Forgotten Islands & Banda Sea
- One of the most mysterious routes of Indonesians Ring of Fire and isolated islands, linking Alor (Flores island) and Ambon (Mollucas)
- World-class muck and nudibranch diving around Ambon, diving with hammerhead shark and big schools of fish
- Dive sites with spectacular wall dives and unbelievable drop-offs, and the bottom of still active volcanoes
- Sailing the old historical Spice Islands visited by first traders and sailors in 17th and 18th centuries
- BBQ on the beach
How is diving in Forgotten Islands?
During our trip to Forgotten Islands we sail to the most distant and undeveloped area of Indonesia with barely any other boats around. It stretches from Island Wetar to Tanimbar over 600 km. The dive sites of this area vary from small volcanoes in the middle of nowhere to bigger islands with deep walls and flat plateaus with coral gardens. We do such trip only twice a year: one in October and one in April.
As the distance between embarking harbor and disembarking harbor is quite big, we do mostly 3 dives a day and move to another destination. Many sites straddle the transition between shallow reef and the ocean, providing passing encounters with large pelagic schools of barracuda, jacks, mackerels, and snapper. When cool upwelling tide rise to the shallows, schooling scalloped hammerheads, mantas, mobulas and whale sharks become more common. Depending on the season, visitors can spot sightings of migrating whales and dolphin’s species from the boat and occasionally below the surface too. For those who like small creatures we recommend April’s trip starting from Ambon as we begin with some muck diving where you have chance to spot critters and macro life. Near Nusa Laut for most of the time we can spot schools of fish and beautiful coral reefs.
Our recommendations: It is a must for any experience diver, and we recommend booking it far in advance. The best to dive this area is to have at least an Advanced Open Water certificate with Deep dive specialization as sometimes we go over 30 m to look for hammerhead sharks. Good breathing skills should be known too because most dives are +/- one hour long.
FORGOTTEN ISLANDS & BANDA SEA (AMBON - ALOR)
NITROX: available
Duration: 9D / 8N
Departure: Ambon 10:00 pm (check-in)
Arrival: Alor 11:00 am (check-out)
Requirements: dive insurance, licence – min. equivalent of PADI AOWD, min. 30 logged dives
DIVE PLAN (total min. 20 dives):
DAY 1
check-in; Ambon – 2 dives (Laha, Tanjung Nama); relocation to Nusa Laut (18 h)
DAY 2
Nusa Laut – 3 dives (Nusa Laut, Nusa Laut, Ameth Wall); relocation to Bandapi (12 h)
DAY 3
Banda – 3 dives (Batu Kapal, Karang Hatta, Pohon Miring), relocation to Manuk (10 h)
DAY 4
Manuk – 3 dives, relocation to Banda (10 h); relocation to Serua (10 h)
DAY 5
Serua – 2 dives, relocation to Damar (16 h)
DAY 6
Damar – 2 dives, relocation to Serua (18 h); relocation to Gunung Api (18 h)
DAY 7
Gunung Api – 3 dives; relocation to Reong (12 h)
DAY 8
Reong – 2 dives; relocation to Alor (15 h)
DAY 9
Alor; breakfast, check-out
Routes can be affected by adverse weather conditions and unforced events, force majeure, or other similar reasons
FORGOTTEN ISLANDS & BANDA SEA (ALOR - AMBON)
NITROX: available
Duration: 9D / 8N
Departure: Alor 10:30 pm
Arrival: Ambon 11:00 am (check-out)
Requirements: dive insurance, licence – min. equivalent of PADI AOWD, min. 30 logged dives
DIVE PLAN (total min. 18 – 19 dives):
DAY 1
check-in; relocation to Reong Island (12 h), possible to do check dive
DAY 2
Reon – 3 dives, relocation to Gunung Api (14 h)
DAY 3
Gunung Api – 2 dives, relocation to Damar (18 h)
DAY 4
Damar – 2 dives, relocation to Serua (18 h)
DAY 5
Serua – 3 dives, relocation to Manuk (10 h)
DAY 6
Manuk – 3 dives, relocation to Banda (10 h)
DAY 7
Banda – 3 dives (Pohon Miring, Karang Hatta, Batu Kapal), relocation to Nusa Laut (10 h)
DAY 8
Nusa Laut – 2 dives; beach time and BBQ, relocation to Ambon
DAY 9
Ambon breakfast, check-out
Routes can be affected by adverse weather conditions and unforced events, force majeure, or other similar reasons
