open sea. We depart at the end of their season and shouyld be able to glimpse the molas. They like deep dropoffs and upwellings and can be found anywhere from 40 to 130 feet. The come in to get cleaned by bannerfish and angelfish as well as assorted wrasses.
Komodo will be at its peak in the north with excellent visibility and the famous critters arriving in big numbers. Dive will be done in the region from Sangeang and Rinca.
The Komodo National Park has been a huge success and is one of the best model programs the country has to offer in terms of preservation and conservation. This is why we believe Komodo park diving is still at the top of the diving scale in Indonesia. The state of the hard corals in the north is outstanding, the fish numbers have increased and the critter life has been abundant.
To top it off, regular encounter with pelagic creatures like mantas and even sharks is on the rise.

Rinca and Horseshoe Bay can be cooler than northern sites so we have free (FOC) new 5mm wetsuits for our guests.

Embarkment in Benoa Bali, departure to Nusa Lembongan for Mola Mola search. The Molas will be found in can be found anywhere from 40 to 130 feet. The come in to get cleaned by bannerfish and angelfish as well as assorted wrasses.. The low impact size of our dive groups enhances our chances of multiple mola encounters. Molas can reach sizes of 4 tons and be over 15 feet tall.

More mola mola search in Nusa Penida -Lembongan as well as some nice soft coral, hard coral and fish dives. Departure in the afternoon

Moyo and Satonda. Moyo has absolutely great macro dive including the wonderpuss octopus as its most notable inhabitant. Satonda has a nice reef that is quite colorful. There's also a white sand slope where we can find some bommies with plenty to see like stonefish, pipefish, inimicus and pygmy seahorses among them. The island also has a marine lake and a colony of thousands of flying foxes that appear at night for an eerie show.

Sangeang: The Volcanic slopes give way to a black sand bottom. At Bubble Reef one can experience the sensation of warm gases percolating through the sand. The mixture of coral reef and black sand is fascinating and all divers like to search for leaf fish, blue and juvenile ribbon eels and big schools of snappers.The dive site Black magic has some nice black coral formation on the sand and there is a chance to see ornate ghost pipefish and tozeuma shrimps. Both night dives, either there or in Bontho are fantastic. One almost sure bet is seeing the outstanding boxer crab.

Banta: We will be targeting one of the most beautiful reefs in Indonesia: GPS. Expect good, manageble currents that bring in pelagic action.
We can see grey reef sharks, barracudas, green and hawksbill turtles and the rare oceanic trigger fish. On the northwest corner Stairway to Heaven is a very healthy wall full of varied action. Mantas may pass by. K2 and Star Wars are nice alternatives as less demanding dives. They have nice reef with low current and big cuttlefish, leaf fish, Pegasus  sea moths and green turtles.
It`s a Small World is one of the best night dives of the trip. Ther is potential to see everything from hunting lionfish to bobbit worms, stonefish, stargazers and bobtail squid.

Now we enter the Komodo National Park, report to the rangers and go early in the morning for a walk to see the famous dragons. Very close to the station we find Pantai Merah, a nice, small and very fishy reef with plenty of life. Look for painted frogfish and lots of nudies. We then move the boat a few miles to Padar to dive W reef, a submerged reef made out of 3 mini sae mountains.
Great for nudies!!!

Horseshoe Bay in Rinca, the home to the famous Cannibal Rock, Yellow Wall and Torpedo Alley.
Waters will be colder than before and the visibility a bit less, but there is such an abundance of all kind of life that divers are too busy looking at the reef to notice. All kind of critters can be spotted here including giant frogfish and rhinopias, whitetip reef sharks and turtles, resident unique nudies and a blue octopus.
    Yellow Wall, as its name indicates, is covered with soft corals. The unique lady bug, the sea apple, the fire urchins with Coleman shrimps and zebra crabs are particularly easy to spot in this area. Torpedo alley is another of the legendary night dives in Indonesia, apart from the rays there are frogfish, sea pens, numerous crabs and Bobbitt worms.

Langkoi: Mantas, mantas and mantas and sometimes MolaMola as well. We will have many opprtunties to cavort with mantas here.

Gilli Lawa Laut: This has the biggest concentration of life in Komodo. Schools of surgeonfish, barracudas, jacks, passing sharks, sweetlips, Napoleon fish and sea turtles are common. Lately we have had dolphins fishing right in front of us. Unbelievable dives!!! Worth the whole trip!!

