Indonesia Immersion
Text by Wendy Filener
It sounded more than a little daunting at first: Traveling almost halfway around the world, crossing the International Date Line, crossing the equator, not to mention rides on six different aircraft, five vans, one ferry, two boats, and one motorcycle - all during the three days it would take to reach the dive boat in Ambon - but in the end, the payoff was well worth it. Mary (Pismodiver) and I elected to spend two days (before boarding the live aboard) diving with Maluku Divers on Ambon, near where the live aboard Archipelago Adventurer II was based for its Banda Sea itinerary. After traveling from Colorado to LAX, I met up the next day with my favorite dive buddy (Pismodiver aka Piz) and we took a non-stop red-eye out of LAX to Singapore (an 18 hour flight), then changed planes and flew on to Jakarta. After a night there, we flew on to Ambon (making one extremely rushed plane change enroute). We were met at the baggage claim by a smiling representative of Maluku Divers, who helped us round up our bags (to our astonishment, everything made the hurry up transfer). Then we loaded up for the van ride to the resort. The ride took about 3 hours, and involved a water crossing on a ferry that was more rust than boat, but did the job. We stopped briefly in Ambon City (for the most part, your typical third world experience), so Piz could raid the local ATM, then arrived at the resort, about 45 minutes south of town, late in the day. We went first to the dive shop, got to meet everyone, shake everyone’s hands, and get the lowdown on the schedule for the next day - but primarily, the guys were interested in what WE wanted to do and see. Well, that’s easy --- everything! Next, we went on to the resort, which is about one half mile from the shop itself. Because our inter-island flights had been changed at the last minute, it was too late to do any diving that day, so we settled in putting together cameras, unpacking gear, and trying to adjust to the jet lag. The resort consists of several bungalows, each consisting of a large room with two beds, and a tiny but perfectly functional bathroom. There was electricity, but it was a little iffy at night, so each room had a rechargeable battery lamp, for illumination during the few hours each evening when the power was off. When the power was on, an air conditioner kept the temperature just right. There was a covered, open air type dining area with loads of tropical atmosphere for group meals at mealtime. The food was ample and excellent, with plenty of local cuisine. Everything was very clean, well kept, quiet, and it seemed like everyone went out of their way to be of service. After leaving the airport, except to unpack, we never had to tote our bags anywhere.
The next morning, they picked up all our dive gear to take to the boat, and put it together for us. Then it was a short walk (or motorbike ride behind the DM) to the resort, and to the boat. It turns out it was just Piz and I that day! What’s more, there were four crew on the boat, so we each ended up with our own personal DM/tour guide. Wicked cool! The boat had plenty of room and shade for lazy surface intervals. And the guys brought a huge spread for lunch of great, local dishes. Good thing neoprene stretches! We had paid for three dives, and were supposed to do one dive on the arrival day, and two the next morning before boarding the AA II, but we had arrived too late to dive on the first day. No problem. They spent the whole morning and afternoon with us, and we got our three dives in without being rushed at all. Then, after surfacing from the third dive, the boat took us directly to the Adventurer, which was anchored nearby, and we stepped aboard, still sopping wet and all. Everyone else arrived an hour or so later. Maluku had also driven our bags all the way back around the harbor, crossed on the ferry, and delivered them to our cabins on the Adventurer. What service! All three dives we did that day were in Ambon harbor, and honestly they were three of the best dives we did all week. The water quality is admittedly icky, and I have to admit to some feelings of trepidation when a used maxi pad floated by, along with diapers, shoes, cans, tires, any kind of trash you can name littering the bottom. But in defiance of the garbage, some of the world’s most beautiful, rare, and strange creatures live their lives amidst the garbage. Frogfish were everywhere, and all colors. There were three under the pier the size of soccer balls, all huddled together. We were treated to a first hand look at one of the "new", un-classified frogfish, recently photographed for the first time ever, living in the harbor. The short list of other things we saw includes friendly blue ribbon eels, leaf scorpionfish (two on one rock!), multiple varieties of lionfish (including turkey, clearfin, spotfin, shortfin, and even a gorgeous zebra), tons of morays, including several beautiful snowflakes, sea moths, multiple varieties of gurnards, school of huge spadefish under the dock, an enormous swirling storm of bigeye jacks (also under the pier), cuttlefish in pairs, astonishing varieties of damsel, wrasse, gobies, and clowns I can’t even begin to identify, plus dragonets, snake eels, striped catfish, ghost pipefish, ringed pipefish (with their bizarre tails), other types of pipefish, a juvenile batfish, tons of brilliant nudibranchs, seahorses, and, well... I guess that’s all the stuff I can remember! Talk about Disneyland! The DM’s led us from one unbelievable rarity to another. We were able to snap photos of almost all these critters. Then, the third dive, we spent twenty unforgettable minutes with several mandarinfish who were out in the open in the middle of the day, and unafraid. Later dives in this harbor would find other treasures including a flambuoyant cuttlefish and a blue ringed octopus, but I think those three dives we did with Maluku are probably three of the best dives I have ever done. Ever. Unlike the live aboard guides (who were also fantastic, don’t get me wrong!), Maluku DM’s are in the Ambon harbor day in and day out, and they know it like the back of their hand. What an experience, and what a class act Maluku turned out to be. And that was only our first day of diving in Indonesia...
Ambon/Maluku Divers Text © Wendy Filener — January, 2009 REPORT LINKS
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