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For divers · 12 nights · Maumere, Flores to Ambon
Twelve nights on CELESTIA, the dive crossing that hunts hammerheads
Best months
Mid September to end October
How long
13 Days / 12 Nights
Start and finish
Maumere, Flores to Ambon
Planned by
The Ahoy Club charter team
The idea of the week
The trip for people who dive. CELESTIA leaves Maumere on Flores when the fleet moves east in September and October and crosses the Banda Sea to Ambon over twelve nights: an erupting volcano at Komba, the muck and drop-offs of Alor, the empty islands of Wetar and Damar, then two specks in the middle of the sea where schools of hammerheads pass, and finally the Spice Islands themselves.
There are no other boats for most of it. The islands are the ones Indonesia forgot, the reefs are pinnacles and walls covered in gorgonians, and on land there is a village of the Abui tribe, the nutmeg town of Banda Neira and a fort from 1611.
Fly into Maumere, fly out of Ambon. Two dive professionals travel with you and Nitrox is free.
The route
The boat this week was written for
CELESTIA
45 metres, 7 cabins for 14. Two dive professionals, Nitrox free of charge, three hours of massage a day and a Breville in the saloon. The one we send serious divers who still want to be looked after.
What the crew arrange along the way
The hammerhead hunt
Serua, Nil Desperandum and Gili Manuk are the Banda Sea's hammerhead spots and the trip is timed for them.
A volcano from the water
Komba erupts every twenty to thirty minutes and the tender takes you close under the slope to watch.
The Spice Islands
Banda Neira with the cruise director, the fort, the nutmeg walk, and diving under Gunung Api.
Day by day
Maumere, Flores · Board, and a check dive if the flight allows
The crew meet you at Maumere airport for the twenty-minute drive to the harbour. Depending on the hour there is a check dive in the bay, and possibly a night dive.
Tanjung Gedong · Tanjung Gedong's coral heads and reef sharks
The reef slopes into sand scattered with big coral heads, and the deep sections are soft coral and table coral with reef sharks and groupers. Late afternoon the anchor comes up for an overnight sail to Komba.
Diving under an active volcano that erupts every half hour
Komba is an active volcano standing alone in the Flores Sea. Dive its sandy slopes for fish, nudibranchs and shells, then take the tender close under the slope to watch it erupt; it does so every twenty to thirty minutes. Overnight sail to the Alor strait.
Solor and Alor · Muck, drop-offs, mandarin fish, pilot whales and the Abui
Two days among the islands of Solor and Alor, with everything from muck dives to walls swept by current. Pulau Pura and Pulau Ternate have clear warm water, coral gardens and the shy mandarin fish for macro lovers; pilot whales and dolphins are often seen from the surface. Ashore, a village of the Abui people for a day in their traditional life.
Wild, isolated, and drop-offs full of pelagics
A large, wild island north of Timor with untouched landscapes and lush forest. The dives are drop-offs with pelagic life passing in the blue.
Damar and its islands · Fast drifts at the Terbangs, pinnacles at Nuss Leur
Terbang Utara and Terbang Selatan, two small islands south of Damar, give easy but fast drift dives along coral drop-offs. Nuss Leur is pinnacles, schools of colourful fish and pristine reef.
Two specks in the middle of the sea where hammerheads pass
Two tiny islands lost in the Banda Sea, and the start of the hammerhead hunt. Nil Desperandum takes its name from a ship stranded on the reef. These are the spots where, with luck, schools of hammerhead sharks come through.
Bird island, snake island, and the drop-offs of a volcano
Bird island to its name, snake island to everyone who dives it, for the sea snakes on its reefs. Volcanic drop-offs with sharks, Spanish mackerel, tuna and barracuda, and another chance at hammerheads. Overnight crossing to the Bandas.
Banda Neira and Banda Api · Nutmeg, Fort Belgica, walls of gorgonians and mandarin fish under a jetty
The Spice Islands, where nutmeg was once worth more than gold. A morning ashore in Banda Neira with the cruise director: the museum, Fort Belgica and an old nutmeg plantation. The diving is walls covered in gorgonians, soft corals and barrel sponges, pinnacles with schooling pyramid butterflyfish and tuna, muck along Gunung Api's slope and mandarin fish under a jetty.
An isolated rock with pristine reef, boobies and frigatebirds
An isolated rock between Banda and Ambon with a magnificent drop-off and pristine reef: tuna, reef sharks and giant trevally in the water, brown and red-footed boobies and frigatebirds above it. Early afternoon the boat sails for Ambon.
A last breakfast and the flight
Breakfast on deck, then the crew take you to Pattimura airport.
Make this week yours
This is a sample week, planned by the Ahoy Club charter team from trips we have run before. Every stop moves with the weather, the tide and the group. We reshape it around your yacht and your dates, book the tables and quote the rate.
Australia
+61 (02) 9327 3333
Europe
+33 4 9367 3735
USA
+1 561 813 7511
ahoyclub.com · [email protected]
https://ahoyclub.com/charter/itinerary/banda-sea-maumere-to-ambon-13-days
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