Komodo National Park 27th August- 6th September 2013

Dive Crew on board:

Cruise Director: Fin                 Dive Master: Seno  Dive Master: Komang

                                                Dive Master: Jess                                                                    Guests on board:

Day 1: 27th August

Fourteen guests from Malaysia, Switzerland and the States were welcomed on board Ombak Biru for this 10 day trip around the beautiful Komodo National Park. After enjoying a leisurely lunch with harbor views we set off north west where we started our dive adventure with a check dive on the stunning reef slope of Sebalon Kecil. Heading out to the sea mount a lone Eagle ray could be spotted and during the dive an array of batfish, spadefish and several raggy scorpion fish were seen. Back on the reef a multitude of shrimps such as mushroom coral, commensal and boxer shrimps could be seen hiding in the anemones or in other nooks and crannies. Selamat detang Komodo!

Day 2: 28 August

For our first full days diving we decided to head into Current City where we found excellent conditions to dive the south east side of Batu Bolong. We were greeted with fantastic viz which enabled us to enjoy the huge variety that this dive site has to offer: napoleons, white tips, GT’s, hawksbill turtles and different types of trevallys, scorpionfish and sweetlips as well as beautiful nudis could be seen. For the next dive we headed over to Tatawa Besar where we were in for a speedy drift dive. All sorts of schooling fish were out and about and our divers could enjoy sweetlips, spadefish, fusiliers en masse. Along came several turtles and some white and blacktip reef sharks were also mingling in the current. Many guests could enjoy an octopus out for a walk and everyone agreed that this definitely is one of the most colourful reefs in the national park. Dive 3 was done at Makassar Reef where we went out looking for Mantas and even though they couldn’t be seen on this occasion everyone truly enjoyed the experience of flying over this moon landscape! Many guests spotted reef sharks and even bamboo sharks could be found hiding under coral bommies. All usual suspects like the unicorn fish and titan triggerfish were also around. The night dive was the highlight for many: Wainilu – where one can see all sorts of weird and wonderful creatures: demon walkers, painted stingfish, pleurobranchs, nudis,  snake eels out hunting and a starry night octopus kept us company.

Day 3: 29 August

The third day will be without a doubt one of the most memorable diving days for our guests as we saw everything that Komodo has to offer: Mola mola along with many Mantas, reef sharks, hawksbill turtles, a school of humphead parrotfish and several marbled and potato groupers were seen by all on our first two dives of the day at Manta Alley. What an experience! To top it off we were also treated to an array of colourful nudis (nembrothas and chromodoris), blue spotted stingrays, flounders, zanzibarica shrimps and plenty of schooling fish such as sardines, sweetlips and midnight snappers were all around us. On the way to our third dive site in Nusa Kode a humpback whale was spotted breaching right next to the boat. Dive number three was done at the stunning dive site that is Cannibal Rock. Here we were greeted by a multitude of critters and nudis (dragon, nembrothas and chromodoris) as well as a huge painted frogfish swaying in the surge. Zebra Urchin crabs and red sea apples and a huge number of yellow mini sea cucumbers were to be found all over the reef. Another highlight on this day was our night dive at Torpedo Alley. From Orang Utan crabs to bubble coral shrimps, ladybugs, snake eels, decorator crabs, a torpedo ray and: an ornate ghostpipe fish! What a day’s diving this has been… Komodo at its best!

Day 4: 30th August

For day four we stayed in the Deep South where we started the day with a repeat dive at Cannibal Rock and we weren’t disappointed. With slightly better viz we could really enjoy the huge amounts of schooling fish while the current allowed us to also focus on the macro such as Coleman Shrimps, Zebra Urchin Crabs and many different types of nudis (nembrothas, chromodoris, roboastra tigris, dragons and discodoris). Then our journey took us to Padar where we dived the Secret Garden where we looked for Macro and found creatures such as squat shrimps, Ribbon eels and ornate Ghostpipe Fish along with lots of raggy and devil scorpionfish. Also present was a lone Manta ray and a few Mantis shrimps could be spotted dotting across the reef. Back on the boat we decided that we have not had enough exercise so we went on a leisurely hike to Pink Beach where we enjoyed a stunning sunset. Our night dive was also done in Padar at White Sand and there we were in for a surprise finding the solar power nudibranch. A school of Razorfish floated along the reef and other nudis and Pleurobranchs were out in numbers.

