CREW:
Captain: Kasim
Cruise Director: Rob
Dive Guides: Rob, Lexi, Rama
Chef: Ngurah
Head Steward: Rizal
Guests:
Vicky, Jeff, Tes, Traci, Diane, Georg, Judy, Timm, Ulrich and Ang
Air Temp: 29-30 Water temp: 22-28
DIVE SITES:
Monday: Phinnissi Wreck, The Alley 1, The Alley 2, Phinnissi Wreck
Tuesday: W Reef, Secret Garden, Pusir Putih, Pusir Putih
Wednesday: Cannibal Rock, Pelican Head, Yellow Wall, Torpedo Alley
Thursday: Middle Reef, Cannibal Rock, Stinger Reef
Friday: The Alley 1, The Alley 2, Secret Garden, Rocky Reef
Saturday: Lighthouse Reef, Crystal Rock, GLD Passage
Sunday: Makasaar, Tatawa Besaar, Honeymoon Rock, Wainilu
Monday: Pusir Putih, W Reef, 3 Sisters, Rocky Place
Tuesday: Batu Balong, Makasaar
Today is arrival day on board the Indo Aggressor and with great excitement we welcomed 10 guests on board. We have guests from USA, Germany and Belgium. Due to late arrivals we had no chance to dive but we enjoyed a wonderful afternoon together.
We were all up bright and early and ready for our check dive on the Phinnissi Wreck. Focus was more on getting used to diving together than searching for critters however highlights included nudibranchs, ribbon eels, dwarf cuttle fish and bat fish.
We then moved further south to Langkoi and a site known as The Alley. A site often frequented by mantas but having done two dives there we sadly didn’t find any mantas. However highlights included black tip reef sharks, bumphead parrotfish, octopus and large schools of oriental sweetlips, snappers and unicorn fish.
We then moved back to Lahsera and did our night dive on the Phinnissi wreck. Highlights included bobtail squid, big fin reef squid, flatworms and nudibranchs
In the early hours we headed to Padar Island. Our first dive of the day was at W Reef. Conditions were perfect and warm clear water welcomed us. Highlights included Giant Frogfish, nudibranchs, Emperor Shrimps and Giant Trevally.
Our second dive was at Secret Garden a great wall and slope combination. Highlights included devil rays, giant frogfish, painted frogfish and orangutan crabs.
Our third dive was at Pusir Putih an interesting reef slope. Highlights included Giant Frogfish, Ocellated Frogfish and ornate ghostpipe fish.
In the late afternoon we visited the Pink Beach and were lucky enough to see Timor Deer on the beach.
Our night dive was at Pusir Putih. Highlights included Giant Frogfish, Ocellated Frogfish, Big Fin Reef Squid, banded sea snakes, bobtail squid and dwarf cuttlefish.
In the early hours of the morning we headed to NusaKode located on the southern tip of Rinja Island. We began our day diving Cannibal Rock the signature dive site of the area. A wonderful seamount where highlights included Giant Trevally, Marble ray, nudibranchs, Zebra crabs and coleman shrimps.
Our second dive was at Pelican Head a fabulous wall dive. Highlights included many hawksbill turtles, nudibranchs and whip coral shrimps.
Our third dive was at Yellow Wall a great little drft dive with some amazing corals. Highlights included painted frogfish, broadclub cuttlefish, yellowlined roboasta and chamberlain’s nembrotha.
After tea we headed to the beach and got up close and personal with seven Komodo Dragons.
Our night dive was a Torpedo Alley. Highlights included ornate ghostpipe fish, dwarf cuttlefish, broadclub cuttlefish and Jenkins Rays.
We began our day diving Middle Reef an incredible pinnacle dive. An icrediblly rich reef with large schools of red snappers, spade fish, oriental sweetlips as well as white tip reef sharks, napoleon wrasse and nudibranchs.
Our second dive was at Cannibal Rock an incredible seamount. Highlights included Giant Frogfish, zebra crabs, coleman’s shrimp, giant moray and nudibranchs.
Our third dive was at Stinger Rock a great slope with dwarf cuttlefish, whit V octopus and ornate ghostpipe fish.
Our guests were all too tired for the night dive and opted for a few alcoholic beverages instead so we moved to Lahsera arriving just in time for dinner.
In the early hours we headed south back to Langkoi in the hope to see mantas. Our first dive we were not lucky in regard to mantas however highlights included black and white tip reef sharks, hawksbill turtles and pygmy seahorses. On the second dive luck was with us and we spent 30 minutes with a juvenile manta as well as seeing hawksbill turtles, nudibranchs and octopus.
We then moved slightly north back to Padar Island. Our third dive was at Secret Garden where we found 4 Giant Frogfish together. One was brown the others blue and white. We also saw mantis shrimps, many leaf scorpion fish and a tiny octopus, flatworm and ribbon eels.
Our night dive at Rock Reef included highlights of Giant Grouper, a huge Star Pufferfish and Spanish Dancers.
At just after 10pm we headed north to an island known as Gili Lawa Darat. We began our day diving at Gili Lawa Laut on a reef known as Lighthouse Reef. The water was much colder than we had gotten used to 21 degrees and the visibility was also less however we had an interesting dive and saw hawksbill turtles and a variety of reef fish.
We then dived Crystal Rock an incredible pinnacle dive. Highlights included yellow pygmy seahorses, cowtail rays, many white tip reef sharks, napoleon wrasse as well as large schools of sweetlips, trevally and spade fish.
Our third dive was at GLD Passage an exciting drift dive with sightings of hawksbill turtles, giant trevally and nudibranchs
For those with the energy a hike to the top of GLD was on offer by the time the explorers returned and the rains started guests opted out of doing a night dive.
We began our day at Makasaar Reef hunting for mantas. Strong current meant many great encounters with these graceful creatures.
Our second dive was at Tatawa Besaar a slow drift sadly visibility wasn’t great and the water was quite green however this didn’t stop us from enjoying the diversity of corals. Highlights included crocodile fish, nudibranchs and large schools of red toothed triggers, oriental sweetlips and spade fish.
Our third dive was at Honeymoon Rock an appropriate site for Valentines day. Highlights included nudibranchs, octopus and a large hawksbill turtle.
Our night dive was at Wainilu highlights included strawberry nudibranchs, painted frogfish, spiny devil fish, big fin reef squid and stonefish.
In the early hours we moved south back to Padar Island. We began our day diving Pusir Putih a reef slope with highlights being giant frogfish, painted frogfish, spiny devil fish and dwarf cuttlefish.
Our second dive was at W Reef three pinnacles full of life. Highlights included giant frogfish, pygmy seahorses, hawksbill turtles and white tip reef sharks.
Our third dive was at Secret Garden once again highlights included giant frogfish, leaf scorpion fish, mantis shrimps and ribbon eels.
Our night dive at at Rocky Place and highlights included giant frogfish, white v octopus, big fin reef squid and a variety of crustaceans and nudibranchs.
We moved back to Current City and began our day diving Batu Balong. An incredible pinnacle full of life. Highlights included white tip reef sharks, napoleon wrasse, schooling anthias, large hawksbill turtle and
Our final dive of the trip was at Makasaar where we ended in style with countless close encounters with mantas.
We then headed to the north of Rinja Island for our official dragon trekking experience. As well as getting up close and personal with Komodo dragons we also saw monkeys, wild pigs and Timor deer.
It was then time to hoist the sails and set our course back to the port of Labuan Bajo. Along the way we enjoyed a farewell cocktail party followed by a celebratory final dinner together. Sadly our guests leave in the morning but we had yet another successful trip sharing magical moments and forming lifelong friendships.
THE END