Lawa Laut and the passages in Gilli Lawa Darat:
This is another day of adrenaline and incredible fish life!!!
 

Tatawa: The last day of diving is at Tatawa Kecil. It has different undersea topography than what we will have been experiencing and also the great chance of seeing mantas. Batu Balong is a small island in the middle of a currenty area that attracts plenty of sharks and provides excellent visibilty. The drift in Tatawa Besar is a classic in Komodo. The site is covered with orange soft corals, schooling batfish and a beautiful shallow hard coral garden.

Plenty of good memories as we arrive to Laboanbajo. Unfortunately is time to go.

Day 1
arrival to Maumere. Boarding and departure.

Adunara: Through this narrow straits flow big amounts of water, so rich that attracts all kind of live, from the tiny pygmey to the majestic sperm whale. Adunara mixes all, and here we can focus on great macro dives or go for fishy reefs and some pelagic action. Pygmies or tunas, mantis or bumpheads

Pulau Soangi-Lamalera A small island outside Kawula. Soangi offers a dive full of adrenaline. A rocky bottom, often hit by the swells during the windy season, it is a very interesting dive. White tips and nurse sharks, schools of surgeon, snappers. Lamalera is a world heritage side. One of the few places in the world where they still hunt for whales in a traditional way. Extremly interesting to see it, to talk to its people, and who knows…. The chance to experience in first hand such a tradition. The diving outside is very nice, for both an afternoon macro dive or a night dive. Orang-utan crabs, nudies, ribbon eels,. Quite a show.

Pantar. Beangaban. The capital of the” muck dive” in this area. A fantastic spot!! Black sand and a coral reef create the perfect enviorment for the critter fans: rinophias, big or babies, frog fish, ribbon eals, coleman shrimps, dwarf and blue lion fish…a delight for our eyes and the lenses. The unlimited diving policy pays off well in such a site.

Pulau Pura. The wall south of the village is beautiful, fishy and healthy. In Pura is where we can get the children in the water, they are a friendly community. They love to interact. We visit the village and they visit us underwater, with their wooden goggles. In the afternoon, we have a chance to dive with mandarin fish and the night dive in front of the village is fantastic.

Gunung Api. Capital of the sea snakes in the world and another of the reasons to join the trip. This remote island has created the right shelter for the snakes; both olive and banded are found there in numbers never seen before. They are known to collaborate with jacks in a symbiotic alliance to hunt together, so far we have not witnessed such behaviour, but we keep on trying. Great vis, thousands of fish, nice walls and huge fans and barrel sponges are the attraction for those not so interested in snakes

Lucipara. A series of atolls half way in the Banda sea. Perfect visibility, healthy walls and the constant patrolling of tunas, mackerel, rainbow runners or wahoo make this, area very special.

Day 8

Banda Neira At the heart of the spice islands, Banda Neira offers not only some of the most interesting cultural experiences in Indonesia, but fantastic diving. Under its pier, the manadrine fish have become almost as famous as the nut meg. The lava Flow will teach us how a reef can grow in less than 20 years..amazing!! 

Day 9

Banda Time to dive some of the most fascinating pinacles in the Banda Sea: Batu Kapal. On our way out of the island, we will be diving Pulau Soangi, great walls, and good pelagic action including a few sharks.

Day 10

Nusa Laut. One of our favourite reefs, great combination of hard corals and white sand; an extremly healthy reef, lots of fish, bumpheads, schooling jacks, grey reefs, leopard sharks and dugongs have been spotted in several occasions

Day 11

Ambon.The last day will be dedicated to more Macro in one of the top places in the world. A trip to the city, with its amazing history in the afternoon, and an evening to enjoy a drink while remembering the good times of the trip.

Ambon: Transfer to the airport and deparure

There is, on this trip, the possibility of staying one more day in Ambon and have a full more day of diving in the bay; macro in Laha and the pertamina Wreck are underwater wonders!!

