Alor Archipelago 2nd-9th November 2013

KOMODO DANCER TRIP REPORT

Date: 2nd – 9th November 2013                 Alor, East of Flores

Dive Crew on board:

Cruise Director: Fin                 Dive Master: Komang                              Dive Master: Seno                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Guests on board:

Day 1: 2nd Nov

                Ombak Biru was home to a mixed group of divers for this seven day safari to Alor and East of Flores. Russian, French, Irish, Australian, German, Belgique, Dutch, Japanese  and Chinese were all aboard adding to the vibe.

                Once the Maumere port authorities had been “paid off” then we exited into the night to head East.

                Most people seemed busy with their camera equipment while the Russians proceeded to open the booze and share with others. With calm waters it made for a very peaceful nights crossing and in the morning we were blessed with crystal clear warm waters.

Day 2: 3rd Nov – Flores, Adonara & Kawula

1)      Serbete Wall, coral wall check dive.

2)      Kelegede Point, sand & bombie dive.

3)      Bacatan House Reef, reef, silty sand.

Temp: 29C                                Viz: 15-25mts

Seen: Harlequin shrimps eating, bobtail squid, coconut octopus, stargazers, scorpion leaf fish, cuttlefish, ribbon eel, crinoid & bubble coral commensal shrimp, flatworms (orsaki, lindae), square spot anithias, dragonets.

Day 3: 4th Nov – Pantar & Alor

1)       French Window, coral slope/wall dive.

2)       Red Wall, coral slope/wall dive.

3)       Mucky Mosque, rubble muck dive.

4)       Mucky Mosque, night dive.

Temp: 29C                                Viz: 15-25mts

Seen: Candy crab, zebra crab, white warty frogfish, ornate ghostpipe fish, robust ghostpipe fish, peacock mantis shrimp, zanzibarica shrimp, nudibranchs (Spanish dancers, longicirrum, melibe fimbriata, marionia, dendrodoris janainaceratosoma tenue), sea hares, cone shells, schooling fish (yellow-spine surgeons, juvenile twinspot snapper, midnight snapper, redtooth triggers, newly hatched surgeons).

                The first day diving was a case of dive and move, dive and move. The islands of Serbete, Adonara and Kawula are all reachable by the local fishermen so fish numbers have been reduced but benthic fauna were there to be found. The highlight was the night dive for most spotting stargazers, squat lobsters, skeleton shrimp and a pair of harlequin shrimp eating.

                By traveling throughout the night again we reached the Pantar Strait that separates the Pantar and Alor Islands. With two dives completed in the channel we cruised into Alor’s Kalabahi Bay for some muck diving. Highlights were the great reefs along with the tremendous visibility, some strong currents on the wall dives and macro life including a clown frogfish, ornate ghostpipe fish and various nudibranchs.

Day 4: 5th Nov – Pura, Ternate & Alor

1)       Anemone Valley, an any-which-way with the current dive.

2)       Pak Yan Village Reef, wall dive.

3)       Babylon, wall dive.

4)       Kalabahi Mini Wall, wall night dive.

Temp: 25-28C                            Viz: 18-25mts

Seen: Tons of different species of anemones and their Clark’s anemone tenants, skunk & tomato anemone fish, sulphur vents, ribbon eels, raggy scorpion fish, reef octopus, scorpion leaf fish, hairy sponge crab, xeno crab, cuttlefish, longnosed hawkfish, nudibranchs (tambja morosa, quadricolor), flatworms.

                By morning we were back into the Pantar Strait for dives on Pura. The morning was one to remember as it was the largest area guests had ever seen covered with anemones. In the shallows the local basket fishermen played with our divers while peering through their homemade goggles and in return many treats were given out. Then this area showed off wonderful corals in such abundance due to the mixing waters here on two wall dives. Then it was back into Kalabahi Bay for a night dive on a black sand pebbled wall site with highlights being ornate ghostpipe fish and feeding juvenile cuttlefish. Congratulations to Hirohiko for completing his 800th dive on this day!!

                On the fifth morning, due to the strength of the falling tide, our boat was actually being pushed back from proceeding north so we dived on the south of Pura Island. By the end of that dive the currents had calmed somewhat so we headed back to the northern end of the Pantar Strait for some wall diving. *Continued on next page.

Day 5: 6th Nov – Pura, Crocodile Island & Pantar

1)       Nemo City, drift dive.

2)       Boardroom, wall drift dive.

3)       Buaya Island West Wall, wall drift dive.

4)       Tanjung Dolar, coral rubble night dive.

Temp: 20-30C                            Viz: 18-25mts

Seen: Sea apples, carpet of anemones, eagles rays, schooling fish (batfish, midnight snapper, humphead snapper, oriental sweetlip snapper), stone fish, raggy scorpion fish, nudibranchs (blue dragons, glossodoris cincta, asteronotus, solar powered longicirrum, flabellina), bobtail squid, crocodile fish, scorpion leaf fish, skeleton shrimp, unidentified octopus.

Day 6: 7th Nov – Kawula, Adonara & Flores

1)       Bacatan Ledge, wall drift dive.

2)       Watupeni Reef, coral wall/slope drift dive.

3)       Coconut Tree, dark sand night dive.

Temp: 30C                                Viz: 20mts

Seen: School of eagles rays, whitetip and blacktip reef sharks, grey reef sharks, Denise pygmy seahorse, hawksbill turtle, Spanish Dancers, emperor shrimps, white V octopus, crocodile flatheads, juvenile mantis shrimp, flying gurnard, juvenile sweetlip snapper, bobtail squid, cuttlefish.

* Eagle rays were spotted playing in the current and after the third dive a pod of spinner dolphins passed by Ombak Biru with a whale also surfacing to breath in the north of the channel.

                It was then time to say goodbye to Alor and start to hop skip and jump on return to Maumere. Over night we cruised West to the Bay of Bacatan and then onto Adonara. Both day dives provided healthy coral with a few sharks thrown in for good measure; a school of 15 eagle rays were also present along with a Denise pygmy seahorse. The night dive at Coconut Tree turned up a lot of macro fauna to end the day nicely.

                Permana Kecil wall for the final days early dive proved successful with pygmy seahorses, ornate ghostpipe fish and white, black and grey reef sharks patrolling the drop off. Travelling south west we had a double dive at the edge of an atoll for those that were not flighing out early the next morning. The guests then had a sunset cruise back into Maumere where some did a night dive near the fish market for all sorts of macro.

                Aftterwards it was time to break open the Vodka and Arak and settle down to our final dinner together.