Ambon diving

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I dove with Maluku the end of Oct. No one would confirm the frogfish being back. Dive Into Ambon claims to have located one but they aren't talking details.
 
And we have video :)

Video of Psychedelic Frogfish from Dive Into Ambon

And just to let everyone know, in the interests of co-operation we did tell Maluku where we found it...if their guides can't find it, that's not our fault :wink:

We also found a new cave with stalactites and stalagmites and Flashlight Fish!! Really awesome!!
 
Very cool photos!
That's Pintu Kota and Hukurila caves, probably.


Kota Pintu arch by Luko Gecko, on Flickr

5515597901_b9aac1e772_z.jpg

Hukurila caves by Luko Gecko, on Flickr
 
Very much looking forward to Ambon In January, diving with DIA. Hopefully the psychedelic is still around as its top of my all time macro wish list lol
 
Very much looking forward to Ambon In January, diving with DIA. Hopefully the psychedelic is still around as its top of my all time macro wish list lol

Let's hope so. As we like to say "100% no guarantee" ☺. We will certainly give it our best shot.
 
I dive with Maluku when I get to Ambon and am not on a liveaboard. I like the rooms and food and I have NEVER been on a crowded boat there. I also like that you are very near the small harbor that has the best mandarin site ever!!




The outside reefs are wonderful, even if the currents can really rip. It is weather dependent and is often too rough.




fabulous critters there. The dive guides at Maluku never failed to find the critters they were looking for, for us.



They are of the opinion that the Psch frogfish may be a deeper water species that comes shallow to spawn....and the young make their way back to deeper water. That may explain the infrequent sightings.
 
I have NEVER been on a crowded boat there.
....
I also like that you are very near the small harbor that has the best mandarin site ever!!

...It is weather dependent and is often too rough.

Just my diver opinions on these three assumptions after 3 stays in Ambon :

- I don't know what crowded boats mean to you but in my three stays in feb or march I have always seen Maluku boats filled with more 5 up to 8 divers on a small boat while I was either ALONE or with a couple of divers on the large speedboats of Blue Rose. Similarly underwater it was strange to see 4 Maluku divers queueing on a Rhinopias, while i had it almost on my own.

- Before giving the "best mandarin site" award I suggest you try Bandaneira down Maulana hotel, the mandarins are 5 to 8 cm long at 3m depth, you can even shoot them on snorkeling.

- South is not that much weather rough, actually it's when you go out West of the Ambon bay that it is getting rough, while southern sites maybe fine. It also depends on the boats, sure that some of the small boats used for bay diving may not be comfortable. This is why I think it's better to dive from a south based operation where you can have both Ambon bay and South Ambon/Lease sites.
 
Just my diver opinions on these three assumptions after 3 stays in Ambon :

- I don't know what crowded boats mean to you but in my three stays in feb or march I have always seen Maluku boats filled with more 5 up to 8 divers on a small boat while I was either ALONE or with a couple of divers on the large speedboats of Blue Rose. Similarly underwater it was strange to see 4 Maluku divers queueing on a Rhinopias, while i had it almost on my own.

My experience in my stays there is that the several members of our group were usually the only people on our boats. We, obviously, had very different experiences.

- Before giving the "best mandarin site" award I suggest you try Bandaneira down Maulana hotel, the mandarins are 5 to 8 cm long at 3m depth, you can even shoot them on snorkeling.

what made this site so exceptional, IMO, was that it was a vertical rock rubble wall that went to the surface. You never "rested" on any structure as the vertical wall made that unnecessary. These mandarins were also very large and fearless. At one point I got a less than good photo of a large harem of females, in the open, waiting for the males. These mandarins were in the open most of the time, which has not been my experience. I'm not sure your site was one of the mandarin sites I went to, or not. The harbor was the only one I repeated.

Poor photo, but you get the idea

 

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