Dive Crew on board:

Cruise Director: Fin Dive Master: Putu Dive Master: Seno Dive Master: Igor

Guests on board:

Day 2: 9th Oct – Current City, Gililawa Laut / Darat

1) Sabolan Kecil, check dive.

2) Tatawa Besar, drift dive.

3) Crystal Rock, pinnacle drift dive.

4) Spanish Step, coral wall night dive.

Temp: 27-28C Viz: 20mts

Seen: Spanish mackerel, GTs, bluefin trevally, napoleon wrasse, hawksbill turtles, white tip sharks, ornate ghostpipe fish, schooling fish (blackfin barracuda, oriental sweetlip snapper), spadefish, raggy scorpion fish, garden eels, nudibranchs, coriocella, ribbon eel, crocodile fish, spine-cheek anemone fish, Spanish Dancer, white-lipped eel catfish, crinoid squat lobster.

Day 3: 10th Oct – Gililawa Laut, Current City

1) Shotgun, mega-drift dive.

2) Batu Bolong, pinnacle dive.

3) Sebayor Kecil, coral slope & sand dive.

4) Bidadari, night dive.

Temp: 27-28C Viz: 20mts

Seen: Dancing manta ray, courting whitetip reef sharks, eagle ray, napoleons, GTs, midnight snapper, hunting long-nosed emperor snapper, warty frogfish, barrel-sponge squat lobsters, leaf scorpion fish, reef octopus, nudibranchs (nembrothas) fuscia flatworms.

This ten day trip got off to a bit of an odd start due to the APEC conference in Bali. “Make way for the top dogs and close all of the airports!” As a result it took a little more effort for the guests to get a flight to Labuan Bajo, Flores. Then it was a case of finding as many tanks from other boats as possible and filling them with nitrox to enable one of our guests to dive due to past experiences with skin bends.

The following morning our guests woke up to new surroundings to do a check dive with schooling blackfin barracuda, glassfish pinnacles and an ornate ghostpipe fish; not a bad start! The following dives that day took us to Current City and the Gililawa islands. With immaculate coral gardens to drift by and strong currents on pinnacles bringing in pelagics it seemed quite an eye opener for most.

The next days diving will mainly be remembered by the word “Shotgun”; with our first manta sighting along with huge GTs and many whitetips, it will be an obvious highlight of this trip. Not often are the whitetip reef sharks openly courting but it was very apparent on both morning dives on this day, some guests even witnessed a male biting the pectoral fin of a female on Batu Bolong.

In the evening our final guest and dive guide both made it onto the boat so we headed back into the heart of the park for morning dives at Gililawa Laut. These dives highlighted fantastic soft corals and a huge abundance of

schooling fish. Schools of trevally and surgeon fish were spiraling around our divers with the occasional reef shark passing by. During one of the surface intervals we cruised alongside a whale passing through, watching it come up for air close to the tenders, plus a spinner dolphin going absolutely bonkers.

Day 4: 11th Oct – Gililawa Laut & Batu Monco

1) Lighthouse Reef, coral slope dive.

2) Castle Rock, seamount dive.

3) Batu Monco, drift dive.

4) Circus, white sand night dive.

Temp: 27-28C Viz: 20mts

Seen: Whitetip reef sharks, GTs, crocodile fish, hawksbill turtle, marbled & bluelined grouper, schooling fish (horse-eyed jacks, blue-spined surgeons, banners, bluefin trevally), reef octopi, nudibranchs (chromodoris), flatworms, emperor shrimp, ornate ghostpipe fish, ribbon eels, giant cuttlefish, stargazers, bobtail squid, snake eels, zebra moray.

Day 5: 12th Oct – Gili Banta

1) K2, coral reef drift dive.

2) Roller Coaster, drift dive.

3) Star Wars, coral and rubble drift dive.

4) Circus, white sand night dive.

