Unforgettable Diving Experience!
Mermaid II’s most recent trip through Komodo, and second of the season, was absolutely outstanding. Our first day of the trip in Moyo Island and the extinct volcano Satonda yielded great schools of longfin bannerfish, fusileers, as well as black tip and white tip reef sharks. Drifting over the rich volcanic black sand on our sunset dive we discovered a myriad of critters, from decorator crabs to the elusive and hairlike Lembeh sea-dragon, along with several pigmy seahorses.
Batu Moncho, Komodo’s northernmost dive site started our second day of diving with a lush aquatic garden where giant cuttlefish laid their eggs as hawksbill turtles pass us by. We even had a surprise manta come to give us it’s salutations! The dives to follow in Komodo would be just as rewarding with squadrons of mantas in Manta Alley, and Karang Makasar aka manta point, endless coral reefs, and some incredible macro find in the form of frogfish, Ambon scorpionfish, and more giant cuttlefish. I’m constantly blown away by Komodo and it’s jaw-dropping diversity!
Leaving the national park we headed over to Gili Banta and then later Sangeang volcano which always seems to be wrapped just perfectly in a beautiful blanket of clouds so it’s now smoking twin peaks are just visible above its rugged terrain. Now just because we’ve left the National Park doesn’t mean we’ve left the good diving behind us. Both dives in Gili Banta yielded loads of critters, beautiful reefs, even more, mantas, and a MOLA MOLA! Whereas Sangeang provides the divers with the extraordinary experience of what it’s like to dive on a still active volcano as its many small vents bubbled up through the rich black sand. Sangeang provides more than a bubbly experience, the volcano also offers incredible and highly unique reefs covered in pastel-coloured crinoids, fields of barrel sponges, schooling fish, and Lembeh quality muck diving!
To be able to dive in one of the worlds best manta sites, cruise around volcanoes, explore some of the richest and most beautiful coral reefs and then to find the ultra-rare critters, all in one week…well there is no other trip like it in the world. Of that, I am sure of.
Mermaid II, Diving Cruise at Bali – Komodo – Bali
May 28 – June 4, 2018
Alex Lindbloom