outofofficebrb
HARRO HUNNAYYY
I just spent a week in late Sept/early Oct diving with DIA. Kaj was great. He even suggested if we wanted to do 2 extra dives the morning we were departing for our Banda (Ambon to Maumere) liveaboard, he could drop us and our baggage directly to the boat and coordinate with the cruise director directly. We did just that and it was absolutely amazing stepping onto the liveaboard just surfacing from a dive. 
Accommodations were very comfortable and clean. AC, WiFi. I arrived a day or two after the earthquake so didn’t get to use the pool as there was a lot going on and they were doing a lot of repairs. One thing to think about are the accommodations you will have with the shop you choose to dive with.
One word of caution after having done the (very) open water crossing for Banda...I highly suggest you reconsider the wooden boats. We were on a steel hull in early October for 12 days. There were 6-7 feet swells and we were getting pounded but were still able to make the crossing. It was extremely rough the first 2 days. We missed 2 dives one morning because it took us way longer to do the overnight crossing between 2 locations. We later made up the dives in another way but I know someone on the Ambai (wooden) who sailed a day or 2 before us and they had to turn around to return to Ambon and couldn’t do the crossing at all. It was a huge bummer for them. Other boats already out there had issues with the conditions and were sitting ducks or had to alter their plans significantly with 9 ft swells. We were also able to make it out to other more remote islands that are very exposed and had the dive sites all to ourselves.
You’re doing a return trip to Ambon so the actual open water crossing in nautical miles isn’t as great as the Ambon to Maumere itinerary but a lot more mileage and open ocean is covered compared to other liveaboards in Indonesia such as Komodo and Raja Ampat. It is very exposed so I would think twice. @Dan has done Banda once before in a wooden boat and he recently had to return in a steel hull as wooden boats are not ideal. Possible, but more susceptible to weather issues/surface conditions, etc., and not as stable, etc.
Accommodations were very comfortable and clean. AC, WiFi. I arrived a day or two after the earthquake so didn’t get to use the pool as there was a lot going on and they were doing a lot of repairs. One thing to think about are the accommodations you will have with the shop you choose to dive with.
One word of caution after having done the (very) open water crossing for Banda...I highly suggest you reconsider the wooden boats. We were on a steel hull in early October for 12 days. There were 6-7 feet swells and we were getting pounded but were still able to make the crossing. It was extremely rough the first 2 days. We missed 2 dives one morning because it took us way longer to do the overnight crossing between 2 locations. We later made up the dives in another way but I know someone on the Ambai (wooden) who sailed a day or 2 before us and they had to turn around to return to Ambon and couldn’t do the crossing at all. It was a huge bummer for them. Other boats already out there had issues with the conditions and were sitting ducks or had to alter their plans significantly with 9 ft swells. We were also able to make it out to other more remote islands that are very exposed and had the dive sites all to ourselves.
You’re doing a return trip to Ambon so the actual open water crossing in nautical miles isn’t as great as the Ambon to Maumere itinerary but a lot more mileage and open ocean is covered compared to other liveaboards in Indonesia such as Komodo and Raja Ampat. It is very exposed so I would think twice. @Dan has done Banda once before in a wooden boat and he recently had to return in a steel hull as wooden boats are not ideal. Possible, but more susceptible to weather issues/surface conditions, etc., and not as stable, etc.