Day 5: 31st August

After a couple of great days diving we decided to say goodbye to the colder green waters of the South and head north to the warm blue waters of Gili Lawa Laut. Starting off with Castle Rock we found all the usual suspects such as the Whitetips, GT’s, Napoleons, Hawksbill Turtles and several Dogtooth Tuna present. The current allowed us to really explore the entire area and on the seamount slopes we found huge schools of Bluefin Trevallies, Sweetlips, Black Spine Surgeonfish, Bannerfish and even some Bonitos made an appearance. We followed this with a dive on Lighthouse Reef where we encountered a medium current that brought out some Whitetip Reef Sharks, schools of Spadefish and we had quite fun hooking ourselves into the current to take photos of our resident Giant Frogfish. Next up was a drift dive through the Golden Passage where we came across some Barracudas and several large Whitetip Reef Sharks hunting in the current. Hiding in the shelter of the reefs we found Spadefish and schools of yellow Snappers. Scheduled for the night dive was Spanish Steps where we were lucky enough to spot not one but three large Spanish Dancers with one of them performing its famous dance for us. On some of the Dancers Emperor Shrimps could be found hiding in the skirts. Several Snake eels were out and about as well as a large Conga Eel searching for that night’s dinner.

Day 6: 1st September

Day six started off with Crystal Rock where most of our divers were lucky enough to see a Dolphin pass by! During the dive we had perfect conditions to head out to the seamounts in the west where we could observe Whitetip Reef Sharks and GT’s lazily cruising around looking for some suitable breakfast. In the valley many Bluefin Trevallies and marbled Groupers were mingling with schools of Oriental and Harlequin Sweetlips and a couple of Napoleons also put in an appearance. In the shallows we came across several raggy Scorpionfish and Hawksbill Turtles and for those of us that spent some time on the plateau in the east we found Crocodile Fish and a very playful Octopus.

Shotgun was up next. Here we decided to split our guests into two groups: those who wanted to do an action dive through the Shotgun and those who preferred a more relaxed photo dive in the beautiful Coral Garden in the South Bay. Both dives were thoroughly enjoyed by all guests and those who braved the Shotgun could see huge amounts of GT’s, Jacks and black-spined Surgeonfish in the Canyon and several Whitetips cruising in the Cauldron. In the calmer waters of both sides of the Shotgun Leaf Scorpionfish, Hairy Squat Lobster and Bumphead Parrotfish could be seen. In the afternoon we moved east to Sebayur Kecil where we looked forward to a tranquil dive in the bay watching a Cuttlefish guarding her eggs, Leaf Scorpionfish gently swaying on coral blocks and lots of schooling fish surrounding us. Bida Dari was our last destination for the day where we waited until dark to descend into the “amorous” water to be able to listen to the mating calls of groupers and watch Platydoris mate. Stonefish and Devil Scorpionfish were also present but were enjoying the night in solitude…

Day 7: 2nd September

After a long journey west, we arrived in Gili Banta in the early hours of the morning and headed straight for Westpoint for our first dive saying hello to a Bamboo Shark still asleep under a coral block. More active at this time of the day proved to be a very cheeky and playful Mantis Shrimp, Ribbon Eels, Banded Sea Kraits and a Spiny Lobster was also poking his antennas out from under a rock. Also out for a walk was a beautiful Chromodrois annae and a blue Dragon Nudi. Being awake now we decided to go on a dive at Rollercoaster which turned out to be a very tame ride. Conditions were exceptional with a gentle current taking us all the way round the site from the east to the west side of the point where along the way we passed some Eagle Rays and Dogtooth Tuna. The incredible viz allowed us to completely enjoy this truly stunning wall dive. For the rest of the day we stayed in the bay area where we did a relaxing dive at K2 looking for small creatures such as Squat, Peacock-tail and Commensal Shrimps as well as Leaf and raggy Scorpionfishes. The night dive at Circus was a full success coming across several Stargazers and Lionfish having little Silversides for dinner. In fact, the water was so filled with them that our divers had to fend them off trying to get into hoods and every possible orifice. Many Flounders were out and about as were all sorts of Eels such as Zebra Morays and Snake Eels. Fire Worms were making their way across the sand and some of us were lucky spotting Bobtail Squid. All agreed that it was a fantastic day and night spent in Gili Banta!

