Dive Review of Dive into Ambon/Maluku Resort & Spa/Maluku Resort & Spa in
Indonesia/Ambon

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Dive into Ambon/Maluku Resort & Spa/Maluku Resort & Spa : "Critters & Corals. Good despite earthquake.", Dec, 2019, by Phil Johnston, Bayswater, AU ( Sr. Contributor 25 reports with 23 Helpful votes). Report 11372 has 1 Helpful vote.
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	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	7 full diving days, 3 dives per day, didn’t do any night dives. Spent 1 day diving coral reefs on the eastern side of Ambon, apparently this area can only be dived in Oct-Dec due to strong currents at other times of the year. Hukurila Cave a highlight on this side – many tropicals, leaf scorpion fish, good hard & soft corals & some macro life (nembrothas, etc). “Seamound” site on the coral reef side not quite as pretty, but a healthy expanse of hard corals over a shallow flat area, fish life quite prolific at times. Other guests at the resort recommended “The Arch” on coral reef side, couldn’t do this due to strength of current – looked undiveable. “Jeff’s Jungle” was also a highlight coral dive – just inside east side of Ambon Bay, but very healthy hard corals & sponge life, very diverse fish life with some macro life. Ambon Bay met my expectations for good muck diving – weedy scorpionfish (rhinopias) in 2 different sites, many frogfish including a hairy frogfish, snake eels, flamboyant cuttlefish, at least 3 mimic octopus seen at 1 site (ACOM), & many seahorses. Sites on the east side of the bay had sandier bottoms, on the west stony/pebbly bottom. Not true black volcanic sand muck diving, but quite close to Dauin & Lembeh in quality. There is an excellent wreck dive just near the oil tanker terminal on west side of the bay – the SS Aquilo. Sunk in 1965, has excellent encrusting life & unafraid fish life, including some larger jacks. Top deck very diveable at 20-30 meters, easy & safe penetrations of wheelhouse. Dive into Ambon is co-located/partnered with Maluku Resort & Spa. Resort accommodation was 3 star, some minor cracking damage to structures & poolside pavement from the major earthquake in September. The pool itself sprung a leak as a result of an aftershock whilst I was there, was almost totally empty by the time I left. Resort & dive operations otherwise continued as normal though. Food was reasonable standard, a fixed course meal at dinners & buffet style breakfast. Restaurant & resort staff were pleasant, helpful & friendly. Dive operations were conducted from a small half-cabin style boat (Bumblebee) or a larger boat (Wonderpus). The latter had quite a low ceiling, I’m 6’2” & hit my head a number of times. All muck dives required a 15 minute van ride from resort to Ambon Bay boat berth, with the actual sites 25-50 minute boat ride away. Diving ops quite relaxed, DMs focussed largely on critter finding (at which they generally excelled) rather than watching out for guest divers. I would however have missed most of the critters without them being pointed out to me by DMs. Boat staff consistently very helpful with gear & re-entry to boats. Good cooked lunch on every trip. Negatives? DMs tended to manhandle critters too much for my liking – more than at other muck dive locations such as Dauin. They were obviously keen to show me there findings & present subjects for photo ops but I would have preferred the gentler, hands-off approach of DMs at Lembeh & Dauin. Currents at most sites can make photography challenging. There are no moorings at any of the dive sites, at 1 coral site (Hollywood) the anchor narrowly missed some healthy but delicate hard corals. Would have gladly paid some sort of park fee if it genuinely went towards some fixed moorings. The amount of floating plastic rubbish in Ambon Bay was also dismaying – again, would have gladly paid a park fee towards a clean up. I would recommend Dive into Ambon & Maluku Resort & Spa despite the minor issues arising from the earthquake in September.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Australia, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, Indonesia (Bali, Komodo, Rajah Ampat, Lembeh, Manado, Ambon) Cocos Islands, Mexico (Cozumel & Soccorros) Tonga, Galapagos, Tahiti, Maldives, Mozambique, Bahamas, Red Sea, Roatan, Philippines, Hawaii (Kona, Maui)
Closest Airport	Pattimura Airport = 40 minute drive to resort.	Getting There	Flew Melbourne > Bali > Makassar > Ambon. Have had a few cancellations / last minute reschedules from Indonesian airlines, including cancellation of outward leg Ambon > Makassar on this trip, with less than 48 hour's notice (by Lionair).
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas	calm
Water Temp	26-28°C / 79-82°F	Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility	12-18 M / 39-59 Ft
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	Depth limits, 1 hour max (sometimes exceeded by up to 10 minutes)
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	Rinse tank would have been good on larger boat. Subject matter very good.

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

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Dive Review of Dive into Ambon/Maluku Resort & Spa/Maluku Resort & Spa in Indonesia/Ambon

Dive into Ambon/Maluku Resort & Spa/Maluku Resort & Spa : "Critters & Corals. Good despite earthquake.", Dec, 2019,

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 Dive into Ambon/Maluku Resort & Spa/Maluku Resort & Spa in
Indonesia/Ambon