bill_oregon
Registered
We began as a group of 4 divers with the intent of finding a smaller liveaboard that we could charter so as to have the boat all to ourselves. I had been diving in Komodo a couple of times previously on the MV Tarata which was run by the same company so we decided to take a look at the three cabin, MV Nusa Tara which also cruises the Komodo area. Our thoughts were to book one cabin double occupancy and take the other two cabins single occupancy to secure the whole boat. Three of our party had never been on a live aboard, so we decided on a 6 night cruise. Grand Komodo complied with our request for the 6 nights. Pricing and details for the boat can be found on grandkomodo.com.
Please note that in the end, one of our divers had to drop out so there ended up being only three of us on the boat.
As you can imagine, we started this part of the journey in Bali. We spent three nights in Sanur at the Parigata Hotel which we all agreed was a pretty nice place. We used agoda.com for our hotel bookings in Bali.
To get to Labuan Bajo, we just booked Garuda Indonesia on the web. It cost a little more than some other carriers but they also have an allowance for sports equipment so we never got hassled about the weight of our checked bags. One of our group had a bag weighing 25 Kg.
Upon arriving in Labuan Bajo, we were greeted by one of our dive guides and a driver. As we drove from the airport to the seaport we were given some information about the town and the people who lived there. We were also given the opportunity to stop at a store for any last minute purchases of batteries, sweets, etc. From the port we got into the dive tender and transferred to the MV Nusa Tara.
When we boarded, we were introduced to the crew, given a short familiarization briefing and shown to our cabins. In all, there were 8 Indonesian crew on the boat including the dive staff. There was the Divemaster, a Dive guide, Captain, Cook, Engineer, Tender Driver and Deck/General Hands.
The MV Nusa Tara is not a new boat by any means so this was not a luxury cruise. It was suitable for what we wanted. We viewed it as a mobile dive platform that had food and an air-conditioned cabin with a shower and toilet. The cabins were not large but worked well for sleeping and privacy in the toilet and shower. My bunk bed was comfortable. At one point I felt like my AC unit was struggling. When I finally spoke up, they charged up the AC immediately and within 15 minutes my cabin was cold. The lesson I learned here is to speak up.
The salon had seating for 6, so as you can imagine we were pretty comfortable. Around the perimeter of the salon were charging stations, water, coffee pot, a TV, fish ID books, and a fridge containing cokes and beer for purchase on the honor system. With open windows and the two fans on, it was a comfortable place to hang out. There was also a large cylinder of oxygen in the event of an emergency. In addition to the salon, one could hang out on the covered upper deck. It was a nice place to grab a cushion and read a chapter or two or catch the beautiful sunsets.
I was generally happy with the food. Usually buffet stye, it was Indonesian fare in all cases. We started with a morning snack prior to the first dive followed by a cooked breakfast after the dive. The breakfast could be eggs or a pancake or fried rice with egg along with fruit and toast. Lunches consisted of steamed rice, some vegetable and fish or chicken. The lunches were tasty and you could help yourself to seconds as needed. Dinners were similar to the lunches in that there was always rice and veggies, maybe chicken or fish, sometimes both. We found the chicken and fish to be tasty and they were prepared differently each time so they didn’t seem repetitive. One one occasion, we had beef for dinner but I have to say it was pretty tough so we all ate the other food. After dinner, there was usually some sort of desert. Concerning portions, there was always enough of each item on the buffet table. No one went hungry.
For the dive operation, we had a Divemaster by the name of Benny and a Dive Guide named Ardi. Benny was very experienced having worked in many areas in the archipelago for quite a few years. He was freelancer and not a regular employee of Grand Komodo. He knew the area and the tides well. I was told by Ardi, that Benny was also Instructor rated. His English was pretty good and his briefings were right on.
Ardi the guide was usually the shadow diver when we were in the water. He was a young man and he spoke very good English. He claimed to only have 100 dives under his belt but seeing him handle himself under water made me think he had many more dives than that and I told him so.