Triton bay - Raja Ampat - Kaimana - Ternate - Tarakan - Maumere - Komodo - Molas - Banda - Ambon
Raja Ampat (Sorong - Sorong) 11 Nights

Sorong: Arrival and departure

Missol Farondi: With the right current the “three sisters” can be one of the top dives in Raja Ampat. In the swim through there are schools of surgeon and snappers. Looking in the shallows me might see anchovies and the trevallies coming for them, the other surprise, mobulas!!! Outside the swim through, in both sides the walls held the biggest concentration of different tonalities of soft corals, all the colours of the spectrum are present: unbelievable!!! “Killer Cave” offers much more than the cave itself. South east from the cave the wall is indeed a great dive, plenty of fans and soft corals, in front of the cave, lots of cleaning station for bat fish and snappers. Inside the lagoon, the excursion is very exciting, great shallows to discover with the tenders, a bat cave. Both Gamfi and Damau also offer extraordinary diving, a wonderful way to start the trip

East Missol: Not much is yet known about this area of Pulau pulau Daram, and that is exactly why we will be heading there, to explore this remote archipelago, for sure some great dives are waiting for us. As soon as we know more details we will updated in the web.

Yilliet has a great dive, plenty of fish and nice corals, one of the fishiest dives on the south, “the windows”  in Pulau Boo is memorable. Towards the south part schooling batfish, in the north a nice wall compeltly decorated and in the middle the 3 holes where either early in the morning or late in the afternoon the light can create many effects.

Fiabacet The most famous site of the area, a few small rocks the, once you get in the water, will surprises even the most expert diver for its display: the soft corals are great and the forest of fans out of this world…The fish life cannot be forgotten, as plenty of trevalies, jacks and mackerel come close to look for a prey, the area is protected and already juvenile grey reefs are setting there…U must for every diver!!

In Wayilbatan “the passage” offers another spectacular dive, in between two islands the mild currents have created a gallery of fans, of all kinds and sizes. At the entrance nice bommies with soft corals, sweet lips and turtles. Great!! Pulau Pelé will be the last stop in this firs part, and “kaleidoscope reef” is a great tribute. A combination of fans, soft corals of beautiful colours, fish and dancing anchovies in the shallows will make it unforgettable

blue water mangroves A recent hot spot. A few places in the world offer you the chance to dive under mangroves in crystal clear water, a truly unique experience. The pyjama cardinal and the archer fish are very charismatic, but there is much more, healthy coral reefs a few feet from the mangroves, and looking good onto it slat water crocs have been spotted as well as mantas, on the mainland the locals claim to have dugongs, we shall see

explore west missol   here we go, it is day D, for…Dugons

penemu . The fish life on this last part of the trip is amazing, and in any of these dives we can spot the majestic wobbegong shark. Bat fish and bumheads are regularly spotted as well as black tips in the shallows.  2 fantastic reefs, “Barracuda Point” and “Melissa´s Garden” are home to thousand of fish, with a bit of current they will all go, one looking for plankton otheres looking for bigger food, the whole chain concentrated in a small area, in the shallows healthy hard corals and giant clams. The walls in Penemu are also impressive, many colours decorating it, and a huge school of bat fish in the sand at the bottom.

Gam. Here we dive the reefs of Yanggelo, the entrance of a channel where barracudas patrol in the search of food. . The corner offers a spectacular slope-wall, with fantastic fans, hard corals and incredible fish life.

we finish the trip with a superb manta dive near Airborei, a cleaning station on top of which shyless mantas hang. A fantastic way to finish a trip that show us the very best of all the areas in western Papua: North Raja Ampat, the mangroves, The south of Raja Ampat and Triton Bay

arrival and transfer to the airport.

Special Papua
Sorong - Kaimana 14 nights

DAY 1
Arrival to Sorong and departure.

