nikefreekz
Contributor
Currently looking for liveaboard options for Banda sea for 2026 and came across Malaillo, if anyone had been on the boat can you please share your experience?
Seeking reviews for Malaillo Liveaboard
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It looks like its a new boat or at least under new management (there are over 100 in Raja) and it is being run by same corp that runs Papua Paradise Eco Resort. The dive op was pretty scary in my opinion at PPER. The resort was beautiful but the diving op was scary. The tenders would drop divers then go to local villages where they were from to hang out with ???? They would avoid all current since "they don't follow bubbles" and a bunch of other stuff I saw while there. Hopefully the boat crew on the LOB is different in their practices and management. To be fair to PPER, people who had been there in past years said it was different so I am not sure if it was the manager they had when I was there or it's new SOP.
There is a huge influx of boats now doing the banda "hammerhead" trip but this has made the diving in Banda crowded with no controls to protect sights from being overcrowded etc. The big schools of hammers are elusive and not something you see every trip so the just go into it with that knowledge. It is also not the crystal blue viz you see on those viral hammer videos. To see hammers you often have to go deep, swim a bunch and dive in high current situations. Other than that Banda without other boats is lovely.
There is a huge influx of boats now doing the banda "hammerhead" trip but this has made the diving in Banda crowded with no controls to protect sights from being overcrowded etc. The big schools of hammers are elusive and not something you see every trip so the just go into it with that knowledge. It is also not the crystal blue viz you see on those viral hammer videos. To see hammers you often have to go deep, swim a bunch and dive in high current situations. Other than that Banda without other boats is lovely.
OP
nikefreekz
Contributor
thanks for the input!
I did Banda and it was the worst LA experience. The boat itself had mechanical issues and we missed several dives because of that. But other than that, hammerheads are elusive. We saw a couple of solitary ones on one or two dives but that was it. No big schools. I don't think its worth it compared to Komodo or Raja or Maldives.
OP
nikefreekz
Contributor
sorry to hear of your less than ideal experience... what boat was that btw?
Divephotobali
New
Hi,
She was onboard Malaillo very recently and has been pointing out some positive points about the boat and the operation. Good luck.
OP
nikefreekz
Contributor
thanks for the headsup!
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