I finally made it to Maluku from January to March 2013 and visited Ambon, Banda and Lease. Quite a few others have posted on Ambon diving so other than saying thanks to those posters for their guidance, I don't have much new to add. There has not been as much said about Banda diving so I will pass on my experiences about it.
The first obstacle with regard to Banda diving is getting there. There have been many reports about attempts to dive Banda being frustrated due to cancelled flights and irregular shipping schedules. When we were there no flights were operating, although they may re-start at any time. There were two Pelni ships operating between Ambon and Banda: Tidar operating on a two week cycle and Kelimutu operating on a monthly cycle. Depending on the schedule, you may have to choose to stay for only 4 days or for 18 days, with no options in between. We stayed 16 days, as Kelimutu came through in between Tidar sailings. You can check the schedule on Website Resmi PT. Pelayaran Nasional Indonesia (Persero) and even if the sailing you want is not published yet, you can probably extrapolate dates. Since this is the least flexible part of your travel plans, it is a good idea to cement the Banda dates and build the rest of your itinerary around them. Despite some alarming reports about the condition of the ships, particularly Kelimutu, we found the first class cabins and food to be quite acceptable. I suggest if your budget permits the 347,000 Rupiah (and if you can afford diving, it probably does) to go for the first class cabin. To ensure availability, book both ways as soon as you can. We booked ours in Jakarta right after arriving in Indonesia, but otherwise do it in Kota Ambon as soon as you arrive. As a note, booking the return may require some tenacity. Initially, the computer showed no availability, but I think that is just due to the way the inventory is controlled. After some discussion, the Pelni agent phoned somewhere and got a cabin released and we were able to book it.
Once you get to Banda, there are a number of good accommodation choices. Mutiara and Delfika are highly regarded guest houses and definitely have the best dining choices, but we wanted to be on the water so stayed at Laguna for a similar price. Nice balcony room with air-con, shower and WC with a great view of the water and volcano. Delfika 2 and Vita are also on the water, but less spacious.
But, of course, the main reason Scuba Board members read here is about the diving which was excellent. We dived sites around most of the islands in the Banda group except Pulau Run. The reefs surrounding these islands are in excellent condition with lush corals, sponges and gorgonians. The full variety of south-east asian reef fish species are plentiful. In terms of "big stuff" there are frequently herds of bump head parrot fish and Napoleon wrasse. Sharks and turtles are occasionally seen but it is definitely not Sipadan. On most of the sites, the reef slopes right up to the surface, so after you get close to your no-decompression limit on the deeper part of the reef you can work your way and use the rest of your air at 3 to 6 meters in the brightly illuminated shallows. The water was very clear, generally 25-40 meters visibility and a warm 28-29 degrees which made the long dives very comfortable.
There is a choice of two dive operators. Walu Walu operates out of Delfika 2, and those diving there seemed satisfied. Their boat was slower and their gear was a bit older, but they had the lowest price. I chose Blue Motion Divers and I cannot say enough nice things about that outstanding operation.
Blue Motion operates out of the Maulana Hotel and is managed by Tuta and Mareike, from Germany, who were extremely helpful and accommodating. The boat is a covered fibreglass with twin outboards and is very fast and comfortable for 10 divers. I liked the way the Captain,Mohamed, operated the boat. Very considerate, slowing down in any waves to avoid pounding and very safe and skilled boat handling. The dive gear was brand new and higher quality than the run of the mill standard rental equipment. (Apeks regulators, Aqualung integrated BC). Even the air was good... no hint of taste or oiliness that one sometimes experiences when diving in far flung destinations. But the best part was the way they ran the dives. There was no herding around as if we were school children, a practice that seems to be creeping in more and more in recent years. No racing down the reef to burn off everyone's air and get everyone back in the boat in 45 minutes. To the contrary, they encouraged easy paced dives and gave advice to less experienced divers on weighting, buoyancy and techniques so that even newer divers could enjoy 60-70 minute dives. Between dives was spent on a beach with a provided lunch. Outside of diving, Tuta arranged some group dinners where we could experience some genuine Malukan cooking. All in all, I was very pleased and would highly recommend Blue Motion Divers. Dive Bluemotion - Diving in Banda and Ambon - Diving with Bluemotion in Banda & Ambon
Finally, a note on Molana Island diving. We had planned on spending maybe 4 nights at Molana to experience the beautiful beach (see Luko's posts on this: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/indonesia/446322-ambon-lease-islands-report-dec12-jan13.html) and 4 nights on Saperua at Mahu Lodge for a couple of days of diving, but we liked Molana so much we decided to stay the entire time. I called Mahu to see if they would send a boat to Molana and pick me up for a couple of dives. It all went smooth as silk. They arrived at the appointed time with all the gear in the sizes I had texted. I was alone, so Abby, the dive guide just followed along until I was done. I did two 1:40 each easy drift dives on opposite sides of Molana and thoroughly enjoyed both. They charged 1,050,000 Rupiah including all gear but it would be less if you had more than one diver (but more if you wanted to go to Nusa Laut or elsewhere).
