I recently had a 6D/5N LoB with Scuba Junkies’ KLM Eliya in Komodo. As this is a fairly new boat and not much info about it can be found online, I am giving below my opinion about it, hoping to help fellow divers make a more informed choice.
Keep in mind that I generally find it difficult to express my enthusiasm and positive feelings, so my review might not sound very positive. I like to highlight negatives, so whatever is not mentioned, should be considered as being very good. Hence overall although it might not sound as such, I am very happy with the trip.
My interaction with Scuba Junkies started long before the trip asking info and numerous questions (some friends were thinking of joining, myself I was also not sure about LoB or be land based in their resort, my family were thinking of joining for some days in their resort too, then booking arrangements, payments, pick up arrangements, and the story goes on) . A lot of e-mails back and forth all dealt in a timely and effective way by Erin.
One point I noticed is that they don’t seem to update the occupancy in their website schedule which looks empty, so I was a bit worried that they might have low occupancy hence maybe cancel the trip(s). On the contrary, most trips seem to be full or at least with very high occupancy and do take place.
Everything during the journey, from airport pick up to drop to the hotel at the end, went very smoothly. At some point (3rd or 4th day of the trip) there was some kind of mechanical issue with the engine of the boat so we were stuck for some hours. Because of this, we missed a sunset dive for mandarin fish, but we did a nice night dive instead. The rest of the schedule remained unaffected, as the situation was dealt with within hours (a new part was sent from Labuan Bajo and 4 external mechanics installed it).
About the boat itself. It is a brand new phinisi, bigger than most others with 3 large common areas (main, top, and back). There are enough open and covered areas for everyone. Thanks God, smoking is only permitted at the very back lower platform and this is followed by the crew and the divers.
About the cabin, I was in the very front, right side (starboard) cabin. Kind of small but with a strange 3 bed configuration which turned out to be very space efficient. I’m kind of tall (1.9m) and didn’t have any issues with space. The AC strangely enough is enclosed in a wooden box (with vents for air flow). All good with it, except it is a pain to operate the IR remote control (who thought about this?). Generally during the night it was quite cold outside hence AC was not really needed, but, as our cabin was at the bow the outer walls were tilted outwards hence it was a bit difficult to keep the windows open (they tend to close by gravity). Keeping them open was possible by using an item to block them open.
Food was plenty and delicious. The only thing that maybe could be improved was the amount of fruits (everybody loved them) and maybe the afternoon snack (usually cake, or fried bananas) could be something more/better as the time between lunch (2pm) and dinner (8pm) was quite long.
About diving now. Overall we did 20 dives (2 on the first and last day, 4 for the rest of the days). The crew initially asked permission to handle our equipment (carrying around, changing tanks, rinse etc). All divers agreed to this, hence all we had to worry about was putting our wetsuit on the boat and bringing our dive computers, masks and cameras. The dive gear (bcds, fins, weights) remained on the (2) dinghies between dives (i.e. under the bright sun during the day and while cruising which was a bit of not ideal) and we were kiting up in the dinghies.
Nitrox was optional (with some extra fee) and strangely enough most divers didn’t take it. With 4 dives a day I thought it would be a must, although it turned out that our profiles were mostly shallow enough to not require it. Nitrox tanks were clearly marked with green valve covers and diver’s name tag. Analyzing under these conditions (mixed nitrox and air divers with tanks coming and going) has the potential of getting a mesh, but generally was handled ok.
All their equipment (BCDs, regs, tanks etc) seemed to be brand new and in very good working order. Crew was ready to solve any issues that arose (broken o-ring etc) in divers’ own gear with tools, spare o-rings and even spare reg sets.
The 14 divers were divided into 5 groups/guides, based on experience. After a couple of days, groups were rearranged a bit and generally I think everybody was happy. All groups were doing the same sites, but depending on their level, some would go deeper, longer or more to the currenty area. On the last day (second last dive) some divers wanted to dive again the Shotgun, some others didn’t. So we were split and given the option to choose between Shotgun or Crystal Rock (both sites had already been done the day before) which was a nice way of handling the situation.
Being Komodo, I will not comment much about dives themselves and sea life which were mostly amazing. We did all the highlights (Shotgun, Batu Bolong, Manta point etc) and saw all the expected creatures: lot’s of mantas, lot’s of sharks, rays, pelagics, tons of turtles, but also a lot of macro.
One thing that was definitely missing on the boat was a map of the area with dive sites marked on it so we divers could have an idea of our route and where within the Komodo National Park we were. Kind of a diary thing that I love. Cruise director told me they are aware of this and looking for ways to handle it.
Although I haven’t done any other LoB’s in Indonesia to compare them directly, I think KLM Eliya is a very good balance for a low to mid range LoB. It is definitely NOT luxurious but I think it is much better than the common “basic” phinisi boats. All these at a reasonable price.
