Trip Reports
Back in Komodo – A Homecoming
After quite some time being away exploring Raja Ampat, Halmahera, Lembeh, the Togean islands, Alor and the Banda Sea. The Mermaid II found herself on a homecoming journey, sailing from Maumere through Komodo and beyond before returning to her home port of Benoa in Bali for more adventures to come! The trip began with a […]
Biodiversity Super Special 16 Days Cruise Raja Ampat-Banda Sea-Alor-Maumere
It’s that time of year again where the Mermaid II embarks on her famous seasonal crossing from Raja Ampat into Maumere. An incredible 16 days voyage of biodiversity, traversing over 1000 nautical miles across 5 different seas, passing through some remote and extraordinary destinations along the way. Starting this super special trip on a high […]
Mermaid II March 19 – 27, 2019
Yet another amazing trip was done by Mermaid II. Raja Ampat showed its true colors, we had everything from fantastic reef dives with the soft corals and pygmy seahorse overload in the south of Misool and then up to the amazing hard corals of the north. Strong currents in the right places and no currents […]
Mermaid I March 07-16, 2019
The Essence of Raja Ampat After another epic Whale watching trip, getting the scuba gear back on felt good! It’s unbelievable how time goes fast when you are having such a good season. It’s getting close to the end of my 3rd full season in Raja Ampat and this place still blows my mind! Simply […]
Mermaid I Traversing the Unexplored (Part 2 of 2) Lembeh | Halmahera | Raja Ampat February 2019
10 dives in Lembeh searching for the bizarre critters and I lost count of how many different frogfish I came across the mucky strait this time! Although it wasn’t till the last night dive that things have happened for real… 2 Hairy frogfish out hunting! A large fluffy thing cruising together with a younger one. […]
Mermaid II 27 Jan – 4 Feb 2019 – Misool is The Hotspot
The supermoon cycle was over by now. The power of currents diminished by the day but still we had great visibility on most sites. This time we started our trip in the central area of Raja Ampat and we were going to finish in Misool in the south of the Raja Ampat Marine Reserve. The […]
Mermaid II 18 – 26 Janyary 2019 – What did the Supermoon Bring Us ?
On this trip we planned to visit the South and the Central areas of Raja Ampat Marine Protected Area.We first headed south to Misool and the first thing we noticed was that we have started to have a bit more intense underwater current. The supermoon phase was going to happen during the course of this […]
Mermaid II Jan 09 – 17 2019 – The Mobula Feeding Frenzy in Raja Ampat
Located right in the heart of The Coral Triangle, Raja Ampat is quite possibly the richest coral reef ecosystems in the world.It is not surprise that in such environment we have the chance to dive some of the most beautiful coral reef in the world, but on this very trip we were going to experience […]
Mermaid I 22 Jan – 2 Feb 2019 – Traversing the unexplored
The contrast of Raja Ampat’s lime stones, the Rain Forests of Halmahera islands and the black volcanic sands of Lembeh. 3 different seas traveled during the past 12 days, experiencing all the changes of scenery both underwater and above. This is an astonishing 800 nautical mile journey from West Papua to Sulawesi with an incredible […]
Endless Surprises
Komodo is full of surprises, every trip we never know what this special piece of the ocean has to offer. Of course there are the staples of Komodo: mantas, schooling fish, sharks, and the strange benthic critters are more or less expected. However, what makes Komodo so unique is the frequency of rare creatures that […]