The Maluku trip had some of the most pleasant diving I have done in years. Well worth the effort.
Andy
The first obstacle with regard to Banda diving is getting there. There have been many reports about attempts to dive Banda being frustrated due to cancelled flights and irregular shipping schedules. When we were there no flights were operating, although they may re-start at any time. There were two Pelni ships operating between Ambon and Banda: Tidar operating on a two week cycle and Kelimutu operating on a monthly cycle. Depending on the schedule, you may have to choose to stay for only 4 days or for 18 days, with no options in between. We stayed 16 days, as Kelimutu came through in between Tidar sailings. You can check the schedule on Website Resmi PT. Pelayaran Nasional Indonesia (Persero) and even if the sailing you want is not published yet, you can probably extrapolate dates. Since this is the least flexible part of your travel plans, it is a good idea to cement the Banda dates and build the rest of your itinerary around them. Despite some alarming reports about the condition of the ships, particularly Kelimutu, we found the first class cabins and food to be quite acceptable. I suggest if your budget permits the 347,000 Rupiah (and if you can afford diving, it probably does) to go for the first class cabin. To ensure availability, book both ways as soon as you can. We booked ours in Jakarta right after arriving in Indonesia, but otherwise do it in Kota Ambon as soon as you arrive. As a note, booking the return may require some tenacity. Initially, the computer showed no availability, but I think that is just due to the way the inventory is controlled. After some discussion, the Pelni agent phoned somewhere and got a cabin released and we were able to book it.
Once you get to Banda, there are a number of good accommodation choices. Mutiara and Delfika are highly regarded guest houses and definitely have the best dining choices, but we wanted to be on the water so stayed at Laguna for a similar price. Nice balcony room with air-con, shower and WC with a great view of the water and volcano. Delfika 2 and Vita are also on the water, but less spacious.
But, of course, the main reason Scuba Board members read here is about the diving which was excellent. We dived sites around most of the islands in the Banda group except Pulau Run. The reefs surrounding these islands are in excellent condition with lush corals, sponges and gorgonians. The full variety of south-east asian reef fish species are plentiful. In terms of "big stuff" there are frequently herds of bump head parrot fish and Napoleon wrasse. Sharks and turtles are occasionally seen but it is definitely not Sipadan. On most of the sites, the reef slopes right up to the surface, so after you get close to your no-decompression limit on the deeper part of the reef you can work your way and use the rest of your air at 3 to 6 meters in the brightly illuminated shallows. The water was very clear, generally 25-40 meters visibility and a warm 28-29 degrees which made the long dives very comfortable.
There is a choice of two dive operators. Walu Walu operates out of Delfika 2, and those diving there seemed satisfied. Their boat was slower and their gear was a bit older, but they had the lowest price. I chose Blue Motion Divers and I cannot say enough nice things about that outstanding operation.
Blue Motion operates out of the Maulana Hotel and is managed by Tuta and Mareike, from Germany, who were extremely helpful and accommodating. The boat is a covered fibreglass with twin outboards and is very fast and comfortable for 10 divers. I liked the way the Captain,Mohamed, operated the boat. Very considerate, slowing down in any waves to avoid pounding and very safe and skilled boat handling. The dive gear was brand new and higher quality than the run of the mill standard rental equipment. (Apeks regulators, Aqualung integrated BC). Even the air was good... no hint of taste or oiliness that one sometimes experiences when diving in far flung destinations. But the best part was the way they ran the dives. There was no herding around as if we were school children, a practice that seems to be creeping in more and more in recent years. No racing down the reef to burn off everyone's air and get everyone back in the boat in 45 minutes. To the contrary, they encouraged easy paced dives and gave advice to less experienced divers on weighting, buoyancy and techniques so that even newer divers could enjoy 60-70 minute dives. Between dives was spent on a beach with a provided lunch. Outside of diving, Tuta arranged some group dinners where we could experience some genuine Malukan cooking. All in all, I was very pleased and would highly recommend Blue Motion Divers. Dive Bluemotion - Diving in Banda and Ambon - Diving with Bluemotion in Banda & Ambon
Finally, a note on Molana Island diving. We had planned on spending maybe 4 nights at Molana to experience the beautiful beach (see Luko's posts on this: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/indonesia/446322-ambon-lease-islands-report-dec12-jan13.html) and 4 nights on Saperua at Mahu Lodge for a couple of days of diving, but we liked Molana so much we decided to stay the entire time. I called Mahu to see if they would send a boat to Molana and pick me up for a couple of dives. It all went smooth as silk. They arrived at the appointed time with all the gear in the sizes I had texted. I was alone, so Abby, the dive guide just followed along until I was done. I did two 1:40 each easy drift dives on opposite sides of Molana and thoroughly enjoyed both. They charged 1,050,000 Rupiah including all gear but it would be less if you had more than one diver (but more if you wanted to go to Nusa Laut or elsewhere).
The Maluku trip had some of the most pleasant diving I have done in years. Well worth the effort.
Andy
