Darnold9999
Contributor
I normally arrange my own dive trips so it was with some trepidation that I arranged this trip with a side trip to Lembeh through Underwater Tribe and Mike and Luca. Not really a group traveller. As it turned out it worked out well and I would absolutely recommend them and their organization if you want to take a trip in this part of the world. They know the area very well.
Having Luca along on the liveaboard portion of the trip as a facilitator and dive guide made the diving just that much better. In Bali the driver they set me up with went well out of his way to locate a couple of unique items I was looking for, and Luca personally went the extra mile when I needed some assistance. Turned a major problem into a minor one. The group was mostly a dive club from the UK and was very inclusive and easy to dive with.
All in all an excellent trip. Absolutely perfect weather, not a drop of rain the entire trip and no wind at all. The diving was excellent with a mix of muck diving, walls, pinnacles, high current and easy drift diving.
The boat is an excellent dive platform. Not your typical Indonesian phinisi, but a purpose built dive boat. Looks like your normal large yacht but made out of wood. I ended up in one of the two cabins right at the front of the boat. Nice and quiet at night as the generator and engine room is at the other end of the boat. This is a very comfortable boat with a dive deck at the back of the boat under cover with steps down to a platform at water level at the stern. Three speedboats take groups of four divers with a guide to the dive sites.
We had a guest French chef on board giving the Indonesian chef some pointers so meals were excellent. A mix of Indonesian and French cuisine. The small world moment was when we discovered that the chef used to own a small French restaurant about three blocks from my old condo in Vancouver. I knew the restaurant and had been in it, but when I got back I discovered that it was my partners favourite French restaurant in Vancouver before it closed down. She had been in it many times before it closed.
This trip had everything you might want in a dive trip. After a couple of easy dives the first day on the way to Komodo we started out with a drift dive. Everyone was a bit surprised at the current. Better than 2.5 knots so stopping to look at anything was a bit of a challenge. A good introduction to what was coming. Pretty much once a day we were diving in significant current. A reef hook is required as is an SMB and the ability to deploy it in blue water.
Lots of healthy coral, schools of fish on many sites and a fair number of sharks and mantas. The classic Komodo dive sites were just that, classic dives. Manta Alley had mantas (and a mola mola), Castle Rock had great fish action, Cannibal Rock soft corals. Shotgun was disappointing no current so was not even popgun but otherwise Komodo delivered some excellent diving. We had a whale surface within 20 yards of the boat and porpoise going by the boat several times.
The only disappointment re the diving was the vis in southern Komodo. Manta Alley had mantas, we saw a number, but the vis was very poor so pictures were of murky shapes in the gloom. We did see a mola mola so the trip south was worth it, but diving in the north was significantly better and much warmer.
I managed to flood my camera half way through the trip so had four days of diving without a camera which was a unique experience. It has been many years since I have been in the water without a camera in hand. Frustrating in so many ways.
Here is a video of the trip I didnt shoot it, but it does give you an idea of the boat and the diving.
Komodo cruise on MV Ambai - October 2014 - YouTube
What photos I did get are here:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152343289141017.1073741828.678276016&type=1&l=4aeb124987
Having Luca along on the liveaboard portion of the trip as a facilitator and dive guide made the diving just that much better. In Bali the driver they set me up with went well out of his way to locate a couple of unique items I was looking for, and Luca personally went the extra mile when I needed some assistance. Turned a major problem into a minor one. The group was mostly a dive club from the UK and was very inclusive and easy to dive with.
All in all an excellent trip. Absolutely perfect weather, not a drop of rain the entire trip and no wind at all. The diving was excellent with a mix of muck diving, walls, pinnacles, high current and easy drift diving.
The boat is an excellent dive platform. Not your typical Indonesian phinisi, but a purpose built dive boat. Looks like your normal large yacht but made out of wood. I ended up in one of the two cabins right at the front of the boat. Nice and quiet at night as the generator and engine room is at the other end of the boat. This is a very comfortable boat with a dive deck at the back of the boat under cover with steps down to a platform at water level at the stern. Three speedboats take groups of four divers with a guide to the dive sites.
We had a guest French chef on board giving the Indonesian chef some pointers so meals were excellent. A mix of Indonesian and French cuisine. The small world moment was when we discovered that the chef used to own a small French restaurant about three blocks from my old condo in Vancouver. I knew the restaurant and had been in it, but when I got back I discovered that it was my partners favourite French restaurant in Vancouver before it closed down. She had been in it many times before it closed.
This trip had everything you might want in a dive trip. After a couple of easy dives the first day on the way to Komodo we started out with a drift dive. Everyone was a bit surprised at the current. Better than 2.5 knots so stopping to look at anything was a bit of a challenge. A good introduction to what was coming. Pretty much once a day we were diving in significant current. A reef hook is required as is an SMB and the ability to deploy it in blue water.
Lots of healthy coral, schools of fish on many sites and a fair number of sharks and mantas. The classic Komodo dive sites were just that, classic dives. Manta Alley had mantas (and a mola mola), Castle Rock had great fish action, Cannibal Rock soft corals. Shotgun was disappointing no current so was not even popgun but otherwise Komodo delivered some excellent diving. We had a whale surface within 20 yards of the boat and porpoise going by the boat several times.
The only disappointment re the diving was the vis in southern Komodo. Manta Alley had mantas, we saw a number, but the vis was very poor so pictures were of murky shapes in the gloom. We did see a mola mola so the trip south was worth it, but diving in the north was significantly better and much warmer.
I managed to flood my camera half way through the trip so had four days of diving without a camera which was a unique experience. It has been many years since I have been in the water without a camera in hand. Frustrating in so many ways.
Here is a video of the trip I didnt shoot it, but it does give you an idea of the boat and the diving.
Komodo cruise on MV Ambai - October 2014 - YouTube
What photos I did get are here:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152343289141017.1073741828.678276016&type=1&l=4aeb124987
