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Dive Review of Dewi Nusantara in
Indonesia/Komodo

Dewi Nusantara: "Komodo on the Dewi", Jul, 2016,

by Mike Cavanaugh, TX, US (Contributor Contributor 12 reports with 2 Helpful votes). Report 9203.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 4 stars Food 3 stars
Service and Attitude 3 stars Environmental Sensitivity 3 stars
Dive Operation 4 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 4 stars
Beginners 3 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments This was our first trip on the Dewi so we had great expectations because we had heard so much about the Dewi. The boat is beautiful and the cabins are spacious. The double room I was assigned had 2 singles pushed together and the cordage on the singles made the crack bad enough that it was uncomfortable. This alone could prevent me from booking on the Dewi again.

The food was average and sub par in comparison to other Indonesia Liveaboards. The food was served buffet style at lunch and there was typically insufficient food for everyone. This was a bit puzzling given the boat only had 11 divers on this trip. The was not trip cruise director so the management of the boat and the diving was all run by Andira. It is my opinion that this is too much work for one person and some things will suffer from that. It was evident to us that we were knew to the boat and were treated as outsiders in comparison to the repeat customers. An example of this would be we would typically be the first to be seated for dinner and place the dinner order but be the last to be served. Andria let Hendrick the steward run the galley and he would seat us alone at a table away from the others. I prefer to be alone most times but I do not like to be snubbed.

One of my party observed cans being thrown overboard from one of the galley windows. When I broached the subject with Andria she reported back that the galley denied throwing cans overboard and wanted to know if I saw the person. This is poorly managed and there is obviously a culture problem on the vessel because this happens and she took the wrong approach to preventing it from happening again. Reporting back to me and asking for more detail in front of the crews clearly reveals the person reporting the infraction and creates animosity. Well done Andria.

The dive crews for the tenders were very attentive and helpful. Getting in and out of the water was traditional tender diving. Backwards roll from the tender to enter the water and climb out with gear off. The boat crews were good with the camera equipment but there really was no safe place to put the camera/video gear on the tender except in the bow covered by a towed and under the feet of the tender driver.

The diving from Komodo to Bali was classic Komodo diving. Diving is like fishing, sometimes the critters are there and sometimes they aren't. The visibility was always great on the north and not as good on the south. The reefs are thriving and full of marine life. There were plenty of mantas and sharks and lots of macro stuff for those looking for that. Currents were sometimes a bit strong but much less severe than I was expecting for this area. The last dive was on Pandang Bai Jetty in Bali which I had not been to before. The poor visibility, surge, trash and fisherman hooks in the water would prevent me from making that dive again.

I have made numerous liveaboard trips all over Indonesia and given the choice I would probably not return to the Dewi Nusantara. Indonesia diving is world class diving at world class prices and the service needs to be on par with the pricing.
Websites Dewi Nusantara   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience Over 1000 dives
Where else diving Caribbean, Asia-Pacific, Australia, Fiji
Closest Airport Bali Getting There Easy Garuda flight Bali - Bima
Sail Bima - Denpasar.

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, dry Seas currents
Water Temp 82-86°F / 28-30°C Wetsuit Thickness 1
Water Visibility 50-80 Ft/ 15-24 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions Request to limit dive to 60 mins but not enforced.
Liveaboard? yes Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks Lots Mantas Squadrons
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 5 stars Tropical Fish 5 stars
Small Critters 5 stars Large Fish 4 stars
Large Pelagics 3 stars

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

Subject Matter 5 stars Boat Facilities 5 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 5 stars Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments As reported by many others before me, Dewi has a very nice set up in the bow of the boat with work stations and power strips for photographers and videographers. There was a dedicated rinse tank for photo/video equipment and the drill was to rinse/check your gear and then set it on the deck in front of the rinse tank if you wanted it loaded on the boat. The crew would not retrieve gear from the rinse tank to go on the dinghy nor would they take gear from the camera room. The boat crew would rinse you photo/video gear and lay on the deck. They would not leave your photo/video gear in the rinse tank unless you put it back in after they took it out. The was an air tank in the camera room for air drying gear.
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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