Dive Review of Cape Paperu Resort in
Indonesia/Ambon

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Cape Paperu Resort, Dec, 2012, by Mona Cousens, CA, US ( Contributor 12 reports). Report 7129.
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 $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	The trip to Cape Paperu Resort involves flying into Ambon, Indonesia. It is a 45 minute car transfer to a boat dock, and another hour by sea to arrive at the resort. The water is a gorgeous turquoise blue color and the resort is built on a hill surrounded by jungle. There is also a beach which is white sand. It is amazingly beautiful. The owners Kurt and Eliane will meet you at the boat dock and walk you up the jetty to the reception area which looks out on the lovely blue water. There is no trash here as in Ambon, because the owners make an effort to keep that at bay. The water is also clean and clear. The owners have built the resort over the last ten years to accommodate up to 24 guests in private or semi-private bungalows. The owners have created a self contained ecosystem. They have their own desalination plant, waste disposal plant which takes most of the waste to use as fertilizer for the massive amount of plants in the almost jungle like setting in which you find yourself. If you take one of the ocean view rooms, you are perched on a hillside, isolated from neighbors and have a massive porch with padded lounge chairs, a view to die for and as you sit there you will see butterflies going by in all colors. Some are so huge you feel like you are in jurassic park and these are just fake insects. Actually it reminded me of parts of Costa Rica with the rich flora and fauna. There is a massive infinity pool surrounded by comfortable loungers, a small spa for a nice massage and a large dive shop where they will store all your gear. They take it from you on arrival and you never worry about it again. It is on the boat and ready to go when you are. They wash it every evening and when you leave they dry it in the huge generator building. We have never had gear so well dried when leaving the tropics. The restaurant is built over the water. In the evening, there are chairs lined up to watch the water world go by. We saw a dugong one day cavorting in the water. The sunset from there is fantastic. The food is rather odd. An eclectic mix. Pizza one day, curry, local food, italian pasta, you never know. It is not bad food, just odd. The dive schedule is: Out at 8:30 for a two tank dive, unless you are going to Nusa Laut island which is a three tank day with lunch on board. If it is a two tank morning day, there is an additional dive offered at 3pm. A night dive is offered every night guests request it and is done off the beach, sort of... you board the boat off the pier and come back into the beach. This will be lead by Eliane herself and you will find blue rings, and other exotic creatures very near. The beach is lovely and you can snorkel right off the resort. For diving: There are several islands to choose from. All seem to be surrounded by marine parks. No massive fishing going on, only the local line fisherman. This is reef diving at its best with some muck thrown in at the end on some sites or ending in shallow reefs where you may find the hippocampus, frogfish, and a crab we have never seen which they call “freaky”. See their website for photos. The reefs are lovely with healthy coral both hard and soft. On Nusa Laut Island, we were treated to a large school of jacks not seen since the early days of Sipadan. I estimated over 1000 fish. They swirled in a bait ball and furled and unfurled around us. A nice treat. We only saw one shark and three spotted eagle rays during our time there, which was all too short. Only 4 dive days. We are already dreaming of our return to this paradise. It is now one of our favorite places on the planet. I also have one other comment for Americans. This resort is mostly frequented by Europeans. If you have not traveled to Europe or speak other languages, this may be disconcerting for some. The conversation in the evening is mostly in German (when we were there), but English is spoken by the owners, all staff, and most of the guests as well as a second language. If you speak other languages as I do, it is a welcome opportunity to converse with other speakers from countries not my own. Just go with the attitude that you will meet divers from other countries who love diving as much as you do.
Websites	Cape Paperu Resort
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Solomon Islands, Philippines, Panama, Palau, Fiji, Alor, Raja Ampat, Komodo, Etc....
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm
Water Temp	84-°F / 29-°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	100-500 Ft/ 30-152 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	No restrictions.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	no
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	None	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	There are no camera facilities in the dive shop. We carried our camera and worked on it in the room. The photo subjects are up to you. Muck with all the usual suspects plus our first glimpse of "freaky" (see their website). Also, some dives had pristine walls with schools of 500 jacks. Shoot what you want, it is all here.

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Dive Review of Cape Paperu Resort in Indonesia/Ambon

Cape Paperu Resort, Dec, 2012,

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 Cape Paperu Resort in
Indonesia/Ambon