DAY 2
Direct into the good fun with an early dive in Kri Corner, outstanding diving, concentrations of big fish, jacks and trevalies, white tips in the depths, let us not forget the shallow hard coral garden, one of the best we have ever seen, because of the corals and the life, out of this world. Sardine reef has everything but sardines, schooling fusiliers, snappers, grunts, bumpheads, encounters with turtles, wobbies and if you like to stay an admire a reef, some of the pinnacles are perfect for that. We will spend our first night in Batanta on our firs try for the picturesque dragonet.
DAY 3
We start the day with a superb manta dive near Airborei, a cleaning station on top of which shy less mantas hang.
DAY4
Penemu. Another fishy day, 2 fantastic reefs, Barracuda Point and Melissa´s Garden are home to thousand of fish, with a bit of current they will all go, one looking for plankton others looking for bigger food, the whole chain concentrated in a small area, in the shallows healthy hard corals and giant clams. The walls in Penemu are also impressive, many colours decorating it, and a huge school of bat fish in the sand at the bottom.
DAY 5  
Wayag
Great scenery. Excellent fish life in the pinnacles outside the bay. Schooling pyramid butterfly, surgeons. Opportunities to see some white tips or wobbiegong, bumphead parrots or turtles. There is a good trip to the top of an island with a superb view of the lagoon and the boat.
DAY 6
Waigeo. A day dedicated to Macro. Crustaceous crazy has an apealing name and to honour it we can find hairy squat lobsters, tozeuma and coleman shrimps, a good variety of nudies and many pygmy seahorses complete wonderful dives. At night the pearl farm pier is a must: epaulette sharks, octopus, frog fish..great!!
DAY 7
Waigeo-Gam. The passage gives an adrenaline shoot!! In between this small channel the currents pick up and we can easily drift for an hour flying on top of sharks, schooling fish and finding shelter in small protected areas where archer fish spit and soft corals come to the surface giving us a different feeling.
The pinnacles outside the west tip of Gam, offer encounters with barracudas, black and white tips and incredible amount of fish have selected theses healthy hard coral reefs as their home. Just beautiful!
DAY 8
Batanta. The capital of the muck dive in Raja Ampat: we have seen, almost all there is to be seen there: mimic and wonderpus, inimicus, picturesque and mandarin dragonets, frog fish. Excellent critter habitat!!!

DAY 9
Missol Farondi: With the right current the “three sisters” can be one of the top dives in Raja Ampat. In the swim through there are schools of surgeon and snappers. Looking in the shallows me might see anchovies and the trevallies coming for them, the other surprise, mobulas!!! Outside the swim through, in both sides the walls held the biggest concentration of different tonalities of soft corals, all the colours of the spectrum are present: unbelievable!!! “Killer Cave” offers much more than the cave itself. South east from the cave the wall is indeed a great dive, plenty of fans and soft corals, in front of the cave, lots of cleaning station for bat fish and snappers. Inside the lagoon, the excursion is very exciting, great shallows to discover with the tenders, a bat cave. Both Gamfi and Damau also offer extraordinary diving, a wonderful way to start the trip
DAY 10
East Missol: Not much is yet known about this area of Pulau pulau Daram, and that is exactly why we will be heading there, to explore this remote archipelago, for sure some great dives are waiting for us. As soon as we know more details we will updated in the web.
DAY 11
Yilliet has a great dive, plenty of fish and nice corals, one of the fishiest dives on the south, “the windows”  in Pulau Boo is memorable. Towards the south part schooling batfish, in the north a nice wall completely decorated and in the middle the 3 holes where either early in the morning or late in the afternoon the light can create many effects. Nice fish life around it and a huge school of bat fish to top it off.
DAY 12
Fiabacet The most famous site of the area, a few small rocks the, once you get in the water, will surprises even the most expert diver for its display: the soft corals are great and the forest of fans out of this world…The fish life cannot be forgotten, as plenty of trevalies, jacks and mackerel come close to look for a prey, the area is protected and already juvenile grey reefs are setting there…U must for every diver!!

DAY 13
Missol. Pulau Pelé will be the firs stop, and kaleidoscope reef is an amazing dive. A combination of fans, soft corals of beautiful colours, fish and dancing anchovies in the shallows will make the morning unforgettable. In Wayilbatan the passage offers another spectacular dive, in between two islands the mild currents have created a gallery of fans, of all kinds and sizes. At the entrance nice bommies with soft corals, sweet lips and turtles..great!!
DAY 14
Blue water mangroves
A unique enviorment in east Missol, soft corals meet in the shallows with mangroves in clear pristine waters, extremly appealing for our eyes…
We keep an eye for the salt water crocs, since here is where a diver got bitten by one
DAY 15
Arrival to Sorong
Bye bye

Triton bay - Raja Ampat - Kaimana - Ternate - Tarakan - Maumere - Komodo - Molas - Banda - Ambon
Banda sea and Triton bay

 Day 1:

Arrival to Ambon. Boarding and departure.
The Pertamina wreck is a great way of starting the trip, a combination of soft corals, good fish life and abundant critters. Lots of possibilities for afternoon dives among manadin fish and great night dives, stargazers, bobtail squid, flamboyant cuttlefish etc

Day 2:

Ambon.The first diving day will be dedicated to more Macro in one of the top places in the world, Laha . The repertoire is extensive: rinophias, fire urchins, seahorses, nudies, mimics, frog fish. A memorable dive site!! 

