* Ring of Fire - Forgotten Islands

BANDA SEA

This 12 days / 11 nights trip runs along the so called “ring of Fire” in the Banda Sea and visits the best dive sites of this area. It offers outstanding diving and is a perfect itinerary for encounters with the Schooling hammerhead sharks that roam the Banda Sea during this season. 

Our adventure begins in Ambon and ends in Saumlaki. We organize your pick and drop off at the airport or at your hotel in those cities 

THE DIVING

The Banda Sea is one of the best Indonesian dive destinations. It offers a great variety of dive sites among beautiful tiny islands and large reefs. Many of the dive sites are steep drop off with impressive hard corals, huge sponges of all kinds, pastel black corals bushes and an intense fish life. Tunas, Spanish mackerel, giant trevallies schools of trevallies and barracudas and other pelagic fish are part of the show, together with the occurrence of the hammerheads, either in small groups or in big shoals. Other type of dive sites includes great critters dives -especially in the bay of Ambon- and beautiful fringing reefs. 

The hammerheads sharks.

The hammerheads are in the Banda Sea from September to end November. Their presence is related to the upwellings that cool the upper layers of the Banda sea. Those upwellings themselves depends on the SE winds that occur in Indonesia from June to September. Therefore the best chances to see the Hammerheads is when the water is the coolest, Mid-September to Mid-November.

A minimum of 33 dives (3 dives per day) is offered during the trip, including at least 5 night dives. 

SNORKELING 

Our trips are open to snorkelers. 

ACTIVITIES

The itinerary includes a lot of opportunities to go on land and some visits to discover the people, the nature and the history of this rich area.

The Banda islands (constituted of Banda Neira, Banda, Hatta, Ai and Run) were at the centre of the spices trades during the XVI century. They were the original Spice Islands and the most coveted destination on earth, particularly by the Portuguese, the English and the Dutch. All three countries fought fiercely for the area’s goods. Having won the battle, the Dutch colonized the islands and exported the nutmeg and cloves. We will go down on the island of Banda Neira and visit the village, the fort and the museum for a glimpse of the Banda history. We will also visit a nutmeg plantation on the nearby island of Hatta. 

The guests are always welcome to use the dinghies (with a boatman) to go on shore at any time, as long as the schedule allows it. There are many opportunities to go on land for a short visit during the trip, visit some small villages, walk on a desert beach, so never hesitate to ask our crew. 

Our complementary kayaks are also available to go on shore or in the lagoons whenever the boat is anchored. 

WEATHER

End of October the South east monsoon has already ended and =the sea is generally flat except some local thunder storms. As we are very close to the equator, a few showers are always probable.

VISIBILITY

We can expect good visibility in the Banda Sea.

TEMPERATURE

The sea temperature will be 28° to 29°C (80 to 84°F) in the Banda Sea.

CURRENTS

On this itinerary the currents are generally moderate on most of the dive sites, however there will most probably be some consistent currents in some occasions. Wallacea Dive Cruises has a long experience diving these dive sites and always pays attention to dive in the right places at the right time to avoid difficult or dangerous currents. Before each dive, our guides conduct current checks so that our briefings will always inform you about the up-to -the-minute diving conditions. 

ITINERARY & NAVIGATION : 

This itinerary goes along the so called ”ring of fire”, a bow shaped succession of volcanic islands in the Banda Sea. 

After leaving Ambon, we stop one day on the island Nusa Laut for the great dive sites of Ahmet. Night navigation to Suanggi.

The island of Suanggi, about 20 NM from Banda, is a hot spot for hammerhead schools and great marine life.

Our next destination is the Banda islands group, that includes the islands of Hatta, Run, Ai, Banda and Banda Neira. The diving around those islands. is very rewarding. One of the highlight is a dive along the lava flow of the “Gunung Api” (the fire mountain); the last eruption was in 1988 and we can see how the corals and huge sponges did grow back since then. We will stop in Banda Neira for a land visit. Drop offs with great visibility, rich fish life and occasional hammerheads can be found around the islands of Run, Hatta and Ai.

Overnight navigation to Manuk island, a volcanic island, nesting home for many seabirds. Underwater, the sulphur traces of volcanic activity can be seen. The diving signature is the abundance of sea snakes, both Aipysurus and Laticauda. Hammerheads are also roaming around, but generally only individuals or small groups. Night navigation to Serua.

Going south we will reach Serua, which consists in two small islands. Fabulous diving around those islands lost in the middle of the Banda Sea. One drop off offers high chances to find the schooling hammerheads. In order to maximise the chances of encounter, we dive very early in the morning and a bit late in the afternoon. Short navigation to Nil Desperandum.

We spend the next day at Nil Desperandum which is a large offshore reef. It offers a fantastic drop off with great fish life, huge barrel sponges and is also a spot for hammerheads. Night navigation to Dai island.

The last full diving day is spent at Dai Islands with spectacular dive sites and one more chance to observe Hammerheads sharks.

On the way to Saumlaki, our last dive in the morning will be on the island of Babar.