reubencahn
Contributor
Komodo on Kararu, Part I: This section summarizes our experiences with and problems with the Kararu:
From the beginning of our trip until the end, there were a series of problems, sometimes large sometimes small, that added up to a disappointing experience. To begin, the boat is 10 years old and is showing its age. As it is, the boat looks shabby with rust streaks running down its side and varnish peeling everywhere. It is sorely in need of maintenance and would greatly benefit from a thorough drydock and refit. Were this a budget boat, I would not comment on this. But for the prices Kararu charges, the boat should both be and look shipshape.
Aside from cosmetics, there were numerous problems with the boat during the week. The biggest was an engine breakdown. This forced us to lose a day in the southern area of Komodo National Park. Of course, an engine problem could happen on any boat, but it appears that we left dock with the engines already malfunctioning. Thus, the 22 hour first day's steam stretched to 26 hours, and we lost the first dive of our trip. Each of the transits took longer than planned. This often led to problems with dive scheduling and diving sites under less than ideal conditions. While this could have been caused by currents, I tend to believe that the poorly functioning engines were at least partly at fault. Engine noise and a strong diesel smell were pervasive in the lower deck cabins.
On our last diving day, we snapped an anchor pin. Because we had to remain in place while the anchor was recovered, we ended up diving one reef in a 3+ knot current, seeing nothing as we flew by the reef. We also had one of our tender's two outboards shut down suddenly, throwing me off the seat while loaded with gear. The same happened to my wife who banged her head against the railing.
Our stateroom, on the upper floor was particularly shabby with peeling varnish, mold creeping up the grout in the shower and no adequate lighting. More important, the shower worked poorly and intermittently. This might not have been a huge problem, but after a few days, there was no hot water for the deck showers. Thus, there was no way to get warm after a lengthy or cold dive. Five days into this ten day trip, we were told that the boat was running short of water and that showers would have to be shortened. With nothing but cold water and little of that, the showers were already quite short.
Food on the Kararu was also an issue. While it wasn't bad, it wasn't particularly good. The boat also ran out of a number of kinds of fruit during the trip. How do you run out of bananas in the tropics? More important was the state of the kitchen. The Thai wife of one of the passengers assisted in the kitchen for the preparation of a Thai dinner. She reported back to us that the kitchen was filthy. (This same woman visited the Mermaid I while we were in Komodo and reported back that its kitchen was spotless.) And a number of passengers developed stomach problems during the trip.
The crew was very helpful when gearing up, they seemed to be made of stone when divers needed help getting themselves or their gear into the boat at the end of the dive.
Finally, on the last day of the trip, we were asked to have our rooms clear by 7:00 and be off the boat by 9:00. We were then taken to the closed airport to sit for 2+ hours waiting for our plane. Just one last annoyance to end the trip.
The Kararu is large and generally well laid out. The lower deck holds a number of cabins. The cabins are fair sized, each with its own "facilities." The main deck holds the kitchen and crew's quarters in the rear, a large salon in the center and the dive deck up front. The dive deck is large with individual stations for each diver. Tanks remain in holders with BCs for the trip. Gear is stowed below the seat. Fins are kept in milk crates to be loaded on tenders. There are ample hangers for all wetsuits. There are also two showers but, as mentioned, no hot water for them after a few days. The dive deck floor is covered with cheap black rubber kitchen mats that turned everyone's feet black. Mine have still not returned to normal. There are nice padded shelves for working on cameras and cabinets underneath for storing camera equipment.
The upper deck holds the wheelhouse, an outdoor dining area where we had all meals, the three stateroom cabins and a very nice sitting area at the stern. This tended to be where divers gathered as the sundeck was often too hot.
Meals were served four times day, a cold breakfast of fruit, bread and croissants at 6:30, a hot breakfast, either American or Asian, after the first dive, lunch after the second dive and dinner after the night dive. A snack, was served after the third dive.
See Part II for diving.
From the beginning of our trip until the end, there were a series of problems, sometimes large sometimes small, that added up to a disappointing experience. To begin, the boat is 10 years old and is showing its age. As it is, the boat looks shabby with rust streaks running down its side and varnish peeling everywhere. It is sorely in need of maintenance and would greatly benefit from a thorough drydock and refit. Were this a budget boat, I would not comment on this. But for the prices Kararu charges, the boat should both be and look shipshape.
Aside from cosmetics, there were numerous problems with the boat during the week. The biggest was an engine breakdown. This forced us to lose a day in the southern area of Komodo National Park. Of course, an engine problem could happen on any boat, but it appears that we left dock with the engines already malfunctioning. Thus, the 22 hour first day's steam stretched to 26 hours, and we lost the first dive of our trip. Each of the transits took longer than planned. This often led to problems with dive scheduling and diving sites under less than ideal conditions. While this could have been caused by currents, I tend to believe that the poorly functioning engines were at least partly at fault. Engine noise and a strong diesel smell were pervasive in the lower deck cabins.
On our last diving day, we snapped an anchor pin. Because we had to remain in place while the anchor was recovered, we ended up diving one reef in a 3+ knot current, seeing nothing as we flew by the reef. We also had one of our tender's two outboards shut down suddenly, throwing me off the seat while loaded with gear. The same happened to my wife who banged her head against the railing.
Our stateroom, on the upper floor was particularly shabby with peeling varnish, mold creeping up the grout in the shower and no adequate lighting. More important, the shower worked poorly and intermittently. This might not have been a huge problem, but after a few days, there was no hot water for the deck showers. Thus, there was no way to get warm after a lengthy or cold dive. Five days into this ten day trip, we were told that the boat was running short of water and that showers would have to be shortened. With nothing but cold water and little of that, the showers were already quite short.
Food on the Kararu was also an issue. While it wasn't bad, it wasn't particularly good. The boat also ran out of a number of kinds of fruit during the trip. How do you run out of bananas in the tropics? More important was the state of the kitchen. The Thai wife of one of the passengers assisted in the kitchen for the preparation of a Thai dinner. She reported back to us that the kitchen was filthy. (This same woman visited the Mermaid I while we were in Komodo and reported back that its kitchen was spotless.) And a number of passengers developed stomach problems during the trip.
The crew was very helpful when gearing up, they seemed to be made of stone when divers needed help getting themselves or their gear into the boat at the end of the dive.
Finally, on the last day of the trip, we were asked to have our rooms clear by 7:00 and be off the boat by 9:00. We were then taken to the closed airport to sit for 2+ hours waiting for our plane. Just one last annoyance to end the trip.
The Kararu is large and generally well laid out. The lower deck holds a number of cabins. The cabins are fair sized, each with its own "facilities." The main deck holds the kitchen and crew's quarters in the rear, a large salon in the center and the dive deck up front. The dive deck is large with individual stations for each diver. Tanks remain in holders with BCs for the trip. Gear is stowed below the seat. Fins are kept in milk crates to be loaded on tenders. There are ample hangers for all wetsuits. There are also two showers but, as mentioned, no hot water for them after a few days. The dive deck floor is covered with cheap black rubber kitchen mats that turned everyone's feet black. Mine have still not returned to normal. There are nice padded shelves for working on cameras and cabinets underneath for storing camera equipment.
The upper deck holds the wheelhouse, an outdoor dining area where we had all meals, the three stateroom cabins and a very nice sitting area at the stern. This tended to be where divers gathered as the sundeck was often too hot.
Meals were served four times day, a cold breakfast of fruit, bread and croissants at 6:30, a hot breakfast, either American or Asian, after the first dive, lunch after the second dive and dinner after the night dive. A snack, was served after the third dive.
See Part II for diving.
