anyone done Ambon and Pulau Weh?

[opalobsidian]

Salamat pagi Boarders!

has anyone out there gone to both Ambon and Pulau Weh? I am trying to decide between the two for July 2011. I love beautiful corals, banyak fish, and swimming in schools of large fish, ie Sipadan style diving.

Any advice or stories to share?

Terima kasih banyak
Shivaya

 

[pughio83]

consider palau as well then!!

 

[Luko]

Ambon's more about muck dives, july should be rainy season too.
In July, you should consider Komodo for corals and lotsa fish.

 

[opalobsidian]

@ Pughio- I'd love too, but ouch! my wallet!

 

[Wisnu]

Hi Pam,
We visited P. Weh on July 2009 - is not similar as Sipadan but I'll say more diversity.
Diving in P. Weh is inexpensive; we stayed at Lumba-lumba; they have spacious and clean room but no aircon - not a problem at all for us. July is still dry and sunny but not very calm, current can be strong like washing machine - but this mean big fish and pelagics - sharks, GT, and rays.
And if you lucky whale shark - we're not.
Batu tokong is morays galore - we saw dozens moray just in small area.
The canyon is also nice too - but made me realize to have more exercise.
They also have nice house reef exactly in front of their shop - We love night and early morning diving there.

As other said, Ambon is well known for muck diving; probably muckier than Lembeh. Unfortunately July is not the best time to visit Ambon although most of the sites still diveable.

 

[AlMitch]

We were in P Weh in April and the diving was really fun, brilliant viz (30-40m) and lots of fish. Unfortunately we never had too many big fish cruise past. Just a few GT's and a big star puffer.
As Wisnu said above it is also pretty cheap. We paid 150 Euro for a 10 dive package. We stayed at Casa Nemo and loved it. Loved it so much we're going back with our family in December.

BUT if you have the whole of Indo to choose and cash is not super tight then in July I would head off to Komodo. Far better diving, far more BIG fish and mantas, better corals, better macro......

 

[silent running]

Salamat pagi Boarders!

has anyone out there gone to both Ambon and Pulau Weh? I am trying to decide between the two for July 2011. I love beautiful corals, banyak fish, and swimming in schools of large fish, ie Sipadan style diving.

Any advice or stories to share?

Terima kasih banyak
Shivaya

Hello oo, I don't agree that Ambon is just muck, far from it. Yes, the harbor is mucky, but who spends all their time diving in the harbor? In 07' when I was there, the outer slopes of the reefs and channels between the islands were teeming with fish of all sizes in very clear water. Pulau Tiga was great, as was Seram, which was a long boat ride away, but worth the trip. All the famous sites, like The Arch, were spectacular and full of all sizes of life, plenty of shark activity. Ambon is the only place in Indo I've seen a silvertip, a juvenile who gave me a full on threat display. And this was on a point near the mouth of the harbor. Do a search for more Ambon posts and you'll see more detailed info from me and others... -Andy

 

[RinaW]

I agree with Silent Running.. Ambon is not all muck. It has more of everything else than muck. It used to be more muck when Alfred Russel Wallace was collecting his specimens in the mid 1800s (at least that's the speculation). But since, the years of development of Ambon city destroyed a lot of it (from what I've been told by locals).

Sorry, I've not been to P. Weh yet.

How much more expensive is Komodo in July than Ambon? It's been awhile since I was in Komodo and I've always considered it more affordable or at least competitively priced than some of the other locations, including Ambon.

 

[Indah]

It used to be more muck when Alfred Russel Wallace was collecting his specimens in the mid 1800s
You really should read The Malayan Archipelago from Wallace:
The clearness of the water afforded me one of the most
astonishing and beautiful sights I have ever beheld. The bottom
was absolutely hidden by a continuous series of corals, sponges,
actinic, and other marine productions of magnificent dimensions,
varied forms, and brilliant colours. The depth varied from about
twenty to fifty feet, and the bottom was very uneven, rocks and
chasms and little hills and valleys, offering a variety of
stations for the growth of these animal forests. In and out among
them, moved numbers of blue and red and yellow fishes, spotted
and banded and striped in the most striking manner, while great
orange or rosy transparent medusa floated along near the surface.
It was a sight to gaze at for hours, and no description can do
justice to its surpassing beauty and interest. For once, the
reality exceeded the most glowing accounts I had ever read of the
wonders of a coral sea. There is perhaps no spot in the world
richer in marine productions, corals, shells and fishes, than the
harbour of Amboyna.

 

[RinaW]

Thanks for reminding me of that excerpt Indah. It's practically in every guide book on Ambon. Perhaps I misunderstood what was told to me in passing. There used to be a lot of corals in Ambon bay, which the locals have collected to use as building materials through the years. As the result, a lot if not all the reefs that used to proliferate Ambon Bay got destroyed, leaving the bottom mostly mucky.

A lot of life has been obliterated in the bay since Wallace did his study in Ambon. I'd imagine some of that "life" included some awesome muck critters. I wouldn't be surprised if that bay provided some corners with the perfect habitat for these critters, different than the colorful reefs and fishes.

Having said that, the few days I spent diving in Ambon were at dive sites around the island and they were reef diving.