There were no UW photographers in our group, but for photographers, there was a rinse tank for cameras near the bow and a small table on the dive platform. For the divers, we each had a basket for our loose equipment but our BC’s and regs stayed mounted on the tank. For the dive, after donning your gear you step down to the platform and the on to the dingy. There were always 3 or 4 of the crew to lend a hand while boarding the tender. Once in the tender, you put on your fins and mask and when at the site, do a backroll on the count of 3.
Tank fills were usually around 2800 PSI or 200 Bar. Planned dive times were usually 50 minutes, shorter if someone was low on air. When getting back on the dingy you could hand up your fins or take off the whole rig to be handled by the crew, then climb the ladder. When we returned from the dive, they would fill your tank in place. They did not have Nitrox available.
There were three planned dives each day and a night dive if requested. We only did one night dive. Frankly, at the end of the day after doing three exciting dives, usually in current, I was ready to kick back. During the slack times, excursions such as a hike up Gili Lawa Darat or exploring a deserted beach were offered.
On the first day we only did two dives on the way out to the park. These were essentially checkout dives in a calm area. After that, we did the three day dives each day until the last day when we did 2 dives in the morning. On the last afternoon we visited the National Park on Rinca to see the dragons.
In the beginning of our trip, it was a bit windy coming from the south, so this was the reason given for staying in the North and central areas of the park. I was a little concerned that we’d be bumping into the day trippers from Labuan Bajo but we never really ran into many crowds. I’m confident that if we had requested to go to the south, they would have complied. I was happy with the choice of sites and because Komodo was new to the other two divers, they were fine with all of the sites too. We repeated two of the sites, but in each case we were diving opposite sides of the site so there really was no duplication.
Here’s a rundown of where we went…
10-18: Mini Wall, Sebayur Kecil
10-19: Castle Rock, Crystal Rock, Golden Passage, Komodo Beach
10-20 Crystal Rock, West Gili, Shotgun
10-21 Batu Balong, Manta Point, Current City
10-22 Tatawa Besar, Batu Balong, Siaba Besar
10-23 Mauan Island, Pingah Island
A note on equipment…….Concerning thermal protection, temperatures generally ranged from 77 to 82, with the low temperature reading of 75. I wore a 5/4 mm suit and was comfortable. The other two divers were in 3 mm suits and were generally comfortable too. They never used the spare vests they had brought. We were also equipped with reef hooks which we got to use several times. At the end of the diving on the last day the crew rinsed and hung out our gear to dry right away.
As far as Telecom goes I purchased a sim card in Bali for an old dumb phone . For those of you that need or want to stay in touch, take note that my Telkomsel sim card enabled me to make a voice call just about any time I wanted to from the boat.
If you’re reading this then you’re probably well aware of the varied and abundant sea creatures, large and small. One of our group had only been diving in Roatan prior to this so he was duly impressed with the Komodo diving. We were very satisfied with what we saw. As far as the big stuff, we saw Mantas, sharks, Napolean Wrasse, Bumpheaded Parrots, large hunting Jacks and a lot of other schooling fish.
Before returning to Labuan Bajo for the last night, we did a stop at the National Park on Rinca to see the dragons and also saw deer and monkeys. It’s a worthwhile visit if you’ve never seen the dragons before. When we got to Labuan Bajo harbor we opted to go eat in town for the last night. Right by the fish market there are a number of stalls that sell fresh fish that they BBQ on the spot. You pick out the fish you want and they prepare it for you. You can also walk across the street to a market and get beer or soda to bring back to your table.
We slept in our cabins the last night, got up and had breakfast and said thank you and goodbye to the crew. Our gear bags were loaded on the tender and unloaded at the other end where we met our driver for the next part of our journey which was a road trip across Flores.
The trip is on a mountainous, very windy road with rarely a straightaway. Without going into too much detail, we visited traditional ethnic villages, spiderweb rice terraces, a very old fashioned distillery, the volcano at Kelimutu with the colored lakes in the craters, a secluded beach, an Ikat weaving village, an old Catholic Church, a fish market and a gypsy seaman village. This was a very nice add on to our trip.