Day 8: 3rd September

Having left Banta during the night we headed east again to do a dive on the northern tip of Komodo Island at Big Nose. A gentle current took us past the stunning wall where we spotted Whitetips towards the slope with the sea fans carrying Pygmy Seahorses. Here we found pink and purple fans with altogether seven pygmies while several Banded Sea Kraits slithered past us and thousands of little anthias and chromis filled the crystal clear water with colour. At Castle Rock we got a bit more action with many Reef Sharks, GT’s, marbled Groupers and Napoleons all out on the hunt. Big schools of Bluefins and Horse-eyed Jacks were seen everywhere and mixed yellow Snappers and Sweetlips making the reef feel alive. On the safety stop we passed the minutes watching a Leaf Scorpionfish and keeping an eye out for the many raggy Scorpionfish on the main rock. Then it was a case of Shotgun “reloaded” hunting for rare nudibranchs, hairy sponge crabs and good photo opportunities on the glassfish bommies. In the fishbowl chub, midnight snapper and GTs were present and a few turtles greeted us on the coral garden in the latter stages. The night dive was held at Mini Wall in Gili Lawa Darat and those who went came back with some fantastic pictures of Decorator, Spider, Hermit and Orang Utan Crabs as well as Octopus, Cuttlefish and some sleepy looking Hawksbill Turtles               

Day 9: 4th September

Today was our last full day of diving so we decided to start the day with a bang and return to Crystal Rock where one is guaranteed an exceptional dive pretty much all the time. One of the most stunning reefs in the Komodo area it offers everything from the many schools of Bat- or Spadefish and Sweetlips via Napoleon, Crocodile and raggy Scorpionfishes to Octopus playing on the reef shelf. On we went over to Tatawa Kecil which with its dramatic drops, overhangs and swim-through provides perfect topography for many Scorpion and Lionfish hiding and in the current we saw Bumphead Parrotfish and schools of Horse-eyed Jacks and Midnight Snapper mingling around. At Honeymoon Rock we concentrated on Macro finding many Coriocellas and a couple of beautiful Chromodoris. A very curious Mantis Shrimp peeked out of his hole posing for the cameras. On the east wall we flew past the ridges as the current picked up for a few minutes and GT’s and Bluefin Trevallies could be seen. The highlight of the day was the night dive at Wainilu though and since this was going to be our last night dive of this trip we were thrilled that we saw a huge variety of creatures such as Demonwalker, , Stingfish, Carinate and Golden Mantis Shrimps, Skeleton and Decorator Crabs, a Dorid Nudibranch and Bobtail Squid. What a fantastic finale.

Day 10: 5th September

For our last two dives of this trip we headed back into Current City where we dived two of the signature sites of Komodo National Park: Tatawa Besar and Batu Bolong. Starting with a drift dive in Tatawa early in the morning we spotted many schools of Sweetlips and Spadefish. Turtles and Cuttlefish were also up having their breakfast while raggy Scorpionfish were lazily swaying in the current. Those who looked for Macro found Xeno Crabs and Nembrotha Nudibranchs and swimming past being very interested in our guide was a Banded Sea Krait. After a hearty breakfast we went on to Batu Bolong where we found a Napoleon passing by and GT’s playing in the currents. Dragon and Nembrotha Nudibranchs were seen by some keen eyes and as usual the dive site proved a huge success as the final dive of this trip by being the aquarium it is. This has been an amazing trip with so many unforgettable dives to be had and will surely be remembered for a long time to come. We wish all our guests many more fantastic dives in Wakatobi and Australia and hope to welcome you on board of Ombak Biru again in the future!         

A special thanks to Karen, Pamela, Dale, Bruce, Gary, David and Fudge for providing us with photos for this report!!

Gili Banta

Komodo Island

Padar

Rinca