Day 1: Embark in Maumere
Check-in on board. As guest arrivals take place all through the day depending on flights, you are welcome to board when you arrive and spend some time looking around Sorong, gearing up, etc. Following the boat and safety briefing, it’s overnight to the Strait of Dampier.
Day 2-3: Dampier Strait – Raja Ampat
The first 2 diving days of the trip will be spent around the Dampier Strait, the strait between the island of Waigeo, the Bird’s Head peninsula, and the northern side of Batanta Island. In the afternoon, between dives, we can visit several traditional Papuan villages, meet the locals and walk on white sandy beaches. The Dampier Strait is known for the variety of diving, from giant mantas to mangroves, beautiful reefs, many pinnacles, and seamounts covered in schooling fish, aggregations of sweetlips, schooling barracudas, schools of bump head parrotfish, massive schools of Fusiliers, and lots of wobbegong sharks. It is also a great location for critters and macro subjects, with several species of pygmy seahorses, and a large variety of nudibranchs. There are also several jetties to do some great night dives, where we can see Raja epaulet sharks, toadfish, frogfish, and crocodile fish.
Day 4-5:Misool – Raja Ampat
The next 2 days will be around the island of Misool, where there are hundreds of dive sites. Misool is heaven for wide-angle photographers. The prettiest soft corals reefs in the world are located in Misool, as well as having multiple pinnacles surrounded by masses of schooling fish, barracudas, jacks, and snappers.
There will be some excursions with the tenders through some amazing inner lagoons, fantastic scenery, and wildlife sightings.
Day 6:Pulau Koon – Ceram
Pulau Koon is a small island on the southeast of Ceram, halfway between Raja Ampat and the Banda Islands. Walls covered in soft corals, and sandy slopes with hard coral bommies. But the most interesting feature of this island is the amount of schooling fish and pelagic, barracudas, bigeye trevallies, aggregation of red snappers, pompanos, batfish, and giant groupers.
Day 7-8: Banda Islands
The next two days will be spent in the Banda Islands, also known in the old days as the Spice Islands.
Day 9: Manuk – Banda Sea
Manuk, an extinct volcano about 65 km south of the Banda Islands, is one of 2 places in Indonesia where there are huge aggregations of sea snakes, Chinese sea snakes, and banded sea kraits. It is an incredible experience to dive surrounded on all sides by sea snakes. The island is surrounded by black sandy slopes with hard coral reefs, volcanic ridges covered in gorgonians with zillions of fusiliers, and pelagic fishes such as Spanish mackerels and dogtooth tunas passing through.
Day 10: Pulau Nila – Banda Sea
Day 11: Pulau Damar – Banda Sea
Day 11 we will spend diving around the 3 small islands surrounding the island of Damar, Neus Leur, Terbang Utara, and Terbang Selatan. White sandy beaches and completely covered by tropical forests contain some of the prettiest and healthiest reefs in the Banda Sea. Walls covered with massive barrel sponges and gorgonian sea fans. Reef tops full of soft corals and small tropical reef fishes and visibility up to 50 meters.
Day 12: Gunung Api – Banda Sea
Weather depending, we will be diving day 11 at Gunung Api. A small volcano in the middle of the Banda Sea. Gunung Api is one of those very rare and very special places where not many divers get to go and dive. Underwater ridges, steep slopes with black sand, and walls covered in soft corals. But the most amazing feature of this small volcano is the number of sea snakes that can be found surrounding the island. Spend the time between dives observing the hundreds of frigates that live on the island.
Day 13: Wetar
After cruising every night for one week, we have finally crossed the Banda Sea and arrived at the island of Wetar. In Wetar, we will do 3 dives, on the small island of Reong, and in Cape Nunukae.
Day 14: Alor
Day 15: Lewaling Bay – Kawula Island
The last day of diving will be done at Lewaling Bay, on the island of Kawula. With the background of a volcano rising from the western shores of Lewaling Bay, the last 2 dives of the trip will be done in two different capes, Cape Bacatan, and Cape Sirumerang. Both dive sites have a mix of ridges, walls with overhangs, white sandy slopes, and very shallow reef tops. Then, we will cruise overnight to Maumere.
Day 16: Disembark in Sorong
Total Dives for the trip 48 to 51.
Marine Life: Soft corals, gorgonians, pygmy seahorses, turtles, manta rays, amazing muck diving, wobbegongs, schooling hammerheads. crocodile-fish, toadfish, dugong, frogfish and so much more!
Please note: This trip will be in approximately in reverse if you start from Maumere.
