clavell
Registered
Our LDS spent 11 days cruising aboard the "Tambora" near Halmahera Island in Indonesia in May of this year. Our experience diving and being cared for by Uwe (the owner) and his crew exceeded everyone's expectations, even those who are veterans of liveaboard diving.
This was my first experience spending time on a liveaboard, so I have no reference point by which to compare this trip. Uwe is a lifelong diver, transplanted from Germany, who had this boat custom built in Indonesia for diving; it is approx 40 meters, long, wooden sailing vessel. Lots of deck space, very comfortable, and can accommodate 16 divers, I believe. There are onboard compressors for air and Nitrox. The cabins are comfortable, all with ensuite bathrooms and showers, and plenty of electrical outlets.
Uwe lives on the boat with his family, and is present to see that everyone's needs are met; he also dives most of the time with guests at dive sites that only he knows the location of. His diving itineraries cover large parts of Indonesia, and have been designed to maximize the chances of diving during good weather conditions and calm ocean conditions that he has tracked over the past 10 years or so.
Consequently, everyone aboard, regardless of prior experience, more or less agreed that this was among the best diving anyone had ever experienced. There were a wide variety of sites, from walls, to sea mounts, to slopes, to piers, to shallow black sand, with untouched coral reefs, and everything from pelagics to lots of critters to keep those interested in muck diving grinning from ear to ear.
There is a dedicated photography room on board for cleaning, assembling, and storing cameras and attachments and recharging batteries.
The diving schedule was leisurely, with enough spacing between the 3 daily dives (4 with night dive) to eat, relax, nap and lounge around. No need to set an alarm to wake up before sunrise to catch the first dive of the day!
Aside from the occasional isolated villages on remote islands, we had the entire ocean to ourselves, until reaching the end of the trip, where we ended up in Lembeh strait for the last day of diving, before resting, cleaning, and departing from Sulawesi 24 hours later. Uwe was even up at 2:30 AM with his crew to offer coffee and snacks, and then accompany us and supervise the transfers to the airport to make sure there were no glitches.
The food was nothing short of spectacular, with a menu consisting of both Indonesian and international dishes. The kitchen staff accommodated those with dietary restrictions/preferences without a hiccup. Breakfast each day was a la carte from a long menu; lunch was served family style for the divers, and dinners were chosen by each diver from a menu that changed daily.
We were able to use the two dive tenders to make visits to remote beaches when anchored close enough to shore when not doing night dives, for some beachcombing.
The crew members were the happiest, friendliest bunch we had ever spent time with on a boat; it turns out many are quite musical, and almost all will happily engage you in a game of chess if you want.
My dive shop was impressed enough that they have already made arrangements to reserve Uwe and his liveaboard and crew for another trip to Indonesia, next time on a different itinerary. If you are interested in more info, Uwe's website is www.tamboradive.com. Cheers....
This was my first experience spending time on a liveaboard, so I have no reference point by which to compare this trip. Uwe is a lifelong diver, transplanted from Germany, who had this boat custom built in Indonesia for diving; it is approx 40 meters, long, wooden sailing vessel. Lots of deck space, very comfortable, and can accommodate 16 divers, I believe. There are onboard compressors for air and Nitrox. The cabins are comfortable, all with ensuite bathrooms and showers, and plenty of electrical outlets.
Uwe lives on the boat with his family, and is present to see that everyone's needs are met; he also dives most of the time with guests at dive sites that only he knows the location of. His diving itineraries cover large parts of Indonesia, and have been designed to maximize the chances of diving during good weather conditions and calm ocean conditions that he has tracked over the past 10 years or so.
Consequently, everyone aboard, regardless of prior experience, more or less agreed that this was among the best diving anyone had ever experienced. There were a wide variety of sites, from walls, to sea mounts, to slopes, to piers, to shallow black sand, with untouched coral reefs, and everything from pelagics to lots of critters to keep those interested in muck diving grinning from ear to ear.
There is a dedicated photography room on board for cleaning, assembling, and storing cameras and attachments and recharging batteries.
The diving schedule was leisurely, with enough spacing between the 3 daily dives (4 with night dive) to eat, relax, nap and lounge around. No need to set an alarm to wake up before sunrise to catch the first dive of the day!
Aside from the occasional isolated villages on remote islands, we had the entire ocean to ourselves, until reaching the end of the trip, where we ended up in Lembeh strait for the last day of diving, before resting, cleaning, and departing from Sulawesi 24 hours later. Uwe was even up at 2:30 AM with his crew to offer coffee and snacks, and then accompany us and supervise the transfers to the airport to make sure there were no glitches.
The food was nothing short of spectacular, with a menu consisting of both Indonesian and international dishes. The kitchen staff accommodated those with dietary restrictions/preferences without a hiccup. Breakfast each day was a la carte from a long menu; lunch was served family style for the divers, and dinners were chosen by each diver from a menu that changed daily.
We were able to use the two dive tenders to make visits to remote beaches when anchored close enough to shore when not doing night dives, for some beachcombing.
The crew members were the happiest, friendliest bunch we had ever spent time with on a boat; it turns out many are quite musical, and almost all will happily engage you in a game of chess if you want.
My dive shop was impressed enough that they have already made arrangements to reserve Uwe and his liveaboard and crew for another trip to Indonesia, next time on a different itinerary. If you are interested in more info, Uwe's website is www.tamboradive.com. Cheers....