Maumere to Ambon 800 Nautical Miles of Navigation, Endless Possibilities

This week, the Mermaid II welcomed a group of familiar faces coming all the way from Poland and set sail for an epic crossing from Maumere to Alor through the vast Banda Sea before concluding in Ambon. 12 days of incredible biodiversity through Indonesia’s most remote areas, characterized by a series of volcanic sceneries, dramatic drop offs, immaculate reefs, pinnacles and surprising encounters from the deep.

Our target? Why of course the Banda Sea legends themselves, Hammerhead Sharks!
As we entered the vast Banda Sea, sailing across a series of volcanic islands that make up the Ring of Fire, we turned our focus towards the blue and scouting the deep, while being distracted by passing schooling fish, spawning barrel sponges and slithering chinese sea snakes.

On multiple occasions, the sharks would come up from the cold nutrient rich abyssal depths, swinging their hammer heads from side to side, swimming in front of us and leaving everyone in awe! Encounters ranged from 1 to 5 individuals scouting the reef to a large school of more than 30 of them. Some lucky guests also encountered a Thresher Shark while being surrounded by a cloud of Pyramid Butterflyfish and Redtoothed Triggerfish.

Let’s not forget about the critters though. This trip, Broadclub Cuttlefish seemed to want to steal the show as we encountered quite a number of them, even 5 to 6 of them at once. Some even put on a mating display!

In Alor and Ambon, we were also delighted to find a number of rare critters such as the fabled Rhinopias, Frogfishes in many different colors, Ghostpipefishes, Seahorses, Coleman Shrimp on Fire Urchins, Octopus, and many more that our eagle eyed divemasters managed to find.

One trip, 800 nautical miles of navigation, endless possibilities…

Christopher Pen
Mermaid II
Sep 22 – Oct 03, 2026

Click here for more details about Mermaid I and II Banda Sea cruises https://www.mermaid-liveaboards.com/destinations/banda-sea-liveaboard/.