We flew back to Bali from Maumere once again using Garuda and went to our same comfortable hotel in Sanur before flying home. It was a great dive trip and the land tour was pretty awesome. In all, it was a very good trip for us.
Finally, I'd like to thank all of the posters on the board who put out the great information which helped us plan our trip.
Please note that in the end, one of our divers had to drop out so there ended up being only three of us on the boat.
As you can imagine, we started this part of the journey in Bali. We spent three nights in Sanur at the Parigata Hotel which we all agreed was a pretty nice place. We used agoda.com for our hotel bookings in Bali.
To get to Labuan Bajo, we just booked Garuda Indonesia on the web. It cost a little more than some other carriers but they also have an allowance for sports equipment so we never got hassled about the weight of our checked bags. One of our group had a bag weighing 25 Kg.
Upon arriving in Labuan Bajo, we were greeted by one of our dive guides and a driver. As we drove from the airport to the seaport we were given some information about the town and the people who lived there. We were also given the opportunity to stop at a store for any last minute purchases of batteries, sweets, etc. From the port we got into the dive tender and transferred to the MV Nusa Tara.
When we boarded, we were introduced to the crew, given a short familiarization briefing and shown to our cabins. In all, there were 8 Indonesian crew on the boat including the dive staff. There was the Divemaster, a Dive guide, Captain, Cook, Engineer, Tender Driver and Deck/General Hands.
The MV Nusa Tara is not a new boat by any means so this was not a luxury cruise. It was suitable for what we wanted. We viewed it as a mobile dive platform that had food and an air-conditioned cabin with a shower and toilet. The cabins were not large but worked well for sleeping and privacy in the toilet and shower. My bunk bed was comfortable. At one point I felt like my AC unit was struggling. When I finally spoke up, they charged up the AC immediately and within 15 minutes my cabin was cold. The lesson I learned here is to speak up.
The salon had seating for 6, so as you can imagine we were pretty comfortable. Around the perimeter of the salon were charging stations, water, coffee pot, a TV, fish ID books, and a fridge containing cokes and beer for purchase on the honor system. With open windows and the two fans on, it was a comfortable place to hang out. There was also a large cylinder of oxygen in the event of an emergency. In addition to the salon, one could hang out on the covered upper deck. It was a nice place to grab a cushion and read a chapter or two or catch the beautiful sunsets.
I was generally happy with the food. Usually buffet stye, it was Indonesian fare in all cases. We started with a morning snack prior to the first dive followed by a cooked breakfast after the dive. The breakfast could be eggs or a pancake or fried rice with egg along with fruit and toast. Lunches consisted of steamed rice, some vegetable and fish or chicken. The lunches were tasty and you could help yourself to seconds as needed. Dinners were similar to the lunches in that there was always rice and veggies, maybe chicken or fish, sometimes both. We found the chicken and fish to be tasty and they were prepared differently each time so they didn’t seem repetitive. One one occasion, we had beef for dinner but I have to say it was pretty tough so we all ate the other food. After dinner, there was usually some sort of desert. Concerning portions, there was always enough of each item on the buffet table. No one went hungry.
For the dive operation, we had a Divemaster by the name of Benny and a Dive Guide named Ardi. Benny was very experienced having worked in many areas in the archipelago for quite a few years. He was freelancer and not a regular employee of Grand Komodo. He knew the area and the tides well. I was told by Ardi, that Benny was also Instructor rated. His English was pretty good and his briefings were right on.
Ardi the guide was usually the shadow diver when we were in the water. He was a young man and he spoke very good English. He claimed to only have 100 dives under his belt but seeing him handle himself under water made me think he had many more dives than that and I told him so.
There were no UW photographers in our group, but for photographers, there was a rinse tank for cameras near the bow and a small table on the dive platform. For the divers, we each had a basket for our loose equipment but our BC’s and regs stayed mounted on the tank. For the dive, after donning your gear you step down to the platform and the on to the dingy. There were always 3 or 4 of the crew to lend a hand while boarding the tender. Once in the tender, you put on your fins and mask and when at the site, do a backroll on the count of 3.
