Real Time Blue Manta Review: Banda Sea 9 – 19 Sept 2019

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Weather this year was rough in the Banda Sea in late-September to early-October. This year I did the crossing (Maumere - Ambon) on the huge Mutiara Laut Sept 27 - Oct 8....last year I did the crossing (Maumere - Ambon) on the tiny Tidak Apapa October 2-16....so pretty much same time of year for both trips.
Last year water temperature in the Banda Sea was 27 degrees Celsius, no wind, no rain and flat sea.
This year water temperature was 24 degrees Celsius, strong winds and big waves (some nights waves up to 3 m (10ft)).
This year we could not dive Nil Desperandum, Manuk, Hatta and Nusa Laut due to the wind and waves.
Last year we had schooling hammerheads at Manuk. This year we had schooling hammerheads at Serua and Suanggi.
Mutiara Laut insisted on 2 days of diving Alor which I found silly - I agree with Luko that Alor is best dived with a local dive center (very strong and tricky tidally dependent currents). If a liveaboard does want to dive Alor I would say stick to doing 2-3 shallow no-current dives for the rhinopias.
When next time I return for a liveaboard in the Banda Sea I think that I will look for a 10-12 day Oct-Nov Ambon - Ambon itinerary that includes Banda Neira, Manuk, Serua and Nil Desperandum (furthest south)...but leaves out anything south of Nil Desperandum (Alor, Niita/Wetar, etc.).
Plus points this year: Huge sturdy boat (48m (140ft)) that could handle the waves...still in the high sea some porcelain/plates were smashed (luckily no cameras) and 1-2 guests got hurt a little falling over and by doors.
Also a nice 3 hour land excursion on Banda Neira. In fact I liked Banda Neira so much that I am thinking of returning in March for 12 days there diving with a local dive center and just enjoying the island....but chances for hammerheads are reportedly not great that time of year, though the weather March-April is usually quite calm and fine I am told...and then finish up with 5-6 days Ambon for the muck diving. I cannot find any liveaboards doing Ambon - Ambon in March-April, but as mentioned I liked Banda Neira so much that I think that I will be quite happy with just landbased diving. Flights to Indonesia seem good value March-April (probably because Bali etc is then not in high season).
P.S. - I heard 2 liveaboards sunk in bad weather in the Banda Sea March 2019...luckily with no fatalities I was told. So maybe that and the schools of hammerheads being out of season March-April (deep thermocline) is the reason I cannot find any Banda Sea (Ambon - Ambon) liveaboards in March-April 2020.
 
I knew someone on the Ambai in early October who took off a few days before me and they reported to me while on the boat there were 9 ft swells. They had to turn around and return to Ambon given information from other boats and the weather forecast. Reports from her were that the Seahorse, Ambai’s sister boat, was caught in the Banda Sea at the same time due to the conditions.

I sailed on the Mermaid 1 a few days later. Steel hull and all, the first 2 days were very rough. We had 6-7 ft. A lot of boats changed their itineraries and we ended up being the only boat in some areas as we were able to make the crossing. We ended up with glass and flat conditions as well.

As a side note, I strongly urge @Topper1972 to edit the post about where the sharks were found as the worst case scenario person in me does not want any shark finners to know exactly where to look if they don’t know. I think being purposefully vague is a good thing for that reason.
 
the worst case scenario person in me does not want any shark finners to know exactly where to look if they don’t know. I think being purposefully vague is a good thing for that reason.
TBH this remote island out in Banda is one of most known "secret diving spots" in Indonesia, even to me who had never taken any liveaboard in the Banda sea. Each time in the past five years i had been asking an indonesian dive guide for his secret spot, that were the same names coming back. Shark finners don't have to be reading Scubaboard,I guess the spot is only unknown to Scubaboarders...
 
PJ put all the schooling hammerhead video clips at the very end of the Blue Manta trip video. So, when the video goes to a wrong hand, no one can associate the event with the dive location.
 
@Topper1972 & @outofofficebrb your comments made me feel lucky to go in early September. I thought October would be a better time to be in Banda.

We had more than 4 sightings. 4 just for myself. The rest of the group saw them on dives I didn’t so it is actually a great time. There are some great hammy wall photos.

Here’s one from a friend of mine from another boat.
 

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Right. Once is enough. If I want to see hammerheads in clear blue water, I’ll go back to Cocos, which I will in September 2020.

Schooling Sea Kraits are cool though.
We were on a Banda Sea trip from Sept 22-Oct 3, 2019 with Mermaid 1 - perhaps it is just the time of year but I wasn't impressed with the hammerhead sightings as viz wasn't great and at least for our dive group of 4 the sightings were infrequent and low in numbers.
 
We were on a Banda Sea trip from Sept 22-Oct 3, 2019 with Mermaid 1 - perhaps it is just the time of year but I wasn't impressed with the hammerhead sightings as viz wasn't great and at least for our dive group of 4 the sightings were infrequent and low in numbers.

This one? That’s still better than what we saw.

 
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