Dive Review of
Komodo Dancer in
Indonesia/Bali

 Cocos, Galapagos, Tahiti, Socorro, Guadalupe Island( Great White Sharks),
Papua New Guinea, Cozumel, Cuba, Palau, Baja, Italy, France, Cancun,
Ixtapa, Acapulco, Veracruz, Puerto Vallarta, etc. 

Dive Conditions

Almost none other than 1 hour maximum dive time for most dives.  

Ample space outside for storage of cameras. Inside charging facilities.
Crew was confortable with handling of cameras and photographic equipment.  

Overall Rating

This was my first Peter Hughes liveaboard experience. We arrived in Bali
which of itself is a wonderful and fascinating place filled with warm and
peaceful people, most of them hindus, as opposed to muslims for the rest of
Indonesia. Tourism has suffered since the terrorist attack that left over
200 dead 2 years ago, but security is very good nowadays with authorities
watchful of one of their main sources of income. Prices for everything
range from very cheap to reasonable. Upon arrival after almost 36 hours of
travel time from Mexico via LAX and Singapore, we spent 3 whole days
touring the many religious and natural sites before boarding the ship. The
Komodo Dancer is a sailboat for 14 divers and as many as 16 crew members
(due to Indonesian regulations). We had 4 divemasters: Gerry from England,
Susan from Germany, Yan from Indonesia and Gillian from Scotland), all of
them very knowledgeable in finding the best stuff, especially Yan.
You first sail 22 hours to get to the first divesite, the second day we
arrived in the island of Komodo, went ashore and had the good fortune of
seeing the famous Komodo Dragons in the wild as well as Deer, Wild Boar,
lovely Orchids, etc.
The diving in the Flores Sea was magnificent with a mix of small stuff and
some pelagics. The most interesting were an albino Manta Ray, Anemones with
many different species of Clownfishes, Blue Spotted Fantail Ray, Batfish,
Lionfish, Titan Triggerfish, Clown Triggerfish, Frogfish, Whitetip Sharks,
Barracuda, Spiny Lobster, Stonefish, Leaf Scorpionfish, Hawksbill Turtles,
Humphead Parrotfish, Colorful Nudibranchs, Giant Trevally, Crocodilefish
and at 4 dives we saw amazing Cuttlefishes who changed shape and colors in
a matter of seconds.
At one memorable night dive we saw Ornate Ghost Pipefish, Flathead
Stargazer, Snake Eel, Mantis Shrimp, Octopus, Mandarin Fish and a baby
Cuttlefish.
This place reminds me a little of Milne Bay in PNG plus the abundant
turtles and large pelagics.
Service on board was amazing; they even had a crew member who specialized
in massages; food was good and varied especially the Indonesian fare which
was good for our Mexican taste (spicy). I was impressed by the maintenance,
cleanliness, etc. of the ship.
Definitely a world class divesite and operation not to be missed by
advanced divers.
 

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