Tank fills were usually around 2800 PSI or 200 Bar. Planned dive times were usually 50 minutes, shorter if someone was low on air. When getting back on the dingy you could hand up your fins or take off the whole rig to be handled by the crew, then climb the ladder. When we returned from the dive, they would fill your tank in place. They did not have Nitrox available.
There were three planned dives each day and a night dive if requested. We only did one night dive. Frankly, at the end of the day after doing three exciting dives, usually in current, I was ready to kick back. During the slack times, excursions such as a hike up Gili Lawa Darat or exploring a deserted beach were offered.
On the first day we only did two dives on the way out to the park. These were essentially checkout dives in a calm area. After that, we did the three day dives each day until the last day when we did 2 dives in the morning. On the last afternoon we visited the National Park on Rinca to see the dragons.
In the beginning of our trip, it was a bit windy coming from the south, so this was the reason given for staying in the North and central areas of the park. I was a little concerned that we’d be bumping into the day trippers from Labuan Bajo but we never really ran into many crowds. I’m confident that if we had requested to go to the south, they would have complied. I was happy with the choice of sites and because Komodo was new to the other two divers, they were fine with all of the sites too. We repeated two of the sites, but in each case we were diving opposite sides of the site so there really was no duplication.
Here’s a rundown of where we went…
10-18: Mini Wall, Sebayur Kecil
10-19: Castle Rock, Crystal Rock, Golden Passage, Komodo Beach
10-20 Crystal Rock, West Gili, Shotgun
10-21 Batu Balong, Manta Point, Current City
10-22 Tatawa Besar, Batu Balong, Siaba Besar
10-23 Mauan Island, Pingah Island
A note on equipment…….Concerning thermal protection, temperatures generally ranged from 77 to 82, with the low temperature reading of 75. I wore a 5/4 mm suit and was comfortable. The other two divers were in 3 mm suits and were generally comfortable too. They never used the spare vests they had brought. We were also equipped with reef hooks which we got to use several times. At the end of the diving on the last day the crew rinsed and hung out our gear to dry right away.
As far as Telecom goes I purchased a sim card in Bali for an old dumb phone . For those of you that need or want to stay in touch, take note that my Telkomsel sim card enabled me to make a voice call just about any time I wanted to from the boat.
If you’re reading this then you’re probably well aware of the varied and abundant sea creatures, large and small. One of our group had only been diving in Roatan prior to this so he was duly impressed with the Komodo diving. We were very satisfied with what we saw. As far as the big stuff, we saw Mantas, sharks, Napolean Wrasse, Bumpheaded Parrots, large hunting Jacks and a lot of other schooling fish.
Before returning to Labuan Bajo for the last night, we did a stop at the National Park on Rinca to see the dragons and also saw deer and monkeys. It’s a worthwhile visit if you’ve never seen the dragons before. When we got to Labuan Bajo harbor we opted to go eat in town for the last night. Right by the fish market there are a number of stalls that sell fresh fish that they BBQ on the spot. You pick out the fish you want and they prepare it for you. You can also walk across the street to a market and get beer or soda to bring back to your table.
We slept in our cabins the last night, got up and had breakfast and said thank you and goodbye to the crew. Our gear bags were loaded on the tender and unloaded at the other end where we met our driver for the next part of our journey which was a road trip across Flores.
The trip is on a mountainous, very windy road with rarely a straightaway. Without going into too much detail, we visited traditional ethnic villages, spiderweb rice terraces, a very old fashioned distillery, the volcano at Kelimutu with the colored lakes in the craters, a secluded beach, an Ikat weaving village, an old Catholic Church, a fish market and a gypsy seaman village. This was a very nice add on to our trip.
We flew back to Bali from Maumere once again using Garuda and went to our same comfortable hotel in Sanur before flying home. It was a great dive trip and the land tour was pretty awesome. In all, it was a very good trip for us.
Finally, I'd like to thank all of the posters on the board who put out the great information which helped us plan our trip.
