Maumere Land Based Diving

[GS9826]

Hi, I would like to find out if anyone has been to Maumere for diving recently? How was it like? Read the Maumere Bay is more for muck diving while the outer islands promise good reef and corals.

There are a few dive ops and I thought of diving with Ankermi Happy Dive Centre. Anyone has any experience with them?

 

[danz]

I was there last year in July and I can really recommend Ankermi. It is a nice, relaxing place and Kermi and his Swiss wife Claudia are very nice. Food is excellent but mostly vegetarian. Near the coast you have mostly muckdiving. Kermi is really excellent in finding small things. Further away you have the reefs that are very colourfull. I didn't mention traces of the earthquake of more than ten years ago. Mostly they do 2 dives a day. Try also a nightdive!

 

[Bora_Horza]

Hi, I also stayed at Ankermi, around April 2010 for a week. I had a really good time there, nice and relaxed. Tasty food, and Claudia and Kermi are great hosts. However I could only dive for 3 days as I was recovering from a cold / sinus problems when I arrived, ahh well!

I did a couple of very interesting muck dives right in front of the resort (lots of cuttlefish, nudis, shrimps, hairy squat lobsters, blue ribbon eels, etc...), as well as going on the boat out to the islands for reef and wall diving - also great! Saw a huge stingray (1.5 meter or more across), some sharks, dolphins from the boat, plus all the corals and sponges, etc. I would visit again if I was in the area, recommended! See below for a few photos I took while there:

He, we also saw a tornado / waterspout out at sea one afternoon as a thunderstorm passed by...

 

[GS9826]

Sounds good! Thanks Bora_Horza and Danz for the replies. I guess Ankermi would be my choice for Maumere's stay.:cool2:

 

[Mike Veitch]

is that the place that has the wreck just off shore and to the left of the resort while looking out to sea?

 

[Bora_Horza]

Hi Mike, yes very possibly so from looking at the dive site map at their website, some more detail quoted below:

WAIRTERANG WRECK (No.22)

The Wairterang wreck is located close to the Ankermi Resort. This is a Japanese ship-wreck from the World War II, we don’t know exactly if it was a freighter or a controller. Wreck specialists have been diving with us checking out the wreck in order to find a registration number. Unfortunately the ship lies twisted, so the number might be buried in the sand, and the specialists said, that the ship is not registered. The oldest men of the village have told us the story that the crew was taking water from the Wairterang spring near by and then the ship was bombed from air and sunk.

The wreck lies on its side from 12m–32m depth, it is twisted and iron spruces and doors are clearly visible, some overgrown with hard and soft corals. Schools of trevallys, mackerels, groupers and batfish swim around its surface and the wreck is a perfect hiding place for all kinds of marine animals: Mantis shrimps, octopus, scorpionfish, stonefish, lionfish, twin-spot lionfish, different nudibranchs, pipefishes, morays, ghostpipefishes, frogfishes and a large variety of shrimps.

 

[danz]

Indeed, the wreck is very near. That said, I was not very impressed. Viz was not so good and it is a relatively small and open wreck.

For an overview of divesites in East-Indonesia look at: www. starfish.ch
When I was at Ankermi I met a Swiss underwaterphotgrapher: she ownes the site

 

[gee13]

Thanks danz for the site, some interesting writeups by Zubi in there.

 

[Luko]

Hey I hadn't read your great report, Bora Horza!
Nice to know Maumere is picking up amongst the community of divers.

I passed by Ankermi when I went diving on Waiterang wreck, I still prefer Seaworld's accoms and location (especially if there are non divers in your party) but for the dive operation I reckon Ankermi's probably the best option.

 

[nianiar]

Does Maumere offer any dives suitable for beginner divers? (i.e with only a few dives under our belts before getting there?)