Day 3:

 Nusa Laut. One of our favourite reefs, great combination of hard corals and white sand; an extremely healthy reef, lots of fish, bumpheads, schooling jacks, grey reefs, leopard sharks and dugongs have been spotted in several occasions

Days 4,5 and 6:

Banda: It should be compulsory to pay a visit to this archipelago once in your lifetime. The people are incredible friendly; one can smell history in each corner, sightseeing along fort Belgica or Nutmeg plantations it is worth a trip on its own. But Banda has also fabulous diving. Batu kapal has some of the most beautiful fans in Indonesia, a series of underwater pinnacles are their home as they are for schools of pyramid, surgeon, banners… The lava flow is the next must. How many divers are not interested anymore in “just” dive across a hard coral garden?? Many. But no one will get bored while diving here. Since the last eruption in 1988, the lava flow has been transformed into a marvellous hard coral garden, an underwater Eden. The mandarin fish under the pier have become a legend.
Karang Hatta and Banda Besar are our next stops. Hatta has got a superb reef; Juvenile white tips tend to concentrate here. Turtles and bumpheads are also regularly spotted on this shallow reef. The window offers a different topography; a big underwater arch is the highest attraction. It is cover with black coral and fans and to go through is spectacular. At the end, towards the point the current can pick up and attract big amounts of fish, excellent way to finish the dive. Manuk is a special place. The biggest schools of Jacks and barracudas in the Banda Sea are found here and together with the snakes, yes here there are also snakes.

Day 6:

Koon: Too many fishes, has traditionally been a very productive dive. How its name indicates, the concentration of fish and schools can be outstanding, depending on the current. This is one the spots where we will be opening to do some exploration, in the last few times the diving has not been quite outstanding and the channels going through Seram look very promising

.
Day 8:

Triton Bay. This is bound to be the next hot spot. The diversity of colours and shape of the soft corals are a dream come true for every diver, not to forget the fish life, in general extremely healthy reefs with all kind of fish in them.7th heaven will be our firs stop and it will give a real touch of the area, crowded with fish, schooling grunts, giant trevalies, giant jacks, barracudas, some solitary manta, giant turtles, walking shark, giant…
There is no much fishing in the bay, and as a result the amount of fish is spectacular; Gt Rock is the perfect example; it has hundreds of grunts and red snappers hiding behind the small pinnacles. Enormous sweet lips in a frozen image posing for you while getting cleaned, giant trevalies and tunas are constantly patrolling and the fusiliers aggregate by the thousands…another must in your list

Day 9:

Triton Bay. Legendary Larry Smith did his last dive trip to this area, and he became amazed with the biodiversity that it is found here, We have a lot to thank Larry, he introduce Indonesia to the rest of us, if not for him, we would not be looking for small critters and certainly Indonesia would not be as famous as it is now. A little tribute of the diving community was to name this dive site after him. Larry´s heaven honours his memory and all what he fought for. It is the dive site that broke the world record in counting different species; it has more biodiversity that any other place in the planet!!! The south corner is like Larry said heaven….
Pay attention: amazing is the experience of getting on the middle of fields of black coral, not seen anywhere else, but don´t get too absorved by the vieuw, you would not be the first pro in forgetting everything and loosing a camera down there!!!

 Day 10:

Triton Bay: These first dives will be dedicated to spot the new species of flasher wrasse, that swim to the water column at shallow depth just beautiful. After that, in front of the bay of Lobo, where sulphur from volcanic action hits the sand we will do afternoon and night dive, the best place for critters in the area, lots of nudies, crabs etc

Day 11:

 After the last two dives, we will proceed to go with the tenders through hundreds of tiny islands, turquoise water under us…a top side wonder, we will finish the trip with a cultural visit to the ancient paintings on the rocks.
Day 12

Arrival and transfer to the airport