Dive Review of
Kararu Dive Voyages in
Indonesia/Komodo

 California, Germany, Egypt, Maldives, Cozumel, Sea of Cortez, Palau,
Belize, Saba, Bahamas, Cayman Islands, several areas in Indonesia 

Dive Conditions

Surface with 500 psi, limit dives to 60-70 minutes (or so ;-))  

Large rinse tanks on the boat, but not rinse facilities on the tender
boats. Reasonable space for stowing photo gear,  charging facilities
crowded but enough outlets for everybody (110V and 220V).  

Overall Rating

Our first trip on the Sea Safari/Kararu (www.kararu.com) had been in
November 2001. It was such a great experience that we were always sure we
would return some time. What prompted us to go on this specific trip was
the Digital Photo Seminar that Kararu offered in November and December of
2003. Again, we enjoyed ourselves tremendously, and found that the boat and
the operation had still improved over the last two years.

First off, some background on the boat and the diving operation:
The boat is a wooden Pinisi schooner. One of the main differences to other
great live-aboards is the spacious layout in all common areas, everybody
will be able to find enough space to stretch out.  Everything is kept very
clean and well maintained. As for miscellaneous services: Laundry is done
for very reasonable prices. The chef, Didi, doubles as the massage
therapist – 1 hour for US $10. His thorough treatments received rave
reviews!

There are a total of 5 meals/snacks a day, and again, Didi does an
incredible job of creating a wide and tasty variety of dishes. A cold
breakfast before the first dive, then a hot breakfast with a wide selection
from “eggs your style” to Indonesian dishes. At lunch, there are several
dishes to choose from, typically curries, sates, stir-fries, a salad, cold
cuts and fruit. A snack after the third dive. Dinner has a different theme
every night, e.g. Thai, Chinese or Greek. On two nights, we also had very
nice barbecues outside on the bridge deck. Even with all the diving,
weight-loss is definitely not an option here! 
Another nice differentiator for the Sea Safari is the crew. Everybody has
a great attitude, is friendly and genuinely interested in making the cruise
a pleasant experience for the guests. No special request is too much, and
is attended to in the fastest possible time.

The diving is done from two tender boats. The crew will take turns to help
the guests suit up and carry cameras to the tender boats. The boat drivers
are well trained in assisting divers into the water, as well as picking
everybody quickly after the dive. They are really good spotters, I never
had to wait for more than a minute until a boat came for me.  Overall, the
diving is run very efficiently and safely. Nitrox is now available on the
boat. Cruise directors Linda and Carl were doing a great job of laying out
the itinerary, adjusting it to accommodate special requests, and keeping
the entire group organized throughout the cruise.

Through the entire cruise, we enjoyed all dive sites. The best diving is
in Komodo National Park, with it’s healthy and diverse reef systems, and
the full array of the exotic macro life that this area is famous for.
Inside the park, the gem is Horseshoe Bay. Favorite dive sites are the
Yellow Wall o’ Texas, Cannibal Rock and Grandma Bang’s Bommies. The
incredible bio-diversity is fuelled by the cool and nutrient-rich waters in
this area. As a result, water temperatures are frequently in the
mid-seventies, and visibility may be somewhat limited (40-50 feet is
considered a really good day. But hey, for us California divers, that’s a
great day anytime!). The bottom line is that, no matter what the
conditions, Komodo remains one of the most bio-diverse areas on the planet
an doffers some of the best diving out there.  The stay in the park also
includes a guided land tour to see the Komodo Dragons with great photo
opportunities. 

Outside of the park, the water is generally warmer, and the visibility
will improve. On this trip, several new dive sites had been added: Manta
Alley really lived up to it’s name. On each dive there, we had encounters
with multiple Mantas, sometimes up to 10 in the vincinity. On the island of
Sangeang, the dive masters had scouted out several excellent macro sites.
Black Magic and Small World are truly reminiscent of Lembeh Strait, both
for the variety and critters, as well as for the black sand bottom. 
 
The digital underwater photo seminar was taught by 3 instructors: Jim
Watt, world-renowned underwater photographer with an extensive digital
background (www.wattstock.com), Berkeley White from Backscatter UW Photo
and Video (www.backscatter.com) and Dan Baldocchi from Light and Motion
(www.uwimaging.com). Light & Motion also provided all seminar photo
gear including full configurations of Tetra/Olympus housings, as well as
the Titan/D100 housing and assorted lenses and dome ports. The seminar was
an incredible value-add to the trip. The combination of seminars, nightly
guest slide shows and individual photo critique provided a very efficient
learning environment for beginners and more advanced shooters alike
(personally, I had been shooting digital for 2 years prior to this trip).
Jim’s, Berkeley's and Dan's experience with image pre- and post-processing
and presentation was invaluable, and they were able to accommodate a broad
range of topics. They did this either inside the seminars or 1:1, to cover
special and more advanced requests. Amazingly, as full as the schedule was,
they always found time to answer everybody's questions. Not only that, but
Dan most always found a way to accommodate everybody's special gear
requests, and then assisting everybody with their setups. In short, the
guys worked their ... elbows ... off to make the experience as good as
possible for everyone - and they certainly succeeded! The results speak for
themselves. You can check them out at the photo gallery on Kararu’s website
(www.kararu.com). In addition, quite a few of the images were taken by
guests who had done no or a minimal amount of UW photography before. This
just goes to show how much digital UW speeds up the learning curve,
especially in combination with high-quality instruction, and ample dive
opportunities. Since the digital seminars were such a success, Kararu plans
to offer them again next year, on two cruises (Bali – Alor, Alor – Bali).
We'll  be   back, because this will be too good a diving vacation too
miss!!!
 

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