Keep in mind that I generally find it difficult to express my enthusiasm and positive feelings, so my review might not sound very positive. I like to highlight negatives, so whatever is not mentioned, should be considered as being very good. Hence overall although it might not sound as such, I am very happy with the trip.
My interaction with Scuba Junkies started long before the trip asking info and numerous questions (some friends were thinking of joining, myself I was also not sure about LoB or be land based in their resort, my family were thinking of joining for some days in their resort too, then booking arrangements, payments, pick up arrangements, and the story goes on) . A lot of e-mails back and forth all dealt in a timely and effective way by Erin.
One point I noticed is that they don’t seem to update the occupancy in their website schedule which looks empty, so I was a bit worried that they might have low occupancy hence maybe cancel the trip(s). On the contrary, most trips seem to be full or at least with very high occupancy and do take place.
Everything during the journey, from airport pick up to drop to the hotel at the end, went very smoothly. At some point (3rd or 4th day of the trip) there was some kind of mechanical issue with the engine of the boat so we were stuck for some hours. Because of this, we missed a sunset dive for mandarin fish, but we did a nice night dive instead. The rest of the schedule remained unaffected, as the situation was dealt with within hours (a new part was sent from Labuan Bajo and 4 external mechanics installed it).
About the boat itself. It is a brand new phinisi, bigger than most others with 3 large common areas (main, top, and back). There are enough open and covered areas for everyone. Thanks God, smoking is only permitted at the very back lower platform and this is followed by the crew and the divers.
About the cabin, I was in the very front, right side (starboard) cabin. Kind of small but with a strange 3 bed configuration which turned out to be very space efficient. I’m kind of tall (1.9m) and didn’t have any issues with space. The AC strangely enough is enclosed in a wooden box (with vents for air flow). All good with it, except it is a pain to operate the IR remote control (who thought about this?). Generally during the night it was quite cold outside hence AC was not really needed, but, as our cabin was at the bow the outer walls were tilted outwards hence it was a bit difficult to keep the windows open (they tend to close by gravity). Keeping them open was possible by using an item to block them open.
Food was plenty and delicious. The only thing that maybe could be improved was the amount of fruits (everybody loved them) and maybe the afternoon snack (usually cake, or fried bananas) could be something more/better as the time between lunch (2pm) and dinner (8pm) was quite long.
About diving now. Overall we did 20 dives (2 on the first and last day, 4 for the rest of the days). The crew initially asked permission to handle our equipment (carrying around, changing tanks, rinse etc). All divers agreed to this, hence all we had to worry about was putting our wetsuit on the boat and bringing our dive computers, masks and cameras. The dive gear (bcds, fins, weights) remained on the (2) dinghies between dives (i.e. under the bright sun during the day and while cruising which was a bit of not ideal) and we were kiting up in the dinghies.
Nitrox was optional (with some extra fee) and strangely enough most divers didn’t take it. With 4 dives a day I thought it would be a must, although it turned out that our profiles were mostly shallow enough to not require it. Nitrox tanks were clearly marked with green valve covers and diver’s name tag. Analyzing under these conditions (mixed nitrox and air divers with tanks coming and going) has the potential of getting a mesh, but generally was handled ok.
All their equipment (BCDs, regs, tanks etc) seemed to be brand new and in very good working order. Crew was ready to solve any issues that arose (broken o-ring etc) in divers’ own gear with tools, spare o-rings and even spare reg sets.
The 14 divers were divided into 5 groups/guides, based on experience. After a couple of days, groups were rearranged a bit and generally I think everybody was happy. All groups were doing the same sites, but depending on their level, some would go deeper, longer or more to the currenty area. On the last day (second last dive) some divers wanted to dive again the Shotgun, some others didn’t. So we were split and given the option to choose between Shotgun or Crystal Rock (both sites had already been done the day before) which was a nice way of handling the situation.
Being Komodo, I will not comment much about dives themselves and sea life which were mostly amazing. We did all the highlights (Shotgun, Batu Bolong, Manta point etc) and saw all the expected creatures: lot’s of mantas, lot’s of sharks, rays, pelagics, tons of turtles, but also a lot of macro.
One thing that was definitely missing on the boat was a map of the area with dive sites marked on it so we divers could have an idea of our route and where within the Komodo National Park we were. Kind of a diary thing that I love. Cruise director told me they are aware of this and looking for ways to handle it.
Although I haven’t done any other LoB’s in Indonesia to compare them directly, I think KLM Eliya is a very good balance for a low to mid range LoB. It is definitely NOT luxurious but I think it is much better than the common “basic” phinisi boats. All these at a reasonable price.