Temp: 26C Viz: 18mts

Seen: Pygmy seahorses, leaf scorpion fish, zebra moray, nudibranchs (nembrotha, chromodoris), porcelain crabs, magnificent partner shrimp, manta ray, black blotched stingray, tiger mantis shrimp, stargazers, white v octopus, stone fish, coral cat shark, micro cuttlefish, snake eels, demon walkers. We then moved over to Gili Banta to hide from the strong southwesterly winds that are starting around this time of year due to the changing monsoon seasons. With the winds constantly changing we were forced to move out of the bay from 35 knot southerlys after a coral reef dive at K2 spotting the pretty Nembrotha Kubaryana nudibranchs and a variety of different anemones with their tenants. Wind often drives people crazy and I suppose this could be Daylen’s defense against him locking his girlfriend Kaitlin in the bathroom for half an hour! The next dives produced mainly macro including pygmy seahorses plus a lone manta ray over the top. Stargazers were again on the list for the night dive with one guest, Linda, choosing to try and see how comfortable theywould be to sit on!?

Day 6: 13th Oct – Sangeang Volcano

1) Bubble Rock, “underwater wonderland” dive.

2) Estuary, black sand & reef dive.

3) Bonto Reef, coral reef dive.

4) Bonto Reef, black sand night dive.

Temp: 27-28C Viz: 20mts

Seen: Nudibranchs (nembrotha, chromo lochi, gymnodoris, thecacera (Pikachu), tambja morosa, cuthona, dendrodoris, asteronotus, jorunna, glossodoris, polybranchs, thuridilla sap-sucking & solar powered, various flabellina, Spanish dancers, head-shield slug, various sea hares), zanzibarica shrimp, harlequin swimming crab, long-nosed hawkfish, winged pipefish, many ornate ghostpipe fish, robust ghostpipe fish, leaf scorpion fish, stone fish, spiny lobster, mantis shrimp newly hatched, emperor shrimps, bobtail squid. Then it was time for a day out to Sangeang Volcano standing 1,980 meters tall above the surrounding Flores Sea. This day produced the most ornate ghostpipe fish the guides had come across on any single day this year with robust ghostpipe fish and winged pipefish also being spotted. The first dive offered a magical experience for divers with the untouched soft corals and sulphur vents on Bubble Rock. Then on the night dive a multitude of nudibranchs were discovered by all. They were busy feeding on hydroids, mating (sometimes en masse) and some were seen laying eggs. The next day was all about getting back into the heart of the KNP with pinnacle dives and drift dives. Crystal Rock, with schooling fish in abundance, and the Wainilu night dive, with fishing painted frogfish were the highlights.

Yes David, Frogfish! Did you see them this time?

Day 7: 14th Oct – Gililawa Laut, Current City & Rinca

1)    Crystal Rock, pinnacle dive.

2)    Shotgun Reloaded, “mega” drift dive.

3)    Makaser Reef, drift dive.

4)    Wainilu, rubble night dive.

Temp: 27-28C  Viz: 22mts

Seen: Whitetip & blacktip sharks, bamboo shark, GTs, dogtooth tuna, schooling fish (diagonal & harlequin sweetlip snapper, humphead snapper, yellow-fin surgeons), green & hawksbill turtles, scorpion leaf fish, demon walkers, pleuro­branchs, nudibranchs, flatworms, painted frogfish, magnum sea cucumbers,

Day 8: 15th Oct – Langkoi Bay & Horseshoe Bay

1)    Manta Alley, drift dive.

2)    Manta Alley, drift dive.

3)    Cannibal Rock, seamount dive.

4)    Torpedo Alley, dark sand night dive.

Temp: 24-26C Viz: 8-18mts

Seen: Plenty of Manta rays cleaning and playing, sea apples, bumphead parrot fish, whitetip sharks, hawksbill turtles, sea apples, fire urchins, colman shrimp, zebra crabs, decorator crabs galore, nudibranchs (nembrotha, chromodoris, amina, marionia, blue dragons), coconut octopi, painted frogfish, orangutan crabs, upsidedown jellyfish carry crab, crinoid squat lobsters.

The eighth day of this trip will be a highlight for most as we eventu­ally made it down to the south coast of Komodo Island for a double dive at Manta Alley. Mantas between 2-4 meters across were seen chasing each other, getting cleaned and playing in the alley currents. Many came in close to give us all intimate moments to be remembered for a long while.

We then had four dives in Horseshoe Bay, south Rinca and an overnight stay. These dives will be mainly remembered for nudibranch porn as a few nembrotha species were seen stuck together on the reefs. Also in far greater abundance in the south were sea apples, fire urchins, coleman shrimp and zebra crabs. It was cold murky diving but many critters were ticked off the list.