Scuba Seraya, Tulumben and Dewi Nusantara, Komodo Trip Report

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

Cali_diver

ScubaBoard Supporter
ScubaBoard Supporter
Messages
1,215
Reaction score
806
Location
California
# of dives
1000 - 2499
TULUMBEN AND SCUBA SERAYA

We arrived in Bali on Friday afternoon after 24 hours of transit. The airport was not as bad as we expected but did get a little crazy after we picked up our luggage. We didn’t care too much since we were just happy our bags made it safely. Our transfer picked us up and proceeded to take us on the craziest drive I have ever been on. Bali roads are insane!! We started playing "How many people and things can fit on one scooter?" We finally got to Scuba Seraya at 8:00pm and enjoyed a warm meal and welcome drink.

Scuba Seraya was so beautiful and clean. We had a villa right on the beach and it was perfect. The view was fabulous and the staff was so friendly. The group that had been there the night we arrived left the next day so for a couple days we were the only people at the resort. It was quite magical and the dive crew was fantastic. They pretty much let us do whatever we wanted whenever we wanted.

Our first dive was a shore dive at Seraya Secrets and then a boat dive to the Liberty Wreck. We dove in Amed and Tulumben for four days and saw so many amazing things. I think my favorite dive was one they called Wreck Slope, which was a muck dive. Our guide was amazing and pointed out so many things including some Harlequin Shrimp that were very cooperative for pictures. I felt pretty lucky since everyone on our Komodo liveaboard who had stayed in Tulumben had been searching for the elusive Harlequin Shrimp and never found them. We had so much fun diving there that we even dove on our check out day and the dive center was so awesome…they helped us clean and dry all our gear and the gave us bags for the wet stuff.

Highly recommend this little gem! The resort is immaculate and the staff was warm and welcoming. Dive staff was top notch! We even enjoyed having a meal our two with the owner Patrick who made us feel especially at home! Special thank you to Marcia "Quero" for helping us arrange this!

We spent the night in Ubud at Tegal Sari, which was also very nice, then headed to the airport for our domestic flight to Labuan Bajo. The domestic flight was easy and the rep for the Dewi Nusantara was there to pick us up.

---------- Post Merged at 10:13 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 10:07 AM ----------

KOMODO and THE DEWI NUSANTARA (I wrote a trip report on the liveaboard forum with more details about the boat)

What a beautiful boat….. We were on the boat within an hour of landing at the airport. All the bags made it and we were all pretty excited. Many of the guests were return customers so everything went pretty smoothly. Wendy the cruise director is fabulous and made the trip quite enjoyable. We were also lucky enough to meet and talk to the owner /boat builder while we were in port. His was quite a character and shared some great stories with all of us. We had people from all over the world so it was a great mix of people!!!

We headed out after the last person arrived and were able to dive that first afternoon! The diving was great and the crew was fantastic. All the groups were fairly small. Ranging from 2-4 divers with a DM/Guide. All of the guides were great. Our group was the biggest with 4 divers but we were all good divers and became fast friends. I was the only photographer in our group and we had two videographers so I thought it was perfect. We did 30 dives, some were exploration dives that were just as good as the popular ones!

We dove north Komodo for five days and had some awesome diving. We dove:
Sebayur Kecil – check out dive
Castle Rock – Great Dive!!
Crystal Rock – Ripping Current but great dive!
GDL Pass
Hot Rock – One of our favorites!!
Estuary
Gila Banta K2 – Little colder but nice dive
Batu Monco
Coral Garden
Shot Gun – Manta, sharks = J
Batu Bolong – Current worked out perfect for us so this was an amazing dive!
Wainlu – Picturesque Dragonets and Mandarin Fish mating!!

Then we headed to the South where water got considerably colder, but diving remained fantastic. The crossing was a little rough but the boat is big and handles it well. We surprised a few fishermen who probably were not expecting any dive boats to make the crossing. They took off pretty quickly but unfortunately their presence became quite evident on our Cannibal Rock dive. There were dead fish everywhere from obvious bombing. It was a little distressing to say the least….
The crew took videos and pictures and made a report but it sounds like not much will be done. The site still had a huge amount of reef fish and the coral still looked intact.
Other sites:
Torpedo Alley
Yellow Wall
W-Reef
Secret Garden
Pasir Putih

I was quite thankful to head back north to warmer water….
Tatawa Besar
Karang Makasar in Current City – Best dive of trip! Exciting Roller Coaster current. Mantas, a huge squadron of Mobula Rays, Spotted Eagle Rays, Sharks, Green Turtles, Hawksbill Turtles and we even spotted a pretty rare nudi!!
We repeated Wainlu (More Mandarin fish and a couple people even found the eel that has not been identified yet!) and Shot Gun.

The rooms are all nice on this boat. They are beautifully appointed and roomy! The crew was fantastic and so much fun!!! They all sang to us on our anniversary and my cheeks have not hurt so much from smiling since my wedding day so it was pretty special! We are already looking at our next trip on this amazing boat!! Komodo diving was exciting and had something for everyone!!!!
 
Last edited:
I knew you would love wendy and the boat .can't wait for our trip now.! you got me excited!guido is quite a character! We met him at the scuba show. Did you bring Wendy chocolate?
 
When you say that fishermen were bombing Castle Rock in the South, do you mean Cannibal Rock? That is really such a shame.
 
So pleased you enjoyed your trip. I was sure you'd love Seraya, and Patrick is such a wonderful host, isn't he? I've known him for about 10 years when he was just getting Seraya started and had only the maisonettes, no fancy dive center and the restaurant hadn't been built. I have watched him build the resort lovingly to the gem it is now. So glad I could help you get just the trip you were looking for!
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

Back
Top Bottom