Dive Review of Ahi Resort/Ahi Dive Resort in
Indonesia/Ahi Island, West Papua

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Ahi Resort/Ahi Dive Resort, Feb, 2011, by ruth ellen, TX, US ( 1 report). Report 5971.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Ahi Island is a tiny island ( maybe two football fields wide and 3 long). The "dive resort" is no such thing. They started to accomodate divers a year ago when they discovered that there is a group of resident whale sharks that stay in the area, at the surface and are quite acclimated to divers. This has resulted from the local fishermen who have caught little fish and fed the whale sharks. When my friend from Australia said to meet him & his dive buddy there to dive with whale sharks, I was ready ! It took 27 flying hours from Texas (5 separate flights), not counting layovers. Then 45 minutes by land, 45 minutes by sea and we were there. The'resort'(using the word loosely) manager was the only person on the island to speak English. The dive guides did not even have a working knowledge of english words pertaining to the dive equipment. Using hand signals, we estabished how we would let him know how much air we had left on a dive. The dive "boat" was known as a perahu( looks like a long canoe with outriggers and 2 motors on the back.) Little did we know that they were only capable of being in water that was smooth as glass. For the next two mornings we got up at 4 a m to go to the whale sharks ( 2 1/2 hours from the island). The first morning water was coming into the perahu faster than they could bail it out. One of the outriggers broke and they jumped into the water to try to fix it. After an hour and a half of being jostled about, the boatmen signalled to us that the water was too rough and we had to turn back. Maybe there were 2 foot waves ! Next morning, the same thing, only this time, they fixed the motor attachments so not as much water was coming into the boat. AFter an hour and a half we turned back...again, maybe 2-3 foot waves. On the 3rd day, the water was very flat and we made it all the way to the fishermen. They accomodated us by throwing fish into the water and 3 whale sharks surfaced, opened their mouths and let themselves be fed. We then dove with them for 2 glorious hours, no more than 20 feet from the surface. They continually circled the fishing boat, swimming among us( 4 divers) with no fear. Yes, that was unbelievable. We did some shore diving on the house reef: no fish, no coral, nothing. We also did some boat dives close to the island : no fish, no coral. From the perahu, we got into the water between the boat & the outriggers, then your gear was handed down & we put it on. I wouldn't recommend the diving to anyone. Before the trip, Ahi Resort sent out an information sheet. One of the items referred to food preferences ( there is no beef ). There was a box to check chicken & fish. Every day, for BOTH lunch & dinner we were served chicken in one form or another...never fish. When asked the manager replied that he had had some guests that told him they had come to see the fish, not eat them. Tasty, but 12 consecutive meals of chicken is just too much. In addition to that, there were no specific meal times and no bell to alert us. The dining area was in a round building, set out on a dock...charming from the outside, but in horrible repair on the inside with mold on the ceiling panels. The cost for staying was the same as if we were in a very posh resort: very expensive. One night the manager stayed on the mainland and did not tell us that he would be gone...again, no one spoke ANY english on the island. So when the wind came up and one of the boats broke loose we had to run to get one of the men and through more hand signals and pointing, he figured out that something was wrong. The bungalows were roomy, clean and tastefully furnished, although quite warm in the afternoons with no airconditioning. We spent a lot of time sitting on the porches to pass the time. The diving was so bad that we didn't care much about putting on our gear. Yes, the whale sharks were wonderful. Quite different from the ones I saw in Western Australia & Galapagos. But two hours with whale sharks on one side and 27 flying hours, a resort that is not even close to adequate, food that was usually served cold with rice & chicken at every meal, and a boat that could barely stay afloat on the other side doesn't seem quite even. Bottom line is this: the accomodations, the food, the poor diving would all mean nothing if Ahi had a boat that was capable of getting divers to the real reason they come there: the whale sharks. But until that time I would tell divers to keep your money in your pocket and find another place to go!
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Entire Carribean, East & west Australia, Hawaii, Florida, Red Sea, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Galapagos Islands.
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy	Seas	calm, no currents
Water Temp	86-88°F / 30-31°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	30-60 Ft/ 9-18 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	none
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	None	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish	N/A
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter	N/A	Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	[None]

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Dive Review of Ahi Resort/Ahi Dive Resort in Indonesia/Ahi Island, West Papua

Ahi Resort/Ahi Dive Resort, Feb, 2011,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Ahi Resort/Ahi Dive Resort in
Indonesia/Ahi Island, West Papua