Ambon vs Lembeh

[reubencahn]

My experience is a bit different. On more than one occasion, with both DIA and the now defunct Maluku Divers, I've been dropped in ripping , claw your way along the bottom currents. One was a night dive where we spent 40 minutes doing nothing except working our way to a safe point to abort.

 

[Luko]

My experience is a bit different. On more than one occasion, with both DIA and the now defunct Maluku Divers, I've been dropped in ripping , claw your way along the bottom currents. One was a night dive where we spent 40 minutes doing nothing except working our way to a safe point to abort.

Didn't they first assess the current then ride just across the bay for a sheltered site, usually when Laha gets all of the current, Nama south of the bay is much safer.

 

[JackConnick]

I had a very short stay at DIA with our group last month. I didn't dive with them. Some from our group did and I think overall they run a good dive operation.

But the hotel they are based at is pretty old and poor, IMHO. The rooms were pretty bad, right on the highway and I found a half drunk bottle of water waiting me. When I went to turn on the bed light I got a terrific shock. Food was very mediocre. It's all overpriced in my mind and Ambon is pretty industrial.

Lembeh has a ton of great dive ops and is more scenic.

 

[Luko]

Well looks like very short stays don't help figuring a whole area. Hope you're not writing the next Lonely Planet for Indonesia...

Food was very mediocre.

FYI unless you feed on burgers and western sandwiches, Maluku is home of the best food in Indonesia, but of course if you just stay clustered in your resort you get resort food and you may not experience that.What do you think of lightly smoked tuna in almond sauce? that's traditional from Ambon/Maluku.
If you'd been downtown you'd also tasted at Joas one of the best coffees in Indonesia accompanied with local snacks such as fried breadfruit, traveling is not just staying into a resort.

It's all overpriced in my mind and Ambon is pretty industrial.
Lembeh has a ton of great dive ops and is more scenic.

Saying Ambon is industrial is like saying Bitung in Lembeh strait is a petrol tanker harbor.
Obviously you never dived Ambon south neither the surrounding Lease island .
Is that below too industrial for you? That's Molana an island off Ambon, where do you get that in Lembeh?



Molana beach by Ludovic, on Flickr

 

[AlMitch]

Palau Dua around the corner from Divers Lodge Lembeh on the South West coast of Lembeh had a pretty white sand beach.... ha ha ha just stirring.

 

[JackConnick]

All I'm saying is that the DIA (Maluku Hotel) accoms and food were pretty bad. We dove the next day or so off the Damai and the critter hunting was pretty good. But I still think there are much better places to dive.

And this was a start of an 11 day liveaboard trip across the Banda Sea, and easily the poorest diving of the trip.

Actually we stayed a few days at Liberty Dive Resort at Tulamben before this and it was beautiful, cheap and much better diving in my book.

 

[Luko]

We dove the next day or so off the Damai and the critter hunting was pretty good. But I still think there are much better places to dive.
...
Actually we stayed a few days at Liberty Dive Resort at Tulamben before this and it was beautiful, cheap and much better diving in my book.

I can understand why : lesson 1 is never dive local sites with a liveaboard, Ambon or Alor, to take a few, are better dived from a resort with guides accessing everyday to their own reefs.
I couldn't imagine Tulamben dived with a Liveaboard guide for instance : that's what probably made your difference. try Ambon dived with Robert Lekatompessy and compare with Tulamben dived with a guide originated from Nusa Penida.

Also there is only one place where the psychedelic frogfish dwells and that's Ambon, never seen as many rhinopias as well, had a dive where at 3m depth you just had to look down to find bumblebee shrimps, another where on each fire urchin there was either a couple of coleman shrimps or a zebra crab or both at the same time, this to name a few critters where Ambon smokes the rest of the world. On the contrary of Lembeh, you will be the only group of divers underwater and I find the waters are much clearer than Lembeh (where I always get an ear infection btw).

 

[dirtfarmer]

Psychedelic Froggie! One of those holy grail critters, and only found in Ambon. There's been great sightings the last few years, when I dove Ambon it was before a crossing trip and during the "season" for it. No luck for me.
My dives in Ambon were in Laha only, and they were awesome. Twilight Zone had a incredible density of frog fish and a wide array of types, then Nudibranchs with Emporer Shrimp, and Urchins with Zebra Crabs and Coleman Shrimp, and Then right in front of Blue Motion 2 Rhinopias. Twilight Zone also had the largest collection of diapers I have ever seen.
My dives were affected by currents and sadly yes instead of heading to a site that was sheltered we waited for hours for the current to chill out a bit with no notice from management, hence my reticence to recommend them.

I would agree with @Luko in that Ambon has greater density of the more exotic critters than say Lembeh.
Someday I will go back and either give Blue Rose or DIA try knowing all the high points and low points. You would think that someday soon there might be some more operations opening up giving divers a few more choices. Hey Two Fish or Scuba Junkies this means you!

 

[reubencahn]

Didn't they first assess the current then ride just across the bay for a sheltered site, usually when Laha gets all of the current, Nama south of the bay is much safer.

Only from the boat. No one dropped in.

 

[matts1w]

FYI unless you feed on burgers and western sandwiches, Maluku is home of the best food in Indonesia...

Sunset at DIA while snacking on rujak Ambon with rum, lime juice and cold Cokes makes for a perfect cocktail hour.